Baby Gianna

Utah 2010

2010-03-14T19:23:00.001-10:00

Utah 2009

2009-02-16T19:15:00.001-10:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/mirellamonoscalco/Utah2009#

Nobember 2, 2008

2008-11-02T07:23:00.002-10:00

Today we headed down to LA on our trek to Disneyland. We stopped over in Santa Monica, and spent some time at the pier.

November 1, 2008

2008-11-01T06:48:00.002-10:00

This morning Gianna woke up and found her Halloween stash of candies in her basket.

She immediately opened up a lollipop and began savoring her treat. :)

October 31, 2008

2008-10-31T09:01:00.004-10:00

Here's our Halloween greeting to everyone.

This afternoon we went to State Street in Santa Barbara to take Gianna out trick-or-treating.
It was a new experience for Gigi. She was very interested in all of the children dressed up in costumes, especially the ones who dressed up as witches! I think she's seen the Wizard of Oz too many times.

October 30, 2008

2008-10-30T18:41:00.002-10:00

We went back to the zoo today, since Gigi had fallen asleep during our first visit. We were out for most of the day, since we also stopped at the carousel and the park on our way home.

Here's a slide show of our day.

October 29, 2008

2008-10-29T18:21:00.004-10:00

This morning we headed out to Santa Barbara's Museum of Natural History.

Gigi went in costume, because the museum was sponsoring a Halloween scavenger hunt for children who came dressed up.

The museum featured a dinosaur exhibit. She enjoyed seeing the huge skeletons. Gigi met this 2.5 year old boy there. :) They are standing between two humerus bones.

Although the museum was small, it was the perfect size for Gigi. The exhibits were all geared toward children, so there were a lot of hands-on activities.

Gigi is looking at this guide catch a grasshopper for her to touch. She didn't want to touch it. Instead, she asked me to touch the grasshopper.

We saw so many groups of field trip children. Gigi followed many of the kids around the museum.

Gigi also got to 'dig' for dinosaur bones outside. We both had a really fun time at the museum!

October 24, 2008

2008-10-24T18:18:00.001-10:00

Here's a photo scrapbook of our day at the playground.

October 23, 2008

2008-10-23T17:42:00.002-10:00

Gigi woke up early this morning and found Auntie Josephine.

They played with the McDonald's play set. :)

Later in the afternoon, we all went to the market. Gigi really likes the child-sized shopping carts at Lazy Acres, a local, organic-friendly market.

October 22, 2008

2008-10-22T16:05:00.002-10:00

We went to the park with Anma and Auntie Josephine who came to visit with us for a few days.

Gigi played on the play structure.

Then she had Anma push her on the swing.

We all went out to eat dinner at a very nice Chinese restaurant.

Gigi really liked the soup they served. She had two bowlfuls!

Gigi also like her fortune cookie. :)

October 21, 2008

2008-10-21T15:57:00.003-10:00

Last night Papa baked a pumpkin pie from scratch!

He used the pieces of pumpkin that we carved out of our four pumpkins.

He worked late into the late, so we didn't have a chance to eat the pie last night.

Instead, we all had pumpkin pie for breakfast! Gigi really liked the pie!

Gigi had to say goodbye to Uncle Marcel and Auntie Charlotte. They had to go back to Huntington Beach today. :(

Hopefully we'll see them for dinner when we go to Disneyland next week.

October 20, 2008

2008-10-20T15:46:00.003-10:00

We spent the afternoon with Auntie Charlotte and Uncle Marcel. Our first stop was the carousel.

Gigi liked it so much, that she rode the carousel twice!

Then we headed to the Santa Barbara Zoo. Here's a little photo book of our time there.

For dinner, we went to a seafood restaurant that had a lobster special.

Gigi passed on the lobster, but she did enjoy the chocolate pudding that came with her kid's meal. :)

October 19, 2008

2008-10-19T15:08:00.004-10:00

Today we went to a real pumpkin patch with Auntie Charlotte and Uncle Marcel.

These huge pumpkins were on display, but they were not for sale.

Gigi's saying hello to a donkey that was at the farm. There were also goats, turkeys, chickens, a horse, and a sheep.

Everyone went into the corn maze.

Gigi's trying to find her way out. It was quite an elaborate maze.

Gigi rode around the pumpkin patch in this wagon.

She got out to pump some water.

Then she jumped on the tractor. Luckily, Gigi was too short to reach the gas pedal.

When we got back home, Gigi had a tea party with Anma.

Here she is trying to give Auntie Charlotte some tea.

October 18, 2008

2008-10-18T14:45:00.003-10:00

After a very rough, red-eye flight with a sick Gianna, we arrived at LAX quite tired.

We hopped onto the rental car shuttle, and went to get our rental car at 5 AM in the morning!

When we arrived in Santa Barbara, we picked up Anma and went out to run some errands.

Anma had borrowed this McDonald's play set for Gigi. She loved it, although I think she's only had a Happy Meal once before. Papa taught Gigi to say, "Welcome to McDonald's. May I take your order please."

Anma also picked up a cake to celebrate Gigi's 2nd birthday, except Gigi wouldn't blow out the candles.

Gigi enjoyed the cake, though. :)

After dessert, we played Wii with Auntie Charlotte and Uncle Marcel. They had a game called Samba de Amigo. It was very fun!

Gigi liked the music and the dancing that was part of the game.

October 10, 2008

2008-10-10T10:00:00.003-10:00

Gigi was playing nicely with the building blocks today when I picked her up from school. I'm not sure why the children weren't out on the playground, but she was playing nicely anyway.

In the afternoon, we all went across to KCC to attend a champagne sabering class.

Papa pushed Gigi in her tricycle, since she can't quite push the pedals yet.

Here we are in the classroom. Gigi is paying close attention.

When we got outside to do the actual sabering, Gigi wasn't interested.

Gigi was busy watching her Einstein videos on my iPhone.

Here's Papa sabering a champagne bottle. Nice job, Papa!

October 9, 2008

2008-10-09T09:54:00.002-10:00

This afternoon we met Halle and Auntie Maile at Punahou to see a football game.

Here's Halle and Gigi with the cheerleaders.

After cheering for a bit, the two girls went to play on the grass.

Halle's practicing her high V, while Gigi is practicing her low V.

October 8, 2008

2008-10-08T09:48:00.002-10:00

When Papa and I came to pick up Gigi today from school, she was playing with a soccer ball.

She was very happy to see both of us come to pick her up.

Gigi gave us a very warm greeting. :)

Here's our happy baby!

October 7, 2008

2008-10-07T09:44:00.002-10:00

Today in Japanese class, Gigi made a fox with origami paper.

Peterson Sensei had the children make foxes, and then we all sang a song about foxes.

Here's Gigi showing Sensei her creation. :)

October 6, 2008

2008-10-06T09:36:00.006-10:00

At gymnastics today, Coach Mike made this cool house.

Gigi liked crawling around in it.

She kept going back to the house to hide in it. :)

Here she is wearing her birthday shirt from the Setos. :) Everyone who came to her birthday party signed it.

Gigi came over to the table to get some water.

Here's Gigi running circles around Coach Mike. She LOVES playing with Coach Mike!

October 5, 2008

2008-10-05T09:21:00.002-10:00

Today Gigi and I went to church at Central Union. I haven't brought her to church since she was about a year old. After the sermon for the children, I took her to the day care, which was in Connor's classroom. Gigi liked playing with the train set.

October 4, 2008

2008-10-04T09:06:00.002-10:00

Today we went to Auntie Kay's house.

She immediately started to play with Chibi.

She found Chibi's brush and started to groom him.

Look at that CUTE attack puppy!

Gigi found another one of Chibi's brushes.

October 3, 2008

2008-10-03T08:50:00.003-10:00

Today when I went to pick up Gigi from school, the children were playing on the big playground. The preschool children didn't have school today.

Gigi's wearing a red shirt in the cube structure.

Here's my smiling, happy, pre-preschooler. :)

In the afternoon, we stopped off at Punahou to watch a football game.

Here's Gigi running on the football field.

In the evening, we went to visit Grandpa again. Gigi found the closet this time, and she decided to hide in it.

Then Gigi found the bar in the closet and decided to hang on it. :0

Gigi is really good at holding herself up and swinging.

Then she went back into the shower to play hide-and-seek.

October 2, 2008

2008-10-02T08:36:00.003-10:00

Today we visited Grandpa in the hospital at Pali Momi. Grandpa had knee replacement surgery.

Gigi started to play hide-and-seek in the shower.

Then she decided to practice some gymnastics.

Look at my silly monkey!

Uncle John came to visit Grandpa, too.

Gigi made Uncle John play hide-and-seek with her.

October 1, 2008

2008-10-01T07:30:00.003-10:00

Today we celebrated Gigi's birthday at school. I brought Jamba Juice smoothies for everyone for their playground snack. The teachers gave Gigi a present.

September 28, 2008

2008-09-28T07:08:00.002-10:00

September 27, 2008

2008-09-27T19:11:00.001-10:00

Gigi received this outfit from Uncle Ted in the mail today. As soon as she opened up the present, she wanted to put it on.

Here's my Pumpkin modeling her pumpkin outfit. :)

September 26, 2008

2008-09-26T19:05:00.002-10:00

We checked out of the condo this morning, but we relaxed by the pool until it was time to leave for the airport.

Auntie Amy drove down to see us, so we had lunch with her on the way to the airport. Gigi is showing Auntie Amy her Japanese song book, and she's singing to her, too.

We had lunch at a very nice sushi restaurant. Gigi enjoyed the ambiance. :)

While we were waiting at the Kona Airport, Gigi played nicely with her new baby doll.

September 25, 2008

2008-09-25T18:14:00.002-10:00

We spent the day at Mauna Lani with Auntie Amy and Uncle John.

We had lunch at the Beach Club and played on the beach.

Gigi's wearing Grandma's hat while dancing around the club.

Gigi took a nap in one of the cabanas on the beach. I had brought one of her pillows with us, so she was nice and comfortable. Grandma was afraid that she was going to roll off of the lounge chair.

I had brought Grandma an ice cream bar to enjoy, but Gigi woke up and wanted some.

She really enjoyed the Dove bar!

September 24, 2008

2008-09-24T18:11:00.002-10:00

Today, Grandpa dropped us off at the pool, while he went exploring on his own. After swimming and having a light lunch, Gigi actually fell asleep and stayed asleep in Grandma's arms!

September 23, 2008

2008-09-23T18:10:00.001-10:00

Here's Gigi hanging out by the pool, post-swim. She was checking out a bright green gecko.

September 22, 2008

2008-09-22T17:34:00.003-10:00

Today is Gigi's second birthday!

We headed out with Grandma to a park that we passed by the other night.

The playground had very unique play structures.

Gigi enjoyed the voyaging double-hulled canoe. :)

We all went to Bubba Gump's for Gigi's birthday dinner, mainly because I called ahead to see if they had macaroni and cheese on the menu. They did. :)

Gigi's meal came with a jello cup. It was Gigi's first taste of jello. It was an electric blue color, definitely not organic. :(

The staff sang "Happy Birthday" to Gigi and brought out an ice cream sundae for her.

After dinner, we went to WalMart to let Gigi pick out a birthday present for herself.

She was very interested in the baby dolls. She really likes the Bitty Baby that Auntie Mirella gave her last year.

Gigi settled on a cooing baby. It honestly scares me, but Gigi loves it! You have to either give it a pacifier or a bottle to make it stop cooing. It also came with a rattle. :)

September 20, 2008

2008-09-20T17:26:00.002-10:00

We went to Safeway in Kona to pick up some supplies for the week. Gigi LOVED the car-shopping cart.

September 19, 2008

2008-09-19T16:17:00.004-10:00

We left for the Big Island this morning with Grandma and Grandpa to spend a week at their time-share property in Kona.

Gigi had her own seat on the flight.

She read books and did puzzles, and she kept her seat belt/harness on for the entire trip.

There was a band and a hula dancer at the airport when we arrived in Kona. Gigi enjoyed the entertainment.

Is that someone in the nightstand?

Oh my goodness! It's Gigi!

Gigi had miso soup and tofu for dinner.

She read books with Grandma.

And she danced with Grandpa. :)

September 17, 2008

2008-09-17T16:07:00.002-10:00

I arrived to pick up Gigi a bit early so that I could observe her playing at the playground.

I saw her playing in the sandbox. Gigi's in the yellow shirt and the purple shorts.

I was surprised to see her later go over to the see-saw. She rode the see-saw with Kiana under the watchful eye of the parent-of-the-day. :)

Gigi said she had a fun time at school today.

We went out to dinner with Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle John, and Auntie Wendy. The restaurant was a tiny Japanese restaurant on Kapahulu Avenue. Gigi really enjoyed their miso soup.

September 15, 2008

2008-09-15T16:05:00.001-10:00

Coach Mike put Gigi to work today at gymnastics class. She's getting really strong.

September 12, 2008

2008-09-12T16:01:00.001-10:00

Gigi was better at school today. Her teachers said that she did cry when I left, but she soon stopped and was fine for the rest of the day. Actually, she's only at school for 2.5 hours. :) I picked her up with a Jamba Juice in hand, so she was all smiles. :D

September 10, 2008

2008-09-10T14:53:00.005-10:00

Today is Gigi's first day of pre-preschool, a two-year old program at Waiokeola Church.

This is Gigi leaving our house. She doesn't look very happy. :(

Here she is with a smile. I told her that school would be fun!

Now we are waiting at the crosswalk. We park at Kahala Mall and cross the street to the school.

Gigi walked right to her classroom.

But when she got to the door, Gigi looked liked she had second thoughts.

Gigi pulled me into the play room with her.

The other parents were all hanging around with their children, but we're supposed to leave within a few minutes of arriving.

As soon as I started to say goodbye, Gigi started to cry. Ms. Lynn was there to comfort her, along with Ms. Vanessa and Ms. Cara. In fact, the majority of the children cried when the parents started to leave.

I immediately went to the opening of Whole Foods. It was amazing! Then I ran several errands for Gigi's birthday party, but I got a call after an hour saying to come back and pick Gigi up. Ms. Cara said that Gigi did not stop crying since I left. :0

Both Papa and I got the messages from Ms. Cara, me on my cell phone, and Papa on the home phone. We both arrived at the school to pick Gigi up. Hopefully, she'll do better on Friday.

September 7, 2008

2008-09-07T14:33:00.003-10:00

Today we went to our monthly play date with Ava and Emily.

As soon as we arrived at Auntie Diana's house, Gigi wanted to jump into their beautiful pool!

Emily has all sorts of wonderful toys to play with.

After a nice time in the pool, Gigi stopped to enjoy a delicious smoothie.

The girls nibbled on cheese, fruit, and hummus, all of Gigi's favorites!

Then it was back into the pool again.

Here's Gigi and Emily enjoying more smoothies.

The girls are all playing so nicely. :)

September 5, 2008

2008-09-05T12:03:00.004-10:00

Today at gymnastics class, Coach Mike set up the rings in the obstacle course.

Gigi was intrigued by the rings.

She was able to grab a hold of them and swing.

Luckily, we had a private lesson today, so Gigi could stay on the rings as long as she liked.

Look at the grip she has on those rings!

She liked swinging.

And swinging.

Gigi was brave enough to grab the rings herself.

September 3, 2008

2008-09-03T11:54:00.002-10:00

Today we headed out to the zoo with Bear and Baby Bear.

We only took the doll stroller for the bears. Gigi walked the whole time!

We stopped at the giraffe compound to have lunch and noticed that all the animals were congregating in the shade. Amazing!

On our way out we ran into Auntie Maile and Connor. Connor wanted to the stroll the bears around, so Auntie Maile strolled Gigi around in their Maclaren stroller. :)

On the way back to our car, Gigi just drank her soy milk, while I strolled the bears.

August 28, 2008

2008-08-28T15:38:00.003-10:00

Today we went to brunch in the hotel restaurant. It's our last day in Maui.

Gigi had fun coloring her menu.

Here's Mitchell and Gigi smiling for the camera.

A family picture taken by Uncle Mike.

Here's Auntie Anne and Gigi.

Here's Papa with the kids.

The Lees and the Setos.

After brunch, we went to the pool for a last minute swim. Then we hung out in the Setos' room till we had to leave for the airport. Auntie Anne hooked Gigi up with all sorts of goodies. Gigi had cheese sticks and blueberry Pocky sticks! Yum. :)

Mitchell is showing Gigi his video game skills.

Gigi's demonstrating her gymnastics techniques.

Gigi's kicking back with Uncle Mike and Mitchell.

What a silly girl!

August 27, 2008

2008-08-27T15:35:00.002-10:00

Here's Gigi hanging out in the Setos' hotel room.

She watching a movie with Mitchell.

We went back to the Four Seasons to have dinner with Uncle Mitch, who lives in Maui. Uncle Mitch brought a delicious bottle of '69 Burgundy to celebrate my birthday. I like when I get younger with each birthday. ;) Gigi had cotton candy for dessert. It was a huge serving!

Gigi practiced her balance beam walking with Papa as we walked back to our hotel room.

August 26, 2008

2008-08-26T14:37:00.010-10:00

Today we went to the Maui Aquarium, and we got to celebrate my birthday and the sea turtles' birthday.

The aquarium staff threw a big birthday party for them, so we all got to have cake and ice cream.

Gigi enjoyed the exhibits.

They were beautiful.

There were also some interactive learning stations. She loves pushing buttons. ;)

We headed straight for the pool again, when we got back to the hotel.

Uncle Mike and Mitchell joined us in the water, too.

Papa took Gigi down the slides.

After a short while, she was ready to go solo. Papa let her go at the top of the slide, and I would catch Gigi at the bottom.

Later on we headed down to the beach-pool. Gigi wanted to rest a bit.

Here she is relaxing in the water with Uncle Mike and Papa.

This "beach" is a continuation of the huge pool at the Grand Wailea.

There are no waves, and the water is a little bit warmer. So it's a nice spot for Gigi.

Papa played with Mitchell in a very silly way. They were blowing water through the noodles, shooting at each other.

Gigi could walk around fairly well at the "beach", but after she saw Mitchell riding his noodle like a horse, she decided that was better thing to do.

On the noodle, Gigi could go anywhere she wanted to all by herself.

She had found a new freedom with the noodle. :)

Back at the hotel room, Gigi took a nice warm bath. She just wouldn't let go of her smoothie, though.

We all went next door to the Four Seasons for dinner. Mitchell had his PS3 with him, and Gigi was fascinated with it.

I brought puzzles and activity books for Gigi to play with during dinner. Mitchell helped her with her anatomy puzzle.

We saw a beautiful sunset during dinner.

Here's Gigi enjoying the amuse bouche.

She also fed herself with the chopsticks that Auntie Kay gave to her.

Yikes! That's a lot of rice!

While we waited for dessert, Gigi entertained us by singing Japanese songs.

She sang.

And sang.

When the birthday cake arrived, Gigi blew out the candle as soon as the waiter had placed the dish on the table. I was so surprised!

We all had a fun time.

On our way back to our room, Auntie Anne took care of the little ones. :)

August 25, 2008

2008-08-25T15:30:00.002-10:00

This morning we left for Maui to meet the Setos.

Papa had us stop off at a wine store to just look around, and Gigi found Captain Morgan.

Outside of the store, Gigi practiced her balance beam skills. ;)

When we got to the Grand Wailea, we headed straight to the pool where we met Uncle Mike and Mitchell. The water was chilly, but that wasn't a problem for Gigi. :)

August 23, 2008

2008-08-23T14:26:00.003-10:00

This evening we went to a Bon Dance at the Kapahulu Center with Auntie Wendy and Uncle John.

Gigi wore the Hello Kitty kimono that Auntie Anne brought back from Japan last year. It fit her perfectly! Uncle John had bought some maki sushi, and Gigi liked it! She ate a couple of pieces, although she did spit out the fillings. :)

Gigi had a fun time dancing with Auntie Wendy.

Gigi was actually trying to follow the motions of the other dancers.

Here she is with Uncle John enjoying the music and dancing.

We tried to pose for a picture, but Gigi just kept on dancing. :)

By the end of the night, Gigi was dancing pretty well.

We all had a fun time!

August 21, 2008

2008-08-21T14:25:00.001-10:00

Today we went to Kahala Mall to have lunch with Auntie Jen.

Gigi brought Bear and the doll stroller and cruised the mall for a bit. This mini-Maclaren stroller is great. It keeps Gigi focused and busy when we go out in public places. She is too busy taking care of Bear in the stroller to run off and get in to mischief.

August 16, 2008

2008-08-16T14:24:00.001-10:00

Today we went to Pearl Ridge Shopping Center. We went into the Gap store, and Gigi saw these mannequins on display.

I think this is a sign that Gigi misses her Papa. She went right up to the mannequin and gave it a big hug.

Then she went to the mannequin next to it and gave that one a hug, too!

August 12, 2008

2008-08-12T14:23:00.003-10:00

Hurray! Gigi's Halloween costume is finished!

It took me almost two whole days, but I did it! Although, it's a simple dress, the ric rac and cross-hatching of the gingham was tricky to do. I took her measurements, and I custom-fitted a pattern for her. She's a size 2 in the chest and hips, a size 3 in height, and a size 4 in her waist. Oh, my. :0

I also ordered her some sparkly red shoes to complete the outfit. :)

August 11, 2008

2008-08-11T14:20:00.002-10:00

This week's field trip took us on a glass bottom boat ride!

You couldn't really see very much, but Emy sure tried to get a closer look.

Here's my sea baby on top of the boat. :)

Gigi liked this vantage point.

She could see the sea turtles nicely from there. The dark spot in the middle of the picture is one of three turtles that we saw today.

August 5, 2008

2008-08-05T14:19:00.002-10:00

Today in Japanese class, Gigi made a kitty cat puppet. :)

This session it seems that we'll be making a craft in each class. The craft is related to the lesson of the day. There are only two other boys in Gigi's class, so everyone gets a lot of attention from Sensei Peterson.

August 4, 2008

2008-08-04T14:15:00.002-10:00

Today we went on a field trip to the Windward side.

Gigi got to feed the ducks at the park.

Unfortunately, it began to rain, but luckily I packed my umbrella. Note to self: Gigi needs her own umbrella.

On our field trip, the children were asked to collect things on a scavenger list, and then make a collage. I think Elijah liked Gigi's collage.

Here she is proudly displaying her artwork. :)

July 30, 2008

2008-07-30T00:34:00.003-10:00

Tonight we went out to dinner with Uncle John and Auntie Amy who are visiting from the Big Island.

We had a great meal at Hy's Steakhouse.

July 29, 2008

2008-07-29T00:20:00.002-10:00

Today we stopped off at Fisher, and I picked up some paints for Gigi.

Gigi liked painting with the brushes, but the easel seemed a bit too tall for her.

I've got to remember to take a picture of the finished product next time.

July 27, 2008

2008-07-27T00:07:00.002-10:00

I took Gigi to the Diamond Head Theatre to see The Wizard of Oz. Cameras are not allowed so I snapped this picture with my iPhone. :)

Last night, she watched the DVD of the movie for the first time, and she stayed awake for the whole movie! This afternoon, she saw the live performance, and she loved it! When we got home, the movie was playing on television, so Gigi watched for the third time in two days.

July 26, 2008

2008-07-26T00:05:00.002-10:00

Gigi got up early this morning after sleeping over at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

I found her in the kitchen reading the newspaper with Grandma. :)

July 25, 2008

2008-07-25T23:58:00.002-10:00

We went to Toys R' Us, and Gigi found this Barbie jeep. She saw it and immediately hopped right in it!

She was ready to drive it out of the store.

Luckily, it was tied down to the fixture. ;)

July 21, 2008

2008-07-21T23:41:00.003-10:00

Today our field trip took us to Koolau Ranch.

Gigi made a bee line for the horse.

Our tour guide gave her some food to feed the horse. Gigi has no fear!

Gigi got right down to pet the guinea pigs, while the other children took a more cautious approach.

Now she's petting a baby bunny. It was so small!

The older bunnies were very cute.

Gigi monopolized one of them.

Now she's feeding a goat.

I was worried that the donkey would take a nibble out of Gigi's hand!

But, Blossom the donkey, was very gentle. :)

July 18, 2008

2008-07-18T23:32:00.002-10:00

Gigi's ready to surf the web at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

She turns on the monitor.

Gigi's wearing Grandma's reading glasses.

Then she starts typing on the keyboard. :)

July 13, 2008

2008-07-13T23:26:00.003-10:00

Today is Ava's third birthday party.

There was a kiddie pool, but Gigi didn't know it. She clung to Papa.

Here she is on her tippy toes.

She had a fun time.

July 9, 2008

2008-07-09T23:13:00.002-10:00

Gigi is sad that we've got to leave the ship.

She didn't want to go.

I think Gigi is trying to give the ship a hug.

Bye-bye cruise ship.

Our ride to the airport was a solemn one. Gigi was Miss Grumpy.

July 8, 2008

2008-07-08T22:58:00.003-10:00

Today is a sea day, so Gigi and Grandma hung out in the library.

Papa picked up this visor with all of the tokens we won during the cruise for trivia and golf, thanks to Grandpa's putting skills.

Grandma cut up a peach for Gigi.

It must have been sweet.

Look at that smile!

Tonight's show was a Broadway revue. Gigi really liked it!

After dinner, Gigi stopped by to play the harp.

She really liked strumming it!

Gigi wanted to take it back to the room!

Since it was our last night on the ship, we had a little toast on our balcony.

July 7, 2008

2008-07-07T22:34:00.004-10:00

Today's excursion was another boat ride, but it was a rainy day. :(

We warmed up with some hot cocoa.

The rain stopped to a light drizzle when we came to this rock formation, but I poorly arranged this shot, so Gigi's head is blocking it. :0

Papa snapped this quick shot of it.

It was so windy, that I felt like Gigi was going to blow away again!

She loved it!

It's a good thing that Papa had a good grip on Gigi. She almost blew away! ;)

Here's Gigi watching another DVD with her Bald Eagle.

Here's Gigi's "Titanic" impression.

Look how happy she is!

The scenery was beautiful. These waterfalls were one of the highlights.

That's Gigi's face "fog". She pressed her face up to the window and left that 'mark'.

The "Gigi" graffiti and Grandpa, the one responsible for it.

We're back on the ship, warm and dry. :)

July 6, 2008

2008-07-06T22:08:00.004-10:00

Today we're off on a train ride.

Here's the conductor taking our ticket.

The train picked us up right on the pier! That's a cruise ship in the background.

We stepped out on the platform to get a better view of the scenery, but it was cold!

Gigi preferred to be inside...watching her DVDs. :0

Grandpa and Grandma enjoyed the ride.

Gigi spent her time also doing puzzles. We found this great puzzle in a toy store at the last port.

At times, the views were pretty amazing.

We had a fun time. :)

July 5, 2008

2008-07-05T21:20:00.004-10:00

There's a glacier in the background. We made a quick stop to take some pictures, before continuing on to a boat ride.

Hopefully we will see some whales.

Gigi knows exactly what to do since we already went whale watching back home.

Our captain piloted the boat like he was on a mission! And, he was. He took us to a pod of Orcas! It was amazing. Our guide said that this was a RARE treat. We saw about twenty of them swimming around.

We also passed by a buoy loaded with seals. :)

Unfortunately, Gigi missed it all! She was fast asleep when we were Orca-watching. :(

She woke up from her nap refreshed and ready to go!

Papa re-enacted what she had missed. :)

We went out on the deck. It was windy and chilly!

I felt like I had to hold on tightly to Gigi so she wouldn't blow away!

Then we saw something in the water!

We saw humpback whales! We saw one breach, but we didn't get a picture of it. :(

We ducked down for some cover and continued to watch the whales.

When we got back to the ship, we strolled around the town before getting back on board. Here's Gigi with some town leaders.

Our last stop was the Red Dog Saloon, unfortunately the bouncer wouldn't let Gigi in. I think that was a good thing.

July 4, 2008

2008-07-04T20:21:00.005-10:00

Today is the 4th of July! We started our morning off with breakfast in our room. Grandma came over to help Gigi eat her meal.

They had a fun time on the balcony.

We went to shore to visit the Raptor Center, a bird sanctuary.

We needed to take a taxi into town. Luckily, the taxi driver had a booster seat in her car!

The Raptor Center rehabilitates injured birds. Here's one of many bald eagles.

The staff gave us a lecture about what the Center does. Here's another bald eagle that's been injured.

Here's an owl that we got to see up close.

Bears! Oh, my.

Here we are with Grandma exploring the grounds of the Center.

I think Gigi's wingspan is about three feet. :)

We walked from the Raptor Center back to town and came across a fair at a school playground. Gigi immediately headed for the swing.

It looked like so much fun that Grandpa jumped on a swing, too.

Gigi's next stop was the play structure.

She headed for the slide.

After the playground, we went to explore the little fair celebrating Alaska's statehood day.

Gigi went "fishing" for prizes.

Gigi came up a winner!

The next stop was the duck pond.

She traded in her tickets for a little puppy doll.

Walking back to the pier, we came across this totem pole. That's Gigi sitting at the bottom of it.

Here we are with Grandma and Grandpa waiting for our launch back to the ship.

Gigi's safe in Papa's arms.

Story time...Click, Clack, Moo...Cows that Type, a favorite of Gigi's.

July 3, 2008

2008-07-03T21:59:00.010-10:00

Today the ship headed toward the Hubbard Glacier. It's in the background.

We went on deck to see it, but it was quite cold and windy!

Here's Papa and Gigi on deck. Gigi had a great time walking around the ship. The cold wind didn't seem to bother her at all.

Here's a zoomed in shot of the glacier.

We headed into the observation lounge where Grandpa and Grandma (and everyone else) were. Gigi ordered a juice from the open bar. :)

We decided to go back to our cabin. Gigi and I are enjoying a peach from the fruit bowl in our room.

I packed our Sigg water bottles, to remind us to keep hydrated. Here's Gigi giving "Puppy" some water. :)

The crew had installed plexiglass barriers for Gigi. Thank goodness!

Here's Papa and Gigi horsing around.

At dinner, the crew displayed a piece of the glacier that we saw them bring aboard from our veranda. It was quite a big deal.

After dinner, Papa and Gigi decided to play Scrabble.

Here's Papa having some fun with the tiles.

When we got back to our room, our maid had tucked in Gigi's bear. She thought it was very funny to see "Bear" sleeping in her bed.

July 2, 2008

2008-07-02T21:31:00.016-10:00

Today we were leaving Alyeska to head down to Anchorage to board the cruise ship.

In the hotel, there was this huge bear. Here's Gigi starting to 'bear walk' like she does in gymnastics class.

We headed up the mountain on the tram again, to have lunch at the coffee shop, but Gigi headed straight for the snow.

We made some snow balls, then threw them at Papa...almost. :)

Here's Papa and Gigi enjoying the scenery.

All Gigi wanted to do was to play in the snow, even though she didn't have snow pants on. Nevertheless, she squatted down in the snow to get to work on a snow man.

Here she building her snowman.

Oops! She was actually making a snow woman. ;)

Look at Gigi...totally oblivious to the fact that her pants are totally wet from the melting snow.

After lunch, she said goodbye to the bear. :)

Here she is watching her DVD player under my makeshift sun shade.

We made it to the dock, and everyone is getting on board.

The staff had set up a crib in our room for Gigi. We took off the gate and turned it into a toddler bed. They provided the pink pillow and the blanket!

The sun was shining brightly on our veranda.

I put Gigi's visor on her to protect her from the strong sun.

Grandpa and Grandma came to our cabin to toast our departure with some champagne.

July 1, 2008

2008-07-01T20:10:00.038-10:00

Today we headed to Alyeska, a ski resort area. On our way there, we stopped off to stretch our legs. It was windy, which was a good thing, since the mosquitos were plentiful!

During our bus ride, Gigi had her own seating area.

Here she is playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa.

Our next stop was at the Iditarod headquarters.

Here, we got to see some of the dogs.

Here's Gigi petting a puppy.

This little puppy was so gentle and loving.

He really made Gigi happy!

A silly picture.

We got to see some of the working dogs, but the handler warned us not to pet these dogs.

Gigi was all ready to start her dog race training.

Somehow she ended up in the sled with the same puppy.

After all that excitement, Gigi crashed in the bus.

We took another quick stop to stretch our legs. Here's Papa and Gigi being silly, again.

We had to get a picture of Gigi with her street. :)

We stopped again at a little park where you could look at the river. Here we stretching our legs with Grandma.

Gigi actually wanted to get a little more exercise in and decided to do some hanging exercises like in gymnastics class.

There was a highly renown restaurant at the ski resort. We took a tram to the top and had a wonderful dinner. There really wasn't a kid's menu, but luckily I had packed some food. Here's Gigi eating some hummus. :)

Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed a leisurely dinner, but the three of us had to eat and run.

We had to rush back down to the hotel for our dog sledding excursion!

We rode a helicopter to the top of a glacier, where the dogs live for the summer months.

Gigi and I sat in the back seat, while Papa sat up front with the pilot.

Here's the view as we soared up the mountain to the glacier at the top.

Papa looks very relaxed. In fact, we all were. The weather conditions were perfect! The ride was so smooth! Gigi even fell asleep.

This is the view of the camp as we were descending. There are 65 dogs and three adults that are up here for the summer.

We got a chance to pet some of the dogs.

It was a real treat for Gianna.

This was the first time that Gianna's ever seen snow.

She had a fun, but challenging time walking around in the boots that the company let us use.

They were at least three sizes too big for her.

Papa wanted to get a picture of Gigi on one of the dog huts. A lot of the dogs were standing on top of their homes. I was too afraid to let go of her, though. I was afraid she was going to slide off.

All Gigi wanted to do was to play with the dogs.

She was so excited when it was time to load up onto the sled. Papa actually harnessed one of the sled dogs. Our team of dogs will actually be racing in the Iditarod.

Here we are with the dogs.

The sun had started to set, and it was quite chilly!

Here's a video clip of our ride.

After our run, we kicked back. Gigi had a juice box while we waited for the helicopter to pick us up. Notice "Puppy" came along on the dog sled ride, too. :)

On the way back down, Gigi and I got to ride up front.

It was quite thrilling. Gigi stayed awake this time!

Back at the hanger, Gigi was still full of excitement. Here she is pointing out the "helicopter" to one of the crew.

June 30, 2008

2008-06-30T14:41:00.031-10:00

This morning our tour bus for the Denali National Park arrived before 8 AM, and Papa and I had to drag Gigi out of bed, still in her pajamas to load her on the bus!

She would have stayed asleep, but we had to put her into her travel car seat...driver's rules.

We stopped at another hotel to pick up passengers from the Holland America cruise line. They all wore name tags. It was pretty funny. There was a two year old toddler with that group.

Soon after we entered into the actual park, we spotted a bear on the road. Since Gigi was strapped into her car seat, she couldn't really see the bear. Fortunately, the bus was equipped with screens that showed the video that the driver took with her camera. We had a screen right above our seat, so she could see the wildlife.

In the center of this picture is Denali (Mt. McKinley). It's white. You can see the peaks above the clouds.

Here are a couple of snow hares on the side of the road.

I'm not sure what this raven is eating.

Here is a caribou. We actually saw quite a lot of them.

Here we are at one of the rest stops. At each stop, Papa and I took Gigi for a quick walk around the grounds to stretch her legs. This tour was supposed to last 7 to 9 hours! We are actually in an alpine region right now.

One of our bus mates took this picture for us. The weather was beautiful!

Here's another bear we saw. I think we saw about five or six bears. This one is a brown bear (grizzly), although it is blond-colored. Brown bears have a bump between their shoulders that black bears do not have.

During our nine hour trip (yes, it lasted that long), Gigi and I took a nap. Papa thinks it's funny that we usually end up sleeping in the same position.

There is only one road into the park, so you need to follow it back to get out of the park. On our way in we passed this fox den on this hill. We did see an adult fox, but on our way back the pups were out.

There are three red fox pups in this picture. It was great to get a chance to see them.

The last animal on our last to spot was a moose, and low and behold, we saw a moose! We actually saw two of them. Here is one of them.

Papa took this picture of Gigi watching her DVD rather than looking at the moose outside. I said that she cannot really see out of the window to the ground when she's strapped up in her car seat. Gigi was an INCREDIBLY good girl on the entire nine hour trip. She didn't cry or fuss at all. This trip was pretty boring for her, especially since she had to stay in her car seat, but it was great for the rest of us to see all of the wildlife.

June 29, 2008

2008-06-29T00:31:00.022-10:00

Today we were off on bus, then a train to Denali.

Gigi slept as soon as she got on the bus, and she woke up during our first rest stop.

Here she is with Grandma. She's still a little sleepy.

We made it to the train depot, where we will ride for about 4 hours to Denali. Here's Grandma and Grandpa with our tour guide, Jesse.

The train car was very luxurious! We were on the second floor of the train car, and the roof was made of Plexiglas. We also had our own bartender. :) Although, Gigi was content with her organic juice boxes that we had picked up in Anchorage.

Here's Gigi on the train car's "patio". It was quite cold, but the fresh air felt good.

Here we are having fun on the train. For some reason, there was an unfortunate mix-up with the dining arrangements. The train car behind us had it's dining car closed, so those people ate in our dining car and bumped us. It was TERRIBLE!

Luckily, Gigi was fed, but our car mates and ourselves, did not. To keep ourselves busy, a couple of our car mates played "bartender" and served drinks to everyone to the dismay of the crew...but they were not present. They were trying to sort out the dining snafu!

Although I didn't take a picture of the BEAUTIFUL view from our hotel, we are actually out on the patio having a cocktails and listening to a lecture by a man who build his own log cabin from scratch! He also climbed to the top of Denali...the hard way, from his log cabin! As you can see, the weather was great! The sun was shining and the sky was clear. It was just a bit breezy and nippy.

Gigi and Grandma are in the main lobby, where Gigi is showing Grandma her "bear" impression. :)

Here's my two favorite bears, Papa Bear and Baby Bear.

The restaurant in the hotel was great! The food was delicious, and the service was great! Gigi's eating fruit and cheese from the cocktail reception, and she's joined by 'black bear', a gift from our tour guide, Jesse.

While we enjoyed a leisurely meal, Gigi watched her Little Einsteins DVD.

Papa opened up a bottle of Krug Rose to celebrate our 16th anniversary. Notice Gigi's milk on ice with the champagne. :)

June 28, 2008

2008-06-28T23:56:00.014-10:00

It's the morning of June 28th, our 16th wedding anniversary! Gigi has been a really good girl on the plane. She slept a bit. When she woke up, she quietly sat and watched her videos on my iPhone.

When we got to our hotel at 6 AM in the morning, the rooms weren't ready. Papa had picked up a car for us, while the rest of us took the prearranged hotel shuttle. We were staying at a Hilton, and Papa hooked us up! As soon as he got to the hotel, he got us our room! He's wonderful! We slept for a bit and then headed out.

Alaska was celebrating their statehood day, so there were a lot of festivities going on. Across from our hotel there was a fair. Here's Gigi with Grandma and Grandpa. They were watching some belly dancers dance.

Papa drove us to the Anchorage Zoo. I thought Gigi would enjoy that the most, so we went to see the local animals.

Here's Gigi walking around the zoo. The coat she's wearing is a gift from Auntie Suzanne, Griffin's mom. It fit her perfectly! Everyone commented on how cute it was. :) Thank you, Suzanne!

Check out the polar bears! They were up and about!

Here's Gigi and Papa checking them out.

The next stop...seals. One came over to give Gigi some love. He actually kissed the glass!

Here's Papa and Gigi looking for moose from an observation platform. Gigi loved just going up and down the stairs. Silly, girl.

We got to see a baby musk ox and its mama. Gigi didn't seem to want to get to close to them.

But here she is trying to get a closer look at the ravens. Gigi really likes birds.

After the zoo, Papa took us to see the largest float plane airport...a big lake. We saw several planes land and take off!

June 27, 2008

2008-06-27T23:46:00.005-10:00

We are on our way! We met Grandma and Grandpa at the airport, as we as Uncle John. John met us at the airport to drive our car back home. We checked in, then had dinner at a pretty nice airport restaurant. We flew to Anchorage on Alaska Airlines.

Here's Papa and Gigi in their seats. The three of us had our seats in the very LAST row of the plane!

Gigi didn't mind that our seats didn't recline, but Papa and I did. :(

Whoops! Maybe Gigi did mind. I was just thankful that Gigi had her own seat! :)

June 23, 2008

2008-06-23T23:30:00.009-10:00

Today's field trip was a ride on the sugar train! It was a fun ride on the train. The kids liked the idea of going on a train, but once they were on it, they didn't seem too thrilled.

Here's Gigi and Troy sitting next to each other.

The two of them seemed pretty comfortable on the moving train. I think they were too short to really notice the scenery passing them by.

The highlight of their trip of eating...as usual. Here's Gigi and Troy grubbing on strawberries, peaches, and oranges. Troy LOVED the oranges!

After the train ride, we all kind of stuck around and had a little picnic. The kids ate again! I had to go to my car to get Gigi's other food from the cooler. Here she is playing with Adam.

Emi and Troy were playing hide-and-seek, so Gigi grabbed Emi's mom, Tara, and Troy's mom, Jen, and invited them to play, too. :)

June 19, 2008

2008-06-19T14:40:00.005-10:00

YIKES! Look what Gigi did to her face with Grandpa's pen!

Usually she just sits at her "desk" and draws on paper, but for some reason, she decided to experiment on her face.

I'm not quite sure what Gigi was thinking? Luckily, the pen marks came off with a bit of facial lotion.

June 16, 2008

2008-06-16T21:04:00.005-10:00

Today our field trip took us to an organic farm that specialized in earthworms.

Here's Gigi contemplating the adventure ahead of her.

That's Emi on the cart. Gigi was curious as to what Emi was up to. I think Gigi wanted a ride. :

My little explorer is going off on her own. She crossed the pond where these huge frogs are raised for their frog legs. :0

Luckily, she stopped in her tracks when I called out for her to "STOP!". She's a sweetie.

We visited the chickens, ducks, turkeys, etc. Gigi got to feed them. Unfortunately, there was an over zealous chicken that attacked her for the food. She was a bit traumatized by the attack, and I had to carry her for the rest of the visit. :(

Under the chicken coops are the earthworms. This whole place does not smell at all! Unbelievable, huh? It was really quite clean for a farm.

There weren't any earthworms under the goats, so they did smell a bit.

Emi and Gigi are looking at the horses in the stable. I think they wanted to go for a ride, now that they are experienced pony riders.

June 15, 2008

2008-06-15T20:04:00.009-10:00

Today is Father's Day. Gigi and I got Papa a wine glass carrier so that he can take his own glasses to his wine tasting events. :) We got Grandpa a tee time at the Waialae Golf Course with one of their pros. I better make sure that Grandpa goes to play golf!

After Papa woke up, Gigi had a major play date with him. The Wii box was lying around, and Gigi got on top of it. I think she was asking Papa if he would let her play the Wii.

Before Papa let Gigi get on the real Wii fit board, he wanted her to test out her skills on the box. (By the way, the super cute top Gigi is wearing is from Papa...a Baby Dior top ;).

I'm not sure what happened to Gigi's clothes, but here she is with Papa playing Wii Fit.

In the afternoon, we went to John and Wendy's house for a Father's Day supper. Auntie Wendy got Gigi this fun bowling game. Gigi needs some work on her bowling technique, though.

After eating, Gigi kicked back on the patio and watched some videos on the iPhone, while the rest of us enjoyed a delicious meal. It was a wonderful time with the family!

June 14, 2008

2008-06-14T15:17:00.006-10:00

Today was our monthly...thanks to Auntie Mirella...play date with Emily and Ava. Since Auntie Mirella's in Chicago, Auntie Diana hosted the play date at her house. I was too busy enjoying myself that I forgot to take pictures, except when the children got to feed the fish.

Uncle Peter brought out the fish food and stopped the waterfalls, so that the children could feed the fish. Everyone was very excited!

Ava had wonderful fish-feeding skills. She used the cover like Uncle Peter showed her so that food wouldn't stick to her hands. Gigi, on the other hand, used her wet fingers to grab the food, and she subsequently got fish food all over her hands. :0

Here's Gigi enjoying a homemade smoothie courtesy of Uncle Peter. We all had so much fun!

June 13, 2008

2008-06-13T21:13:00.001-10:00

Today Papa came with us to gymnastics class, so I was able to take some video of Gianna's progress.

June 10, 2008

2008-06-10T14:57:00.006-10:00

This afternoon, the Lums called us up to invite us to the Pacific Club for some pool action! It was wonderful! The water was nice and cool, and the amenities at the club are great! It's so nice that they allow young children in the pool...not like the Honolulu Club. Anyway, after we all swam, we went up to Mangos for drinks and dinner. While the adults were hanging out, the kids were playing on the lawn.

Gigi couldn't understand what Connor was doing on the grass.

I think he was inviting her to roll around with him.

She finally accepted his offer. The two of them, along with Halle, had a great time!

June 9, 2008

2008-06-09T14:55:00.002-10:00

Today is Grandpa's birthday! We'll be having dinner with the family tonight. We went on a field trip today, and here's Gigi eating taro bread.

June 8, 2008

2008-06-08T14:45:00.008-10:00

Today we went over to Auntie Kay's house to play with Hiroshi, Hideo, and Hideo's girlfriend. As usual, Auntie Kay spoils us with super delicious fruits from an Edible Arrangement. Crazy!

Here's Gigi munching away on a pineapple.

We were all playing Wii games, and the glasses were for one of the games. That's Hideo in the background.

Gigi liked playing with Hideo's girlfriend. She's pretty, fun, and very nice!

June 5, 2008

2008-06-05T14:29:00.005-10:00

This morning, Grandma noticed that the butterfly was emerging from the chrysalis. When it was ready to fly away, we brought the container out to the garage.

I opened the lid to let Gigi get a closer look at the butterfly, and it immediately flew away!

It flew to the hedges, and then over into the neighbor's yard. We'll have to do this again, when Gigi is older.

May 30, 2008

2008-05-30T13:07:00.015-10:00

Today after gymnastics class, Gigi and I headed over to meet Auntie Jen for lunch at Ala Moana. We both quickly changed out of our gym clothes into lunch clothes in the parking lot!

Here is Gigi and Auntie Jen. Silly Auntie Jen, didn't have her camera centered on the both of them.

This is a picture from my camera.

Here's a nice picture of the two of them.

We had lunch a CPK. Gigi enjoyed coloring the menu.

While we waited for our food, Gigi studied her iPhone flashcards. She wanted to show Auntie Jen that she can count to twenty in English and Japanese. :)

After lunch, we all strolled around the mall. Gigi was in an adventurous mood, and she went exploring in areas she shouldn't have.

Auntie Jen snapped this picture of her entitled, "How much is that Gigi in the window?"

Look at my naughty Gigi! She's so happy to be caught!

May 24, 2008

2008-05-24T13:51:00.004-10:00

Today we went to art class. Gigi decided to play with the play dough. She really likes the garlic press, because it makes play dough strands. :)

This play dough is NOT edible. It doesn't smell good, but it does have glitter in it.

Gigi had a lot of fun with the confetti! She loved sprinkling it on her fish!

May 22, 2008

2008-05-22T22:27:00.003-10:00

Gianna is 20 months old today!

Quick note: The dress that Auntie Susy gave Gigi a while back now fits PERFECTLY! It was super cute, but I didn't take a picture, because Papa has my camera. :0

Parenting note: Gigi threw two tantrums yesterday, one at nap time and the other at bed time. At nap time, Gigi got her way, because Grandma had come over to babysit and came to Gigi's rescue. At bed time, things were difficult, because Papa was packing, and Gigi wanted to be with him. Nevertheless, I did not give in to her ranting, and she ended up crying for an extended period of time, before she gave in and went to bed.

Today, Gigi took a long nap without a fuss, but at bedtime, she threw a tantrum again. BUT, this time, I used Dr. Harvey Karp's techniques, and the tantrum barely lasted a couple of minutes. I had read his book, The Happiest Toddler on the Block, a long time ago, but I didn't need to use his techniques until now, since Gianna never threw tantrums before the one she had a Connor's party.

The good news is that his techniques work! After following his tips, Gigi responded beautifully! She changed from a raving toddler to the sweet and cooperative little girl I know and love. I was amazed to see her climb into bed and go right to sleep without a fuss, after just having pitched a huge crying fit!

A special thanks to Auntie Maile Lum for her recommending Dr. Karp's books to me. :)

May 21, 2008

2008-05-21T13:41:00.005-10:00

Today we went to music class, and Troy and Gianna decided to be dance partners.

Here's a video clip of the two of them dancing. :)

May 19, 2008

2008-05-19T22:24:00.002-10:00

Today is the last field trip for the Spring 2008 session. It has been a great experience! Our trip today focused on butterflies.

We visited this lady who showed us how to take care of butterflies.

Gianna was very interested in the lecture!

Each child got a caterpillar to take home. I hope our caterpillar survives!

We also learned how to create a butterfly garden, or rather a garden for butterflies. Gianna planted this plant.

Here she is watering her plant.

May 18, 2008

2008-05-18T13:33:00.005-10:00

Today I decided to make a batch of edible play dough. I was watching an episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8, and she mentioned that the recipe called for equal parts of powdered milk, peanut butter, and honey. The dough was a bit sticky, so I did add in more powdered milk. It smelled yummy, and sure enough, Gigi ate the dough! She didn't have much interest in playing with it. She just wanted to eat it.

I filled this bowl up with soapy water to clean her up, and she decided to wash her feet, too!

When Papa came home, I snapped this shot of the two of them. Gigi LOVES her Papa!

May 17, 2008

2008-05-17T13:19:00.006-10:00

Today was a very stressful day. Gianna woke up in the middle of the night last night for the second time in a row! She just wakes up crying loudly as though she is in pain. I've had to carry her and sing to her to try and soothe her. Papa has been at the hospital working, but when he came home this morning, I told him to check her out. In the afternoon, Gigi again began crying like she's in pain.

Papa advised that we take her to the emergency room to get an x-ray, so off we went. She was so upset. She's struggling to get out of Papa's arms!

Papa took her into the x-ray room. Only one parent was allowed in the room, and Papa, being the doctor, was the one to accompany Gigi.

They put her into this contraption to keep her still for the x-ray. Luckily, the x-ray showed that Gigi only had a lot of gas and poo in her system. The nurses gave her an enema, and Gigi's condition improved. By the early evening, she was feeling much better.

Grandma and Grandpa came to babysit Gigi, and she was her happy self by the time they arrived!

May 16, 2008

2008-05-16T12:39:00.009-10:00

Today we went to visit Auntie Kay and Chibi. Gigi LOVES playing with Chibi.

She especially likes feeding him.

Here's a video clip of her and Chibi.

For dinner we went to Auntie Pasto's. Here's Gigi being silly with Auntie Kay.

Auntie Kay introduced Gigi to dipping her bread into olive oil the last time we were here.

Oh, no! Gigi got her first taste of a lemon from Auntie Kay.

May 13, 2008

2008-05-13T21:42:00.003-10:00

Today Gianna and I made it on the television news program. I was interviewed about the Field Trip Friends program that Gigi and I go to.
http://www.khon2.com/features/green/18917684.html

We went to dinner with Papa to DK Steakhouse.

May 12, 2008

2008-05-12T12:26:00.003-10:00

Today we headed out to Hawaii Kai to take a ride on the Duck Truck!

We went on a quick tour of the bay.

It was a fun and relaxing trip.

Our tour guide was very entertaining!

Gigi is holding a duck bill toy that makes duck sounds when you blow into it.

Here are Gigi's friends, Troy and Emi, with Troy's mom, Jen, and Emi's mom, Tara, on the far right.

Here we are on the truck. Adam and his mom, Kris, are sitting in front of us.

We had a great time!

May 11, 2008

2008-05-11T08:16:00.005-10:00

Today we went to The Kahala for Mother's Day brunch with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle John, and Auntie Wendy. The food was delicious!

Here's Gianna enjoying a butterfly cookie.

We sat next to the entertainer, David Swanson. Gigi loved his music!

When we got home, Papa took this picture of us. Grandma is wearing a purple agapanthus lei. It matched her outfit nicely!

May 5, 2008

2008-05-05T07:45:00.002-10:00

Today we went to a taro patch with our Field Trip Friends group. Since I knew we'd be out in the lush greenery, I decided to dress Gigi in bright pink. She'd be easier to spot. I also wore pink, so that everyone else would know who Gigi belonged to! ;)

We had to carpool into the property, so Gianna and I got to ride in the back of Auntie Cindy's truck! This picture is from our photographer, Anne Stone.

Although Gigi was scared at first, she soon ended up enjoying the view from the back of the truck.

Here's Gigi by some taro plants.

We got a complete tour of these lohi.

Here's Gigi by a dairy cow, one of the last ones left on the island.

We got to see the cow being milked, and we all got a taste of some raw milk!

The raw milk we were served had already been refrigerated, so it was nice and cold.
Gianna had three cupfuls! She loved it.

We also made fresh butter from the cream of the milk. Shaking the jar to make the butter was quite a work out. I really need to get back in shape!

In the afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa came over to visit. Here's Gigi riding on her new tricycle, with Grandma pushing from behind.

May 3, 2008

2008-05-03T15:02:00.005-10:00

Today was Connor's second birthday party held at his Popo and Gung Gung's house. As soon as we got there, Gigi changed into her swim suit and joined in the water fun. After a bit of playing, everyone had lunch and cake!

Gigi's trying to toot her horn.

After cake and ice cream, the kids all headed out to the water for round #2! Gigi jumped back in her wet clothes and headed off for the pool.

I'm not sure what happened here, but she soon regained her composure and started to play.

I think Uncle Tim gave her the water hose to cheer her up. Good job, Tim!

Gigi had been watching Connor show off his watering skills earlier, so she was soon watering everyone around her.

She liked sliding down the yellow slide into the ball-filled pool

Here's Connor with the hose, Halle running around, and Halle's BFF and Gigi in the pool.

Gigi is sharing a ball with me. What a good girl.

Everyone had left the party graciously, but Gigi was a die-hard. Here she is with Halle and her cousin, Sophie. Even Connor had gone home for a nap!

Halle was a great play pal. She really took care of Gigi, helping her in and out of the pool. She had even invited Gigi to play with her and her cousins/friends while everyone was having lunch. I peeked in on them to find Gianna playing very nicely with everyone else. It was a wonderful scene...a bunch of little girls all playing nicely together!

Unfortunately, our day ended HORRIBLY! Gianna refused to leave! She threw her FIRST major tantrum at Connor's party. Thank goodness that only his family members were left! Still, I was mortified. I could barely manage to strip Gigi of her wet swim suit and get a diaper on her. I was so tempted to just strap her into her car seat naked!

She just didn't want to get out of the water and go home. She was crying and screaming for what felt like an eternity! It took a while, but I did get her in her car seat, and Gigi fell asleep as soon as I started to drive home. I was shaken! I have never seen her behave like that before.

May 2, 2008

2008-05-02T14:57:00.000-10:00

In my goal to become vegetarian, I've been eating hummus. Gigi saw me eating hummus for lunch, and she wanted some too. I was surprised to find that she liked it. She ate quite a bit of hummus with some soda crackers that I gave her.

April 28, 2008

2008-04-28T14:32:00.000-10:00

Today we headed out to the windward side of the island for some touristy fun. We jumped on a little bus and got a tour of a bit of old Hawaiiana.

The bus was a bit "old school", and I don't think Gigi liked it to much. I think she was afraid that she'd fall out the open windows...oh wait, there weren't any windows!

Our first stop was a mini-show.

This little girl danced.

This man did a fire dance.

Here's our Field Trip Friends group.

After the show, we all jumped on this boat for a ride around the ancient Hawaiian fishpond. It's huge!

Gigi liked riding on the boat.

She kept looking for fish.

Here we are with our tour guide.

This was our view from the boat. Stunning!

Gigi had a fun time!

April 27, 2008

2008-04-27T13:54:00.002-10:00

Today Gigi and I took a walk around the neighborhood. The sprinklers were one at one of the houses we passed, and Gigi decided to have some fun.

At first Gigi stayed on the periphery.

Then she got closer.

Gigi started to splash in the water that was on the sidewalk.

Then she climbed up on the stairs to get really wet!

April 25, 2008

2008-04-25T02:06:00.006-10:00

This morning we all went to the beach BEFORE breakfast. I brought a couple of paper cups down from our room to use to build sand castles, but Gigi and Papa were more interested in digging holes in the sand.

Papa thought it'd be cool to have Gigi sit in the hole.

She seemed to like it.

It was sort of like sitting in her bean bag chair.

But when Papa tried to bury her, Gigi quickly protested and wiggled her way out.

Here she is escaping.

Papa washed her off in the ocean.

She loved it!

This time they dug a deeper and bigger hole.

It filled up with water when a big wave came by.

Gigi enjoyed playing with the water.

She was all smiles until the water seeped away.

So I took her back into the ocean to play.

For some reason, Gigi wouldn't float! She kept on flipping over to swim toward me.

I had to let her grab a hold of my arm, so she could 'swim' around.

After breakfast, we walked around the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center with Grandma and Grandpa. Papa had visited the Juicy store there yesterday, and he surprised me with a matching dress. Here we are with our matching outfits. Papa's the best!

When we walked by Senor Frog's, Gigi read the sign..."frog". She wanted to go in, but we had just finished breakfast.

Instead we went back to the hotel and changed into our swimsuits to swim in the pool. Papa arranged for a late check out...4 PM! Auntie Mirella stopped by to swim and hang out with us. Thank goodness (and Papa) for the late checkout, because Gigi fell asleep while we were poolside a little after 1 PM. She took another long nap and woke up at 3:15 PM! We had a wonderful mini-vacation! A big THANK YOU to Grandma and Grandpa!

April 24, 2008

2008-04-24T01:25:00.006-10:00

When Gianna got up this morning, I opened up the curtains to show her the beach. Gigi got so excited! She was ready to start her day.

We went to breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa, and then we headed back to our room to change into our swimsuits.

Gigi grabbed her sunglasses.

Papa snapped this picture of the two of us with our shades on. :)

Here's Gianna running again! She's a blur!

Look at that smile! :)

We played in the pool.

Then Gigi rested for a bit.

Yikes! She got away from me while I was trying to change her clothes.

Here's Gigi hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa at the pool.

The grounds were very pretty at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. We walked around the hotel property, then headed up to the room for a nap.

Luckily, Gigi took a very long nap...almost three hours! Papa and I had to leave to see a couple of films at the Hawaii International Film Festival at Dole Cannery. I won tickets at the Oscar Party, so Grandma and Grandpa babysat Gigi while Papa and I went to the movies with Mark and Mirella. Uncle John and Auntie Wendy came to the hotel to visit. Grandma told me that Gigi had a great time playing with them. They also got to watch the luau show going on below our room. :)