snip-snip!

Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

(my internal dialogue the entire time...)

It was a sad day for me.

A day I've been putting off for months.

It's the day Mitch's incessant nagging won out over my petty desire to hold onto Anna's cute, wavy hair.

**sniff, sniff**

our little graduate

After weeks of waiting, the pictures have finally arrived!

It just didn't seem "official" without the pictures.

Kindergarten, here we come!

busy as a ...

What's the phrase? Anyway-

To explain my lack of posting...here's a glimpse of what we've been up to.

Firstly, Grandma Seavey is here! And that means trips to the Hickam Air force Base and their parks. By far, the cleanest, safest parks for the kiddies to play at. And, they're rarely crowded to boot!

We placed Jolee on the slide and watched her climb up the entire way all by herself. And I'm talking about all slides--straight, spiral, short or tall...she can climb them all! (hee hee, I couldn't resist the cheesy rhyme.)

And of course, whenever Grandma Seavey comes, we must make a trip (or two, or three) to our favorite Dim Sum restaurant in Chinatown. So yummy...I could eat this everyday! (er, maybe that's an exaggeration...more like every other day...)

One way to escape the Summer heat is to stay indoors. We visited the Honolulu Children's Discovery Center with Elika's kids, Aya and Kashus. The girls had a blast...and keep wanting to go back. If the hot weather keeps up, they just may get their wish!


Back on Hickam AFB, the bike/jogging path is perfect for all of us to enjoy the evening sunset...

I'm sure there will be many more pictures like this in the upcoming few weeks...

she's up!

As of last week...Jolee has learned the art of balancing on her own two feet!

Next stop: WALKING!?!

*sniff* my baby's growing up too fast...

kites & bikes & beaches

Yup, it's DEFINITELY summer!

With the girls being out of preschool and the weather so unbearably HOT lately, we've been scratching our heads trying to occupy ourselves in the most "cooling" manner possible.

So far...no such luck.

There seems to be no escaping the heat!

We trekked out to the park to let Kela ride her new (old, but new to her) bicycle. This is her very first bicycle (I know...she's already almost 5! We're slow.) She got the whole training wheel thing down...next step -- onto the 2-wheel maneuvering. I think I'll leave that up to Mitch.

Anna's a PRO on the trike. She only needed help when she veered off onto the grass, and got stuck.

Oh, and Mitch has a new hobby: Kite flying.

Of course, we can't forget about the beach. With the Kona Winds lately, the water has been super warm and like GLASS! Crystal clear and perfect water for our little keiki (kids) to splash around in.
THIS is why we LOVE living in Hawai'i!

probation no more!

As of today, Mitch is finally a full-fledged pilot for Hawaiian Airlines.

Not that he wasn't before or anything...but now that he's finally off probation, he's a bit more relaxed at work. And we're a little more relaxed at home because of the PAY RAISE! Woo Hoo!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we ate out at Tanaka of Tokyo.
We thought that the pyrotechnics at the dinner table would be a hit with the girls...alas, we were slightly mistaken. Kela clammed up and didn't respond much to the chef. Anna had her eyes covered the entire time the he cooked for us! (photo below)

We sort of thought that was more entertaining than the actual cooking show...

However, the cooking was entertaining and food was very yummy. Once the chef finished with cooking our food, Anna came back to life and we all enjoyed our celebratory dinner together.

Congratulations, Mitch on hitting your One-Year mark!

Here's hoping for many, many more~!

finally!!

It's been nearly 12 weeks since Mitch started the HUGE task of renovating his father's one-bedroom hotel unit in Waikiki. The long and arduous process ended up consuming more time and work than either of us anticipated (mostly because he worked on it all by himself for the most part!), and nearly one month behind his original schedule...but all that aside, the work is (nearly) done and I can now post the final pictures.

Voila!

All's that's left is really minor things like switching out a light fixture, sealing a small leak in the kitchen sink, a new stopper for the bathtub, and new furniture. Small beans, eh?

If you need a reminder of what the unit looked like pre-construction, take a gander here. Big difference, eh? I'm so proud of Mitch! He's become quite the handy-man! I'm keeping my hopes up for when we eventually purchase our first home...I'll be taking mental notes for possible upgrades, thank you very much!

And purely for my own indulgence...a shot of the room with a model.