Take Me out to the Ball Game!

It has been a year (almost) since our last UH baseball game.  Then, Zack was a newborn and now he is almost 1!

This year it was quite a different scene with Zack (and Abby) being more mobile and needy than our sleepy little guy.  I didn't see much of the game but it was fun to be in a baseball stadium!

Zack and Abby Playing on the Slide

For the last couple of weeks I have been taking Abby on the slide during our walks and I haven't really given Zack free reign because I was worried he would eat everything and get hurt.  Today I took him on a slide with me and then I let him crawl around and before I knew it he was exploring and quickly learned to follow his big sister head first down the slide!

Trading Sunsets for Sunrises

Well, one positive thing about being awake before the sun rises is seeing beautiful sunrises.  Since the kids get up between 5 and 6, we have pleasure of watching the sun rise.  This morning we were out watching it and I hurried the kids back in reminding them that most people aren't exited to be up that early:).   

Swan Lake

Our place is a short walk (bike ride for Abby) from a little lake with ducks on the golf course.  A few nights we have walked down after bath (you have to love her too short pants and skeleton PJ top) to feed the ducks.  They have been pretty friendly but they can pinch a little when they grab the bread.  Abby liked thought it was funny, luckily. 

A Perfect Party

Happy birthday to Edwin!

Lots of fun games...

Cupcakes

 

and ice cream!

Date Night (and day)

Heidi volunteered to take the kids one day over spring break while her hubby was out of town.  So we jumped on the opportunity for the kids to have their first sleepover!  Matt and I had an awesome date night ( and breakfast).  We slept in together until 7 for the first time since Abby was born and ironically the kids slept in at Heidi's...go figure!  Abby slept in until 7  and she had to wake up Zack at 9:15....SERIOUSLY?!!!  At home he is usually going down for another nap since he would have been up since 5- I am obviously doing something wrong. 

The kids look like they had a blast, which is no surprise.

Rub a dub dub

All ready for bed!

Matt and I stayed in Ko'Olina and did happy hour at the Ihilani and walked back to Roy's for dinner since we had gift cards from Matt's parents for our birthday so we had a joint birthday dinner:). Thanks Bill and Mar!  It was such a perfect night and even better to sleep in after a night out. 

Happy Hour:)

I just love the sky after sunset...so pretty!

I even got a new haircut:)

We walked the lagoons this morning and actually read the paper...amazing. After breakfast Matt hung the mirrors and frames so I finally feel like we are getting settled in our new place without boxes and piles of things to put away.

Going Green

We started off St Patrick's day right- with some green pancakes! 

 After breakfast we met up with the crew at lagoon 4 to see the Shinsky family. 

Matt helped us get all of our stuff there and headed out for some March Madness and St. Paddy's day fun with the guys.  I came home from the beach to this and I just thought it was so cute!

 Zack wanted to get in the spirit with avocados and the spinach concoction baby food that ended up all over his face. 

 Abby was playing catch with Zack...I was in the other room and I heard her saying, "ready, set, go" over and over and I walked in to see her throwing the ball too (at) him:). Pretty cute.

 

Steph and I had decided to take the kids downtown and go to dinner to celebrate St. Patrick's day since we were without our hubbies so while I was waiting what else was I to do but have a photo shoot...my poor kids! 

 They basically run away from the camera so I have a lot of their backs:(

It is nearly impossible to get a picture of the two of them together.

Abby loves to jump!

Zack loves to put things in his mouth.

Oh, and finally dinner...Jenn and the girls made it down too, which was perfect but always entertaining when  the kids out number the adults 2 to 1!  We actually had a nice dinner and the kids were great but you know it is a busy dinner when you can't even finish a small beer over the course of an evening:).

Uh-oh

Zack has mastered the uh-oh game! He loves to drop food and say uh-oh!

The Bathing Suit

I bought Abby's first bathing suit when she was 2 months old.  Hard to believe, I know!  When she grew out of it I got the same suit for a gift in the next size up.  For her first year she wore the same suit pretty much all the time.  Over the last year she has worn many other suits but now that she is out of diapers (hopefully, for good!) and her suits are too big.  So I dug out her old 6-12 month suit and it fit perfectly.  Of course, I had to take pictures and make a collage:).

Our New Favorite Place

I have been coming to Ko'olina since I moved to Hawai'i in 2003 and Matt and I have loved to come walk, picnic and enjoy the lagoons as often as we could. 

I came for lots of pool days and weekly walks with Lisa and some on my own so the beauty and the fun of Ko'olina is no surprise...it is exactly why we moved here.

The big surprise, however, has been the pool.  It is 50 feet from our place and so much fun!  I forgot how much I missed having a pool to use whenever I wanted.  The kids are loving the water and getting so comfortable in it.  I have also found some time to sneak away and lay by the pool, which is so relaxing!  We also have a hot tub behind our unit so we have gone down there a few times too.

Zack has really taken to the water and "swims" all over the pool in his floaty.

Here are some pictures of our new favorite place...

 Jenn and Heidi came over today with the kids and we had a blast even though it sprinkled here and there- we had the pool basically to ourselves.

An Evening Stroll

I have been taking full advantage of the walking paths around our complex and around the lagoons.  I love getting up and being able to throw the kids in the stroller and get some exercise and fresh air.  

The golf course and Roy's is a short walk through the complex so Abby and I took a stroll to feed the ducks after dinner.  We walked on all the walls and climbed all the rocks possible along the way, too. 

A Snapshot of Abby at 2 1/4

Our little girl is 2 1/4. If you have spent any amount of time with her you know she charges life full on. She runs with no regard to what may be in her path, falls often and usually jumps right up with a smile. She is CLUMSY. It's endearing and just part of who she is. She is charming, curious and enjoys learning new things. She loves her daddy's appreciation of her daily outfits and hair dos. She WILL throw up on you if she gets upset and you make her do something she does not want to do. She is starting to get more comfortable in the water. She loves the sand. Potty training is a roller coaster...not the fun kind! She is learning to share and not whine or demand. We are learning to let her just have her way some time when it doesn't matter. Deep breaths are a must. Luckily, Abby has the most radiant smile that is contagious. She is a fabulous shopping partner. I look at her and wonder what she will be like in the years to come.   Zack and her can make each other laugh and giggle endlessly. She is a two year old battling independence and dependence and I love to see her grow daily!

372 Months!

Also known as 31 years...Happy birthday to Matt!  Out of all the things to do on the island, Matt chose to spend his birthday at the aquarium so the kids could enjoy it too.  He is such an awesome dad!

The kids had a love hate experience at the aquarium.  They were awe struck by the fish but pretty scared to be in the new and dark environment.  They didn't let either of get too far away:)

Matt loves Coldstone (really, who doesn't?) so we walked over and had Coldstone after lunch.  Abby was in heaven as you can see from her huge grin and mouth full of ice cream:).

We still had some time in the afternoon and since we have zoo passes we headed across the street to for a quick trip to check out some animals and play on the playground.

To top off the evening we had our old neighbor come stay with the kids as they slept and we went out with the Buelows for drinks at Roy's, dinner at Just Tacos and we finished the night in the hot tub!  It was a great adult night out and a perfect way to celebrate Matt's birthday.

Martinis at Roy's

Bottoms up boys!

Go figure..I forgot to get a picture of the birthday boy and me:(

Annual Tsunami Party

About 8:30 Matt told me there was a major earthquake in Japan and my first thought was back to the tsunami scare last year.  We joked about evacuation but really didn't take it seriously at all!  Knowing the first wave was supposed to hit around 3 a.m.,  we went to bed and set our alarms for 1:45 to reassess the situation.  It was still set to hit so we packed up a few things, woke up the kids and headed up the hill to the Buelows (our evacuation site). 

Our annual tsunami party was a little smaller this year but still quite eventful.  We arrived around 2 a.m and joined the Buelows, Jenn, Makaela and Mia and the 3 dogs.  We watched the news until about 4 and luckily not much happened.  Everyone (except Zack and I) went to sleep for a few hours.  Zack was wide awake which meant that I had to try and keep my eyes open.  To avoid waking everyone up we went out to the car and payed and waited until 5 so I could go to a store and get COFFEE!!!

Since the kids got a regular night sleep they were all up around 6 so the party really got going!  Mark made us breakfast and then the guys went golfing ( luckily the golf course they had planned to go to was inland so it was still open) and the girls and kids waited around for the roads to open up.  At 8:30 we got cleared and we headed happily home.

This year we had 3 more babies... I was 8 months pregnant with Zack last year wondering if he was ever going to sleep in his room that I had just finished decorating for him.

We went for a walk in the afternoon around the lagoons and you could really see a difference.  The water was really low  but you could see the rings where the water almost made it to the grass!

We are very thankful that it was so minor and our hearts ache for all those suffering in Japan right now!  We also appreciate our gracious hosts for taking us in in the middle of the night.  That is what you call awesome friends!

Not Much Baby Left

Zack is 11 months old today!  I talked to my mom earlier this week and she had three words to describe Zack: gentle, strong, quiet and sweet.  I would agree that these are pretty good descriptors of our little Zack.

I had to also add curious.  Our little guys is loving the one story and all the new places he can discover.  I have to remember to keep bathroom doors closed because her loves water if you catch my drift.

He free stands every once in a while but isn't too excited about walking just yet.  He has 7 teeth now!  4 fully in and another 3 that have just recently popped.  Surprise, surprise...he has curls.  I can't believe I have 2 curly haired babies.

His personality is developing so much.  He and Abby love to play around and he seems to get it. Rather than just getting tossed around he is in on the fun.  He laughs and likes to wrestle with everyone.  As he becomes more mobile he has more bonks and bruises. He is good snuggler but when he wants to move there is no holding him back.  Getting him changed is like wrestling and octopus.  I finally let him play in the sand had to just let him "eat" sand eventually he will realize it isn't food, right?

He is starting his transition to 1 nap a day and really getting over his bottles...I think I am more attached than he is.  I still think he says up, mama,  and dada but these could be disputed:)

Random Fun This Week

Here are some fun pictures from the week. 1.  Zack and Abby playing with chalk on the lanai...too messy for me but fun for a minute.  2. Beating up daddy to before work to prep him for the abuse he takes from middle schoolers. 3. Story time with Abby in her big girl bed. 4. Bath time fun with the munchkins.

A Beachy Weekend

We had a very busy and fun weekend.  Luckily, I got to spend some time working on my paper when Zack slept and Matt and Abby went to see the dinosaurs because the rest of the weekend was jam packed with tons of fun! 

After the the crew got home from museum we BBQ'd at the pool.  The hot tub is not too hot so the kids enjoy running between it and the sand bottom pool.

Uncle Mark and Zack getting ready for the pool.

Abby's bed got lots of use this weekend!  The kids crashed out after a long day.

Bright and early we met the Buelows at the beach for another fun filled day!

The kids have been having so much fun in the water..I love it! 

 

All alone in the ocean.  

 

My little beach bums:)

 

Zack and Dylan playing in the water. Such big boys!

Steph and Dylan playing in the lagoons.

P.S.I can tell we spent a good amount of time with the Buelows this weekend when Abby asked me when Uncle Mark was coming home.

P.P.S.Can you tell I was playing around with the photo editing tools?  I obviously have NO idea what I am doing:)