Maui

Kava was practically a local in Maui. Actually, they all were! The boys loved the fact that they could go to a restaurant with out a shirt on.

                                                         eating sans tank top

                                                             food truck in Kihei

gosh, i miss maui as i type this.  the best parts of the trip were the kids getting along and playing together. the boys would fall asleep in the car, windows down, reggae on the radio. it was so sweet.

we did visit a farm on maui (hence kava take a pic by the Taro sign). the oldies like that. we rode around on a tram and saw different types of plants/nuts. they opened a coconut for us right there. rather easily too ;)

Hawaii 2014

The onset to summer 2014 was tough. My dad had his kidney removed due to a tumor (8.5 lbs!- that’s bigger than most babies!).  But, luckily he came out well and recovered.

The one thing we looked forward to after the bad news was a family trip to Hawaii. We had so much fun.

We went to Maui and spent most of our time at the beaches. We went to a new beach every day. Our favorite was Napili Bay Beach. They had the best waves. We just put the kids in a tube and the waves pushed them back and fourth. Kava was a pro, wasn't scared at all.

Some pictures below taken at Aloha Mix Plate restaurant where they we had dinner.

I loved the swap meet because they had the best guava butter. yes, i said it. Random post.

knotts berry farm for kava!

seems like we started a bit of a tradition. Knotts Berry Farm for 4th birthdays :) unfortunately, ate couldn't /wouldn't miss school due to her band performance and just plain ole middle school homework. so it was just the boys and me.

so glad kainoa came. he was the best big brother. he made sure kava got on and off the rides ok. he went on all the kiddie rides too. for some reason out of the 3, kainoa loves the roller coasters the most.

but this day, he knew it was kava's day so he played big brother. 

started off the birthday boy's day with the traditional presents and breakfast. then we were off.

He ended the day going to farrell's ice cream. it was the perfect day fore us :)

**quick notes: right now kava's new best friend is now his daddy. i am totally not in the picture. he refuses to sleep with us now :( he prefer's anyone's bed but ours. one night we even saw him sleeping on the couch by himself. he says his dad 'nores' too much. he is not big on food.. just snacking and maybe one large meal. for now.. hope that changes. he's getting pretty tall, to me. he is super funny. talks a lot in circles and still has a lisp. this went by way too fast. he's too independent... 

Kava Boy turns 4!

Well, if i'm posting now a days it's a birthday or a special occasion (bad mommy). tomorrow is a special day though. kava turns 4! let's see, around this time 4 years ago i was debating weather or not i was in labor. was i having contractions or just braxton hicks (which i think are dumb). turns out i was in labor. kava was probably my hardest birth. i always say that. i pushed him out so hard i bruised his face and his nose was swollen :( i can't believe in a year he'll be off to pre-k. makes me so sad. sad that i haven't spent as much time with him as i'd like. sad that he's growing right before my eyes and i don't even know how to preserve all the memories.

kava you are so full of life! you have the craziest, silliest faces, the cutest lisp, the hardest head -_-. life sure would be a snooze fest if you weren't around. you're full of surprises. like the time we thought you would never learn the alphabet/numbers and to our surprised you spit a-z out and counted to 30. or the time you dug up worms and a lizard and tried to keep them alive in a bowl. you are so boy. if there is dirt with in 3 feet you are in it. you sit down and just start digging. you have a favorite spot in the yard that you just dig and dig. well guess what, this year daddy and i got you a shovel and a watering can. so you can just dig away! the dirt ends up all over your face/hands/body. you're grossly dirty and sweaty most of the time. but, we wouldn't have it any other way. you always say ,'what?' when we look at you oddly. like you are suppose to be that dirty....

you are such a lover though. you loooove your brother and sister. in fact you always say call us your 'families'. you'll tell grandma, 'i missth my familiesth'. geeze i hope when you read this you grow out of that cute lisp.

kava we love you so much. so glad you have made our life full of surprise and joy. never stop seeing the world the way you do. full of life, adventure, and bit of mischief.. not too much though. ;)

happy birthday, my love! more to come after your fun filled day.

#proud

Stepped back and realized today how proud i am of my kids.

Kainoa won a DJ party at school today because he sold a lot of cookie dough. He was the only one in his class who won. As a prize, he got to go to a DJ party (think dance). Hours were from 1 to 2:15 pm. He tells me he was shy because he didn't know anyone. But after  few snacks, he said he danced the entire time. He tells me he was really happy because he knew almost all of the songs and had a good time. I was so proud of him for overcoming his shyness and making the best out of what could have been a bad situation. I really doubt I would've enjoyed myself at a party if I didn't know anyone. Kainoa on the other hand just did what he loved- danced!

To add to his great day, he had baseball practice at the batting cages. He was so scared of the fast pitch and was nervous because his normal partner (dad) wasn't there. He cried and told me he wanted to go home. He wanted to quit baseball. But, I asked him to just try it and see if it was something he could do. After a bit of pep talking and bribery he batted. He was horrible, hitting only one ball. Again, he cried and wanted to leave. I said, just try one more time. Being a good boy, he did.  He did better. The 3rd time, even better. At the end of practice, coach told him he did a good job. Kainoa was so proud of himself. He felt great for not quitting and for sticking it out. I was suuuper proud. He had a great day!

Here's my boy at open house. Doing well in school and finding out who he is as a young man. Proud!

Proud of this little lady too :)

Got her 2nd semester report card and she got all A's and 2 B's. But, that's not the best part. She improved in every subject.  Kyks is becoming such a great young lady.

Also, her team finally won a tournament! Rock Star Cup 2014 champs. Good job, ate! Proud!

And of course this little dude. He will start PRE K in march.... Sad. But yet, Proud! He's crazy but super loveable. Make me PROUD in school little man!! 3 years old here. :) he thought he looked so cool because of his hair do. lol

we love you guys and you guys will always make mommy and daddy PROUD. xo

Summer 2013

I can't believe i didn't even blog the beach house trip! We had a great time in San Diego summer 2013. These kids were in the water every day the entire trip. They boogie boarded (big kids), made sand castles, dug holes (kava), made s'mores... basically relaxed. it was so nice just us. the kids were forced  enjoying each others company since it was just the 3 of them. It was so nice to see them all get along. We plan to make this an annual trip since we had such a nice time.

Hurry summer 2014!!!