Happy Reunion!

The last time my parents were here, they promised Zack that they would come back for his birthday.  When the kids knew Zack's birthday was coming, they got real excited because Lolo Pastor and Ela (what the kids call their grandparents) were coming!

They were able to celebrate with us @ Aulani Disney Resort. 

Shaka! 

Relaxing after a big breakfast. 

Beautiful waterfall @ Polynesian Cultural Center. 

Matsumoto time! 

Guava birthday cake!
We took them around to our favorite places again.  This Birthday boy was real happy with their visit.  As usual, they were all sad to see them go but they made another promise to come back for Xander's birthday!   Can't wait to see them in August!

Zack's 4th Birthday!

It all started on mom and dad's bed.  The kids were ready to celebrate Zack's Birthday!
Who wants to go on an adventure?  Double hands up! 

His gift from us.  Xander even helped wrap up the cars for his brother. 

Excited to play already.  They only had a couple of minutes because we had to go! 

Zack wanted to have a pirate themed birthday.  Dad is ready! 

The kids ready with their pirate goodies.

He's ready to set sail on an adventure!

Dad, don't mess with me!

First stop on our adventure was to the car wash.  Our car was our ship and Zack wanted to go underwater. The kids love the automated car wash on base so we had a ride underwater.  Next we went to go jumping at 808 Bounce in Pearl Ridge.  Zack had a lot of fun here and worked up an appetite.

Went downstairs and got some good eats at Farrell's!

His birthday ice cream clown.
We didn't get to go to the beach as planned because it was raining but I think Zack enjoyed today! 

Since we didn't get to have a party being so far away from family and friends, Zack asked to celebrate with Mickey.  With Disneyland being in California, he settled to see him at Aulani Resort.

Happy Birthday Zack!  We love you!

Ninong Sam and Ninang Issa visit!

The kids were real excited for their Ninong Sam and Ninang Issa to visit.  They got their room ready and wanted to do a lot of things with them.

We took them to church.

 

To the Dole plantation.

The beach of course! 

Matsumoto Shave Ice

Swimming in North Shore 

We actually went here twice and also took them to Hula Dogs for our favorite shave ice,and Snow factory for some island snow. We took them to Zippy's and Coco Ichibanya, Hale Koa, Ala Moana, and they also had some alone time in Waikiki, Kailua, Ko Olina, and Hanauma Bay.  All in all, We had a pretty packed week and the kids were real sad to see them go. 

Thank you for visiting us!
*pictures courtesy of Ninang Issa's camera.  My camera died and took our pictures with it.   

Swim Lessons!

Living on an island with water all around, we decided to put the boys in swim class.  They are in the beginner level one class.
   

 

 

 

 

Ellie is too young for the class so we just hang around while the boys learn. 

She can get real silly.  Don't you just love her face? 

Day one done.  Two weeks of fun to look forward to. 

 

 

Best Friends

If you have ever had the kids sleep over your house, you know these friends.  Every night I have to look for these friends so they can go to sleep.  We have 2 of each just in case, but they don't really leave the house.  Sometimes Zack's friend goes to school with us but he gets a bath when we get home because he always seem to fall.

This is Timo (Timothy Sylvester, named by his dad).  Xander got him when he was around 1.  His grandma helped in making him at build a bear. 

This is Doggie (forgot what we named him).  Xander and I made him when Zack was a baby so he would have a dog just like him.   

This is George (Curious George).  We had made a bear for Ellie when she was a baby but since moving to Hawaii, she has been liking monkeys.  She watches the show on PBS and she just loves making monkey sounds so I guess it suits her.  She can't sleep without him and she tends to hide him everywhere. 

 

 

 

 

I don't know if they'll grow out of having these best friends, but it's nice to see them have fun with their friends. 

Tech support

My husband continually gets calls from his family when they need computer tech help. Even my family would call sometimes. It's like having a Geek Squad or Best Buy employee here at home! Well, mostly Best Buy because of all the computer junk all over the house.

(Written by me, RC. I have no idea if this is how she thinks. I just wanted to play on her new tablet. Seriously though, a lot of calls from my fam.)

First Six Months

Alexander goes to public school on base.

He started kindergarten home schooled in California but the program couldn't transfer to Hawaii. He likes his class and teacher alot, but doesn't like waking up in the morning.

Halloween @ Wahiawa

I knew we wouldn't get our stuff in time, so we decided to buy some costumes from Target. We didn't get to door to door, but we still got some goodies at a church fair.

Getting ready for church.

When we first got on the island, we were taken around to different churches by RC's old youth pastor. We are currently attending Mililani Fil Am Baptist Church where RC is in the worship team.

Our First Visitors.

We were so excited to have visitors, especially when God timed it perfectly that we got our house. It was nice having Mommy Only and Lolo here to help out in unpacking and spending time with us.

Kinda First Christmas.

Why kinda? Well, we spent our Christmas in California but I wanted to have a tree in the house. The kids were excited to decorate our tree with their special ornaments. No gifts under the tree because we would be getting them on the mainland.

New Year's Eve with the Abagons

Hawaii celebrates New Year's Eve like the Philippines, with a lot of fireworks. It was a new thing for us. The kids were able to watch "illegal" sky fireworks from the neighborhood and light up some sparklers. We also got to celebrate Ate Tina's Birthday (Pastor Bong's wife).

Second Visitors.

My parents were able to come out and visit also. They helped out in organizing the house and getting Ellie's room set up. We even got to take some historical tours with my parents. Historical? I wanted the kids to see where their mom was born and used to live when she was small. My parents also got to share with us how life was when they used to live here.

Favorite Shave Ice.

There is a place in Waikiki that makes this shave ice that we all love. We kinda just stumbled upon it while walking back to our car and I can't wait for other visitors to come so we can go back. Natural juices for ice and they also sell hula dogs. Yum!