Just Like Mommy

Natalie loves to be with me. Sometimes, it makes it harder to get stuff done, but most of the time it's great to have her helping me. And now that she is talking up a storm, it's becoming even more fun. She repeats whatever I say and copies whatever I'm doing, especially talking on the phone. The best is the way she talks and plays with "Bakey"- with a high pitched baby voice. She makes me laugh all the time. Here's my little helper in action. :)

She LOVES to cook with me. She knows what utensils or bowls we need and gets them out for us. I think this will come in handy one day-she can do all the cooking for us! :)

Eating our St. Patricks day pudding after dinner.Helping weed out front.

Helping me do my workout video. I love Turbo Jam! :)
Helping feed Blake... a little too much help!
She was a little too quiet this morning and I found her applying mascara in my room. I guess she knew where you were supposed to put it! Check out the clock... amazing how much trouble you can get into before 7:30 am!!
Helping with the laundry.
Making Grandma's bed....
Peek-a-boo!! :)

Brian just picked up my mom and sister at the airport a few minutes ago so we're killing time waiting for them to get here. Natalie is super excited... as are we. Love my family! :)

The rest of Alex's trip

Hard to believe that Alex already left... the week FLEW by! We miss you already!! Again, there's a ton of pictures... I tried to just pick a few. We had a wonderful week!!! :)

Trying "Shave Ice" while shopping at the Swap Meet. It's like a snowcone but more liquidy and better.
We went to Paradise Cove Luau one night. It's so pretty becuase it's right on the water and you can watch the sun set. They have lots of activities to do before you eat your meal. We had a great time!
My new favorite picture of my boys. :)

Turtle tattoo...don't worry, it washes off! :)
Our cute Hawaiian family in our "Aloha Wear" :)
The Imu Ceremony-the pig roasts all day in the underground pit and then they take it out in front of you. And they sing and do the hula. It's a typical luau. :)
Yummy luau food-the roasted pig, fish, chicken, taro rolls, lomi lomi salmon, poi, salads, pineapple, coconut pudding, etc, etc!
They have a great evening show with dancers from the different islands. This is the fire dancer! And of course they have volunteers to learn the hula. Alex and I went up and did it. What a memory!
Thursday we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It's this huge complex that features the seven different islands of Polynesia. Each island has it's own village with shows and demostrations and hands-on activities with people dressed in the traditional clothing. It's pretty cool! These are of the Canoe Pageant--each island dances and sings.

New Zealand show... they do crazy warrior dances and scream and yell. It's fun. :)
Trying out the Poi Balls... it's a lot harder than it looks!
Samoa: making fire
He climbed up this palm tree and pretended he was going to jump to another one!
Alex and Blake on our canoe rideMe and NatalieJust Alex and I went down to Waikiki for dinner on her last night here. We ate at Tiki's and then went and got some fabulous cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a really fun and we had special "cousin bonding" time.

Thanks for coming, Alex! We had so much fun with you. Enjoy your last few months of college! :)

Alex is Here!

My cousin, Alex, is here visiting us on her Spring Break from her last year at Wheaton College. She got here Friday night and will be here just a week so we've been packing in the activities already. Here's a look at the past couple days.

The kids LOVE Alex already! (not sure how much of a "break" she's getting! :)Am I teething, OR WHAT?!
We had a picnic up at our beach Sat night.

Daddy came back home on Sunday... with many goodies, including a Penn State cheerleader outfit for Natalie. So cute.
BBQ time! Always delicious! :)
We hiked up Diamond Head on Monday. It's the mountain you see in all the Waikiki pictures. Spectacular view from the top!!
I look so terrible because I was about to throw up (literally a few minutes after this pic was taken!) I hadn't eaten enough breakfast (as in, only cookie dough) and got really lightheaded up at the top. Alex took over carrying Blake and I drank water, put my head between my knees and finally threw up. I didn't get to enjoy the view at all but I felt great on the way down. :)
The kids fell asleep on the way down and slept through most of our picnic lunch. Yum yum!
We were all hot and sweaty so we went to Ko Olina to cool off. Check out my cute boys in their boardshorts! :)
Natalie getting buried... aren't Daddys fun to have at the beach?
Blake LOVES the beach!
Today, we headed out to the North Shore. We stopped and took pictures along the way and ended up driving down the entire east side of the island. It's so lush and pretty over there. This is Turtle Bay resort where we stopped to get a drink. Didn't see any turtles but had fun anyway.
Alex and Natalie

Some more beautiful pics from our drive...

Don't you all want to come visit now?! :)