Finishing up the trip

These last couple weeks of mom's trip have been a little more laid back and go with the flow-ish. But we certainly still did our share of activities. We went to a wonderful Resort and Lagoon area in Kapolei called Ko Olina. It's ritzy hotels directly on the beach. But it's also public access to the beach. And they built lagoons that are calm without waves so it's easy for swimming, especially for children. We stayed for hours and swam the whole time. Levi loved it. The only reason he doesn't like to play in the ocean is because it's scary with it's big waves. So this is the perfect alternative for him.

The reason it is calm is because there are huge rocks keeping the waves from crashing into this area. So, you can swim in this calm ocean and still hear and see the waves crashing into the rocks. Levi played on the beach with the sand some, as you can see. But, he really kept requesting to "swim again!" We had to eventually make him get out cause he was shivering, but he wouldn't admit to being cold.

On the 17Th Jenene's home school co-op went to a pumpkin patch, and she invited us along. I didn't even know they had pumpkin patches here in Hawaii. I assumed we'd have to pick a pineapple instead. So we jumped on the opportunity.
Here are all of Jenene's gorgeous model daughters striking poses and then my reserved (but very hansom) son who won't even look up. Partially because he rebels against the camera sometimes, but also cause he does not appreciate the sun in his eyes.


Levi loves Bryje, and she is so sweet to him. She's his big sister. All day he stuck close to her and asked her to hold him every chance he got. She was very willing.

We got to go on a hayride through the pumpkin patches. Levi's favorite part, of course. Bryje had been sitting on the other side but Levi asked her to sit with him. When Jenene said, "Bryje, sit over there." She said "No, I don't want to." But when Jenene said, "Levi wants you to sit next to him." She jumped up and said, "Ah...Levi wants me to....Okay!" And she ran over and put her arm around him. Jenene's sister Ka'ua also went with us.

Grammy had fun watching Levi play with his best friends. She said she reads about them and sees their pictures on my blog. So it was nice to get to meet them in person and see how they all are with Levi.

After the pumpkin patch we went to a nearby park and had a picnic and let the kids play for a while. It was a really nice day with fun outside activities.

Look Aunt Lora....the Jayhawks shirt you sent for him.
There was LOTS of running and chasing at the park.

They discovered that they could scream down into this grate and hear an echo. Very sanitary.

Mom's birthday is on the 24th, but she left on the 20th, so I made her some brownies and put a 21 candle on for her to blow out. Here Levi and Nathan are singing Happy Birthday. Levi picked up on it real well and continued to sing it throughout the brownie eaeting. He would sing, "Birthday you."

naturally Levi had to help Grammy blow out the candles. And then re-light them and blow them out again.

I love his little nose resting on the bowel because he's short in the kitchen chair.

Needing to lie down and stretch after the dessert.
The next several pictures are snapshots of Levi and Grammy playing throughout her time here. They played a lot! It was a really good time in Levi's age for a visit. They got to watch him learn new things and grow in his vocabulary. When they first arrived he was just able to count to ten on his own. While Grammy stayed longer she got to see him learn to count to 20. And she watched him progress in learning his ABC's and singing the song.

One of Grammy's MANY presents to Levi during her stay was a bucket of playdough and molds. He really has had fun with that. There is a Dolphin mold that is his favorite and he would ask her to make a "fishy" over and over and over again.
Also he wanted to make mama and papa and Levi out of the playdough, so we did. And here he is...playing with our heads.

Even Pippin got lots of Grammy playtime. As soon as she got here he was pretty sure she was rescuing him and taking him back to live with her and Kiwi again. He slept with her most nights and generally ignored the rest of us.

It's happened! We've decorated for Christmas. October 16th, thank you very much. On the 16th, Grammy stayed home with Levi while Nathan and I got to go on a date. On the way home we stopped by wal-mart, and I wanted to look for a little present for mom. We got her a Dolphin Christmas Ornamant and then proceeded to look at Christmas stuff. A few minutes after we got home and gave the ornament to mom, she and I hear scraping and heavy moving noises from wherever Nathan is. After hearing what sounded like a box falling, I said, "Are you getting out the Christmas stuff!?" And he was. ;) So, we put up the tree that night.
Last year Levi thought the tree was neat, but this year he's really into it and helping. He has his own little Christmas tree in his room, and last night he kept calling it something and I could not figure out what he was saying about the tree. He was saying KP tree. That's what it sounded like. Finally, duh, I figured out that's how he's saying Christmas. KP tree.



This picture is funny because it's October 16th, so we found his halloween costume and then tried it on him. And, here he is, modeling it...in front of the christmas tree. ;) We're a little confused about holidays.
Even though we're nuts, it was fun decorating for Christmas before mom left. Now she knows how to picture it. She left monday, and Levi was pretty sad. He didn't understand the finality of it, so he didn't cry. But, he kept asking after her. I don't have the pictures from the airport saying goodbye, because they're on Grammy's camera. But, she gave him a toy airplane with little people passengers who have hawaiian shirts on and flower leis. That was his present from her suitcase monday afternoon before she left. So, we used it to explain that Grammy was getting on an airplane to go bye bye back to her own house. He sorta understands. He knows she's gone. But he does ask to hug her and asks where she is, or for a present from her "cortez" as he calls her suitcase. And we tell him again that she's gone now. But, it was a fun trip with lots of memories...and pictures.