We love Meilani

December 29-30

What a treat...Kekoa's cousin, my favorite niece, Meilani spent the night. She is all grown up now, in 5th grade and smart as ever. She is also such a sweetheart and so good with her little cousin. Kekoa is absolutely in love with her...he has a laugh and smile that is only for Meilani. ThWednesday night we watched movies and ate gelato after Kekoa went to sleep. Thursday morning was the best...Meilani and Kekoa were all cuddled up together on this pillow and she was reading him stories. It was adorable. After a pancake breakfast, we all went to Happy Hollow. It was a chilly morning, but really beautiful out. We all had a lot of fun, checking out all the animals. Scott and Meilani braved the roller coaster too! Kekoa and I watched, he kept saying "toot, toot".
I wish she could have stayed longer...we will have to have her come visit again soon. She and Kekoa were so cute together...he really misses her. After she left, he kept saying, "mei mei".

Meilani feeding Kekoa his dinner while I made us spaghetti.
Oh, she is just so funny!
Gazing at my beautiful cousin...

This laugh is all for Meilani!
Story time...




Meilani's favorite color is hot pink. She was very hot pink at Happy Hollow. I even had a hot pink hat she borrowed for the chilly morning!


Kekoa rides the manatee, Meilani rides the dolphin!


Kekoa wouldn't let go of Meilani's hand. He doesn't really hold our hands anymore, but boy was he excited to hold Meilani's!

A lemur hanging on the side of the fence...it is upside down too!
Scott and Kekoa gazing up at the lemur.
The jaguar was out, in full display! It is usually sleeping and hiding, I have never seen it out like this. Such a gorgeous animal.


Here they come...

Look, no hands!
"toot toot"


This was so funny. Every time Meilani would say "Do it again", Kekoa would make this growling sound. They were doing it the whole drive home on Wednesday and the whole way to Happy Hollow. I think it may have made Kekoa's throat a bit sore, he was doing it so much!

Santana Row

December 28

The weather was miserable all day, cold and rainy, Scott had the day off...what were we going to do with our monkey when he woke up from his super long nap? Scott had the brilliant idea of going to Santana Row to walk around. It was perfect. There were so many pretty lights and Kekoa had a lot of fun with the huge chess pieces. They were the same size as him! We were only there for about a half hour, but it was just what we all needed to brighten our spirits. Great idea baba!

Check out Kekoa's new rain boots! :) He wasn't too great at walking in them, so we ended up changing him back into his red Vans. In Kekoa's case, function comes before fashion.

Of course Kekoa finds the "wa wa"...he is like a magnet to any type of water.





Kekoa gazing longingly at the Christmas tree....
Let me just move these around.

Hittin' the trails

December 27

Kekoa and I have been enjoying any afternoons that are dry by heading out for a hike in the hills or a walk in the park. He is quite a trooper and just loves to be outside to explore. I love watching him discover the world around him, it is quite amazing. Things that I pass by and don't look twice at, Kekoa will see and think it is the most fantastic thing he has ever laid his eyes on. It gives me a new perspective on how to look at things.

Kekoa spotted a huge dirt pile and just had to investigate.
When I pulled out the camera, it was the first time Kekoa knew what to do...snuggle up next to mama and smile.
Come on mama, let's go!
How adorable is this smile? I told Kekoa "say cheese" and he did!
Oh wow, I love the great outdoors!


Kekoa throwing a little tantrum because he didn't want to go home.

Good-bye 2010, hello 2011

Happy New Year! It was a cold day here and a bit dreary. Scott had to go to work, which made both Kekoa and I a bit sad.
The morning was spent playing, dancing, cooking, and cuddling...lots of cuddling. Kekoa was a super cuddler and I was loving it. We didn't get a chance to go outside because it was just too cold.
After Kekoa's short nap, we headed to Fremont for a visit. When I told Kekoa we were going to see Papa Beezy, Kaiwei, Jiawei, and Auntie Jenny, he just kept repeating, "Pop pop" (Papa Beezy) with a huge smile on his face. He was all smiles on the drive there and of course had so much fun playing with his BFF, Kaiwei. :)

Some snuggle time with Paulie...

See Kekoa, it goes like this...
Kaiwei's mega car made out of mega blocks!
Uh oh, mega car disaster!


It was so much fun watching Kaiwei build his car with the mega blocks. We were all very proud of him and he was super proud of himself too. I kept asking him, do you want me to take the picture yet (of his car)? He would say, with his 1 finger, I'm going to put one more piece on ( in Chinese). He was cracking us up, he is like a little old man..I love hearing him talk. Kekoa accidentally knocked over the car. He felt so bad and concerned at what he had done.