Hawaii!!!

Okay, so I have some catch-up posts to do from the summer. (yes, technically it's still summer, but school has started so that means 'summer' is over, if you know what I mean.) This is the first of what will be a several posts (hopefully, if I get to them in a timely manner), that let you know what adventures we've been up to this summer.

Anyway, while this blog is mainly for the kiddos, I had such an AMAZING adventure this summer, that I have to share a few pictures from it. I got to go to HAWAII, by myself(!!!!) to meet up with 4 of my friends from college. A gigantic thank you to Jason, Grandma, Popop, and Grammy for helping out with the girls so I could go. It was wonderful. I won't bore you with too many details, just some photos, mainly of the lovely landscapes and places we played. And maybe, if I can convince Jason to share, I'll be able to share with you some of the blog he put together for me to keep informed about life at home while I was gone (entitled, while Mommy's away.)

Anyway, the pics:

I was 'lei'd' by my friends when I arrived after a 15 hour journey.

This is Haena beach, or Tunnels. we could walk to it. that mountain ridge was used as Bali Hai in South Pacific I think!

gorgeous valley view

sunset on our beach

group shot as we watched the sun set

view while hiking to Queen's Bath

turtle in the water near Queen's Bath

Queen's Bath, we had a blast swimming here!

 

giant mollusk on the path to the beach

river that we paddleboarded on (so fun!)

can you spot the waterfalls? this is up in the mountains near our beach

our linai, the best spot on the house. We ate here for every meal we were home.

shave ice! Yum! (tried it a different day with macadamia nut ice cream underneath. surprisingly delicious!)

the Napali coast - where we did an awesome hike

happy (hot) hikers

we hiked down to that beach

at the beach. there was a fresh water river (in front of the cairns), boulder hopping, and a lovely beach.

rainbow at Hanalee Bay. This is where we took a surf lesson (not in the harbor part).

I think this was Secret Beach - and there were more lava pools and a water fall nearby that we loved.

our beach as rains from Flossie roll in

We pretty much stayed on the North Shore and had a great time. But on our last day there, when Adie needed to catch a plane around lunchtime, we headed to the south side to hang out before the rest of left in the evening. We did our best to fit in as much sight seeing as possible - we even managed to shower! 

Lumahai Beach, where South Pacific was filmed (in much better weather!)

 

Opaekaa Falls (I think) - just drive up and look at it! no time for hiking near it

spouting horn on the south side. fun to watch.

view near where we showered at a public park shower before heading to the airport

 And that captures just a little bit of my wonderful trip to Hawaii. I had a blast and would love to go back again, though I doubt it will be any time soon. The girls like to ask it we might all go to Hawaii sometime. I know they would have fun, but it'd be a very different trip! Hopefully someday!

one final view of our beach; yes, yes I enjoyed my time here!

Two Big Moments for the Two Year Old

We did manage to celebrate Molly's birthday finally. We just had Grandma and Popop over - too much else going on to have a big party. We went with a pizza and fish theme - two of Molly's favorite things! The cake turned out really cute because of (or in spite of) my fabulous helpers!

my decorating crew

notice the hand sneaking in to catch a fish....

Molly had a great time opening presents. The older two had less of a great time. Apparently Molly got amazing presents, even for older kids, and they had a very hard time letting Molly do the opening and be the one to play with the presents. Luckily then the cake was shared with everyone.

Molly and her pile-o-presents

her new backpack!

the very popular new baby doll who drinks herself to sleep, complete with a burp

Molly did much better trying to blow the candles on the cake, as compared with her birthday sundae a couple days ago. She wasn't much more successful, but she did get the concept of puckering up and blowing! We'll work on the wish part next year! And then the eating of the cake was done with great gusto. No hesitation about cake and frosting like when she turned one! She has had a whole year of being introduced to sweets thanks to her baking momma and her two older sisters. If she sees them clamoring for something, no matter what it is, she wants some too!

trying to blow out the candles

more fish!

notice the wound above her right eye - hit the bed frame right before the party got started!

And then the second big moment was this past week when Molly got to go to school for the first time! She was very excited to carry her own school bag, and then dutifully took it into her classroom and stuck it in a cubby (even though she was supposed to hang it up on a hook in the hallway!) She did cry though when she realized I wasn't coming in with her! When I picked her up an hour later, she was a little red eyed, and had 'stolen' a baby doll (she was clutching it so tightly, they said we could bring it back next time!), she did say she had had fun. And she was okay about going on Thursday too. It might take a few more days, but I think she will learn to love school just like her sisters! (By the way, Eliza started too and loves her new class. No problem changing schools and meeting new friends. Yay!)

posing while waiting for H's ride to school

silly faces! (M has to check out what in the heck H and E are doing!)

sad faces (H isn't very convincing, but E's lip is impressive!)

my three amazing girls

busting a move

our preschool girls, ready to go!

Molly is TWO!!!

Two years ago today, actually right about this time, I was in the depths of labor as I had finally turned to pitocin in an effort to get Molly to arrive. (but no drugs mind you, so I was feeling a little bit rough, to say the least!) And now here I am, having just attended a preschool orientation for MOLLY (and Eliza as well.) How time flies!

Today Molly turned two and we had a fun time celebrating her. There is still more celebration to come since the preschool orientation kept us from having her birthday dinner and presents. Friday will be a fun evening too! But today we celebrated Molly by waking her with balloon play, feeding her raspberries and strawberries for breakfast, letting her play for a long time at the playground in the mall, taking her out to lunch (complete with her very own ice cream sundae), and just generally appreciating her awesomeness even more than usual. Plus she wore a birthday girl shirt. It was a good day!

birthday girl wake up

not even out of the crib and she's ready for balloons!

nose wrinkles with daddy

birthday snuggles with my no-longer-a-baby baby

look mom! I can stand on the fish!

so fast! (I didn't even mean to get E in the shot, but it worked perfectly!)

she's ready to set sail

birthday sundae, all for her (usually she has to share)

attempting to blow out the candle

eager to dig in!

want some Popop?

lucky Eliza got a sundae too

birthday girl on bus duty

birthday girl selfie! (well, she wasn't holding the camera. arms too short!)

As an update, bus riding went GREAT. This is a second bus ride smile.

walking back home from the bus stop. Molly insisted on holding Hayden's hand.

It's so amazing to think how much they change in just two years. From teeny tiny blob that we had to practically torture to keep awake enough to eat, to a walking, talking, climbing, silly little girl that brightens our day, every single day. 

Happy Birthday Molly!

First Day of First Grade

It's official. Summer is over. Hayden started back to school yesterday. She is in FIRST GRADE! Yikes!

ready for school

can you believe the 1st day was cool enough for hoodies?!

little sister hugs

some little sisters didn't want a hug

 She was a bit nervous in the morning, but greeted me after school with a big smile and lots of happiness. It was a good first day. Today she is riding the bus home in the afternoon for the very first time and she was REALLY nervous about that. Let's hope it goes well!

We celebrated the first day of school by stopping by Locopops on the way home to grab a treat (cookies-n-cream for H, creamy lime for E, and salted caramel for me and Molly - YUM). She didn't have too much to say (too busy enjoying her locopop!) but seemed excited for the new year.

cookies and cream is the best way to say happy first day!

sitting on the bike rack post snack

 Hope you and yours have a good "first day of school" whenever that may be! Eliza and Molly start next week! They are excited!

bring it on first grade!

one more silly one, as I practice aperture for my photography class