spring break in seattle!

Spring Break!!  

We have been looking forward to head off to see some snow since LAST Spring Break.

It's become sort of a Seavey family tradition for us to head up to Seattle to spend a few days in the cold and snow during Spring Break.

This year was no exception.

 Since the girls got their very own suitcases for Christmas, this was their first time getting to use them!

They were super excited to put their presents to use...and we were super excited to NOT have to pack and haul THEIR clothes and toys!  It's truly a great thing to have kids be responsible for their own luggage!  Yay for kids growing up!  :)

 And yay for travel benefits! And for kids getting to sit together!

 At the airport, upon arriving...we bought our very first (of many) hot chocolates.  

Hot Cocoa simply tastes so much yummier in Seattle than they do in Hawaii...

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Something our kids look forward to whenever we visit Seattle is the donuts.

If you didn't know, Seattle has YUMMY donuts.  We bought donuts for breakfast nearly every morning.

 We hit up the mall to do a bit of shopping & preparing for our upcoming snow trip.

The weather warmed up a bit and so we indulged in a smoothie.

But drank it INSIDE the mall, of course, because it's still freezing cold outside, thank you very much!

 Lucky for us, the Sakuma boys also happened to decide to vacation to Seattle for Spring Break!

We met up at the Reptile Zoo with our cousins.

This is not my favorite place to visit...but Anna LOVES this zoo, as do the Sakuma boys so snake time it was!

This is the kids underneath the anaconda tank.

I'm pretty sure it's big enough to swallow some of these kids whole if it wanted to...

 And since we can't pass up on the opportunity to get even MORE creeped out, decided to do some snake handling as well.

These were little baby boas that the kids got to hold.

 Kaden's first time holding a snake.

Not pictured is the numerous time I had to push his face away from the snake's head....Kaden kept trying to kiss it.  Ew!

 Surprisingly, this girl was the bravest and held the snake more than anyone else.  She even let one crawl up her arm and around her neck.  This was not a little nerve-wracking for me.

You'll notice Daddy is no where to be seen in any of these pictures.

That's because he is not a fan of snakes and reptiles...and pretty much kept as far away as possible without looking too much a coward.  Ha!

 Another new adventure we got to experience this trip was Go-Kart racing!

It was nearly empty so our girls pretty much had their way with the tracks upstairs on the kiddie course.

Kela, Karen and Maya raced together...

 While Anna and Klair raced separately.

Haha, they looked like bobble heads with these huge helmets on...but according to them, this was pretty much the highlight of our trip.

Kaden and Jolee also raced on their own, but rode much smaller "Power Wheel" type cars.

Theirs was slow-going, but everyone agreed it was a super fun time. 

Cold inside the building....but fun nonetheless.

And then, the real reason why we traveled up to Seattle...was for this!

He drove up to Snoqualmie to hit some hills and get some sledding in.

We borrowed a couple of sleds from our friends and drove up to the passes.

We were worried that there wouldn't be enough snow since we didn't see much on our drive up, but sure enough, as soon as we hit Snoqualime limits, we started seeing some white stuff.

Thankfully, this little sledding hill we discovered was nearly deserted and so we had it all to ourselves!

 My girls always do this the first moment they hit snow.

Making snow angels is a requisite for snow play.

 Uncle Atau guys also ventured up with us and the kids had a blast sledding down the hill together.

There were no rope tows or anything-just a huge hill for sledding down, but it was enough for our kids!

 Kaden was quite a trooper for his first snow experience.  

Okay, technically, LAST year was his first snow sighting...but this was the first time he was actually able to walk around and build a snowman with Daddy.

Pretty fancy snowman, Kaden!

Daddy even built an igloo for Jojo!

It was small...only big enough for one tiny child to crawl inside at a time, but it was a hit with everyone.  Good job, Daddy! 

At the end of our trip, we were hoping to fly south to Arizona for a couple of days to hang out with the Seavey's...unfortunately, it was the Mariner's Spring Training that week and ALL flights from Seattle to Phoenix were booked solid!

We tried for about 4 hours to make it out, but alas....could not.

The kids were very sad and disappointed...

 Not to mention, exhausted!

After hanging around Sea-Tac airport for 4 hours, this is how EVERYONE felt!

We rented a car for one more day and headed back to Uncle Makoto's house.

Which, while a bummer, turned out to be a blessing because we got to celebrate Karen's birthday with the Sakuma girls!

All in all, we all agreed that Spring Break in Seattle is the BEST vacation ever!

hinamatsuri

It's Hinamatsuri time.

Normally, we don't celebrate the Japanese Girl's Day holiday at all.

Sad, if you think about it, considering we have 3 girls and we probably should have started celebrating it 9 years ago when Kela was born.

But anyway, there was a BIG Japanese Festival at the Convention Center and since Riho had to help out with one of the booths, we all decided to brave the crowds and celebrate this Japanese holiday with the rest of half of Hawaii.

Lookie!  They had a huge Hinamatsuri doll set on display and even had some sample Yukata's to try on!  We couldn't pass up the opportunity to dress them all up and take a picture to commemorate.

 This was the booth that Riho was helping out at.

The girls were given yarn loops and taught the ancient Japanese art of ayatori, otherwise known as, "cat's cradle."

Look at my little Japanese girls!

 And then in another booth, they were making ancient Hawaiian canoes!

This Japanese festival wasn't limited to only Japanese cultural activities, it seems.

The kids each picked out their boat pieces and ONE glue-gun weilding person would glue it all together.

Seriously.  ONE person!  You probably can't see in this picture, but the line was FOREVER LONG!

 Anyway, after a LONG time of waiting and waiting, they each finished their boats with nicely decorated sails and everything. 

Was it worth it? 

Considering these boats probably won't last through the end of the month, probably not...but the kids did enjoy making it and so it's all good.

 After boat-making, they each decorated their own hachmaki with stamps to take home.

This also will undoubtedly not last through the end of the month.

 By this time, we were pretty wiped out...but the girls really wanted to try their hand at kingyo-sukui, or fishing for duckies with a paper net.  

Not as easy as you would think...but they got to take home the little rubber duckies and so they were happy.  

This place was super crowded!  

But I'm glad we went.  The girls got to learn a few interesting and fun facts about the Japanese culture and spend some time with their cousins.

children's discovery center, again.

You can tell we're running out of activities for little Kaden to do while the girls are in school...because here we are at the Children's Discovery Center once again.

But as you can imagine, Kaden doesn't mind one bit.

He could stay here all day, every day, if we let him.

This time, he got to go with his cousins Caleb, Knox, and Justus!

 They were SO excited to go...they walked hand in hand ahead of us.  

How cute is this?

 Once again, we probably stayed at this car station the longest.

No surprise there.

 And then we tried out the bubble view next to the water table. 

He was pretty freaked out when I dumped water on top of this dome.  

Even after knowing that he wouldn't get wet...he quickly ducked out and resumed playing with the water instead.  Not much for adventures, this one.

 He DID, however, like this huge bubble machine-thingy.  

The bubble wand wasn't working fantastic this day...but they still loved raising the soapy bar and trying to blow some bubbles.  Which ended up just blowing soapy foam everywhere, but for these little guys, that was entertainment enough.

 And since we are Japanese, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to retrace our roots!  Dressed them up in Japanese clothes and sat them down for some sushi.

Thankfully, no plastic food entered their mouths.  

But the favorite exhibit was, of course, the Jeepney.  

They all loved taking turns driving and crawling all over this Philippine taxicab.  

While Hawaii's children's museum may not be able to match the bigger, fancier museums on the mainland, ours is still fairly large and varied enough to entertain the kids for a good couple of hours!

All our kids LOVE this museum, and we are blessed to live close enough to venture here on days when we are in need of a fun and safe indoor activity for the tikes.  

(not so) happy birthday to me

There comes a time in a woman's life when birthdays are no longer happy occasions.

This year, I have reached that milestone.

When I reached the age of 30, I remember thinking to myself, "Wow, I can't believe I'm 30!"

And then shaking that off and simply moving forward.  30 wasn't so bad, really.

But 37? 

Where did the time go?  When did I hit my mid-thirties...and then surpass it?

I normally don't consider myself a melancholy kind of person.  I'm pretty easy-going and happy-go-lucky.  I know I've been blessed in so many ways and try to look on the positive side of every situation that comes my way.

But turning 37?  Not so much.

I'm sure there are plenty of positive things about turning 37.  Like the fact that I'm not turing 38!  Yet.

It is inevitable, though.

So, might as well suck it up and move on.

And eat cake.

 I told Mitch that I did't feel like celebrating my birthday, and that included no cake.

However, he chose to IGNORE my wishes and buy me a cake anyway.

I was glad for it because seeing my kids enjoy this cake and the happiness on their faces when I opened the box well made up for my moodiness.

Long story short, we all grow up.  

There is nothing we can do to stop time or prevent birthdays from coming.  The only thing we CAN do is age gracefully by appreciating the experiences and life stories made during each passing year.

And with that, I'll end with saying that I am so very grateful for these people in my life.  My husband who ignores my wishes to surprise me with what I didn't want...but obviously needed.  And for my children for making an unhappy day, happy!  By simply looking at the positives (cake!) and ignoring the negatives (their aging mama).

And so, Happy Birthday to me!

Here's to one more year of happy memories and experiences to enjoy...at least until this day next year.  When I will undoubtedly go through the exact same emotional roller coaster yet again.

great aloha run!

It's Great Aloha Run time once again.  And since Kela turned 8 last year, I asked her if she would like to take a chance and run it with me.  She knew her friend, Sophie, would also be running (and walking) it so enthusiastically said, "Yes!"

We set out to train and work hard at making it through the 8.15 mile course...but unfortunately, couldn't quite find the time or energy in the kids daily busy schedules to make it happen.

And so, with very little training in the books, we still managed to head out early the morning of February17th 2014 to the Aloha Stadium for the run.

 Here we are at the GAR expo the weekend before the race.

We are excited and looking forward to the challenge!!

Anna kept asking why she couldn't run it with us...I informed her that since she complains about walking around a store with me while I shop, running 8.15 miles will be much too difficult for her.

Understatement of the year.

 Race morning!  We met up with Kela's friend, Sophie!  They ran together the entire time...alternately walking and running for the whole 8.15 mile course.  

 Right before the start...we are all smiles here!

And let me just say, Kela never once complained or asked to stop.  We definitely walked a lot...but we also ran a lot too.  And all throughout, Kela really put on a good show!  She pushed herself hard, kept a smile on her face, and I couldn't have been more proud of her efforts!

Here we are at the end!

She was exhausted and sore for several days afterward...but still never complained and said she had fun.  Which was probably because she got to run it with her friend, but that doesn't make her effort any less commendable!  Running 8.15 miles as an 8 year-old with ZERO training is no small feat!

Our finish time was just about 2 hours.

Way to go, Kela!!

And I promise-we will train next year and do even better!  

Love you!

mommy's winter getaway

I truly am fortunate to have been blessed with a kind husband...who willingly indulges his wife's whims and allows her to do some traveling on her own.

Usually when I fly somewhere by myself, it's to run a race.

This time, however, I flew to Ohio in the middle of winter to see a show!

A cooking show, to be exact!

 I swung through Phoenix on my way there...stopping only at the airport for a couple of hours before flying on to Atlanta, and then to Dayton, OH.

 Upon arriving in Dayton, this is what I saw out of the airplane window.

This is actually the airport runway.

Where's the runway, you ask?

Let's hope the pilots of the airplane have better luck deciphering the runway's location than I did.

Mitch's family was gracious enough to not only host my stay, but to drive me everywhere!!  They picked me up from the airport, drove me to the store, took me out to eat yummy food and even accompanied me to the cooking show!

First things first, though.  Me and my niece, Brielle, and her princess Barbie doll.

You can't tell but it's actually snowing here!!

And it was COLD!

Before flying to Ohio, Jolee asked me to make a snow angel and send a picture of it to her.  

So, here it is.

I lasted outside in the snow for less than 5 minutes before calling it quits and running back inside. 

Ohio in February is in the 20's.  

Very, very cold.

 And we're here!

Collette was kind enough to come along with me and join in on the fun.

Alton Brown's Edible Inevitable show was SO MUCH FUN!

There was music, comedy, cooking, and lots of fun food facts.

We both agreed it was a fantastic time and I felt like it was worth the effort to fly all the way across the Pacific Ocean and half of the country to see. :)

(okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I really enjoyed myself and was very glad that I got to go!)

And on my way back home, got to swing through Phoenix one more time.

However this time, I got to stay one night and enjoy some In-n-Out with Takuya and Lynn!

And early the next morning, I was back on the plane headed home to Hawaii.

As I was sitting in the plane, with a book in my hand and peace and quiet surrounding me, I realized that as much as I enjoy traveling by myself...I missed my family.

I am so blessed to have the opportunity to fly away now and again, to travel by myself to various destinations to run or visit friends/family, and to simply experience new adventures.

But always, happy to return home to Hawaii Nei...and back to Mitch and the kids. 

children's discovery center

With the girls in school, I have had to wrack my brain for fun things to keep Kaden occupied during the day.  He's actually a very easy to please little boy.  He doesn't demand constant attention, easily plays by himself, and never complains when I drag him on errands like exercise or shopping.  

It's actually been very fun and rewarding for me to have little Mommy-and-Me playdates with him. 

BUT, on this day, we met up with his cousin Caleb and headed out to the Children's Discovery Center.

Here he is trying out the snowboard exhibit. 

He wasn't too keen on how wobbly it was...but once he got the hang of it, he liked being on top of the board and pretended to "surf."

The water table is always a hit with the kids.  

Surprisingly, we managed to escape this area with minimal soaking of clothes!

 Ah, see? Back on the board.

And of course, Kaden's favorite exhibit was the car station.  He did everything from drilling the bolts on the wheels, checking under the car, beeping the horn and rolling the tires to and fro.

MY personal favorite exhibit was the Hawaiian Airlines airplane exhibit. 

Dressed him up like his Daddy and had to take a picture.

Will he take after his Daddy, perhaps?

Maybe!