North Shore!

The North Shore is one of my favorite places on the island and a must on any Oahu vacation and we love heading up there to enjoy it with our visitors.  We rented 2 kayaks with my parents and spent an hour cruising up and down the canal and in the ocean.

 The other kayak got stuck in a tree and grandma ended up taking a dip.  She was such a trooper and jumped right back in and enjoyed the rest of the day even though she was a little damp.

 Zack had ample water to fill up his squirt gun and get everyone else wet.  He had a blast- Matt no so much:).

 After kayaking we headed to "Matt's Beach".  I actually have no idea what the beach is called but it is the beach that we used to go to all the time when Matt lived in Haleiwa.  It is so calm in the summer and so serene.  We all played in the sand and water all afternoon and worked up and appetite for lunch at Cholo's and shave ice.

Grandpa hiding from the sun:)

Traveling

Since November either Matt or I have traveled to the mainland for work conferences. This year we have traveled more than ever in our 9 years combined.  We have been to some pretty cool places and gone to great conferences.  The kids have handled it great and so have the adults, thankfully:).  Last week I was in Sacramento for the AVID conference and we keep in touch with lots of pictures and facetime!

Matt sent me this picture of Zack yelling, "Hi Mommy, Hi Mommy!" to the airplanes.  Sweetest thing ever!

visiting the capitol

 The best part of my Sacramento trip was seeing my Aunt Lori and my cousins and my newest little second niece (or whatever) Hartlee.  We had a great sushi dinner and loved catching up!

In memory of Grandma Ginny

We bought these floats 5 years ago in August when my mom and Grandma came to visit.  Grandma Ginny thought it looked so fun to float around the lagoons.  We never actually used the floats so we made sure to blow them up this visit.  The kids loved them and my mom, who is now the grandma, floated around for Great Grandma Ginny who we all miss dearly. 

A week with Grandma Lori and Grandpa Don

This has been a fun and packed summer.  We have loved having visitors to distract us form the move.  I can't even keep track anymore of what happened when and where so here are some pictures of my parents' trip:).

watching the small DVD player

shopping with dad

haircut time

ice cream is a must with grandparents:)

I love this picture!!!

Happy 4th!

monkey in training

it is very hard to cook around here...maybe that is why I gave it up:)

special drinks at Duke's

Yummy!

silly!

in the way to Longboards for dinner

brushing teeth

Matt and my dad golfing in Kaneohe

Ko olina Beach Night

On one of my parents' last nights in Hawaii we made it down to the beach in time for the sunset and it turned out to be a very full night.  We played at the beach for a while and ended up making our way into the Disney hotel to watch the Lion King on the big screen in the grass.  I couldn't resist taking a bazillion pictures of the kids and their grandparents:).  Matt was at home craigslisting away (thanks babe!).

Climbing the tree!  Zack screamed, "I did it!"  Thanks Pa for the lift:)

LOVE them and that they adore each other:)

The kids loved the movie and sat through the entire thing.  It was fun to see them enjoy the movie and the experience.

Mauka to Makai

We had a blast checking off our bucket list with my parents.  We spent one day hiking in the mountains and then made our way to Waikiki.  We had lunch at Duke's, enjoyed a afternoon Mai Tai Cruise ( one of my favorites) which was the kids first boat ride on the water, and an afternoon splashing in the surf.  An amazing day!

they crew was fishing and caught a nice ahi.  The kids were very concerned that the fish "got blood".  Matt handled that one.

Happy Birthday, USA

 

Grandma Lori & Grandpa Don brought lots of festive 4th of July attire to celebrate USA's birthday.  Abby is always excited for birthdays (because if the cake) and this one didn't disappoint.  

We celebrate with the guys from Matt's softball team.  We had a great afternoon and walked to the beach to watch the fireworks but we were all exhausted so we walked back to the car when and caught the fireworks on our way home from the car which proved to be a perfect viewing spot! 

Two Weeks Left

It's official.  We are leaving paradise and moving back to the mainland.  We have been planning for this to happen- selling the house, renting for the last year etc. but the reality of it is still not quite settling in.  We are excited but also know that it will certainly come with challenges.

Matt was offered a job at High Tech High in San Diego.  He will be teaching the 9th grade math and physics line and we just found out that they had been looking for 6 months to fill the position with hundreds of applicants and Matt got the job.  We are so proud of him and looking forward to the next chapter in our lives. 

I could go on for years about what we will miss in Hawaii, but mostly it is our friends and our lifestyle that can never be replicated.  We have been so fortunate to have an amazing ohana in the Islands but we know that, for our family, moving to San Diego is the right thing to do.  There are also so many conveniences and opportunities and we can't wait to explore San Diego with our kids and enjoy a new place.  First on the list: Hanging out with family, Padres game, road trips, seeing the Ducotes in August! and so much more!  Oh yeah, and hopefully me getting a job is somewhere in there!?

In the meantime, we are enjoying our guests (my parents just left and the Rossellos are here now) and the island, going back to work for 2 weeks and packing up some boxes to ship and basically selling everything we own:).  Wish us luck!

A Hawaiian Baby Luau

I have always heard about the BIG 1st birthday parties in Hawaii but have never had the pleasure until we were invited to my coworker's daughter's first birthday a few weeks ago.  The family rented out a banquet hall and there were about 300 people.  The kids were entertained by magicians, balloon makers, face painters, bounce houses and a emcee to make the whole day run smoothly.  The kids had a blast and baby Morgan had a wonderful celebration of her first year.  She is a very special little girl! 

A & Z

I just found these pictures on my camera of A & Z from the 1st day of summer.  They were being silly for the camera on the way to Abby's preschool luau and then they posed so nicely. 

My love bugs!

Keeping up with the Kiddos

We have been staying very busy with blocks, and finger painting and  pools and beaches and walks and parks and....anything else that entertains busy 2 and 3 year olds.  Lots of pictures of the kiddos.

We love the more private spa behind our house

getting dirty!

cool dude:)

Shower time at 8 a.m because finger painting got too messy

probably watching Diego

watering daddy's herbs

more finger painting...not sure he likes it on his hands yet

art gone wrong!  I was behind them organizing stuff and they were talking so nicely and having a blast I never saw what they were drawing on:)  Luckily it came right off...ooops

one of their new favorite toys

brushing teeth on their mathcing stools from Grandpa Martin

taking some time out to catch up on emails:)

lounging...

and loving:)