Merry Christmas and Seattle trip!

 Three weeks of winter vacation was wonderful this year! I vote for that length in the future!

 

We got to hang out and play with Lily and Levi on Christmas Eve

 

Uncle Darin and Cade making funny faces after Cade had just wiggled his tooth out

 

This year we got to spend Christmas morning at home and unwrap presents. 

 

 Santa was very generous and the kids enjoyed unwrapping their presents quickly so we could catch our afternoon flight to Seattle! 

 

We did a lot more activities this trip because the kids are older and it's easier to get out with them. We tried  rock climbing in Bellevue 

 

Kenny was a little scared, but got the hang of it! 

 

Cade got pretty high on the adult wall... almost to the top twice! I had to go coax him down because he just froze up there. I think he kept looking down when he got to a certain point and it freaked him out! But he got really high, so I don't blame him!

The main reason for the trip was for our friend Shawn's birthday. He celebrated his special yakudoshi- in the Japanese culture, when men hit the milestone 40, you celebrate for good luck. So, he chose to celebrate by attending a Seahawks vs Rams game. Garrett and Shawn are both Rams fans and surrounded themselves by overly zealous Seahawks fans! 

So while the boys watched football... 

We took the kids and hung out with Joy and her two kids in Seattle! 

 

Tako! He`e! Giant Octopus! It was funny to hear the kids calling the octopus by different names

 

It was cold and windy!

 We got to visit with the Luceros!

 

We swung by UPS to show the kids where we went to school

 

We also got to hang out with this cutie pie and his parents for a bit!

 

Then we enjoyed Zoo Lights with the Wren family again

 

Agh... but we didn't take any pics of their new house! 

 

This year we also ventured off to the mountains...

 

... we bundled up

 

and tried TUBING! 

 

This kiddo wasn't happy about the cold- he went down once and was done. Finally had to put goggles on him and warm him up with hot cocoa. 

 

Kenny on the other hand LOVED IT!

 

We enjoyed bowling again! What a fun trip!

October and November to remember...

We had an unusual amount of storms pass through/close to the islands this season. Our latest one in October called for rain and high winds, but as it passed and we realized it was safe to go out... so we took a chance and headed to the local pumpkin farm!

 

Besides being a little muddy and damp, it was EMPTY! Perfect!

 

Besides, the "Seattle" weather let us practice bundling up for our trip in December!

 

Pumpkin patch view 

 

We bribed Kenny to be Troy Polamalu for Halloween! It was a hit!

Unfortunately, October was a very sad month for both my family and Garrett's family. My grandpa passed away suddenly at the beginning of the month. Then, our 18 year old dog, followed by Garrett's beloved Aunty Lorraine. It has been interesting to teach the kids about losing loved ones and what happens.  

 

We spent time on Oahu for my grandpa's service and his famous Donna Kimura cattleya orchid bloomed. 

 

Cade wanted to go ice skating and Kenny really wanted to hang out with Aunty Jocelyn instead

 

Look, even Gammy can skate! :)

 

We got to spend a little bit of time with Jake and Sydney!

 

We recently had the chance to hang out with Garrett's cousin from San Jose, Derek, and his wife Claire; Garrett's grandma and Derek's grandpa were siblings. Their two kids, Colten and Gemma, are adorable and play well with ours. 

 

Aunty Jocelyn, Uncle Les, and Great Grandma decided to come to Maui for Thanksgiving

 

Aunty's favorite spot to visit is the Kula Lavendar farms

 

Dinner with Garrett's grandma and dad too!

 

Through all of our losses this past month, we've had the chance to spend more time together. It's been a good reminder of the reason why we moved home. 

(Garrett has a PT student from CA doing a rotation here and invited him to Thanksgiving lunch- he's on the far right; you can't tell in the pic but he's SUPER tall!)

October Hilo trip...

I know, I'm a little behind in posting. This semester has been crazy so I figured I needed to catch up a little before Winter break starts! 

For our Fall break in October, we decided at the last minute to head to Hilo for the weekend for Cade's first judo tournament. Garrett and I haven't been to Hilo for at least 20 years, so we decided it was a good excuse to go and visit friends too!

 

We got to see Levi and Lily in passing at the airport before we left

 

Cade did very well in his first state judo tournament. He placed 2nd... out of 3 in his novice division! :) He was thrilled, and so were we! 

 

 

Hilo has soooooo many yummy places to eat! Daddy and Cade enjoyed gravy burgers several times! YUM!

 

We were lucky that the Shih family invited us to stay with them! We had so much fun hanging out with Esme and Chan-man (and their parents too!)

 

Cade said he wants a younger brother just like Chan-man. We told him a brother wasn't guaranteed and he said, "I dunno what you mean!?" 

 

We played tourist and checked out the water falls. Hilo was very hot and muggy! It rained a little, but it was humid!

 

The kids loved catching fish at Lilioukalani park. We went back a couple times just to catch the little guppies. 

 

Hanging out at the zoo

 

Slushy floats! YUMMY!