Days #4-5 Hawaii

We spent some more time on the beach.Making sand castles......before the storms rolled in.Aren't these two too much?! They are such good travelers!Talia and Grandma having fun on the beach.Our little family soaking up the Hawaiian sun!Later that day we flew over to Maui where Dad's conference was being held.Too bad leis don't last forever...they were beautiful!

Day #3 Hawaii

Today we headed over to the Polynesian Cultural Center...with a few stops on the way.We stopped at the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Here are us girls in front of a few different kinds of pineapple plants.

Pineapple faces!And you can't leave there without having some pineapple ice cream. I've decided this is my absolute favorite ice cream! (It ranks right up there with gelato!)Of course this little lady liked it!Eliza used those hula skills she had been studying before we left at the PCC. Of course, at home now she will only do her performance if she is wearing her grass skirt!Talia trying to fit in with the natives...throwing sticks? Right down her alley!

We loved the show we watched after dinner. Eliza was mesmerized! There are some pretty incredible performers there.

Day #2 Hawaii

We went to church and then got back to the hotel in time to help feed the fish.The fish were pretty fun to watch and Eliza really enjoyed throwing food out to them.We're pretty sure Talia just wanted to jump in and swim with the fish!The view from our balcony.Our own little fish...our girls would stay on the beach all day if they could!Grandpa has always been an excellent sand castle maker...although I think Eliza's request was mostly wedding or birthday cakes.Talia liked the destroying part of building things in the sand.And the water didn't distract her at all...Lovin' the sand!A little time with daddy building in the sand.

Day #1 Hawaii

Our trip to Hawaii started on Oahu. We got off the plane and headed right to Pearl Harbor.Pearl Harbor really is one of those places that just kind of takes your breath away when you realize the magnitude of what occurred there.It's somewhere that Darran has wanted to go to for a long time...he was pretty excited.

Us and the girls above the ship Arizona.Eliza and Daddy enjoying the boat ride back.The view from the boat.After Pear Harbor we headed to our hotel. We stopped at Costco (which hands down was the craziest Costco we've ever been to) on the way to get some groceries. Dropped off our stuff in the room and headed right for the beach!This is the beach looking back at our hotel. We were ready to begin our week in the Hawaiian sun!

Friendly tv watching...

Who wouldn't want to watch cartoons with a bunch of friends?

On the move...

This post is long overdue. Talia has taken her time learning to walk (she's almost 17 months) but she's finally decided it's not that bad. After watching her cousin Brayden over Christmas she saw how it was done and gained a little more confidence. Then slowly but surely she's tried it more and more. She'll stand up on her own and walk across the room. She does best when she thinks no one is watching! Check out her moves!

Snow Day...

Winter decided to hit us this week. Wednesday morning we woke up to snow!I took the girls out for a little sled ride (right before the wind came...talk about good timing). We were going to build a snowman but the snow just wasn't quite wet enough. They had a really good time being pulled around together.Then we had snowman pancakes and hot chocolate for lunch! We would be playing in the snow more but Thursday we had freezing rain the entire day. So now there's a nice layer of ice on top of our pretty snow. Not your ideal kind of snow for playing in...but it looks pretty!

Reading with sister...

Eliza and Talia got a princess tent for Christmas. They discovered that when they put it on it's side it makes the perfect little cave for reading books. For a split second they were both enjoying reading and being together!Then they tried to smile for a picture...They really are cute when they play nicely together...however short lived it may be! And I really hope that Talia continues to enjoying books as much as her big sister does. It's a good thing for her to copy!

Welcome 2012!

Somehow the new year came and went without us taking pictures...but for posterity's sake I'll at least write down what we did! We spent New Year's Eve with the Moodys over at Chris and Missy's. We played games and ate a lot! Eliza was so excited to "stay up" yet really had no idea what that meant. When midnight came she was still energetic and going! Shortly after, when we were getting ready to leave however she became quite angry with me..."but I want to stay up!" The argument was short lived...how do you reason with someone who has no concept of time!? Talia apparently wasn't going to be left out either. She wanted to be part of the action and so refused to go to sleep each time I attempted to put her down. She finally gave up about 11:30pm...by that point I was almost ready to force her to stay up and ring in the new year! (But I didn't.)

New Year's Day was Sunday...probably the only Sunday that I will be thankful for 1:00 church. It allowed us plenty of time to sleep in and get ready. After church we joined our Hague family for the traditional black eyed peas and rice dinner. Let's hope that dinner brings us all the luck we need for this new year! Happy 2012!

Eliza's perspective...

Eliza got a camera for Christmas. She took quite a few pictures...her perspective is a little bit different than ours!

Joy School Christmas...

I have to do a little back tracking. Eliza had her Joy School Christmas program in December.She was Mary and Ty was Joseph. Here they are asking the Inn Keeper Emma if there is room for them to stay.Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.After the Nativity the kids performed the songs they had been working on. They did a great job! (Olivia, Paisley, Eliza, Emma, Ty...Kase isn't in the picture.)

Day after Christmas...

The day after Christmas we ate more food, played games, relaxed, and enjoyed some more time out in the snow.Eliza all bundled up! She had a great time playing in the snow.Me, Talia, Audrey, and Eliza in the snow.Dad trying out the sleds.The family in the snow...don't our children look thrilled?!