Last day in Hawaii photos

I can't believe 17 days has gone by already and we are leaving. I am so sad that vacation is over...why can't we just win the lottery and be on vacation every day?
It has been a fabulous stay here at Ko Olina. Hopefully we will be able to come back to Hawaii when Malia is 2 and Kekoa is 5 (yikes, that is scary just writing it). Our goal is to come back every 2 years, we love it here so much and wish we could come back more often. Aloha Hawaii...

A little morning photo shoot. Kekoa insisted on this one, I swear! He wanted pictures with his "baby sister".







Get off of me Ge Ge!

I heart my binky and blankie.





Watching Kekoa playing this morning brought me such joy. His imagination is simply amazing. Here he is helping Paulie out with his helmet to get on his motorcycle.


One last photo in the kitchen.

One last stop at the beach. This is the path I went running on nearly every morning. Boy will I miss that.



Checking out our airplane.


Kekoa has got the "shaka" thing down.

One last look before boarding...

What will we miss about Hawaii?

In no particular order...

1. sweet bread-Kekoa and I have been devouring this stuff, especially Kekoa. It is pretty much all he has been eating.

2. shave ice-we enjoyed it every chance we got, not every day like the last time we were here, but still quite often. Mmmmm, lychee and lilikoi with ice cream.

3. beach time in the mornings- Kekoa asked me the other day, "Mommy, I wish this beach was at our house." I agree.

4. pool time in the afternoons-We will all really miss jumping in the pool in the afternoons. Malia even put her feet in the water today! It was amazing watching Kekoa improve so much with all his swimming skills.

5. spam musubi-yes, I know, you are thinking...yuck, spam. But I have to say, don't knock it until you try it.

6. shoyu ahi poke

7. the perfect weather

8. morning runs along the beach and morning snorkles in the turquoise waters

9. papaya

10. having so much family time together

11. sweet smelling plumeria flowers

12. Watching Kekoa run, completely nudie, across the green grass, under the palm trees, giggling the entire time.

13. watching Malia stare up at the plumeria tree, when we are poolside, completely fascinated.

14. reading Mortimer, by Robert Muneush every night to my little monkey. We know it by heart now.

The "hot pool"

Each day here, we head to the pool after Kekoa's nap. It is the best way to spend the afternoon.
Kekoa's favorite part is going into the "hot pool" (hot tub). He just loves it, loves turning on and off the bubbles.
After the hot pool we strip him down, the bathing suit comes off, and he walks back to our place wrapped up in a towel. The rest of his afternoon is spent without a stitch of clothing on.

Honolulu Zoo

Another not so perfect beach day, so we headed to the zoo. I asked Kekoa this morning, "Would you like to go to the zoo?" He was over the moon excited, "Yes mommy" and then proceeded to tell me all the animals he wanted to see. The Honolulu Zoo has elephants, which he was the most excited to see. He even brought his little Lego elephant to show the elephants and his Lego tiger to show the tigers at the zoo....how cute!
The zoo was actually really fun. It is the perfect size and there were many animals there that the SF zoo doesn't have. The monkeys were the best to watch, swinging like crazy from branch to branch. We were entertained by their calls too, all morning long as we cruised through the zoo.





We felt like we were on safari.

Ostriches in the background, peeking above the tall grass.


Hello tiger, here is my lego tiger.

After the zoo we went to our favorite restaurant, Irufune. If you are ever in Honolulu, you must make a stop at this place. The seared ahi is to die for, melt in your mouth good. Kekoa couldn't wait to go to lunch and devoured his udon.




Then finally at Wailoa eating shave ice.

Malia is 3 months

My dearest baby girl,

You are such a blessing in our family and we all love you so much. We all feel so fortunate that you are turning 3 months in Hawaii and your Ge Ge turned 3 while we are ing Hawaii. You are having a great time here and really love having your Baba around so much, he is super smitten with you and can't enough of his little girl.

You did pretty well on the plane here, considering it is a 5 hours flight. You did not really want to sleep and for some reason on the plane you only wanted your Mama. You also wanted to be sitting up the whole time, no relaxing and laying down for you. I had you in the baby carrier and walked up and down the aisle of the plane. Everyone commented on what a cutie pie you are...I couldn't agree more. Since we have been here, you have been a super baby, a great traveler. You sleep in your car seat, which is so fabulous. When we are at the beach, we put a light blanket over the car seat, rock it a few times, and you are out. Of course you have to have your binky...can't not have your binky!

Some new tricks you have been doing this last month are blowing bubbles and you've started blowing raspberries too...which is the cutest thing ever. I have yet to capture it on film. Every time I bust the camera out, you stop whatever cuteness you were doing and just stare into the camera! You have discovered your hands and I catch you staring at them in utter amazement. You can even hold your binky now and sometimes get it back into your mouth. You are starting to roll to your side, especially your left side and rolled once onto your tummy....we were at the beach and I'm pretty sure it was because you were propped up a little bit. You love "moving", you want to walk. You are constantly kicking your chubby legs and you try to sit up in the car seat, like you are trying to get out! It doesn't look very comfy.

You are super smiley baby, so happy. Your whole face lights up in the morning when you see us, especially your Baba. You are such a goof ball and we all love your laugh, it is the best. Every time I get you to laugh, it just melts my heart. You are a little rascal too, just like your brother. While you are in your car seat, you will pull the blanket off so you can see and then cover your face with it. You think this is very funny. Mama and Baba do not. I put you down on a towel at the beach, I looked away for one second, looked back and you had scrunched the towel all up and had sand all over your hands and face. We all thought this was pretty funny.

You absolutely love to be sung to and that always makes you have a big smile. I have been doing patty cake with you a lot and that makes you laugh, especially the "roll it" part. Your favorite place to be smooched is in the folds of your chubby neck, oh that just makes you laugh and laugh.

You are a very social little girl, love to talk and you get really upset if after you nurse, we put you in the car seat right away. You need a little time to socialize, giggle and talk with us. I wonder if you will be this outgoing as you grow up.

During the day you nurse every 2-3 hours and during the night you went almost 8 hours before needing to nurse again! Usually though, you wake up 3-5 hours between nursing. Many times I have found if I reach over and put the binky in your mouth, I can get another hour or two of sleep. You are up for about an hour, sometimes two before you need to nap again. We use your swing all the time, even had one shipped to Hawaii, because you fall asleep so easily in it. I don't know what we will do when you get to big for it! At night you are usually asleep by 7:00 pm. Sometimes you will fall asleep in your moses basket, but usually it is in the swing and then I transfer you. You are up for the day around 9:00 a.m. I wish I could sleep in that late too but get up much earlier with your brother!

We have all made it 3 months...yeah! We all love you more each day Malia Belle!
Love you little sista',
you mama