halloween, part 1

Halloween being on Wednesday this year, I had the feeling we were headed for multiple celebrations.

I wasn't wrong.

Here's part 1.

Since our ward's Halloween party isn't until Wednesday, ON Halloween day, we decided to crash Airi's Halloween party in Kaimuki on Friday night.  They had  a nice potluck and trunk or treat activity planned for their kids so we tagged along for the ride.  Plus, it's the only way we could take a picture of the cousins together!

This year, Jojo was Tinkerbell.

The most I did for this get-up was glue some pop-poms on her slippers.  

 Anna wanted to be a BAT.

No, not Bat Girl.  But a BAT.

So, I sewed some wings, glued some fluffy stuff on the fringes and even made the bat ear headband (because NO store carries bat ears.  Cat ears galore, but NO bat ears.  What gives?)

Kela. I believe, is getting into that phase of life where she doesn't want to dress up much anymore.

She wanted to wear her "cheetah dress" and slap on some cheetah ears and call it a costume.

Since that left me ZERO work to do, I said OK.

Rumi was a dancing princess doll.

So, trunk or treating was first, and Jojo took a while warming up to the whole "asking people for candy" thing.

 Whereas these three were less shy about it.  

 Not to mention this guy.  

He was grabbing candy left and right.

 While cousin Caleb wanted to EAT his candy all night!  

How cute is this little tiger cub?

 Whoop, how risque is Kaden's costume, eh?

(hey, it's Hawaii and the temperature is in the 80's.  No way I'm layering that costume!)

 After making his rounds, he wanted to rummage through his loot and eat.

 When he wasn't distracted by flying airplanes in the sky, that is.

Kumen was "Indiana Jones"

He tried explaining who Indiana Jones is to Anna.  She has NO clue.

She hasn't graduated to watching classic 80's movies yet...

 After collecting more than enough candy, it was dinner time.

Notice all of Anna's tomatoes?  She loves tomatoes.  Weird, I know...

Rumi and Kela.  

Their plates looking sparse, as usual.

And Jolee.  After I FORCED her to eat her spaghetti, she's finally getting to enjoy her cupcake.

Which, she only licked the frosting off of, by the way.

 Caleb and Kaden.  

I think they were having a silent conversation...maybe about that toy car Kaden was playing with...because not ONE peep came out of either of them the entire time.  

These two are pretty quiet, for boys.

 And then it was off to do some games.

Kela and Rumi tossing the rings on the octopus.

 Jolee-pinning the tail on the cat.

 And Anna-shooting some Angry Birds.

The kids all decked out in their costumes.

Notice Anna-spreading her bat wings.  Ha!  

(Makes all the work I put into the costume worth it!)

In the end, Kaden cared more about playing with this toy car than anything else.  

Easy to please, this boy!

And...see you again in a few days when we celebrate Halloween on actual Halloween Day!

To check out the rest of the Halloween party pics, check them out here!

pumpkin picking

On one fine Saturday, we decided to head out West to the hot side of the island to find ourselves some pumpkins!  It's been a few years since we've been out there to the Aloun Farms to pick our pumpkin...to be honest, it's not my favorite thing to do, but the kids love it! So despite the heat and red dirt...we headed out to spend a couple of hours with the cousins.

It being Saturday, Anna had just finished her soccer game and wasn't feeling too well.  She didn't want to go.

So, Mitch "took one for the team" and decided to hang back with a sick Anna and sleeping Kaden.  

I took Jolee and Kela and the Sakuma boys with me.

 The older two boys climbed the rock wall...

 While the younger ones jumped in the jump house.

 And then it was off to the sunflower garden while we waited for the rest of the cousins to arrive.  

 Me and Jojo and Luke next to the sunflowers.  

You can't see...but there were bees everywhere! Yikes!

 Ahh, the cousins arrived!  Some a tad sleepy...but they're all here!

 Do you know how difficult it is to take a picture of a large group of kids?  

Yea, this was the best of 4 or 5 takes.  Good enough, right?

 Jojo and her little pumpkin.  

That we did NOT bring home.

 And then heading out to the pumpkin patch...

 Me and my girls with their perfect pumpkins!

 They chose them out all by themselves!  

And carried them around the whole time as well. 

 Heading back...can you tell they are getting a bit tired?

 Me and my sisters!

What you cannot see...is the near one inch thick layer of red dirt covering all of them from head to toe!

But it's all in the name of Halloween and family time, right?  

Happy pumpkin picking everyone!

To check out more pictures from our pumpkin patch adventures, click here!

fall arizona trip

Fall break this year was spent in Arizona.

It being October already, I was hoping for some cooler weather...but alas, no such luck.

It was sweltering.  But the kids had fun anyway, so that's all that matters, right?  Right.

Here goes our super short but super jam-packed 3 day vacation to the "Valley of the Sun."

 Waiting to board the plane...trying to tire out the little boy as much as possible...

Which isn't too difficult since he refuses to sit still.  Even for a picture.

 Finally made it on and ready to take off!

He looks like such a big boy sitting in his seat all by himself!

(Which lasted all of 1 minute.  He spent the rest of the time on Daddy's lap.  Of course)

 In-flight entertainment.

 How lucky Hawaiian flight attendants gave us 2 digi players to use on the plane!!

But our lifesaver was Mitch's iPad.  Which keep the littlest one occupied.

(Yes, that's Angry Birds he's playing)

Aaaaaannnnd, he's OUT!

 This is what traveling with 4 little kids looks like.

And look-we even pack super light!

 1st stop: Matt's Big Breakfast.

Had to come here since it was on Food Network! :)

 The girls with their pancakes and waffles.

Which were tasty, I hear...but I didn't even try it because I had my...

Five-Spot Sandwich (and side of hash browns)

Which was YUMMY!  
And yes, I ate it ALL!

After our large breakfast, we hit the Phoenix Children's Museum.
This wind tunnel with scarves thingy was everyone's favorite, I think.  They loved it!

And then it was the bikes...

Also a huge hit with all the kids.

 Who knew going around and around in circles on small tricycles would be so entertaining for kids?!

 I hung out with Kaden in the "little kiddie" play area for short little while...he loved it!
And it took me FOREVER to get him to sit still long enough to snap this ONE picture!

 After the kiddie area we hit up the store.
THIS was where we spent the most time.
Kaden liked scooping out these lentils.  A lot.

While the rest of the girls (and their cousins Kai and Reina and Boston) loved playing with the shopping carts and registers and such.

 Mitch took Kaden to the race car track and he LOVED it!
I'm pretty sure this track occupied Kaden for a good half-hour!

 Jojo and Reina. playing with the fake food in the "restaurant."

With this kid...it's anything that rolls...

 HUGEST. TREEHOUSE. EVER!!

 The girls LOVED this Children's Museum!
Yay!

 Grandma with the grandkids.

 After all that running around, Jojo couldn't stay up for lunch...

Which just so happened to be the BEST FRIED CHICKEN I've ever tasted!!

At Mrs. White's Golden Rule Cafe...a tiny little Soul Food restaurant.
And it was GOOD!

Day two started off at the splash park.

 Not as nice as our favorite one in Tempe...but the kids didn't mind.  They LOVED the water!

I don't know what they were doing....but I love how they all get along so well and play together.  :)

Shortly after this picture, Kela slipped and fell...and no longer enjoyed the splash park as much.
boo...

And after the splash park we ate some ice cream.  Of course.

Ahh, my happy place.
Trader Joe's.

 And this is Mitch's happy place.
In-n-Out.

 All the kids care about here is the stickers...

While Mitch and I thoroughly enjoyed our "protein-style" burger wrapped in lettuce.

 Before bed, we hit the pool for some late night energy-burning.
Jet lag is NOT so fun for us traveling forward on the time zones.

Here nearly all of us fit in the camera shot!  Because Jojo was...

Testing out her goggles on the other side of the Jacuzzi tub.
 

 Our Third and last day in Arizona...we started out by visiting one of our favorite spots:  Joe's Farm Grill.
Kaden is mesmerized by the misters!!

Which, can I say, are GENIUS!?
Because it was HOT outside!!  But amazingly, underneath the misters it actually felt cool!
Yay!

After our lunch, wouldn't you know it, right across the parking lot was The Coffee Shop where they sell cupcakes!!  They apparently won Cupcake Wars on Food Network...but I wasn't overly impressed with their cupcakes.  They were overly sweet and not much flavor in the actual cake.
Plus, the texture was a tad too dense and almost mushy...but they sure looked pretty!  :)

And then it was pool time.

 Which all the kids LOVED!

And despite the hot weather, we all managed to find ourselves in the hot tub again...

 Ahh...the Seavey cousins...the kids will miss them for sure!

 And here we are...bright and early and waiting to board our plane home.

It was a pretty close call...but thankfully we were able to make it out!!
Jojo and I sat near the middle of the plane while Mitch and the rest of the kids got the very back row.
A good arrangement, if I do say so myself!  :)

And we made it!!
And even better--the kids were all happy and flew great!!
Yay for a short but fun filled vacation!

Oh, and even though we get to fly for free...that doesn't mean our kids get out of pulling their fair share of work!  Here's Kaden helping out by pushing our luggage around the airport.  

Yes, he crashed and made all the carseats topple over.  

Yes, I got a few weird stares.

No, I don't care.  

Happy Vacationing!

Oh, and to take a look at all 300 or so pictures I took on our short 3 day trip, check them out HERE!!