Camping at the Beach

Gabby's only request this year for her birthday was that she wanted to go camping. Since her birthday was on a Thursday we had to wait until the weekend to go camping. This weekend we went to Bellows Beach to go camping. We played, dug in the sand, walked along the beach, and played in the ocean. One of the best parts was that when we went on an evening stroll along the beach there were only 2 other people on the whole beach, and when we got up and went to play on the beach we were the only people out playing. People gradually made their way to the beach throughout the morning but it was still pretty empty. It was a very fun adventure.

Happy 5th Birthday Gabby!

My baby girl just turned FIVE years-old!!! Where did the time go? She was so incredibly excited for her birthday. She has been counting down and planning for weeks. She just told us that she wanted surprises for her birthday, so we had to figure out what she would want. First we made cupcakes, and then frosted them.

After taking the girls to swim class (and after Gabby had been asking all day) we let her open her birthday gifts. She got quite the loot. Grandma and Papa gave her some playdough sets, a few movies from her aunts, a scooter, doll house accesories, and a CD player from mom and dad. She was one VERY happy little girl.

After presents we headed downtown to The Old Spaghetti Factory for Gabby's birthday dinner. Gabby was so happy that the waiters came and sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Last year we also went to Old Spaghetti Factory for her birthday...maybe this is turning into something?

After we got home from dinner the girls got to talk to Grandma and Papa on the computer via Skype. It turned out to be an excellent day!

Hanauma Bay

Today we went to Hanauma Bay Beach Park. It's an ancient volcanic crater that filled in with water, and then one of the walls corroded away forming a volcanic bay. The fish thought it was an excellent spot to make a coral reef which makes for some excellent snorkeling, as well as a fun beach to play at.

Before we could go down to the beach we had to watch a short film about preserving the wildlife, and what is okay to do, as well as what is not. Here's Kaylee waiting to go into the theatre to watch the film:

After playing in the water for a bit (and Paul going out snorkeling a few times) Gabby came and told me that she wanted to go out "gargling" too...So...she tried:

Kaylee and Gabby also tried to make a sand swimming hole on the beach and filling it in with water.

Next is was on to laying out on the beach...and then laying out in the water

Happy St. Patrick's Day

This year for St. Patrick's day we planned some fun activities, as well as learned all about St. Patrick (and why he gets his own day), and Ireland. Here are a few of the fun things we did this week for St. Patrick's Day.

We made a Wee Leprechaun:

We made Green Shamrock Cookies, and then we frosted them with green frosting:

The kids went on a Leprechaun's Treasure hunt to find the gold at the end:

I hope everyone had a magical St. Patrick's day, and found a little gold at the end of a rainbow somewhere.

Honolulu Zoo

Today we needed to get out of the house. The news said it was going to rain...but they were wrong. It was such a nice day that we really wanted to get out and enjoy it (especially after last Saturday when we were stuck at home because of the tsunami warning). We decided to head over to the Honolulu Zoo right along Waikiki Beach. When we got there it was nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find parking because of how busy the beach was. We finally found a parking spot and lucky for us Kaylee insisted on bringing her money so we had change to put in the parking meter.

One of the first things the girls found was a Hippopotamus statue to climb on:

We found a monkey that was more than happy to show off its skills at swinging, jumping, and playing with a ball.

Since we are in Hawaii...there were TONS, and TONS of turtles at the zoo. Here's a bunch of turtles sunning on logs in the monkey enclosure.

Next stop was at the Hippo Pool. The 2 hippos were to busy sleeping on each other to care about anything else. I learned that hippos spend the day in the water, and the night on land.

The really cool thing about the African Savannah exhibit at this zoo is that most of the animals have an open enclosure. They can roam around together and have more space. The Zebras, Giraffes, Rhino, and Ostrich were all in the same enclosure wandering around together.

After a short trip to the playground we went to the Keiki (kids) Zoo area. There were llamas, goats, chickens, and more. One of the coolest things was a fish pool with a tunnel in it.

We went to see the Kimodo Dragon...then it was off to find our car before time ran out on the parking meter.

There was still 24 minutes on the parking meter so we figured that meant there was enough time for a quick walk to Waikiki Beach.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Today we went to the Hawaii Children's Discovery Center to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday. On our way there we got hopelessly lost and ended up at Waikiki, but once we found the Children's Center it was fun exploring, and discovering.

There were different Seuss activities while we were there. The kids got to decorate their own tall hat:

We visited around Kid's Town and got to be: Judge, postal worker, firefighter, mechanic, cashier, and more fun things. They even got to go "sledding" down a hill.

We went upstairs and made HUGE bubbles, explored a navy ship, and harvested pineapples.

Then we had Dr. Seuss story time, and decorated cupcakes. After the cupcakes were decorated we sang happy birthday to Dr. Seuss, ate our cupcakes, and headed for home.