getting ready to say good bye.

The night before we left the family go together to eat some pizza and play some games at mountasia. It was a blast.

Nani just HAD to check her texts. Maybe it was something important!

all the kids shared a ride on a truck

and a merry go round

with all the tickets we won, the kids got these whistles.

and the evening wouldn’t be complete without candy!
Here is Nani showing jake how to open his mouth for Pop Rocks.

jake isn’t too sure what to think of them.

we were sad to be leaving, but looking forward to seeing Pat… too bad I still had packing to do.

Back to the Val.

When we got back, it was more family, fun, and eating.
There were yummies at Pie n Burgers.

I had a piece of pumpkin pie with real whipped cream

my niece Jessie was working on her street cred.

after all that food there needed to be a lot of lounging and hanging out.

Random Hawaii.

These are some pics that don’t really go with anything else.

I miss the geckos. Their chirping always makes me happy.

there was a display of shoes worn by women that had their feet bound. I have never been so appreciative of my freedom of shoes.

liz likes to watch hula. Maybe there is a future of dance for her.

diamond head

and of course a lovely sunset.

A day at the Zoo

The day before we left, I took the kids to the Honolulu Zoo. It was a warm day, but everyone had a good time. I forget how much I like the zoo.

drinking water on a turtle is always fun.

liz was excited to see the snake house

I liked the placement of the ti plant and the nopalito. It made me think that should we move back to Hawaii, all will be okay.

jake is contemplating an elephant.

and the elephant is hugging liz

the zoo really is a lot of fun.

Aloha festivals

While we were in Waikiki they held the annual Aloha Festival. Complete with a block party, and parade.
Gram bought liz a lei.

Liz was super stoked.

we ate my favorite veg ramen from ezogiku… with gyoza.

in the morning, liz and gram enjoyed the parade, and each other.

jake liked the navy band. He missed his daddy.

I liked this lady. She was part of a group and they all looked so happy and festive.

I love a parade!

the beach

in the evening we took the kids to the beach. Liz remembers it from when she was younger, but this was jakes first time in the sand.
He isn’t quite sure what to make of it.


liz loved it from the get go, and busied herself dancing and frolicking as only liz can do.




the sunset and moon were really quite beautiful.

ALOHA!

Liz enjoyed the balcony overlooking the ocean.

I enjoyed an apple from the ABC store

jake enjoyed sleeping in.

later on, we took a bus to ala moana to grab a bite to eat and some boba to drink..

Leaving on a jet plane, part II

After my grandpa’s birthday, my mom, the kiddos and I took a much needed vacay. When we got to the van nuys fly away I was amazed at how nice it was. Las time I was there it looked like a dump.

everyone was excited.


except jake. He was sleepy

LAX was all lines, but I didn’t mind as there were nice paintings on the wall.



and now is when jake got excited

once on the plane liz was content to listen to music.

bye bye L.A.