15SEP13

Like our other babies David is pretty much still bald.  However, he was growing quite a bit of hair on the back more than the front.  After a few (rude!) comments from "friends" I decided to give him his first haircut when I cut the girls for their first day of school! (Don't worry I'm kidding I love my friends and I'm not mad! :)) I wasn't sure how he would react to the clippers but he LOVED them!  He was smiling and giggling (and chewing on a brush under his cape) the whole time.  Ryan play photographer and the first haircut was a success! I hope he continues to be easy with haircuts.  I was trying to get the cute video of him giggling to upload but it's not working so pictures will have to do...  

 

 

10SEP13

My sweet Alexis is 8 years old.  This 8 year old has turned into such a sweet, beautiful, kind, slightly emotional girl.  She is passionate about so many things and doesn't love when things don't go according to plan.  She is incredibly creative and is always makes up games, stories, and activities for her, Ryan, and any friends who are willing to go along with it.  She LOVES to help with David and he loves to let her help him!  She still loves to read.  She will read anything she can and any chance she gets.  We love this girl that made us parents for the very first time and couldn't be more proud of who she is becoming.

 

Her birthday was pretty easy to plan since she basically did all the planning herself.  She picked the decorations, invited Eric and Anya over, decided what beach we were going to in the morning, planned the games, and told me what kind of cake she wanted (chocolate with chocolate!)  She knows what she wants.

 

On her actual birthday we had to have our birthday waffles but decided to do them for dinner so Trav could be there.  We invited the Holtgrewe's since Nate was in the field and then unfortunately Travis had to work late.  Lexi didn't mind that it was just us and the Holtgrewe's! 

 

That Saturday she wanted to go to Turtle Cove (That's what we call it.) They love to look for crabs, fish, and of course turtles. After soccer (for Ryan) and dance for Anya the Holtgrewe's came back over for a BBQ and party. We ate and then played the requested games.  First up was Lexi's self made game pin the wings on the fairy (so cute she even made the wings with everyone's name on it!)  and after that was musical chairs.  After that was presents with books and squinkies being the star of that show.  If she wants to continue planning her parties from now on I will not argue.  Happy Birthday my wonderful Alexis! I love you forever!

 

06SEP13

The month of July was probably my favorite so far in Hawaii.  With Travis being off work we got to do a LOT of exploring.  We also did a lot of just hanging which we all need sometimes!

 

David will climb on any chair (or get help from his sister) and he just leans on back and gets comfy!

I will never tire of walking in on scenes like this.

Travis says to me when I got out of the shower and he was "watching" David, "ummm don't worry I got a picture."  HAHA Thanks babe it only took me about 25 minutes to put them all back in order.  You can NEVER have too many books!

He thinks he's pretty funny.

We played a LOT of Uno.  Even David.

This is how the girls block David from getting to the TV.  It worked for the most part...

Ryan and I got to have a mother/daughter date.  She was THRILLED!

05SEP13

After we hiked Koko Head we went to brunch, came home took a nap (Aw naps when you want not when kiddos are down!) woke up, went to dinner followed by a movie!  The next day we slept in (okay only till about 7:30... I believe that's a sign of being old sleeping in is getting harder and harder!) and headed out again.  Travis found out about this Island called Goat Island (no idea why it's called that?!) It's basically a mini island that you have to swim (during high tide) or walk through the water (during low tide.)  In the middle of the island is a bird sanctuary.  We hit it during low tide and walked right on over (there were only 2 other groups of people there and that was at 2 different times while we were there!) 

 

It was so beautiful and we felt like we had this whole island to ourselves.  We walked around the perimeter and took about a 100 pictures so you're welcome for narrowing it down!  After we walked around Trav wanted to go over to another section and I wanted to do my favorite beach thing, lay in the sun!!  I was a little jealous when he told me he found a seastar but he was nice enough to bring it back for me to check out too.  Ummm ya I would live here FOREVER!!!

 

 

That's the island from the shore.  It's hard to tell but when you're walking across the waves are going 3 different directions which is pretty cool if you ask me. 

Loved watching the waves hit the rocks.

This was the far side of the island. 

I loved this part.



One of the birds we saw nesting.

This was the middle of the island. The bird sanctuary.



This is the picture Trav took of me when we went exploring and I lounged.

Here is the picture I took of him.  That rocky area is where he was exporing.



And where he found the seastar!

Such a freaking awesome weekend!!  Thanks again to the Holtgrewe's for watching the kiddos!!

We finished our weekend with a trip to Giavoni's shrimp truck.  It's supposed to be the best one on the island and it was GOOD but I'm gonna have to try a few more and I'll let you know which is the favorite.  We got one of each thing they had.  Spicy, butter, and garlic, plus a garlic soaked hot dog.  My favorite was the garlic by FAR!

Great weekend with a great guy.  Here's to 70 more years together!

05SEP13

Second on the agenda was Koko Head.  Koko Head was on my mind for a while.  Travis did it (twice) with his work, then Bryatt did it (2.5 times) when they came to visit, then Cristine and Nate did it!  I couldn't be left out and this was the time to do it!  It was tough I'm not going to lie.  It is 1,048 UNEVEN steps to the top. I say uneven because that makes it harder to get into a groove while you're going up.  The elevation gain is 1,200 feet. Totally worth it.  Great work out with great pay off views.  Someday before we leave Hawaii I am GOING to go up it twice in a row just to be cool like Trav!

 

 

From a distance

From the bottom.  The pictures do not do the steepness justice! :)

This is the "bridge."  I was nervous as you can see others were also.  The railroad ties are not stable and there is a good drop below you.  I went on it going up but on the way down it started raining so I decided to cheat and went off to the side a where you can kind of hike around the bridge (the bridge is only about 20 steps or so.)

So worth it.  Glad we got going early because it got HOT!

Hawaii Kai.  SOOO pretty!!

More of Hawaii Kai. I have mixed feelings on living this close to the water! That's also Diamond Head in the far middle of the picture.

Koko Head Crater

Hanauma Bay (I love this view but I am so excited to blog theviews from when we hiked the ridge of Hanauma Bay with the kids!

A little panoramic!

Love this man.  And so happy we are on this adventure called Life together!!

Who's doing this with me twice next time??

05SEP13

After we had Anya and Eric for the weekend the kids had one night alone and then all 3 of my kiddos went over to Nate and Cristine's for TWO WHOLE NIGHTS!  Travis and I had a fantastic stay-cation.  We started it out with a dinner on the beach at Longboards and then walked up the road to another little natural lagoon in Ko Olina.  This one doesn't have a very big beach area but it is really pretty and not crowded.  We made it just before sunset and it was such a great night.  This was the beginning of a beatiful 11 year anniversary weekend!  More to come...