Growing up with a little of both and the lessons learned along the way
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We had a fun Easter Weekend with Grandma and Papa in town visiting. Even though it rained later in the day, Sunday started out beautiful and we were able to take some family pictures before we headed out to brunch.
Our Family - Easter 2013 (Maile - 3.5, Lauren - 12 weeks)
Mommy and her girls...
Daddy and his girls...
And one more with Grandma Gail and Papa Cal!
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Whenever people first see Lauren, the first thing they always comment on is her hair. She (a) has a lot of it and (b) it’s a dark brown, much darker (we think) than Maile’s ever was.
Look at all that hair!
Grandma Gail and Papa Cal did some digging and we believe we found the source of Lauren’s beautiful hair…
A little hard to see, but it does appear to be a little baby with lots of hair...
Hmmm... who is this mysterious baby with Lauren-looking locks?!?
The photos are a little small… but that little baby is … Papa Cal! And he’s still rocking that hair today (albeit a slightly different color) – so Lauren is working with some strong hair genes!
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Today was a special day. Yes, it was Inauguration Day and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday – but on a more personal note, it was the first time in quite some time that both sets of grandparents were together with us. With one set of grandparents in Hawaii, the other set in Boston and us in San Francisco, it is not too often we all get together. We like to space things out so one set will visit during one of Maile’s holidays from school and the other set will visit during another, etc. Today was the one day they were overlapping for this visit – with Grandma and Papa Boston heading home tomorrow and Grandma and Papa Hawaii arriving to help out for another couple weeks as I head back to work.
Maile was in heaven with all the attention! And Lauren had plenty of welcoming arms to cradle and hold her throughout the day. The weather cooperated as well, so we snuck outside to take some pictures of the whole family together…
Maile, Lauren and BOTH sets of grandparents
Grandma Gail and her (San Francisco) girls...
Grandma Jill and her girls...
Papa Mike jumped in there too 🙂
Family Picture: Mommy, Daddy, Maile (3.5) and Lauren (2 weeks)
Can’t thank both sets of grandparents enough for all the love and support they’ve provided as we’ve settled in with Lauren!
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When Grandma Gail and Papa Cal were originally planning to leave on Sunday, we thought we’d be saying good-bye like this:
Grandma Gail, Papa Cal and Maile (3.5)
Instead, we said good-bye on Wednesday like this:
Grandma Gail, Papa Cal, Maile (3.5) and Lauren (4 days)
We can’t thank Grandma and Papa enough for changing around their flights and helping us settle in these few days. We will certainly never forget our Christmas and New Year’s vacation to Disneyland and the very special gift we received at the start of 2013!
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On our second day at Disneyland, we got down to business and met some princesses! We actually spent the day at the California Adventure side of the park and started our day at Ariel’s Grotto where we had breakfast alongside “real” Disney princesses. Maile and her cousins were blown away that they actually got to meet the princesses. (With the exception of Minnie – Maile Girl still isn’t a fan of the non-human characters 🙂
First up, Maile and her cousins met the hostess, Princess Ariel:
And then it was just an ongoing stream of princesses while we ate breakfast (Belle, Cinderella, Princess Minnie and Aurora)…
Maile Girl was particularly tickled to meet Belle - she has a Belle dress that Grandma and Papa gave her...
Cinderella!
Seriously, I can't believe this is really happening!
Don't worry, it wasn't all princesses - we also hit some rides like the tea cups!
Grandma Gail and Papa Cal will go anywhere with their girls!
(Click here for the video.)
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On Wednesday, we hit the “big show” so to speak – we got up bright and early and drove over to Disneyland. It was definitely one of those times when I wished I could be inside Maile’s little head hearing/seeing/feeling what she was. We had talked up Disneyland a little bit, but there really is no way to describe it. When we entered the parking lot, she said “Is this Disneyland, Daddy?” Not yet Maile Girl, not yet.
We had a great first day at the park – hit some rides, wandered all over, smiled, laughed – all the things you are supposed to do at the happiest place on earth. And as you’ll see from the pictures, the day ended with Maile completely zonked – dreaming whatever little girls dream after their visit to a magical place…
Yep, Maile Girl is here. That isn't a fake castle behind me, it's the real deal! (Dad note: Well, technically, it is fake ... but we'll let it go...)
Coolest breakfast ever!
Who's that with Papa on the rocket ship? (BTW - This was Maile's 3rd time on this ride - Daddy went twice and then tagged Papa in as his head was spinning!)
Maile and Daddy on the Jungle Cruise. The look on her face is 1/2 what in the world is going on? and 1/2 get me out of here!
Maile and Daddy in line for Maile's very first roller coaster ride...
... whew, just made it!
Maile LOVED the roller coaster! In fact, she only cried when we got off because she wanted to go again and Daddy said the line was too long 🙂
Since Mommy is 36 weeks pregnant, the roller coasters were a no go, but she and Maile still had some quality time on the carousel!
Argh, I can't quite get this sword out of this stone. If only I had ...
... two cousins to help me out!
Maile at dinner - I think we can say that our day 1 mission was accomplished!
All in all, a great first day at Disneyland! Thank you Grandma Gail and Papa Cal!
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Papa Cal’s birthday is in a few days. On Sunday, Mommy, Grandma Gail and Maile decided they were going to make him a surprise cake. They snuck out to the grocery store to buy the ingredients … and then Maile promptly announced to Papa when they returned home that they were making him a cake. So the surprise part didn’t work out, but Maile Girl still had a cake to make!
Frosting the cake is serious business!
Papa, guess what I have for you...
A birthday cake? How did you know? Oh yeah, I told you 🙂
And a special birthday kiss!
Happy birthday, Papa Cal!
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Hawaii wasn’t all fun and games – Papa Cal put me to work washing his car. Actually, come to think of it, it was pretty fun so maybe Hawaii WAS all fun and games!
Yes, this bucket is almost bigger than me! Papa's car is pretty big so I needed to make sure I had enough soap and water!
Papa taught me a good carwash is all about attention to detail
Here I am in action:
I think my car wash technique is top notch, but let me know if you have any tips…
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Sad to say that tomorrow we head home from our summer vacation on Kauai. We had a wonderful visit with Grandma and Papa. Lots of beach time, swimming, kite flying, shave ice, running around in the backyard, baking cookies, art projects, more shave ice! It was a wonderful 11 days for Maile and Mommy (and 5 for Daddy). We can’t wait to come back again soon!
Thank you Grandma Gail and Papa Cal for a wonderful visit!
Family picture just a few weeks shy of Maile's 3rd birthday
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