Thanks Hawaii

We’re on the tail end of our trip and after not having a computer for a while (well, we have the computer but forgot the charger two states back….it will meet us in Manila).  In the meantime I have 3000 photos spanning four states to get through.  But I will just go photo by photo and catch you all up, even though we’ve probably seen you in person at this point.  
While we were in Hawaii we celebrated Thanksgiving, Miral’s first!  We decided to cook a little mini Thanksgiving just for us.  We made a little chicken, broccolini, stuffing and the boys contribution was a pink cake with pink icing.  We let Adam pick out the cake at the supermarket and even though he said pink is for girls, he then said but this cake looks yummy so he picked that one.  Fitting for Miral’s first Thanksgiving!

Thanks Hawaii! Mainland USA, friends and family here we come! (well, technically we’ve already come six weeks ago but semantics people).  Next up on our U.S. tour 2017, Capitola California!

Mini golf!

Beach babe

 

Thanks Amerikids for teaching Malcolm the name of this flower 🙂

]

The boys first library card!

 
Malcolm begged me for this cat.  I told him he could put it on his Christmas list.  A block outside the store Adam asked what the furry thing in the stroller was….I made Randy go back and return it.

Thanksgiving celebration. 
Catnaps at lunch

Beach exploring

 One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

Tucking baby sister in

Chilly mountain views

 

Aloha Hawaii, thanks for making our first holiday as a family of five a success!

15/52

Week 15- this was a big week for you.  We had a few more days in Hawaii where we crammed in as much beach as we could.  It was a bit windy at times and you were not a fan…you were only happy when mommy was holding you in the carrier.  But you continued to be a great traveler and are starting to really take it all in.

You landed in California after your fourth flight and mainland U.S. for the first time in your short little life.  We spent the first two days going to all our favorite spots, Santa Cruz boardwalk for arcades and ice skating and downtown Santa Cruz for some Verve coffee.  Oh and Trader Joes of course.  We headed off to Santa Barbare for the weekend to see our friends and you were the star of the party.  Our friends have two girls who are the same age as Adam and Malcolm and they spent all weekend playing with you and cuddling you.  Here is a snapshot of what happens when you are very loved.  (no babies were harmed in this photo shoot).  Bet you’re missing our photo shoots on the shag rug about now 😂

Three Hour Tour

We were all pretty excited to hike in Hawaii.  There is not a lot of green in Manila so any chance we have we want to be outside.  Randy found us an easy one to do with kids and we set off.  I thought the hike was a mile and a half…some (perhaps purposeful) miscommunication by my husband 🙂  it wasn’t that long into the hike that I realized it was actually a mile and a half each way.  But we set off and the walk was beautiful!  So peaceful and so nice to be out in the wild. 

Adam was so excited to go swimming at the pond at the end, so excited that he carried his bathing suit the entire mile and a half.  When we got there the pond was murky and Adam was so sad that he couldn’t swim.  He really loves swimming.  The whole time we have been on vacation anytime he can jump in and swim he has.  The deal was since he couldn’t swim I carried his bathing suit back.  I thought that was pretty fair. 
It was still a beautiful walk and we made it the whole three miles with no tears.  That in itself is a Christmas miracle.  It only took us three hours total!  

After our hike we headed over to the beach but it was a little too wavy for even Adam to swim but such a beautiful beach.

The Rainbow State

Our first full day in Hawaii we all woke up super late after sleeping through the night! Jet lag for once was on our side.  We were all exhausted from the long flight and by the time we finished grocery shopping and dinner out went to bed super late. 
We headed out to go to the beach on the later side and Miral who had been a great traveler, decided she needed a break.  We still had a ways to go to the beach still so we decided to make a pit stop to get her out of the car.  Thankfully, the pit stop included this beautiful waterfall and view. 

After our stop, some milk for Miral and a nap we all felt much better and headed to the beach.  It was a little chilly so we went to the playground first.  Miral’s nap continued.  Then we headed to the beach.  It was still a little chilly but Adam jumped right in.  Malcolm was happy to play in the sand.

The long road to Kauai

This lead up to Home Leave was a little different than most.  Usually when we’re getting ready for these long trips it’s me frantically running around after work getting us ready.  This time, circumstances meant that four out of five Alis were home most of the week before.  ASEAN and all the presidents were in town so Malcolm’s school closed for a few days.  It was Randy’s last week at work in the Philippines so he only went in one day for his goodbye party.  And me and Miral were home enjoying our maternity leave 🙂  Adam was the only Ali who went about his normal life.  But don’t worry Adam, we had no fun.      

I went to pick up a few things for the our trip since we would be away for six weeks and everyone decided to come with me.  Malcolm tried to sneak these into the bottom of the stroller for Miral….he has picked up a nasty ‘shop robbing’ habit as Adam calls it.

I spent the week hanging out with friends since my maternity leave will be almost over when I get home and organizing my packing cubes.  I am totally addicted.  Each child gets their own color and it makes packing so much more fun.  I am a total nerd when it comes to packing.  But packing for five people for six weeks and three different seasons is a whole new ball game.  It took some work to make sure we stayed in three suitcases.

But we did it!  Here we are on our last day in Manila before we left for the airport with our luggage.  Three suitcases, one baby bed, two car seats, one stroller and three little peanuts. 

Three flights later and 24 hours we had traveled back in time and arrived an hour after we had left and lived Friday, Nov 17 twice.  All three kids were amazing on the trip.  So good in fact I bought both boys legos because I was really that amazed. 

Oh yeah and when we arrived in Kauai our luggage did not.  So we had to wait an hour for the next flight.  Thank god for Kindles!

When we arrived we were all so happy with the little house we had rented in Kauai.  It was on a golf course and full of nesting Albatrosses.

 

A few days into our Home Leave Adam turned to me and said I like vacation.  I asked him why and he said because you don’t have to go to school and come back and you get to hang out all day.  Yup, that’s exactly right.  I love that we get to hang out everyday for six weeks as a family.  It’s pretty special and I know it’s rare.  I love watching Adam and Malcolm get closer.  I love experiencing new things with them and I love not going to work and back.  Here’s hoping the rest of our six weeks are as great as the start!

14/52

Week 14- This was a big week for you.  It was your first week vacation and it was in beautiful Hawaii!  It was also your first Thanksgiving.  You handled jetlag like a champ and besides not being a fan of long car rides have been doing great.  You are still the star of the show and your brothers love you so much.  You also love watching them.  You’ve also started giggling!  Especially when someone tickles your neck.  Adam loves ticking you and also loves when you smile at him.  He says- BIG smile for Adam every time you flash him your big smile.  You are doing more tummy time and up on your elbows!  
For your first big holiday we pulled out the tutu and all got dressed up and took some pictures in our Hawaiian backyard. 

13/52 – Three Months

Week 13- This was a big week and three months for you!  You attended your first Ali party to celebrate Adam’s sixth birthday.  You were a total rockstar through it though and let 40 kids practice Tae Kwon Do and break boards without breaking a tear.  You also took your first plane ride, and second plane ride, and third! Manila-Narita-Honolulu-Lihue.  And you didn’t even cry!  It was actually pretty amazing.  Three months in you are no longer an infant (tear) and officially a baby.  You seem like one too.  You are so interactive and happy, except when you are tired.  You are like your mommy.  When you are tired you are tired and want your bed.  The first night here in Hawaii after our long trip when you finally got to bed you slept until morning (thank you!!). 
The boys continue to be enthralled by you.  They love cuddling you and kissing you and you love it too!

 

Ninja

(Side note….yes we are in Hawaii! and yes I have loads to share but I can’t skip over some things that happened before we left….so you all will have to wait for vaca picture 🙂
For Adam’s 6th birthday he decided about 10 months ago he wanted a ninja party.  Not a teenage mutant ninja party he would tell me, a black ninja party.  What is amazing is this was before the boys discovered Ninjago on Hulu and before Adam started Tae Kwon Do this summer.   So it all came perfectly together.  We threw in some black ninja, some Tae Kwon Do and some Ninjago and every one was happy.  Adam is definitely my child.  He loves to plan a party and we would talk about every detail over and over and he helped plan the whole party.  Fun fact I have learned this year, the plural of ninja is ninja….
First up, Adam picked these invites out and loved that the ninja was upside down.  He came with us to the store print them and then insisted on writing every invitee’s name himself on the back of each card. 
He picked this pinata and these balloons and the little ninjago legos and ninja lollipops for the gift bags. 

But he got to go to bed at a normal time while I stayed up and assembled 40 gift bags and tied ribbons on 120 balloons.  They will inflate balloons (not with helium, for some reason the Philippines has not mastered non dangerous helium for kids balloons and it is rare to find) and attach a plastic stick that inevitable becomes a way for the kids to play swords…..so I always say no plastic sticks and tie ribbon on all the balloons. 

It was all hands on deck, even this little nugget had to pitch in.

The morning of the big party we woke up and Adam opened some presents.  On Adam’s actual birthday we’ll be in California and we’ll have a little party with family but we won’t have room in our luggage for a lot presents.  So Adam opened a few bigger presents from us and a big lego from Grandma Gertch!

First up, a rain stick that Adam has wanted for months now and a ninja book from us.

Next up, legos from Grandma!

We invited Adam’s whole class and all his other friends so we decided to have the party downstairs in the building’s function room.  Adam came down with me to decorate and loved it.

Next up, a quick outfit change as all party hosts do.

And finally a slightly out of focus family picture the building admin graciously took for us 🙂

Adam’s Tae Kwon Do instructors came and conducted a fun class for the kids, wood breaking and all. Adam loved it and got to break so many boards!

Malcolm was nervous but eventually got to break a board too!

The cake was a big hit! Even bigger hit was the cake server. 

The party was great! Everyone had a great time!  After all of Adam’s friends left we headed upstairs to open presents!

Everyone must have gotten the memo that Adam is into legos!  I see lots of building in our future! Happy birthday party day my wonderful almost six year old ninja!  We love you!!

12/52

Week 12-  This was your daddy’s last week of work in the Philippines.  We had a big dinner at our house for our closest friends to spend some time with them.  The boys stayed up to say hi, but you slept right through.  Speaking of sleeping, you continue to be a rockstar.  You sleep 9-11 hours at night.  You’re like your mom, you like to sleep! You have also found your hands this weel and all you want to do is chew on them all the time 🙂

Your brothers continue to love you and want to cuddle you. You are pretty lucky to have two brothers who love you so much! You are so interactive and love to coo.

 

 

 

   

   

11/52 weeks- Halloween edition

Week 11- This was a special Halloween for us.  We went from having two ninjas…..

To having three ninjas! Lots of credit to Adam for managing to hold Miral with his full Ninjago costume on.  Not an easy feat, but he was determined and really focused and careful with her. 

And because Miral is my first girl I wanted a sweet little girl costume that was pink.  She had a little cold on Halloween so she did’t last long in her bunny ears before she wanted a cuddle and a nap, but I managed to get a few snaps of her on her first real Holiday (I’m not counting Columbus Day and Memorial Day…)

For trick or treating the boys opted for some costumes from the costume box instead of Ninjagos.  Who better to make sure Miral is always safe and protected than two superheros.