Hawaiian Waters

We have lived in Hawaii for 4 years now and we've never made a trip to the water park...until now! Drew and I decided that we should take advantage of the grandparents and drag them to the water park. That way they could watch Andrew while we sneak away to ride the "big kid" rides.

It was a great plan. We started the day in Keiki Kove (kiddie area) playing with Andrew. He was a little shy at first, not wanting to get down and wade in the water by himself, but he loved the water slides! Here's a picture of him on his very first slide.

After a couple of trips on the baby slides, he moved over to the "family" slides. Drew took him on the pink "big boy" slide, as he called it. I think it was his favorite of the day. I rode it once with him and just as we pushed off he yelled, "Wheeee!"

So when Andrew needed a break, Granna and Paw-Paw took him on the Lazy River, while Mommy and Daddy ran off to have some fun of their own. Granna said Andrew fell asleep on the first lap around the lagoon. Paw-Paw parked his inter tube under the bridge and let him sleep for a while. Then they moved on to a shady spot at the wave pool where Drew and I found Andrew and Paw-Paw sleeping TWO HOURS later. He had a GREAT nap. Guess the water park was a little too much fun for Andrew. (Mom's camera battery died pretty early on, so we didn't get many pictures.)

When Andrew woke up, Granna took Andrew back to the Lazy River while we got Paw-Paw to do some slides with us. He had fun! Then we did a few more kiddie slides with Andrew before heading home. The park closed at 3:30 that day, so we had the rest of the afternoon to relax. It was a really fun day and I hope to take Andrew back again before we leave Hawaii.

Who's the Boss?

Andrew has his grandparents wrapped around his little finger. They say that's true with all grandkids and grandparents, but Andrew has taken it to a new level.

One day, during Granna and Paw-Paw's visit, Drew and I went to Lowe's to pick out blinds for the house. Andrew stayed home with Granna and Paw-Paw. We always knew that Paw-Paw was a softy and would do anything that Andrew asked, but this was a new extreme. Here's what happened while Mama and Daddy were away....

Andrew said, "In Paw-Paw." And that's just what Paw-Paw did.

Then Andrew proceded to shut the doors on Paw-Paw.

Paw-Paw is laughing so hard in this picture b/c he's thinking to himself, "What if I get stuck in here!" Oh, what we'll do to make our kids (and grand kids) happy!

(By the way...if you can't tell..this is our living room. You can at least get a glimpse of our wall color, which my dad calls "cardboard.")

Haircut #2

Also, while Granna and Paw-Paw were here, Andrew had a haircut. This time we went to a place close to the NEX called "Pigtails & Crew Cuts." It's so cute! They even have dress up birthday parties there.

Andrew chose to sit in the airplane.

He wasn't too happy about the lady touching him, so Granna distracted him by drawing pictures on an etch-a-sketch. He looked so handsome! (Though he's making an awful face) haha

It was such a cute place. I think we'll go back next time.

Choo Choo!

One Sunday afternoon Granna, Paw-Paw, Andrew, and I went on a train ride. (Drew didn't get to go because he had duty.) For those of you who live here, yes, there's a train. I didn't know either until recently. There's a train depot out in Ewa Beach and you can go on a 45 minute train ride (1 1/2 hr. round trip) through the Ko'Olina resort and up the coastline to Electric Beach in Nanakuli. It's a fun ride and you get to hear the history of the Hawaiian Railway system along the way. If you're lucky you'll get to see some spinner dolphins at the beach. It's something fun to do with your kids. It operates on Sunday's only at either 1pm or 3 pm. The cost is $10 for adults and $7 for children 3 and up.

Andrew fell asleep right after this picture was taken and he slept until we got to Electric beach. He managed to stay awake for the second half of the ride. Every time the whistle blew he'd call out "Choo choo!"

There were also several static displays in the waiting area.

Fun with Paw-Paw and Granna

Most of you know that my parents came out to visit for the past couple of weeks. It wasn't much of a vacation because we put them to work helping us move. Granna played baby-sitter while Paw-Paw helped us with painting and heavy lifting. They were SUCH a big help. We wouldn't have been able to get as much done as we did had they not been here, so thanks again Mom and Dad.

Sadly, they had to leave us on Thursday. Andrew was pretty bummed out. The whole way home from the airport he kept asking "Where Granna Paw-Paw go? I'd say "They got on the airplane to go to Paw-Paw's house." Then Andrew would either say, "I go Paw-Paw's house too" or "I airplane too." He really misses them. He's still asking where they went. The cable guys are coming back on Monday to fix the phone jack so the beamer tv (video conferencing) will work. I know several people who will be glad about that!

They had a blast together while they were here and Andrew is even more spoiled now than before (if that's possible). Thanks to the grandparents he has added the words "coke, sprite, and candy" to his vocabulary! But all good things must come to an end and now it's back to "apple, grapes, and milk."

I mentioned before that we did a lot of work while they were here, but we made time for play too. The next couple of posts will revolve around the activities of the past few weeks. Some of the fun included trips to the beach, the pool, a train ride, and even a trip to the water park. Posing on the lanai (that's balcony). Dad enjoyed the mountain view.
Chillin' under a palm tree watching the sunset, like we did many nights.
Smilin' with Granna at Maili beach park.

Andrew's Bathroom

Ok, so yesterday's blog post inspired me to get some work done around here. Mom helped me hang up the rest of our clothes, so aside from the fact that we can't find the hardware to the bed and therefore it is not put together, the master bedroom is nice and clean. My Dad painted Andrew's bathroom so I got it all put together. I unpacked our entertainment system and emptied out a few more boxes, did several loads of laundry, and vacuumed the floors. It's starting to look more and more like a house. (Except for the fact that there are 2 bedrooms with NO furniture. Ok that's only somewhat true...one room has a mattress!) Slowly but surely it will come together.

So here's Andrew's jungle bath.....

Kitchen Picture

Well, we're back...back to blogging that is. The cable guy came this week, so we're finally reconnected with the outside world.

Here are the first 2 pictures of the inside of the house. I picked the kitchen because it's the only room in the house clean enough to deserve a picture. There are still boxes EVERYWHERE (mostly in the garage). We haven't done too much this week in the unpacking department due to the fact that I wanted to have some fun with Mom and Dad before they leave.

See it looks nice and clean from this view...
But if you look closely at the bottom of this picture...you can see boxes and JUNK piled in my barstools.

The wall color in the kitchen, Hazy Jade, is my favorite!!
More to come as I unpack...