Watch us grow!
We are in Southern California for the week! One of our first gatherings was at Uncle Dayantha’s house. Trevor (Auntie Yoon’s son), Oliver (Uncle Dayantha’s son), as well as Andrew and Sienna (Holly’s kids) came over for some fun!
Andrew brought over his chocolate fountain and the kids LOVED it.
By the end, chocolate was everywhere. Leela was thoroughly enjoying one of her favorite things in the world – CHOCOLATE!
Peanut had his Holiday Program today and while he knew all the songs and we had heard him singing them for the past month, he didn’t sing as enthusiastically as we had hoped. He said it was because he had bit his tongue just before their turn to go on stage.
This is the report we got today from school. This 4-year-old is definitely asserting his independence.
Last night, Janie was on fire. She cleaned her room, picked out her clothes for today, packed her snack in her backpack, and put out the dishes for breakfast. This morning I found this checklist for her morning.
The kids love calamari. Peanut especially enjoys is grilled or fried. They call it “squid jerky” and it’s their special afterschool treat right before going to kung fu on Thursday nights. Today we got it after Sunday kung fu. We have so many make-ups from our vacation.
We went to Zoe and Maya’s house for their annual holiday party.
The girls played Pokemon and the littles shared a game on Maya’s tablet.
At the end of the night, the girls worked on organizing the play closet. They ha a lot of work to do!
Oh boy…we had such a fun week in Hawaii and it’s the dreaded morning we have to pack up and head home. We got up, put on swim suits, and walked to McDonald’s for a quick breakfast. Janie continued working on her homework packet and Peanut has been really into writing 3-letter words that he can sound out.
On our walk back, we took the lagoon route to the pool and got one last family selfie.
At the pool, the kids swam and the grown-ups sulked.
When it was time to go, we went back upstairs one last time to change and pack up. The girls found us on our way out and we said our “see you laters”. Their flight was also later today.
We had such a fun time this past week. It was made even better with our family and friends also there with us. We can’t wait to return next year. Hope we can still coordinate with our Beach Buddies again.
Aloha and Mahalo, Hawaii!
It’s our last full day in Hawaii and we had plans to make the most of it!
We were up early and took a walk to Eggs n Things. We walked along the beach and we had really comfortable weather. 
At breakfast, Peanut drew a picture of all of us hiking Diamond Head yesterday.
After breakfast, Janie and Dada headed back to the hotel for an ukulele lesson.
Meanwhile, Peanut and Mama went shopping.
We walked through the International Marketplace and found a statue of Don Ho.
Before heading back, we stopped at Mitsuwa Marketplace to pick up lunch for everyone. Peanut had so much fun with the shopping basket.
He also picked out two boxes of Pocky sticks to share with the other kids.
Here’s all the food we bought for our two families.
We also picked up some mochi donuts from MoDo inside the market.
On the way back, we caught a ride on The Bus. It came right as we were walking up to the stop!
Back at the Paradise Pool, the kids were swimming and after they stopped to eat lunch, they went back in the pool and went down the tube slide over and over again. Even Janie conquered her fear and went too! It’s a dark and fast slide but Peanut absolutely loved it.
After all the swimming, Peanut fell asleep while still holding a chip in his hand.
In the meantime, the girls had moved over to the beach and Uncle Jamie rented a floating island. They had fun trying to balance and also throw each other off.
Once Peanut woke up, he and Mama got to play too.
It’s hard to believe that this is the same girl who was so terrified of even the sound of the ocean as a baby. Now she’s a floating pro just like her Dada and never wants to get out of the water.
For dinner, we walked to the hotel down the street to have dinner at KatsuMidori with Auntie Yoon, Uncle Kurt, and Trevor.
It’s a cute Japanese restaurant that lets you order from an iPad and some of your food gets delivered by a train!!!
We walked back to the hotel along the lagoon with the full moon to light the way.
What a fun day and evening to end the vacation!
This morning we got up early and took an Uber to Diamond Head State Monument.
We met up with the Tsaos and were determined to get all the kids up the mountain.
Peanut had a slow start at first but he managed to get up the mountain all on his own.
The girls were up ahead and did great!
The kids took the 100 steps up to the top and went through the dark tunnel too.
We had to take a photo oat the top of the mountain! It was about 20 years ago that Mama and Dada first hiked up this crater together.
On the way down, Dada gave Peanut a little ride on the steeper parts.
At the bottom, we got some cold pineapple juice and Dole Whip.
Janie brought her camera along and took these photos of Mama and Peanut.
After our trolley ride back to Waikiki and some lunch at Duke’s, we headed back to the pool for some more swimming.
Then we went back upstairs to shower but made a point to hang out on the lanai to enjoy the sunset.
Dinner was pretty late but we had some good food at Highway Inn.
Peanut slept right through it and Janie stayed up long enough to eat and then fell asleep on the ride home. They had a lot of activity today and it was no surprise they were so tired by the end of the day.