background

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Kupa'a's FIRST birthday (BEWARE...VERY long!)

As much as I hate to admit that our littlest man is growing up, I've come to the realization that there really is nothing I can do to stop it. All I really can do is embrace it. And so...we did. ;) On June 17th, our "baby" turned ONE, and the following day we had a sizeable birthday bash to celebrate. Since I had so much fun with his party, which you'll see was owl themed, I had to document it from start to finish.

Starting with his invitations...
we sent out sweet little owl invitations, complete with pictures of our little pueo, that began...Guess whoo's turning ONE!It turned out to be a pretty inconvenient day for a lot of people, but we were still ready to party none the less. Luckily, we were able to have Sean Na'au'ao and his band as live entertainment once again.
To go with the owl theme, we had owl clip favors perched on little trees...
and owl stuffies for our centerpieces.We also had chocolate drizzled pretzel favors...YUM!
There was great Hawaiian food (Thanks to Lavern's), and 'opihi and poke (Thanks to Aho's Uncle and Aunty).
And...can't forget the pupus and desserts too (this was probably my favorite picture).We had lots of activities for the kids:Two balloon artists, who made our birthday boy his own owl, and a fish on a pole, among other things. We had a combo bouncer, which our oldest made GOOD use of. You can just see the absolute joy on his face in this shot!
There were also two games, Nest The Owl:where kids tried to land these little owl into their own little nest;
And Owl Toss:where they tried to get these little owls back into their tree;After playing, there were lots of prizes to choose from including, but not limited to: candy, punch balloons, slap hands, bouncy balls, and my favorite...homemade playdough!And there was also a Paper Bag Owl craft where the kids could color and create their very own owl. And most importantly, we had fabulous friends and family to help us celebrate. A few, like Aho's beat partner Sam, rarely make an appearance (hence to photographic evidence). While others, like my Kapi'o's, are always there to help us mark our milestones. ;)And what would a birthday party be without a cake and a "Happy Birthday!"
Kupa'a was serenaded by his big brother, who couldn't wait to sing him "Happy Birthday."And both our boys were drooling over the very large chocolate cake. In this shot, you can totally see Kupa'a eyeing out his owl topper. After the cake, we also had a Kupa'a Trivia game, and a slide show of his first year.

Other than yummy cake, Kupa'a made out with quite a load of cards and gifts. Luckily, his brother was more than happy to help him open them.Which led to the final leg of his birthday celebration, the many thank you cards to all those who shared in his special day. "Thank Whoo? Thank YOU!"
While it may be hard to acknowledge that our baby isn't really a baby anymore, it was so much fun making such a big deal over his birthday. His is our precious little pueo in so many ways and we can't wait to see how he'll spread his wings. Happy Birthday Pa'a boy! We love Who? We love you!!!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Photo session

One of our friends from church is an amazing artist. He's talented in numerous areas, but has recently been spending some time with photography and has got an amazing eye for perfect shots. After repeated comments from me about how much I love his pictures of any and everything, he mentioned that he might want to take pictures of the boys for practice. I simply told him..."whenever and wherever, you just let me know." Well, while he was on spring break, he and his family came by so he could "practice" on the kids. These are just a few of my favorites.









My mom had the last two printed onto canvas for my mother's day gift, and they now hang on our wall. I absolutely LOVE them. Thank you G.O. for the amazing pictures! I don't think you need any practice, but my kids are always available. ;)

Zoo trip

Toward the end of April, on one of Daddy's days off, we decided to pay a visit to the Honolulu Zoo. It's been a while since we've been there, so we figured...why not? We called up our good friends, the Tuiteles, who decided to join us. It was ridiculously hot (probably should have gone earlier), but fun none the less.

Among other things, we saw...

the elephants (and not just their behinds),

the Sumatran Tiger,

the Orangutans (mid nap),
the giraffes and zebras,
and a very tired rhino.
After that, most attempts at seeing animals were unsuccessful as they were all napping or hiding from the heat. Luckily, the kids were easily entertained.

Kupa'a...was content as always just sitting in his stroller,
or being with mommy.
Ola...hung out with the baby elepani,
climbed up a giraffe,
made friends with the guy at the African Savanna,
had a snack,
and became an animal himself.

Luckily, we had a little bit of luck at the kid's petting zoo area.

Checking out the koi from the center of the koi pond,
and playing with the goats. Maybe we'll have better luck next time.

PMRF Family Day

It's been ages since I've posted anything on our blog. And while there are so many other pictures I desperately need to put up, current events win out. This past weekend we took a quick trip to Kauai to spend some time with my family. It was nice to relax and unwind and let my parents spoil the kids, but we were also lucky that our military base, PMRF, happened to be having their family day. So we took the boys down and let Ola run wild. Here are just a few of the "machines" he got to explore.

Cruising with the Federal Fire guys...

not even as big as the fed fire truck tire. LOL!
Hanging out on one of the navy boats.

Flipping switches in the mini chopper (smart kid hit the right switch and turned the power on)... scary moment for mom.

Testing out the black hawk...

Thankfully, the black hawk pilots unhooked their battery (no chance of turning on this one).

Co-piloting the army transport plane.

And preparing for a jump with the marines. ;)
It's not that often that our little man gets a chance to roam around on such important machinery, and he definitely had a blast. Who knows, maybe one day one of these shots will be the real deal.