Party Weekend

Last weekend, the girls attended Kenzie's Red Egg Ginger Party.  She is a cutie with a full set of hair!

Bella snapped a picture with her friend, Devin at the lunch.  It's always hard to get a pic of the kids looking at the camera.

Later that day, the girls were invited to Eshaan's birthday at Safari Run.  Katelyn worked up a sweat going up and down the jungle gym and slide.  In this picture are most of the children from Katelyn's class and their siblings.

There was a toddler area, but Bella was not interested.  She wanted to play where all the big kids were.  She especially had fun going down the slide with Daddy.  Excuse the blurry pic.  It just shows how fast the descent was.

Partying continued on Sunday for Ashley's 4th birthday.   There was a big selection of desserts to chose from.

Ashley and Katelyn are not only relatives, but have become such good friends.  Two years ago, they used to fight and argue over toys and now they get along really well and have a blast whenever they see each other.

Some of the grown-ups played mah jong at Ashley's party.  Bella helped Po Po hold her tiles.  It's time to start her young.  Tao Po taught Mommy how to play mah jong when she was a kid.

After the party, the girls went grocery shopping and sat in a race car shopping cart.  The seat belt didn't work.  Katelyn wanted to hold Bella to  keep her safe.

Mommy and Katelyn baked cookies one evening.  The girls sat in front of the oven watching the cookies rise.  Good thing the oven has a cooling temperature when you stand next to it, so the girls won't feel the heat. 

Bella could not keep her eyes off the cookies!

Mommy's favorite part of the day is when she picks up Bella and Katelyn from school.  Mommy opens the doors to Bella's classroom and she comes running to her and says, Mommy!  It's the best feeling!

Hawaiian Foodie Adventures

Oahu is known for all the delicious food.  The girls accompanied Daddy and Mommy on trying all the food the island had to offer. Marukame Udon is similar to cafeteria style where you order hot or cold udon, add toppings and then find a place to sit.  Inside the restaurant is always hot and the weather outside was already 90 degrees plus humidity.  Bella didn't seem to mind the sweat dripping down her face while enjoying her yummy bowl of udon. 

Uncle Richard recommended Ono Seafood.  According to the store sign, it has the best poke on Honolulu.  It lived up to it.  Shoyu poke over rice was pretty good, but Mommy thought the Hawaiian one was the best.

Bella doesn't eat raw fish.  She got an order of seaweed instead.  She's been getting better at using chopsticks.

The second day it poured rain.  Gung Gung suggested eating on the hotel property.   The girls experienced Benihana for the first time.   When the chef came to the table, Bella was scared of him and wanted to sit on Mommy's lap.  Katelyn thoroughly enjoyed the show.  She tried everything the chef put on her plate without being asked by Mommy to taste it.  If you recall, she is usually one picky eater.

Bella overcame her fear and was silly at dinner and made her lips pucker.  For some reason, she finds this hilarous.

A trip to Hawaii would not be complete without eating acai bowls, malassadas and shaved ice!

The flight home was full.  Katelyn wanted to sit with her grandparents.

Which meant Bella got her own seat and took full advantage of it.  She made herself comfortable with pillows and had a lap pillow for her puffs to snack on during the descent, so her ears wouldn't get plugged up.

Katelyn was extremely sad to leave.  She said, "I don't want to leave Hawaii!" Sadly none of us did...until next time Hawaii!

Oahu Memories

Majority of the trip, it was really cloudy like this picture.   It was pouring rain for 2 days.  Mommy and Daddy kept receiving messages on their phones for flash flooding warnings.  One local even said it was one of the worst storms he has seen in 40 years.

One the rainiest day, Daddy drove to the Dole plantation.  He thought it would be fun for the girls to ride the train, but Mommy knew he secretly wanted the Dole whip.  Before boarding the train, photographers took our picture.  Daddy snapped his own picture.

Katelyn was super attached to Po Po the entire trip and wanted to sit next to her.

Bella sat with Mommy.

Katelyn generally does not eat pineapple and didn't care for the Dole whip.  Bella, on the other hand, wanted to devour the whole thing.  Mommy had to cut her off.

All the tourists stood in line to take a picture with this pineapple including Mommy and Bella.  Katelyn was not interested.

Pineapple sighting!

Even though it rained, Katelyn would look out the window until the sun came out and said, "can we go to the pool now?" She liked the beach, but loved the pool more.

Bella kicked her legs inside her baby float.   She always tried to have Daddy or Mommy push her to where her big sister was in the pool.

At the beach, Katelyn and Bella decided to bury Daddy.  Daddy was a good sport, sand got everywhere especially on the back of his hair.  Maybe next time it's a good idea to lay his head on a towel first!

Bella wanted to hold Katelyn's hand all along the beach.  Pictures like this put a big smile on Mommy's face seeing the love between the two sisters. 

Bella rarely smiles in pictures, but you can tell how much fun Bella is having. 

Daddy and his little girl.

Mommy and Katelyn would write words on the sand, but Bella kept walking where they were written.

 Finally Mommy got a picture with the words.

Next up, our foodie adventures...

Aloha! We've Arrived!

Our family vacation this year was to Oahu.  Po Po and Gung Gung were nice enough to join the girls on the trip.  Here are the girls before take off.

The flight was not completely full.  The girls lucked out!  Bella got her own seat and studied the safety card, so she knew what to do in case there was an emergency.

Katelyn and Po Po found an empty row in the back of the plane.  Katelyn laid down and took a nap.  Bella took a 2 hour nap on the plane in Mommy's arms and had room to stretch her legs.

Mommy was apprehensive about the flight since Bella is pretty active.  She surprisingly did really well!  She constantly snacked and this play dough set kept her entertained for 45 minutes.  Thank you, Target!  Daddy found it in the dollar section!

The girls stayed at Hilton Hawaiian Village.  The hotel was really convenient with many shops and restaurants on the property.  On Friday night there was a fireworks show and on certain nights there was a big screen on the lawn for kids to watch a movie. 

The best part was, the beach was a 2 minute walk from our hotel!  Hang Loose!

Initially Bella was afraid of the waves, but once Mommy held her hand and dipped her feet in the water, Bella loved it.  She couldn't stop laughing.  She even got brave and tried to venture out to the water by herself.

Stayed tuned for more updates on our Hawaiian adventures.

Pre- K Officially Begins

September 1st was the official day Pre-K began at Katelyn's school.  Her teachers arranged the classroom to emulate a true first day experience to start the school year off.  Each student was sent home a picture to give to their parents.

Katelyn received a box of supplies to keep at school.  The box came with a ruler, paper, magnifying glass,  pencils and crayons.  She was excited to show Mommy and Daddy.

During the school year, the children will focus on writing sentences.  Each student also got a writing journal.

Bella does not want to sit in her high chair these days.  She wants to feel like a big girl and sit in a chair like the rest of her family.  Daddy set up her portable chair at the dinner table. 

The girls take frequent trips to the library living so close by.  Katelyn and Bella both picked a book for Daddy to read.

Bella and Katelyn walked around the city during Labor Day weekend.  Daddy bought some umbrella strollers for their upcoming vacation and wanted to see if the girls would sit in it.  Katelyn covered her eyes and said it was too bright.

The girls went to the Children's Creativity Museum at Yerba Buena Gardens for the first time.  Bella loved it especially climbing up the stairs and going down the slide over and over again.

She kept busy for 20 minutes putting these magnetic shapes on the wall.

There was some sticky material at the art table.  Bella broke it into pieces and made little balls.  The older kids around her used it to make different animals.

 K liked the foam block area.   She used the blocks to build herself this castle.

Katelyn and Bella had a blast touching a screen with colorful moving shapes.  They couldn't stop laughing together.

It's been a struggle putting her into the car seat.  She will immediately stand when she is put in.  She has been forward facing for a month already.  Mommy was hoping she would like the car seat more being able to see things, but she is still not a fan.  Most days she has to be forced in with tears streaming down her face.  What are the chances, Mommy has two girls that hate the car seat!!   Mommy keeps telling herself, her strong willed girls will be leaders when they grow up! LOL!