Growing up with a little of both and the lessons learned along the way
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We’re off to Chicago for 4th of July and so Lauren can meet her GG Bea and GG Irv. More to come after the 4th of July – have a great holiday!
We're on the move again - see you on the flip side! (Maile at 4 years and Lauren at 6 months.)
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In our summer Kiwi Crate they sent along a summer to do list and Maile and Mommy have been working their way down it. On Sunday, we helped Maile setup her very first lemonade stand. Maile made her very own sign and Mommy helped her make the actual lemonade. We setup in our courtyard and all our neighbors were awesome as Maile’s first customers. We had a blast and Maile put all the money she earned in her piggy bank!
All setup with her very own lemonade stand...
Now what?
Wait. This isn't all for me? I need to pour it and give it to people?
Steady. Steady.
Maile's first customer...
Our little business woman...
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On Sunday, we took the family down to the Pride Parade. With such a monumental week, we thought it’d be fun to go and celebrate and one day Maile and Lauren can tell their kids that they were there in 2013!
We got there a bit late to fully take in the parade, but we were able to watch a bit from afar. But the whole scene was crazy and fun with music and dancing (and lots of other stuff!) all over the place. Maile seemed pretty oblivious to the more explicit stuff we came across and loved all the costumes and colors. For her part, Lauren had fun sleeping on Mommy.
Maile picked this fairy outfit all by herself - it was perfect for the parade!
The girls en route to the party!
Maile, Daddy, Mommy and Lauren out front of City Hall at Pride 2013
Maile and Daddy taking in the parade and waving our rainbow flag...
Maile saw this lady and asked if she could take a picture with her - it was either her hair or the whip she was holding. Definitely the hair. Right?
My fabulous ladies striking a pose!
And to top it off, Maile Girl got an epic face painting done 🙂
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My big sister IS. THE. BEST. I just love her so much. First of all, she’s the coolest. I just love watching her all the time.
But she’s also making sure I grow up right and is always trying to help me. She helps me sit up and she moves my toys around so I learn how to grab them and roll over. She talks to me all the time and teaches me new words (even though I can’t say any of them yet, I’m remembering them!). AND now she is helping me eat!
Let's do this!
You sure about this?
Oh yeah, that's some good carrots right there.
Keep it steady, Maile, need to get it all in there...
Plum break for Maile.
You done with that plum? Let's go...
So demanding...
This works for me - Mommy and Daddy I'd like Maile to feed me from now on...
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While on Kauai, we brought Lauren to meet her Great Grandma Kiyoko (Papa Cal’s mother). Maile and Lauren did their thing and totally charmed her – she couldn’t get over how adorable Lauren was and what a big girl Maile was growing in to (after all it was only 3 years ago that she met Maile for the first time and it had been a year since we had seen her since we didn’t come home for Christmas.)
Great Grandma Kiyoko, Mommy, Maile (almost 4) and Lauren (almost 6 months)
All smiles while playing with GG Kiyoko for the first time!
Great Grandma Kiyoko also has a pool at the home she stays at so our whole family did some swimming including Lauren for the very first time. She loved it to! All smiles as we swam in the pool…
Lauren was a natural in the water - she loved it!
It was a great visit with Great Grandma Kiyoko and we can’t wait to see her again at Christmas!
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On Monday, we set out for Maile’s first true Hawaiian Adventure. We made a full day of it – first we did a kayak adventure to the Hidden Valley Falls and then in the evening we took Maile to her first Luau.
Maile did amazing the whole day – she was definitely the right age for both adventures. The kayak was great – Mommy, Daddy and Maile shared one kayak. Maile sat upfront and actually had her own paddle, although she only used it sparingly. We probably paddled for 45 minutes to an hour. Then we did a short hike through the jungle to the waterfall (which was pretty small, but still fun for Maile to discover it). We ate lunch and then went to a swimming hole with a rope swing (which Daddy enjoyed immensely!). Then we hiked back out and they gave us a boat ride back. Perfect amount of time and Maile was a trooper for almost the whole trip (I gave her a shoulder ride right towards the end for a little bit).
As any fan of Dora knows, you need a good map to go on an adventure...
Maile the Explorer ready to go!
... with her trusty sidekick, Mommy 🙂
Maile got her very own paddle for the kayak
This was taken after the kayak leg of our adventure was complete - now we start the hike to the waterfall
We made it!
Maile, Daddy and Mommy at the hidden waterfall
Maile and Mommy on the hike back to the river
Meanwhile, Boots (aka Lauren) was home with Grandma and Papa having her own adventure of discovery with a mirror...
That night we went to our first luau. Again, Maile was a great age – she soaked in everything. I’ve never seen her clap so excitedly and happily for something. And she LOVED showing off her hula skills (hat tip to Mommy for teaching her some moves).
(NOTE: We went to the Luau Kalamaku which was right near Grandma and Papa’s house. This was actually my first luau too, so nothing to compare it to, but we had a blast and I’d definitely recommend it.)
Our luau experience began of course by getting lei'd
... then Maile and Daddy did some dancing on the stage (of course)
Here’s Maile showing off her hula moves…
Mommy and Maile are ready for the show!
Maile loved the luau show and was VERY excited to meet the dancers afterwards
Did I mention how excited Maile was?
Meanwhile, Lauren Girl was having lots of fun with Grandma and Papa - she'll be joining us on our next adventure for sure!
(Click here for the video.)
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So on my second day here, Papa Hawaii asks me, “Maile, do you want to learn how to make smores?” I had no idea what a smore was, but when Papa explained it involved marshmallows AND graham crackers I told him I was in. (To be perfectly honest, he had me at marshmallow!)
First you have your Papa make a fire and then you find a nice long stick and you place the marshmallow on the end of it...
... then you stand at a safe distance and heat the marshmallow over the fire. You have to make sure not to touch the coals at the bottom otherwise your marshmallow will get dirty.
NOTE: If you have a nice Papa, he'll let you eat one of the marshmallows he made while you are waiting for your to heat up!
Then you smush the marshmallow between two graham crackers and you are good to go! NOTE: Some people add chocolate too, but I don't like chocolate so I didn't.
I taught Lauren how to do it and she made sure that Daddy did it right too...
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We didn’t waste anytime hitting the backyard once we arrived on Kauai last week. Within mere hours of our plane touching down, we had our swimsuits on and the slip ‘n slide setup in the backyard. Maile and I started off by having some races…
While hilarious, we quickly learned a valuable lesson – the tortoise and hare should work together 🙂 (Note: perhaps not the moral of the real story, but in our case, that’s what we learned…)
After our initial races, we realized that things might go better if we worked together...
And boy, did Daddy get me flying down that slip 'n slide!
Lauren and Papa watched from the sidelines 😉
(Click here for the video.)
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So much has been going on I haven’t even posted about Father’s Day last week. It was a beautiful day in the city so first we headed down to Marina Green for a picnic lunch and to fly some kites. We had a lot of fun running around and the wind was perfect for the kites.
In the afternoon, Maile and I headed out to ride bikes and I realized that it was time for a bike upgrade – she still had one of the coaster bikes and had definitely outgrown it. We headed over to the store and found her a new big girl bike with training wheels. When we got home we took it for a test spin around our courtyard. It reminded me so much of this old video I have of Papa Mike and Grandma Jill showing me how to ride my red bike back in the day. It was the perfect way to spend a father’s day!
Father's Day 2013 with my girls - Maile (almost 4!) and Lauren (5.5 months)
Lauren Girl enjoying the wind on her face
Heading out to fly some kites...
I'll just stay here, but don't worry, I'm watching...
Picking daisies...
I love this picture that Christine took of Maile...
Maile Girl on her brand new, big girl bike!
A little hard to get the pedals moving...
... but once you get going - no problem!
I had a blast on Father's Day teaching Maile how to ride her bike 🙂
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We’ll end our milestone week updates with Maile finishing her second year of preschool at Presidio Knolls.
Maile's Certificate of Completion - we love how they did this, each child painted with water colors over the certificate - Maile's came out beautiful!
The teachers and kids put on a really nice end of the year ceremony – with some Chinese songs and then the teachers calling each child up one at a time and saying a nice, very personal blurb about them and giving them a certificate. For Maile, her teacher said:
Maile is an artist. She loves art, loves dance, and enjoys good music. It’s a pleasure to see her humming and start dancing in the middle of the playground. She would say, “Look Ruth Lao Shi, this is my ballet concert.” And then she starts twirling.
I have to add that Christine and I couldn’t be prouder of our little girl. My guess is there will be many years like this one where we reflect back and are absolutely amazed at how much she has grown. She really blossomed this year at school – the art and writing she comes home with on a daily basis floors us and it’s clear that the Chinese is really setting it. It’s become more than just a cute trick where she knows some songs and colors – she really can communicate in Mandarin now and it’s so cool to see that.
She’s still a little girl, but she’s also grown a lot emotionally and how she interacts with her friends. She still has her moments to be sure, but she also has those moments where you can’t believe how much she has matured in such a short time.
Maile Girl on her last day of year 2 of preschool - just one month shy of her 4th birthday...
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