We're landing in Felix!

We flew home Friday night/Saturday morning. We went from Lihue to Phoenix to Minneapolis and as we were landing in Phoenix, this is what Owen kept saying. I corrected him a couple times but he insisted on calling it Felix. The funny part is that he has a friend, Felix, in our playgroup.

The flight went pretty well. Walter had a bit of a hard time getting comfortable enough to sleep at first, but eventually fell asleep. Jer and I were thankful to have my dad on board with us to help, but overall we were quite impressed with our little travelers. They certainly gave us confidence to do it again and having the time away put the travel bug back in me for sure.

The rest of our trip was nothing short of fabulous. Jer and I snuck a way to the North Shore for a few days. We did an introductory scuba class which we both really enjoyed and want to do more of now. We spent a good amount of time in the ocean. The boys got pretty comfortable in it and enjoyed playing in the sand and chasing the tide. Owen even braved a few big waves with us. We spent a day at the Hyatt playing in their pools and on the slide. Owen started swimming around with his life jacket on without holding on to anyone. He even jumped off the side of the pool. It was great to see his confidence grow! We got to end the trip by celebrating my grandma's birthday. Both boys loved decorating, drawing special pictures and helping blow out the candles with her. It sure was a wonderful trip. Thank you for your generosity and hospitality Grandma & Grandpa!

Here are some more photos from the fun:

Bahpa.

I feel like I'm having a flashback here...Walter has been walking around saying "Bahpa" non stop. He runs to my dad whenever he sees him and can be found in his arms, lap or by his side from sunrise to sunset.

Owen found a gecko egg and was keeping it in a container, waiting for it to hatch. He caught a gecko a couple days ago and put it in the container with the egg so that when the egg hatched, the two could be friends. We finally talked him in to let both go.

We've been seeing lots of other wildlife. Ranging from giant frogs, humpback whales, chickens, monk seals and parrots, the boys are loving seeing them all. Owen even let a bird eat of his hand the other day and got to feed some Koi fish today at brunch. They are sure experiencing some great things here.

Today was a beautiful day. We spent a majority of it playing at the beach near Poipu. Jer and I both have put layers of aloe on this evening, I'm a bit more red than he. The boys were spared from any burns thankfully...the constant reapplications of spf 50 paid off!

I have too many good photos to share - I've pared down as much as possible! Cute kids on a beautiful island makes for some good photo opps.

Walter is eatting his flip-flop.

What a great thing to hear Owen say on March 6th...and maybe a little gross!

We continue to enjoy the warmth of Kauai and hospitality of my grandparents. Yesterday, Kindi, Jeremy & I took surfing lessons and each caught our own waves by the end of our lesson. On Wednesday we rented bikes and biked along the shoreline from beach to beach. We got caught in a deluge at one point!
We've been eating like royalty over here. We went to a local Japanese restaurant, Kintaro's, a few nights ago for some teppanyaki style food. It was quite a show and quite delicious!

My favorite part was the landing and the going up.

Owen has been recounting the flight to Hawaii to people, remembering fondly the take offs and landings. It was a pretty windy landing on Kauai, during which Owen laughed and giggled and talked very loudly while everyone around us looked and smiled. We were greeted by my grandparents and some very lovely leis. We fully enjoyed a day at the beach today. The boys loved playing in the sand and building all sorts of castles and volcanos. After a full day of playing in the sun, sand and waves, we met my grandparents and uncle for pizza and some Philipino ice cream. Walter picked ube (purple yam) with red beans.

Here are a few other photos from the trip so far.

It's a ticket to slimy world.

Owen came home very proud to show me his ticket a friend had made him at school today. He said slimy world was in the same state as Disney World. 

We used a gift certificate to the Children's Theatre this weekend to see The Gruffalo. Owen enjoyed the audience participation as he 'roared' to scare away the Gruffalo. Our wonderful new babysitter, Molly, watched Walter, which gave Jer & me some special alone time with Owen. (Thank you for the thoughtful gift, Grandma Donna & Bruce!)

Jer and Owen went to the Gopher dual yesterday and Owen has been wrestling ever since. Walter has an awfully cute wrestling stance and scoot that he does before he tackles you down. Maybe I can capture that on video sometime soon. Arianna & Ella were over for dinner and a playdate this evening. Thankfully their dad is a wrestler, too, as they were all about getting some single legs on Owen as he tried hard to take them down.

All three guys received Hawaii haircuts yesterday, too. I finally caved and gave Walter a real haircut. It was hard to see the locks go, but it was time.

If I drop it in the snow, it will be camouflaged.

Owen's teacher brought everyone back a sea shell from her recent trip to Florida. He was so excited to show me and tell me about how fragile it was. He was quite anxious to get it home and into his 'rock and shell' collection box and told me this as he was getting out of the van after preschool.

We have been enjoying getting back into the preschool routine again after a nice four day weekend. I have a renewed appreciation for Sunny Hollow!

E-ne, me-ne, mi-ne, mo...

catch a tiger by its toe... Owen learned this rhyme from a friend at school. He does it to decide what book to read, what shirt to wear, what snack to choose, etc. 

We went to the MN Zoo today. The boys loved watching the sharks and turtles particularily. We also got to see a real lemur, which was pretty exciting for Owen since his favorite program has a lemur on it. I think the bird show may have topped everything, though. We had front row seats and had a hawk fly over us a couple different times - so closely that we felt the wind from its wings.

Walter has been taking his naps in Owen's bed the past three days. He asks as I'm putting him down and he doesn't move once he's in it. He does however have a huge grin on when I leave the room. He loves his big brother so much.

Can I pick out Daddy's birthday cake?

Jer's birthday was Friday and we decided to get him his favorite - a DQ cake. Owen & I went to pick it out after school and he picked out a horse cake. After celebrating with cake and presents, Jer and I went out to dinner to celebrate Valentine's Day. We went out to a steakhouse, M&S Grill, where we enjoyed a delicious dinner. After, we switched to celebrating Jer's birthday again and met up with some friends at the Otter.

On Valentine's Day we celebrated with heart balloons and pizza, followed by a special delivery of Valentines by Auntie Kindi.

Sunday we decided to keep on celebrating, first with a lovely brunch at Jax (where we had our rehearsal dinner) with Jer's family for his birthday. After we went to a birthday party for one of Owen's classmates at a local indoor playground. By the end of the weekend I think I gained 5 pounds and we were all completely exhausted.

I am patiently waiting for the ringing in my ear to stop and to be able to hear completely again. I have an ear infection and am feeling quite off-kilter lately. It will be nice when these antibiotics kick in and completely clear this never ending cold I've had for about two weeks now! Argh. 

Owen is off school again tomorrow, so we are heading to the zoo!

Elmo.

This is one of Walter's favorite words. He has an Elmo toothbrush and whenever its time to brush he runs to the bathroom saying "Elmo, Elmo, Elmo..."

Owen enjoyed using my wellies today as he pretended to be fishing in a stream catching "crocodiles & croppies."

I can't believe I'm about to write this, but today I packed the boys for Hawaii. No, we are not leaving this weekend, there are still a good two weeks before we go, but I'm so incredibly ready to run around outside and play that I decided to pack them up today. Why not, its not like we will be needing the swimsuits, t-shirts & shorts in the next couple of weeks here, right? In the process Walter's outfit somehow metamorphosed into this:

I think I'll be packing myself next week. 

Jer is on his way home. I love Thursday nights.

Bats eat over 100 mosquitos a night.

Owen's favorite show right now is Zaboomafoo (a lemur and a few guys talk about animals). Our day pretty much revolves around it. In the morning before school he is always reminding me to not let him miss it. He has been asking alot about mosquitos this week, he is especially concerned about them biting him while he swims in Hawaii in a few weeks. He told me this about the mosquitos today and when I asked where he learned that, his answer was Zaboomafoo. We are going to the zoo next week and are hoping to see a lemur there.

Owen has a Valentine's Day celebration at school on Friday so we have been working on Valentine's all week. I was pretty excited to read the note about needing to make a Valentine box as it took me straight back to my elementary days. After I explained how I decorated them as a child (hearts, red paper, etc.) Owen decided how he wanted to decorate his - a sky with airplanes flying in it. So here is the result, followed by a couple of the boys working on Valentines:

Eighteen.

Owen made a slide in our house and told me it was only for four and five year olds (basically, NOT for Walter.) I told him "Great, I'm five!" He said "no you're bigger, Mommy." When I asked how old he thought I was he said "eighteen." I am happy I am not.

If you're wondering why I haven't blogged at all this week. I think the following photo sums it up quite well.

Now if I only had a photo of Walter's green nose - but I don't think we need to go there. 

It was a rough week, but thankfully the weekend was much more enjoyable. Yesterday, my girlfriends & I threw a baby shower for our dear friend, Lindsay, who is expecting baby #1 on April 1st - no fooling. Today we enjoyed the balmy weather and spent some time playing on Lake Nokomis followed by Jer & Owen playing hockey over at Lake Hiawatha. If only winter could always be in the 40's and sunny. Although, then the lakes would never freeze, so we'll just be thankful for today.

Jer has spoiled me again and bought me a fancy new SLR with some reward points he recieved from doing a great job at Accenture. Hopefully I'll be delivering some great Lindsay-quality photos for you soon.