March 31, 2008

Today was the first field trip of the spring session with our Field Trip Friends group. (http://www.fieldtripfriendshawaii.com/) We went to a tropical fruit farm in Waimanalo. Auntie Susy came with us, thank goodness!

Here's one of the farmers who was showing us one of the fruits that were in season, a sapodilla.

It tasted like a creamy pumpkin. It was very soft and mushy. I thought it was good, but I don't think Gianna cared much for it.

This is Auntie Cindy, our field trip leader, reading a story to the children.

There were two dogs on the farm, and this one was VERY friendly. He gave out doggy kisses very freely. Gigi got slimed! :0

Gianna is sampling another fruit that was in season. This one had a pear-like texture, but it tasted like preserved plums. I don't think Papa would like this fruit.

The plants and trees were beautiful. Auntie Cindy passed out magnifying glasses so that the children good get a close look at everything.

Another farmer came by to tell us that we could pick some avocados. She told us to look for fruit with smooth skin. The smoother the skin, the more mature the fruit.

I was feeling the avocados,

so Gianna wanted to feel them, too.

Here she is with her pick. It's still a bit green, but when the stem falls off, we can make guacamole out of it. :)

Here's a pineapple plant. I think Grandma's pineapples are WAY better than this one. ;)

Here's Auntie Susy picking some jack fruit. They grow so big!

This is the fruit that Gigi tasted at the beginning of our tour. She had no desire to pick any of these fruit.

Here's a picture of our field trip friends. :) Auntie Susy didn't jump in the picture, but she should have!

As soon as we hit a paved road, Gianna wanted out of her stroller. She had no desire to romp around in the grass and the dirt, but she sure did want to run on the pavement! Yikes! I have a city-baby! :0

March 30, 2008

Today we went to Auntie Kay's house to go swimming for Gianna and to get a tan for Auntie Susy. :) Gigi did a great job practicing her floating skills. She had a lot of fun in the pool! Auntie Kay is the ULTIMATE hostess! She gave us drinks, ice cream, goldfish, and lunch, too!

Gigi had fun feeding Chibi goldfish. She like the cheesy taste, too. :)

Chibi is so well-mannered. He was so gentle, too.

Gigi kept playing with Chibi's stuffed animals. Here she is with his blue bear and Auntie Kay.

Gigi felt completely at home at Auntie Kay's house. She sprawled out on the couch, while Auntie Kay fed her some trail mix. What a life!

After eating herself, Gigi wanted to feed Chibi again, so Auntie Kay brought out his dog food. Gigi hand fed him, but she was getting distracted by the cartoons that Auntie Susy was watching on TV.

Papa was busy checking out Hiroshi's new Mercedes! :) He was trying to sync Auntie Kay's Treo to the car's bluetooth system. Gigi wanted to get in on the action.

She liked the leather bucket seat much better than her own Brittax car seat. She better be nice to Hiroshi when he gets back from Beijing!

March 29, 2008

This morning we went to the Farmers' Market at KCC with Auntie Susy. Gianna got a watermelon juice and brought it home.

She really enjoyed it!

Here's Gigi in the outfit that Auntie Susy gave her. I had to change her clothes, because she spilt some of her juice on her white dress. Gigi's taking a bite out of the cookie that Auntie Stacey dropped off for Easter. :)

After the basketball games ended, we went to the Halekulani for drinks. Gianna had some delicious mac and cheese. She also munched on the sugar cane sticks that came in our drinks.

Some of her teeth are still coming in, so she really likes to chew.

We headed over to Beard Papa's for some cream puffs.

Here's Susy and Gigi. :)

They no longer have the same hairstyle, because Susy got her haircut!

After eating cream puffs and gelato, we went to Nobu's for dinner! As soon as we entered the restaurant, Gigi started dancing to the music. It really is like a nightclub, especially in the bar area. Gianna had already eaten, so she just hung out and watched her Japanese DVD, while the rest of dined.

On our way out, we danced through the hallway to the street. We had a great time!

March 26, 2008

We went to Sea Life Park today with Auntie Susy.

Susy and Gianna are looking at the sea life in the HUGE tank at the entrance.

Gianna's almost as big as Auntie Susy!

They even have the same hairstyle, but Auntie Susy doesn't wear a bow. :)

Here's a cool ray swimming by them.

Once we were inside the park, we looked at the big sea turtles. Although it looks breezy, it was quite hot! We headed off to the sea lion show, and Gianna was more interested in looking at the people around her than at the stage. It was too hot and too crowded. We headed home, and went to the beach at the Kahala Hotel. We even had tea there. :)

March 25, 2008

Susy arrived today! :) We picked her up from the airport, then immediately went out to have some fun. We headed out to the zoo.

We went to the Keiki Zoo area. Here's Gigi and Susy crawling around the fish tunnel.

When we got back home, we found Grandma and Grandpa waiting for us. They're going to babysit Gianna while Susy, Papa, and I go to a wine tasting. :)

Papa took this picture of Gigi and Grandma. He thought it was funny that they were dressed alike. :)

March 24, 2008

Today was Gianna's last day of ISR lessons. It was her third day going in with 'real' clothes on, in particular, her regular diaper. Her Pampers diaper can hold a LOT of water. It seriously feels like it weights about 5 lbs.!

Today she was supposed to wear heavy long pants and a shirt. I didn't have any sweatshirts without a hood, so I opted of her heaviest long-sleeved t-shirt. She is wearing Juicy sweats, though. Gigi was also supposed to wear her shoes in the water, but Papa had just bought her the shoes she was wearing. I didn't have an old pair with me, so Gigi went in without shoes.

It's amazing that Gigi can float with a heavy diaper on.

She looks so relaxed.

Coach Jenni said that Gianna passed her test. :) Hurray!

March 22, 2008

Gianna is 18 months old today!
This morning was the egg hunt at Thinker Toys at Kahala Mall. Gigi and I got there by 8 AM, but it was already very busy! It was a rush of people, big and little, as they let us into the store.

Here's Gianna picking up her first egg. Luckily the eggs were in plain sight, so the little ones could find them easily.

Here's Gigi with her basket of eggs.

Each child was allowed to find five eggs.

After Gianna collected five eggs, we had to stand in line to trade them in for a present.

I think Gianna's counting her eggs to make sure that she had all five of them.

She handed her eggs over to one of the sales people and in return she got to choose a little stuffed animal and a bag.

The store also had some treats. Here's Gianna having a cupcake for breakfast! She has the lamb she picked out in her hand. The pink bag was also a present from the egg hunt.

Gianna was thirsty after eating most of the cupcake, so we stopped by at Starbucks for a tall soy milk.
Then we headed out to Wahiawa. We picked Grandma up and went to the market. We brought along Gianna's shopping cart so that she could walk around the market with her own cart. It worked really well!

She walked all around the market and was very well behaved!


In the afternoon, we went to visit Auntie Tyra, Hailey and Mason in Mililani. Auntie Tyra took us to the park near by her house. Here's Gianna playing with Hailey at the playground.