Claire's First Hike: Manoa Falls

A few weeks ago I took Claire on a hike with our friends Karissa, Jack and Addison. Since we had the day off of school and no little girls we went for it!

It had been pretty rainy for a few days before so it was very muddy and slippery. Unsure of how Claire would react to getting dirty I was fully stocked with a couple changes of clothes. She had been asking for a rain jacket a couple weeks before and lucky for her Tutu sent her one right before our hike. She proudly wore her pink jacket for a little while on the hike.

The hike was the perfect first hike for us to do together. She ran up parts of it, walked up others and got stuck in the mud. She wanted to look at the big leaves and at one point was fanning herself and chasing Jack at the same time. It wasn't a very crowded trail so we could hear the water moving pretty quickly and we practiced our throwing skills by throwing rocks and watching the splashing. We saw different colored berries and all kinds of moss that Claire couldn't help but touch.

Melt my teacher heart. 

The best part was after walking up a large set of stairs and seeing the waterfall. It was really big that day due to the rainy weather. The look on Claire's face was so cute as she turned around and said "look mama, it's a waterfall!!!". We sat for a few minutes to rest and then headed back down.

Down was much quicker than up. The kids were basically running the whole way and almost had a crash with a chicken who came sprinting from the trees. We also talked about the chicken for days following the hike. She thought it was hysterical that "there was a chicken in the jungle!!!".

It was such a fun day with Claire. She is so interested in learning and loves every chance she can to give you back information. I love getting a front row seat to her developing brain :)

Pumpkin Patch 2013

This weekend we went to the Waimanalo County Farms pumpkin patch. It's the 3rd year we have gone here and it just gets better every year.

I bought these adorable outfits off Etsy from Chloe Belle's Closet. Super cute and probably not practical for Hawaii weather at the pumpkin patch, but I didn't care. I figured we wouldn't be there for a super long time. 

This year they had the animals set up different and we got to go in this cute little house before heading down a row of animals to feed. Having a giant stroller I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, but sometimes the pictures just have to not be the priority. Claire enjoyed feeding the tiny goats with Justin and looking at the baby pigs, the cow and the dogs. 

We stopped by the new refreshment stand and got some yummy lemonade in huge mason jars. All three girls approved and were happy to be in the shade for a little bit. We also enjoyed some fudge and popcorn...and I think Justin had a random chili dog at 10:30 am. 

I knew that none of the girls were going to willingly sit in the dirt and get their pictures taken so I was smart and brought a blanket. I found a nice stack of pumpkins, sat the girls down and took their pictures. 

I love them even if none of them have all three girls looking or smiling. We are too busy around here for all of that. We went out to lunch after the pumpkin patch and our friends Jamie and Deuane asked us how we tell the twins apart I noticed they were wearing the wrong shirts! We apparently can't tell them apart!! I semi-joked with Justin that we had to go back and retake pictures in the right shirts. 

Always next year :)

Soaking Up Family Time

Justin has been on shore duty for almost three years. It is just about time for this lovely sea duty break to come to an end. I think I've been in denial for several months, but it's getting painfully close.

Who knows if we will get orders back here- we are hoping to- but just to be safe if we don't I've been planning out fun things for us to do until we are for sure we are coming back here.

This past weekend we loaded up and headed to the zoo to meet some friends. After fighting the horrible parking situation we finally got to go in.

Claire spent her morning chasing her daddy from animal to animal and just being a total daddy's girl. This is going to prove to be a large problem when he leaves us for some time. They enjoyed some Dip n Dots by the elephants and I was even lucky enough to get a few pictures with her.

We saw animals we have never even see at the zoo here. We seriously found a trail we have never been on and saw rhinos, chimps and the lions from a different view. I hope the little girls love the zoo and animals as much as Claire does.

Is this not horribly sad?

Big Girl School

I love school. I love all things about school- new supplies, books, teaching, fun lessons and generally happy kids.

I really love the school I work at. I love it so much that when I was pregnant with Claire I mapped out in my mind her teachers I wanted from preschool through the last grade Navy Hale Keiki would offer until we have to get kicked out and go to a middle school or the Navy makes us move.

Last February I woke up bright and early and went to work to register Claire for preschool! I was so excited and all she could talk about for months was going to big girl school with mommy. In April, she came to work with me for a day and screened for preschool. Normally she would do this with the mass screening of kids on a Saturday, but it just wasn't possible to do with me having to run that screening. It would have been a huge mess. Needless to say...she passed screening.

In July she started the summer program. It was all about wild animals and she loves animals. She enjoyed her three weeks of playing with friends and learning the routine of preschool. It was fun to spend the mornings with my two tiny ladies and so fun to hear about her mornings when she got home.

After a week of having to go back to Ms. Diane's house she finally got to go to her meet the teacher day. She was going to see her classroom and meet some new friends who would be in her class with her. She took her teachers presents we got in Texas and some cookies. She was super excited. Justin got off work for a little while that morning to go see her classroom. It's always fun when he can get away from work for a little while. She wasn't thrilled to be leaving after only an hour, but she got to go home with Keegan to play. He always makes it better.

The first day of school was super exciting for us. She got up bright and early and announced, very loudly, "It's time for school mommy!!!". She got dressed in her super cute outfit, ate breakfast and took her picture outside before we loaded up to go see Mrs. McKean and Mrs. Sanchez.

To say that she loves these ladies is an understatement. They are just about all we hear about when she isn't asking us what words begin with or pointing out letters and numbers. I texted her teacher the other night and let her know it was okay to stop teaching her. Her new found knowledge and asking why was starting to drive me crazy :) We really couldn't be happier with what she is learning. Academically and socially she is doing so great. She is talking a lot and is letting us know more about what she does every day.

The Most Enjoyable Swim Yet

The last weekend in July we went to our friend Ryan's birthday party at the pool. His mom Deuane did a really cute job of creating a fun pool party. 

There was swimming, a balloon artist and lots of yummy food.

The baby girls got in the pool and really enjoyed it! The pool was nice and warm so they sat in their floats and were happy to just relax in the water. 

All our friends and their kids were there to celebrate the 2 year old! It was nice to be together one last time before a few people start leaving for schools and deployments per the Navy's orders. The baby girls also enjoyed some time in the shade to play with Lily, Alaina and Addison. 

3rd Birthday: Superhero Style

This year was the first year that Claire had say in her birthday party. She first told me she wanted a superhero party {watches too much Super Why! on PBS} and then weeks in to planning it was a princess party {no explanation needed}.

I decided we could merge these two things into a: SUPERHERO PRINCESS PARTY.

Aunt Kim is party planner extraordinaire for her job and knows the best shops around Etsy. She was immediately put to work to help since the two tiny people were still taking up the majority of my time and I wanted most of the party planning done before we went to Texas. She quickly generated a list for me and I got to ordering.

The plan of getting most of the planning done before Texas was a big joke. Not one thing got done before we left except ordering everything and making a stack of it on my desk. I then planned to work on the capes in Texas and that never got done either. I apparently like to torture myself at the last minute.

In Texas, I went to Hobby Lobby and got shirts in all different colors for capes...but brought them home to Hawaii to finally work on.  We used these as part of the party favors. I must say they turned out pretty cute and Claire still plays in hers. I don't know how to sew {I need to learn} so I used heat bond strips and my iron and got to work. I cut the shirts, cut out the stars and found giant felt letters.

Kim and Jared flew in a few days before the party and while I worked on the capes, Kim worked on wrapping the boxes aka buildings I had been hoarding in the garage for months. No one was sad to see those things go away.

I could have easily made one of the cute "My Favorite Things" posters, but again no time, so I got one made and it was perfect. Claire loves it and it is in the playroom now. I can't wait to have one for our soon to be one year olds!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MoulageCollection

The yummy cake and cake-pops were made by a fellow NICU mom, Cakes for Keiki. A portion of her proceeds go to buy things for the NICU. This was a no brainer on who would be making it. It was so perfect. I sent a picture and the colors I wanted to use and she did it. I sent her ideas of cake-pops and told her to do whatever she thought was best. They came out better than I imagined. It was my breakfast, lunch and dinner for days following the party.

Claire wasn't really in the mood for pictures at all, but when is she?

We did manage a few, but they don't all have smiles and not everyone is looking at the camera. This is just something I'm working on getting over. I don't think we will get a great picture unless someone is acting like a total FOOL behind the photographer for awhile.

One improvement is that she was better about people singing to her this year! No tears and limited face covering.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ryanandwren

I painted a backdrop for a photo-booth. We got pictures of most families at the party and some funny ones of just kids using the props. Even the tiny girls got in on some cute pictures.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/craftybouquets

Outside we had a super bubble station, the high flying superhero bounce house, tattoos because all superheros need a tattoo and a silly string fight. I think there was fun had by everyone at the party.

This summer we had pictures taken in Houston (http://natalieblazeiphotography.com) of our Super Girl. We took them in downtown Houston overlooking the skyline and they turned out pretty cute...again when she would even look at the camera!

We had a great time planning this party and a great time having it. Our little superhero had a fabulous day with her favorite friends and I had fun putting it all together.

Happiest birthday to our favorite 3 year old!

Other fun places to shop that I will go back to:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CherishedBlessings {straws and cute juice jugs were bought here!}

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SimplyScissors {cake garland and some other foodie things}

http://www.etsy.com/shop/EverlyLaneDesign {gold wands}

http://www.etsy.com/shop/michiemay {gold star cupcake toppers}

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ThePaperJar {I've bought a couple tissue paper garlands from them}