Flashback: May 2011

May was a fun month.  We had a visit from Andrea's mom and got to have a lot of fun with her while she was here.  She taught all of us to use the sewing machine and I took on the serious project of sewing my own Aloha shirt!  Ruby sewed her own purse, and Tyson got a blanket and pillow case out of the deal. It was so fun and we all learned a lot!

This is a common site in our home.  Tyson is such a cuddle-bug and will snuggle with you for hours if you let him.  

I think this picture says it all about our children.

Tyson in his swim suit, ready to go diving with the goggles.  I don't know if there were plans to go to the beach that day or not but apparently Tyson wasn't taking "No" for an answer...

This is one of my favorite memories as a kid - rolling down a hill in my big Tonka Truck!  Awesome that Tyson loves it as much as I do!

This video cracks me up!  Ruby is nervous most of the way down and then laughs nervously when she finally reaches the bottom!

Here's the Police hat again, and Ruby reading to Tyson.

Tyson learned to stand on his head in May.  He learned this trick from Uncle Jeremiah.  He was so proud!

When Grandma Loli comes to visit it's a PARTY every day!!!

We visited the "Valley of the Temples" and fed the birds.

We ran the "Jamba Banana-Man 5k" race at Ala Moana beach park.  Ruby ran almost the whole thing, and then ran in the kids race right after we finished the 5k.  We had so much fun!!!

Ruby & Tyson have robes that they use after swimming at the beach.  Tyson usually is shivering so bad after swimming that it takes a few minutes for him to "warm-up".  These robes have come in super handy!

I got nothin'...

Ruby dance in the Spring Showcase for Ballet Hawaii in May.  She was a Blue Bird and LOVED being a part of Ballet.  We're taking a break from Ballet so it was nice for her to finish off with a fun activity like this!

Ruby is the proud and happy ballerina with her flower lei.

Flashback: April 2011 & New Stuff...

Ah, April!  It's fun to look back at these photos before I post them and remember what was going on then.  I feel like this year is absolutely SPEEDING by, so I'm glad we were able to capture some of it on [film].

I like to put a picture of the Months' signature food.  In April we made this Fried Rice that was super yummy!  

Ruby has always been a crazy sleeper, and sometimes we find that she doesn't sleep on her bad at all.

Like sister, like brother...

Our kids LOVE to read.  Even though Tyson can't read yet, he has memorized some of his favorite story books and reads them to himself sometimes.  It's very cute.

The kids visit the library quite often and sometimes it's nice to know what they would like beforehand.  Tyson does this all the time and it cracks us up!

Just as cute is when Ruby reads to Tyson.

See above... :)

Ruby got this nice dress and PINK shoes and couldn't wait to wear them.  She can't wait to wear ANY new clothes she gets, but the shoes she wore for several hours before we made her take them off.  She is definitely a Clothes Chic!

Tyson is learning new ways to use the bathroom....

The kids play dress-up every day and one of the cutest outfits Tyson wears is this one.  A diaper and the officer hat.   LOL!

A tire swing was installed at the park where Ani trains her clients.  The kids ate it up and were constantly on it.  Unfortunately within a week it had been dismantled and removed.  :(

As for the month of July...

This kids went to Kaimuki High School across the street with our friend Jeremiah Woods and played in this sculpture. 

They also went to White Sands beach in Kapolei and Tyson got buried up to his neck for the first time!  

We also have some good news and some bad news.  As most people like to hear the bad news first I will say that Andrea has been feeling really ill lately and has been laid up on the couch for a couple of weeks now.  It's really thrown a wrench into our daily lives and hopefully she'll feel better soon.

The good news is that she is sick for a good cause.  Our little family is about to gain +1 status in February 2012!

Our Summer has officially begun...

Yesterday we went out, and we were out for the whole day!  It was great!  We started by heading to Kualoa Ranch for the 2011 XTERRA Freedom Fest 10K Off-Road run.  The run is a loop around the Kualoa Valley (seen below) that is not only gorgeous but is also the filming location of Jurassic Park, LOST and Hawaii 5-0, among others.  This is the third year that the Freedom Fest 10K has been going and although I missed last year I was there for the opening run in 2009.  It was A LOT of fun!

This is a shot of the valley from the starting line.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the run up and through the valley (tough, yes very tough) was MEGA fun!

Ruby, Tyson and Andrea came with me this year and while I ran the 10K they sat and enjoyed live music and the ambiance of race-day fun.  Tyson was being very silly.

Ruby just relaxing while they wait for me to finish the race.

Ruby took this photo all by herself!  It shows the entire Kualoa Valley.

Ruby also caught this photo of mom and Tyson being very silly.

Finally coming across the finish line. I ran the race in 1 hour 18 minutes - only 5 minutes longer than my last run in 2009.  I haven't been training for this so it was nice to know I got close to my original race time.

What an awesome run!  

Tyson couldn't wait to give a kiss to the finisher!

After the race we headed up to the north shore and stopped at McDonalds in Laie for some fries.  Tyson said the Ronald McDonald was his dad and he didn't want to leave him at the McDonalds when we left.

Ruby taking another shot, she's getting pretty good with the camera...

This waterfall is IN THE McDonalds in Laie!  Nice atmosphere!

We then headed up to Haleiwa and got some Shave Ice at Aoki's...  unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of that, but on the way back we stopped at Hukilau Beach and played for a bit.  Ruby and Tyson LOVED the waves crashing in and (sometimes) knocking them over.

It was very cute to see them play together in the surf!

Here's Ani covered up from the sun - she's still recovering from a bad cold... :(

Sometimes these kids play so well together it amazes us!

Finally dad went out and played in the surf with them too.  Tyson learned to Duck-Dive and especially loved jumping over the waves.  We had so much fun!

We stopped at Windward Mall in Kaneohe where there is a kiddy play-place next to a pet store...  to say the least the kids love playing there.  Tyson is driving a double-decker bus here.

It may not be the same as a Merri-Go-Round at the county fair but it'll have to do here in Hawaii.  The kids got a big thrill going around in tiny circles for 3 minutes.  They're so easy to please...

So cute!  Love that smile!  Only in Hawaii would you find kids wearing jackets in July!

We had so much fun yesterday that it was like a mini-vacation for us!  Can't wait to do it again!