4th of July

On the 4th, we headed to Kailua for a full day of fun!  First, the parade….here we are waiting for it to begin.

 Jonah chose to wait IN the street.

 Homemade cotton candy was enjoyed!

 And or minimal shade was essential!

 Look closely….red toenails for the holiday!

 Parade over….off to the beach!

 The beach was so crowded….compared to normal.  I kept telling Eric I feel like we are at the Jersey shore or Panama City….somewhere with lots of people on the beach. :)

 Time to relax…..ish.  

 Patriotic sand castles….

 and PBJ sandwiches.

 We enjoyed a mini airshow…..2 acrobatic planes performed.  You can barely see the contrail from the plane in this pic.  It was funny because, in true Hawaii fashion…..it was reported a few different places that the show would start around 5 or 6.  We didn't even know the show had started because we couldn't hear the planes over the waves of the ocean.

 Biggest and littlest….best buds.

Several relay races…or runs, as there was no one to compete against, took place…

 As the sun began to set the sky was putting on a show of colors….

 including purple….

….and orange. 

 Its getting close to fireworks….

Yay! Happy 4th!! 

Happy Turkey Day

Thanksgiving was hosted at our house this year.  We had lots of fun planning, decorating, baking, cooking for, and celebrating with all our guests.  Here is a quick review in photos…

It starts with the turkey brining….in a 5 gallon bucket!  Not as easy to just cover it and throw it out in the cold garage overnight.  This required a trip to the gas station for a large bag of ice!

 On Thanksgiving morning, after putting the bird in the oven, we celebrated with coffee in our favorite other hometown mugs.

 Noah and Caleb did a great job helping to get the table decor ready!

 

 Bushia hooked us up with some tree decor to get our Thanksgiving day tree started.  As the guests arrived, they were asked to add ornaments by writing what they are thankful for upon them.

Dad kept a close eye on the turkey!

 Two of the cutest guests in attendance.

 Part of the spread….turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, brussels sprouts, corn, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, sweet potato-marshmallow casserole, stuffing, Minnesota stuffing, carrots…..

 2 different types of kale salad….

 homemade pumpkin soup, biscuits, gravy, and a buff-urkey! (A turkey marinated in and injected with buffalo sauce!)

 And of course, desserts galore!

Dad and Caleb won one round of the beanbag toss game. 

 Later several rules began being added to the game including partner deflection to assist the bag in the cup!

 Lots of good company…..

 And eventually a few bean bags on the roof! 

Clearly I took way more pics of food than of people.  Can you tell where my priorities lie?

Only 8 More Days Until Christmas

Let's just pretend that I have been continuous and consistent on my blog and the fact that there are pictures from Thanksgiving on a post titled Only 8 More Days Until Christmas is not weird at all.
In fact, Thanksgiving was glorious.  That morning we spent lots of time looking out the window watching the hundreds of surfers out enjoying their holiday.  Bushia then made a giant breakfast and Eric poured mimosas while I tried to watch the parade with the kids.  No one seemed to be as interested as myself in that.

 They were interested in swimming though!

 And in lieu of a super early, crazy but oh-so-fun day of shopping on black Friday, we headed to Sports Authority around 8:30 and then to Waimanalo for a BBQ around noon.  The boys got to play soccer with Uncle Tom,

 and Dad found a new partner for his sand ball tossing game....which usually ends in tears as sand ends up being thrown inappropriately. :)  That partner, by the way, was the lovely meal planner and preparer for our Thanksgiving dinner the night before.

Much more serene than the chaos of a long Target line.  Not that I like it any better.  I truly LOVE black Friday shopping.  Just different.

 We've actually gotten to break out some pants....for when we go to the park later in the evening.  Okay, so it was only one night.  But I am counting it!

 And there are Christmas lights outside our building!  Always a good distraction for Baby Jonah on a crabby night.  The trick is getting him past the GIANT Christmas tree in the lobby that shouts, "TOUCH ME JONAH!"

Pumpkin Patch

A few weekends ago, we headed to a local pumpkin patch for some fall fun in the sun.

Waimanalo Country Farms hosts a patch where I assume they ship in pumpkins from the mainland.  

 Can't really beat the scenery.

Our fun included....

(instead of pumpkin chunkin') golf ball launching at pumpkins, 

 hunting for the PERFECT pumpkin, 

 a corn maze, 

 and a train ride for the boys!

 We passed on the petting zoo, but laughed as we passed the turtle and goat friends. :)

Happy Halloween Eve!