Avery's 4th Birthday

Avery knew for months exactly what she wanted to do for her birthday. She wanted it to be Dora themed at Xystus Kidsland. Fortunately, their party room was free to rent, and we could bring our own food and drinks! (it didn't used to be that way). We just paid for our guests of course. Everyone had a great time, and I loved not having it in our house, so I didn't have to clean before and after!
Steve was due home from the Philippines the weekend of her birthday, and she was having her procedure on her teeth the next Friday, so we played it safe and scheduled her party for the next weekend. She opened presents from us on her birthday, and we went to American Village to ride the Ferris Wheel (her request....sorry, forgot to bring my camera there again!).

Opening presents from us!

We got Noah a James train (he LOVES Thomas the train) so he wouldn't feel left out. He took that thing into his room and was there the whole time Avery opened her presents!

Lots of excitement and jumping around!

She was all smiles all day.=)

Notice our dehumidifier in the background? We have two of those huge things in our house, and they fill up 3-4 times a day! It's crazy humid here...

Modeling her new gorgeous dress from our Japanese neighbors.

Rocking out with the barbie guitar she was wishing on the star for each night.=)

Avery's party at Xystus....I tried to decorate even though the party room was already on color overload...

Asian pasta salad, my regular pasta salad, grapes, chips (in the brown bags...I forgot the dip at home...), rice krispy treat pops dipped in pink chocolate with sprinkles, skittles, and white chocolate raspberry cheesecake (her request!). The party favors were little dora books with suckers in a little basket behind the drinks (you can't see them).

Singing the birthday song to her...

Going off on a tangent here, but do you notice her two front teeth are gone? She had to get them pulled just a week before this party because she fell on them when she was 16 months old. It was becoming infected behind them. She had to be put down with anesthesia, but she was a trooper. It was a long day for her and I, starting at 6 in the morning, but she didn't shed one tear. It all went really smoothly.

Posing with her gifts. Happy 4th Birthday, Avery. We love you.

Sweet Avery

Avery said the sweetest thing to me tonight that I just had to share....After reading "Guess How Much I Love You," I told Avery that I love her to the moon and back. She looked at me and said "I love you to the North Star." I felt like my heart was going to explode. She is the sweetest little thing. She has been looking at the North Star at night and making a wish. For a while it was for a barbie guitar (which she got for her birthday) , and now she wishes for a cupcake for breakfast. I love you, sweet Avery.

P.S. Avery has started a new school that we love!!
She had a great birthday. Will post about that next!

So Long Pacifier

When Steve got home from the Philippines, we did what we said we would do and took away his pacifier. No weaning, really...just took it away. Well, I guess the first night it happened because we couldn't find one anywhere! It wasn't too terrible. He had trouble taking naps for a few days, and I wanted to give it back to him so badly, but I held off. I'm glad I did because now he is completely fine without it. Yah! So proud of my little man. Next stop, potty training!!

I'm sure it helped that Avery would read him this book ("No More Pacifier for Piggy") at night (and sing to him, kiss him goodnight, and tuck him in...and make sure he has his blanket) - such a good big sister!

Embracing the Rain

It's been raining here....A LOT.  These tropical storms can be quite a show for us. (that's what we get for living on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific!) We love watching the water flow super fast by our house and  the waves crash up against the rocks. Steve of course says it'd be awesome to have a kayak out there, and we just look at him like he's crazy. haha. We actually may be hit with a Typhoon early tomorrow morning. It may just miss us. When there's big typhoons the whole island shuts down basically. No school or work...sort of like snow days. Last year they had a big one that lasted a whole week. I'm ready for the sun to come back out, but we have learned to embrace the rain (something I haven't done since high school when I used to love running in the rain). The kids and I will go out and run around and splash in puddles (yes, I try and be a cool mom and join them sometimes! lol). We've gotten caught in a few rainfalls on our evening walks as well. Saying the weather here is different from California is quite an understatement. 

Science at Home

I'm not one to do super messy activities at home, but one rainy day called for just that. They just loved squirting colored vinegar into the pain of backing soda. Lots of colorful fiz. What's more fun than that!?

And the classic blowing up the balloon with vinegar and baking soda.

We Grew Something!

We grew our first vegetable in our "garden." A tomato (still a little green...)! We also have quite a few carrots.

Surprisingly too, because we were told vegetables wouldn't grow well in our front yard because of the sea wind. We've finally gotten around to doing some work in our yard other than just trimming the grass. I've been pulling a ton of weeds from all the garden beds and trees.  I'm not sure what we're going to do with the gardens yet. I'll have to do some research. Avery was very proud to find the tomato.

Princess Dinner

Avery hasn't stopped talking about "the princess dinner" since we went over a month ago, so I figured I'd share what got Avery so excited. It was just a buffet where they showed Disney movies, had a few characters for pictures, and the girls all wore their princess dresses. I guess this gave her a (very small) taste of Disney Land (boy does she want to go back there!). I guess this was enough for now, because she  was definitely in awe.

We went with Avery's friend Aubrey and her mom (our neighbors!):

Noah wanted to keep his distance from them.=)

Avery and Aubrey.

Avery and Addison:

Kurishaki Dam

Very excited to play in the dam!

Noah sees an airplane.

 Avery was all about it. Noah liked finding rocks and throwing them (surprise!)

 We will have to bring our fishing nets and boats next time.=)

 Avery made some Japanese friends to play with (she changed into her swimsuit).

 Snack break

 Inside the very small museum there....diggers!

 Walking through a "cave."

 This field is where a bee stung me between my toes! Ouch!! So glad it was me and not one of the kids.

Lots of walking trails around the dam. Just another fun place to go to add to our list.