You know she's growing up when....

Well it's official Gracie lost her first tooth. She was so excited it fell out at school while she was eating lunch. She got to go to the health room where they gave her this little pink treasure chest to put it in. She has been asking for years when she was going to lose her first tooth I kept telling her when she got bigger... well she did get bigger and it happened. But there are other ways I can tell she is growing up, lets see... she asked me the other day if she could get fake nails. (I don't have fake nails so she has noticed those on others). Her favorite TV show is " i Carly" not cartoons. And she wanted to use her birthday money to go shopping for clothes (not toys). Deven and I took her shopping on Saturday to the mall. She kept saying how much fun it was and picked out so many clothes to try on. After she had paid for some clothes she had her bag in her hands and she walking out of the door with Deven holding his hand, she said really loud "I just love shopping this is so much fun." I was lagging behind a bit with Dylan in the stroller I got side tracked. There were two ladies by the front door who just started laughing. I heard them say, "did you hear that little girl? She was holding her dad's hand as they were walking out of the door and she said I love shopping." I couldn't help but smile. I have to admit I am excited to have someone to go shopping with.... Deven on the other hand, he is a little bit nervous LOL!

The Best Week Ever!!!

After much anticipation Matt and Lisa finally came. It was such a great week. This week reminded us of how lucky we are to live in Hawaii and of how much we love family. Now if there were just some way to combine it all. None the less we had a jammed pack week full of fun. (I did two different posts because this is my scrapbook as well and I wanted to capture all of are memories the best I could) We started off with snorkeling at Sharks Cove, Matsumotos, and the shrimp trucks. We then spent that evening down in Honolulu. The next day we headed to White Plains for some surfing. Matt was really nervous about sharks and we weren't sure if he would get in the water. Well it turns out we couldn't get him out of the water. He was a natural at surfing and he became addicted. That night we hiked the light house and saw whales. Tuesday we started off early with a hike to the top of Diamond Head. From there we headed over to Bellows Beach for some boogie boarding and we topped off the evening with a couples date on a dinner cruise down at Waikiki. Wednesday we of course did the swap meet and the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We got to enjoy another couples date that night at Haleiwa Joes on the North Shore. Thursday we got up early and drove over to the other side of the Island to Kaneohe. We rented a boat over there and took it out to a giant sandbar in the bay. It was cloudy and a bit chilly but so beautiful and so much fun. We had the sandbar all to ourselves and it was amazing. After that we went and checked into our beach Cottage in Kaneohe. This was such a great evening. We had a private beach and we enjoyed snorkeling, some book reading, BBQ steaks on our lanai and of course we ended with a fire pit that evening and smores. From there we headed over to the Polynesian Cultural Center, but we first stopped at the temple in Laie. We enjoyed a Luau at the PCC and the night show. Saturday was there last day but we kept going. We did Pearl Harbor in the morning and then went back for Matt and Deven to surf one more time. That night Gracie had her first hula performance at Mililani Town Center. She was so excited to have Matt and Lisa come watch. We were so proud of her she is a natural. Of course all good things must end and it did. They flew out late that night. But it was a week I will always remember. We had such a great time. We laughed and laughed and then laughed some more. It was great to have Lisa here when we found out my mom was in the hospital we were able to cry together and it was comforting to have each other when we didn't know what was going on. She ended up having surgery on Monday and has a had a rocky recovery. But I was able to talk to her tonight and they think she will be able to go home tomorrow. This is when it is hard to be so far away. But I love you mom and wish I could be there!!!
The shrimp trucks in Halewia. The boys loved it and snuck up there one more time on Saturday before they flew home.
Of course what is the North Shore without shaved ice. YUMMY!!!


Our night down in Honolulu.
Matt and Deven getting ready to start there surfing adventure. These two boys are "two peas in a pod" They are both wild and crazy, but that makes for fun adventures.
Matt and Lisa on the Light house hike. We love this picture.
Dylan and I hiking up.
Our Diamond Head adventure.
Bellows beach. It really says Aloha. But I know Matt was making fun of us because are "A" and "l" blend together and he kept saying "Where's Noha."
Dylan with his cracker and sand face.
Enjoying our "non alcoholic" Mai tai on our dinner cruise.
Deven and I enjoying the sunset on top of the boat. Down below is all 4 of us enjoying the evening.

Haleiwa Joe's. This is one of our favorite places to eat. The boys got brave this time and ordered a special where they got the whole fish on there plate. It looks a little crazy, but it was really good. We all tried it, probably the best fish I have ever had.

The four of us at dinner.

Best Week Ever Part 2

Deven and Matt after their snorkel adventure in Kaneohe Bay
Paddle boarding out in the bay
We rented a boat and took it out to a giant sandbar in Kaneohe Bay. It was a bit cloudy but so much fun.
docked on the sandbar
Gracie paddle boarding
Dylan found his love of Cheetos
Sunset from our beach cottage

Dinner on our lanai overlooking the bay
fire pitting on the beach
It wouldn't be the same without shrimp trucks on the North Shore
Laie Temple
Deven and Matt getting ready to throw their spears at the Polynesian Cultural Center
The Luau
Enjoying a yummy mango smoothie before the luau
Dylan eating a sand strawberry at White Plains Beach
Matt and Deven addicted to surfing
Our beautiful Hawaiian Princess before her first hula performance

Gracie performing at Mililani Town Center

Happy Birthday Gracie!!! What can I say, except time goes by way to fast. Gracie turned 6 years old on March 2nd. She of course was counting down to this day since Christmas. I just can't believe how fast she has grown up. Since she has started school this year she has changed so much. The way she looks, the way she talks, her confidence has increased. For so many years she wouldn't do anything without me holding her hand and never wanted me to leave her alone anywhere. Now she doesn't want me to go anywhere, she wants to be so independent. Truthfully I have a hard time with it. I think part of it is just realizing how quickly she is growing up. But we love you Gracie. You are such a great big sister. You are so helpful and you have such a great whit about you. You really keep us on our toes. You bring so much laughter do our lives. It has been so fun to watch you grow up and see how much you are changing. Dylan just loves you!!! He chases you around till you tease him and chase him back. He loves to take you to the bus in the morning but gets so excited when we go to pick you up after school. You can always get him to laugh and he loves to copy you. You have been such a big help to me this year. Happy Birthday I hope you had a great day!!!
Her birthday was on a Tuesday so I thought we would start the day with a "pancake" cake. Since that is what she requested for her birthday breakfast.
Deven was already at work, but Dylan and I sang to her before school and let her blow out her candle.
She wanted a new bike since she outgrew her other one, but mom messed up and got one that was way to big. I didn't know it made that much difference, but it did. She was a little disappointed when she tried to get on it and her feet didn't touch the ground. So I promised her as soon as she got home from school, we would take that one back and she could pick out one that fit. She was ok with that. It was going to be a fun day at school as well. I got to bring cupcakes in for her class and she got to wear a birthday crown. Of course she loved that.
We had her birthday party on Saturday. We decided to have it at Burger King this year. It just seemed like it would be the least stressful for me. It turned out to be a lot of fun. The kids played, ate, and ran their little hearts out. I love it because I didn't have to clean anything or worry about anything getting broke. They could run and play all they wanted.
This year I decided I wanted to try something new. I had never made candy succors before and so I thought that would be fun to try. It was a lot of fun and I thought they turned out cute.
Gracie with her birthday cake. As you can see she just wanted everything to be pink and purple. I threw in some green since there would be boys there.
Gracie after all the craziness. We love you so much and are glad you had a great birthday!!!