Hello Hawaii

 The view from our condo's balcony.

Lunch at Duke's

A few self portraits.

 

 

Lots of swimming.

 Walks out to the point.

 

 Beautiful flowers.

Whale watching.

 Relaxing.

 A drive up to Waimea Canyon.

 

 Snorkeling.

 

 

Kilauea Lighthouse.

Chickens everywhere!

Ali's 1st Dance Competition

Ali tried out for "Soda Pops" last summer. It's the youngest performing team at the studio where she has been taking lessons for the last 5 years. She tried out with her cousin Natalie and her buddy, Alexis... they all made it! It has been so fun for all of them.

Ali & Alexis

Joining this team has been quite a commitment (for all of us!). Practice is two nights a week for an hour and a half... with different fundraisers, pictures, & performances throughout the year.

Today was the first competition for the girls. Ali was a bit nervous and very excited! She loves her jazz number; they all do! And you can really tell when they're on the stage. Their energy and enthusiasm makes it so fun to watch. 

Natalie & Ali in the front row.

This dance won 2nd place for their division! Yay! So proud of your hard work Ali! :)

Happy Birthday, Alison!

My first born is TEN!

Happy Birthday Beautiful Girl!

Since today was such a special birthday; double digits! we celebrated BIG! We took Ali and a few friends to Wings and Waves waterpark. It was a great day! It was such a fun place, and the kids had a blast!

This was one happy (not so little) girl. :)

Family Date Night

Our "date" night started with dinner at Red Lobster. Ali insisted that she could eat an entire crab dinner...

She needed a lot of help cracking the crab and pulling out the meat, but eating it was no problem. Little sister was happy to help!

After dinner we went to Craft Warehouse and Dick's Sporting Goods (we split up for this part of the date!) The girls had some allowance to spend, and Merilyn found what she called the "perfect" item.

She didn't tell Daddy what she got, and when we got home she ran ahead of us and put the "poopsy" on the carpet inside the front door. When Trav walked in he began the process of freaking out, "What is this!??!" But, before he could really get worked up he heard the giggling from around the corner. We all burst out laughing, but no one could outdo the belly laugh that came from our little Merilyn. 

Snow!

We've been waiting all year to get some snow... but, I don't think it's going to happen! So, Trav decided that since the snow wasn't coming to us, we needed to go to the snow.
One afternoon we bundled up and headed to the mountain. It was great!

The girls had so much fun! Up and down the hill; Daddy was having just as much fun hooting and hollering as he came sliding down. Lots of laughs, for sure!

We went into the lodge to warm up with hot cocoa. We sat and watched the snow come down, and down, and down... we're still hoping we might get a snow day at our home!

Happy New Year!

We decided to to stay at home with just the 4 of us this year. We played lots of games, ate lots of snacks, and relaxed in our pjs. :) Nothing fancy or wild for us!

After our delicious taco dinner, (Ali's request!) the first game was the new Scooby Doo game that Mer gave Daddy for Christmas. It was a little like Jenga... and took a steady hand!

Next up was Apples to Apples (the Disney version, of course. It's one of our camping favorites!) and then Ali's new game; "Sleeping Queens." We loved this one!

Pretty soon it was time to turn on the New Year's Eve special. It was definitely different not seeing Dick Clark out there... :( Ali loved the Gangnam Style performance the best! We all boogied to that one. :) At midnight we busted out the crystal goblets and sparkling apple cider. Happy 2013!