Nate had a work trip 2 days before Easter, so I bribbed my cousin Tiara over for the evening with stuffed bell peppers and we watched My Neighbor Totoro. G-pop also came over to see Alyssa so we decided it would be silly hat night. Nate was back by Easter and brought back lots of Easter loot from his family and helped Alyssa dye her easter eggs. She went on a couple of hunts but is completely uninterested in the "hunt" and ends up just running around. She was totally engrossed in coloring her easter eggs - her newest obsession.
Family and friends wore their best pirate attire to celebrate Kealohi's 1st birthday. There was lots of yummy food, games and pirate G-pop kept the peace, so no one had to walk the plank. All in all fun times for everyone (we couldn't get Alyssa to come out of the bouncer).
After Kealohi's party, it came time to say goodbye to Robyn. She had her missionary farewell and was set apart as Lung Shimai (I feel so old). She is now hard at work in the missionary training center studying Japanese, eating lots of chicken courdon bleu and learning how to teach the gospel. We miss you Ro - but Japan is getting one heck of a missionary.
March brought spring break for the young cousins so we decided to all go to the beach. It was Kealohi's first swim in the ocean and she had a blast. After swimming Alyssa had a big case of the munchies - don't touch da goldfish!
In February we celebrated Nate's birthday. Uncle J.T., Aunty Britty and Cousin Maile got a yummy ice cream cake for him to blow out his candles. Since 2005, Nate's birthday has fallen during busy season - so he usually doesn't have to much time to relax and celebrate. One of these years we'll have a real celebration. Alyssa and I spent some time with Aunty Ro before she heads off to Japan on her mission. We went with Families For Real to Dole Plantation to ride the train. That was the first time I had been there - sad local . Aside from Alyssa kicking off her shoe during the train ride, we had a nice time riding the train, feeding the fish and eating pineapple. We drove a little further north for shave ice at Aoki's.
One of the mothers from Families For Real brought chrysalis for each child. We got to see the butterfly hatch and let it go free.
We were grateful to have friends Grandma Shima, Geri, Greg and Helen visit as well as aunties Joy and Cheryl. We enjoyed kalua turkey and sushi for Thanksgiving.
