Some news

I've been kind of waiting for a picture to post to make our little announcement but since I'm always the the photographer, its never gonna happen.  So we are expecting baby #4, a little girl.  I'm due the last week of November so right around Thanksgiving.  We'll have lots to be grateful for this year!

The first half of pregnancy is not so pleasant for me to put it mildly so my kids have been doing too much of this:

Luckily I'm feeling much better now (just in time to gain lots of weight!) so we are more active and busy with life.

Penelope is enjoying the growth of my belly and thinks it really cool that I now have an 'outie' belly button.  She wants to name the baby 'Butterfly'  Parker and Oliver don't really notice/care that I am pregnant but when I asked Parker if he thought I was having a boy or a girl baby, he said it was going to be a fireman baby (he's really in to fireman and policeman!).  Both Oliver and Penelope thought the baby was a girl and when I had my level II ultrasound we found out they were right.  We are really excited to have another girl.  It evens us out (2 boys and 2 girls) and more importantly Penelope will have a sister.  I really wanted Penelope to have a sister and it looks as if that is going to happen!

First day of preschool (the 4-year old class)

Parker and Penelope started their 2nd year of preschool today.  It was so nice going back the school they had already been to.  They knew the drill and weren't afraid, frankly it was easier for me, knowing how the school works.  They were both excited to wear their new shoes, in fact Parker's first comment to his new teacher was "look at my new shoes!!"  Penelope was really excited about her new outfit.  Her pants were a little big so I had to pin them.  They knew a few of their classmates and seemed to enjoy their first day.  Parker was that kid who kept telling his new teacher that "that's not how Miss Sharon does it"  Hopefully he'll get over that soon!!  Here they are waiting to go in:

Man, I love this kid

 Even when I find him like this after going upstairs for only a couple minutes.

Train Ride

There is an historic railroad that runs near our house and we drive by it all the time.  Since Parker is really into trains I looked into riding it when we first moved here.  But it only runs on Sunday which doesn't work for us.  Luckily, a few weeks ago a friend of ours organized a train ride for a Thursday afternoon.  Since the ride was going to be 90 minutes and you are supposed to stay seated the whole time, I decided to get Tory to stay home with Oliver (it was going to be in the middle of his nap anyway).  Parker, Penelope and I packed a lunch and headed over to the train station.  There were a ton of moms and kids (all pretty much under 5) but we all got loaded up and headed out.  It was so fun, I'm glad I waited until the twins were a little older, they were just fine sitting and watching the countryside go by.  The ride was a little long but all in all we had a great time!

Spring Break 2012

This is our first official Spring Break. Tory didn't have to teach early morning seminary and the kids didn't have preschool. We decided to make the most of it and had a GREAT week! It started with a trip to the beach and what makes the beach even more fun is new swimsuits!! The kids all got to pick out new suits at Costco and are utterly thrilled with their choices.


Oliver loves to lay down in the water and say "Look mom, I'm swimming!"

Parker and Penelope borrowed this mini boogie board from their friend and found it made a perfect table to hold all their little toys. It kept them entertained for quite some time!
Then after naps we rode our bikes to a nearby park and had a fun time playing together:

Then on Tuesday we got to go watch Daddy play soccer. Tory plays Tuesdays and Thursdays right when Parker and Penelope are in preschool so the kids haven't been able to see him play. They were so excited to see Daddy play soccer! We even brought along our soccer balls so they could play on the sidelines.

Tory in action (white shirt, grey shorts):

Penelope getting ready to kick the soccer ball:
Oliver getting ready to kick the ball:
After trying to share 2 soccer balls between three kids Parker finally gave up and started playing in the dirt:

Wednesday we had play group and stuck close to home knowing Thursday and Friday were going to be big days.

Then Tory took Thursday and Friday off so Thursday morning I got up early and went to hike Koko Head with some girlfriends. As soon as we got there, it started to pour. We sat in the car for a few minutes and then just decided to go for it. We were soaked within minutes but it wasn't bad because as soon as we started the stairs (all 1048 of them), the rain felt nice and kept us a little cooler. It was quite a climb......straight up. We did it in about 20 minutes (I was sucking air for all except maybe the first 30 seconds!). But we made it and it was a good workout and the view from the top was amazing!

There was a lovely rainbow just for us as we reached the top:

Here's all four of us (Elizabeth, Holly, me and Milena):
The view looking down the steps:
Halfway down (going down was a million times easier which is why we are smiling):

Then when I got home, I loaded up the kids and we headed off to Dole Plantation where we met up with Mikey and his mom. To say Parker and Penelope like Mikey is an understatement, they just LOVE him. We fed the fish, rode the train, ran around outside Dole plantation and of course, enjoyed some delicious pineapple ice cream. It was a perfect Spring Break outing (which I did not take enough pictures at, these are all I have):
On the way home we talked about our favorite part and Penelope's was eating ice cream, Parker's was running up and down the hill with Mikey and Oliver's was feeding the fish. That afternoon we went to the park that has swings (which are few and far between here in Hawaii). Parker made a little friend and they all played tag and hide-and-seek. It was so fun to see them having such a great time.

We decided to cap off the week on Friday by 'hiking' (its really just a walk, the trail is paved and while its uphill, its not too hard) the Makapu'u lighthouse trail. The kids really did well, we took our triple stroller (which can be quite a beast to push so kudos to Tory for pushing all the way up and down the trail) and the kids would take a break in the stroller and then hop back out to walk/run again. Our only mishap was Oliver falling, skinning his knee and bumping his lip, poor kid. He rode in the stroller the rest of the way down.




On Saturday, to recoup from our fun-filled week, we ran errands in the morning and then hit the pool in the afternoon.



Monday morning is going to be a rude wake-up call to, well just Tory, he has to get up at 5am for Seminary. I think I'll take the kids to the beach.....its a rough life here in Hawaii!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a lovely Thanksgiving - leading up to it, we made a thanksgiving tree and each night we each picked something we were thankful for and wrote/drew it on a leaf. It was fun to see what the kids would choose each night! This is the tree with which we ended up:

On actual t-day Tory abandoned us and golfed all morning while I hung out with the kids. To pass the time we made turkeys out of fruit:
Our main meal was a little different with our recent change in our diet (we eat a mostly plant-based diet, i.e. very little meat, dairy, eggs and processed foods). So we didn't have a turkey, it was a meal of sides which turned out great! It was a nice low-key Thanksgiving. Oh yeah, and we ended the day by going to the beach :)

Hair

Penelope is getting so much better at letting me fix her hair. But usually when I pick her up (from nursery or preschool) I am also handed a ribbon or bow. So lately I've been telling her if she leaves the bows in her hair the whole time, she'll get a treat when we get home. Its all baby steps, right?!