Hapa Haole — Growing up with a little of both and the lessons learned along the way

Gingerbread House Decorating with the Cousins

by Papa K on January 5, 2012

Grandma Gail had a whole bunch of projects lined up for the girls. One of the favorites was gingerbread house decorating (although it’s unclear if the girls liked the decorating or eating part better).

Decorating the gingerbread house is serious business!

Each girl also decorated their own Gingerbread man - they were also cousins and all lived in the house together.

So we're done decorating, right? I can eat the extra candy now?

(Click here for the video.)

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“Slip N’ Slide”

by Papa K on January 3, 2012

The title is in quotes for a reason – we have some work to do on both the “slipping” and “sliding” aspects

We head home from Hawaii tomorrow. Among other things, Maile Girl is going to miss Grandma and Papa’s great backyard – and she is going to ESPECIALLY miss playing with Katie and Emily! We had a great trip – we had high hopes for the girls finally all being at an age where they could have fun together and they certainly did not disappoint. Can’t wait to do it again next year!

(Click here for the video.)

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Maile’s First School Picture

by Papa K on January 1, 2012

What better way to start 2012 than with Maile’s first school picture (taken at Presidio Knolls School)? The school pictures were taken back in November, but we held off posting so we could share with our families over the holidays. General consensus so far is that no one can get over how old she looks in the picture! See for yourself…

Maile's First School Picture (2.5 years)

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Christmas 2011

by Papa K on December 30, 2011

Christmas with Christine’s family is a multi-day affair (and this was even before my Hanukkah-influenced “8 Crazy Nights” came into the picture . Christmas Eve is spent at Aunty Cindy’s house where Santa comes to visit and Grandma Gail coordinates a bunch of family games. Christmas Day is a big luncheon with the families of Christine’s grandmother and her 9 siblings (that adds up to A LOT of cousins!) And then on the 26th we return to Kauai and open up all the presents under Grandma and Papa’s tree.

The girls are ready to rock Christmas...

Waiting for Santa - as we'll soon see, not sure Maile fully understood what they were looking for - she was just following her cousins...

WHAT THE ...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Santa, I've got my eyes on you. No fast moves!

This is the best smile you are going to get out of me. (Dad note: Maile did great this year - she was nervous, but no tears!)

For me?!? So I make nice with Santa, take a few pictures, and I get a present? Now, I understand!

On Christmas Day, with the girls all dressed up, we decided to take some pictures…

Christmas Day family picture with Uncle Steve, Katie and Emily (Aunty Nao isn't arriving until the 29th)

Grandma Gail and Papa Cal with the girls

On the 26th, we headed home to Kauai to a mountain of presents waiting under the tree for all the girls. They had a blast opening everything!

I wonder what this one is...

SO AWESOME! I got a real doctor's kit!

One of Maile’s favorite presents is the doctor’s kit that Grandma Gail and Grandpa Cal got her. Mommy and I have had oh, about a dozen check ups each in the past couple of days. 2012 is going to be a super healthy year for us with Dr. Maile keeping tabs on us.

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Fun, Fun, Fun with the Cousins

by Papa K on December 28, 2011

By far the best part of our Hawaii trip has been seeing Maile and her cousins, Katie and Emily, together again. As soon as Katie and Emily landed the fun began – they didn’t skip a beat – you’d think they saw each other every week! Katie and Emily pretty much only speak Japanese (although they do understand English) – yet, it doesn’t matter. Maile, Katie and Emily communicate through shrieks and giggles and run around all over the place together…

(Hat tip to Grandma Gail for providing all the matching outfits!)

(Click here for the video.)

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Getting My Shave Ice Fix

by Maile Girl on December 27, 2011

Last year, I had my first shave ice. I was a little tentative going in, but ultimately decided it was pretty tasty.

This year, I went in very excited. Ever since we landed on Honolulu, Mommy had been promising a return trip to get some shave ice. I had to be a good girl all morning (which I was … mostly) and as a treat Mommy and Daddy took me to Waiola’s – which Mommy says is THE SPOT for the real deal shave ice.

The older I get, the more I enjoy the shave ice!

In that regard I take after my Mommy!

(Dad note: Christmas pictures are coming! Promise. Lots to go through and we’ve been having fun in the sun

(Click here for the video.)

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Reason #1,324 Why I Know My Daddy Loves Me

by Maile Girl on December 26, 2011

The weather here in Hawaii has been beautiful, but for some reason, the water in the hotel pool is FREEZING! We learned this the hard way after Daddy promised me we could go swimming.

We're going swimming, we're going swimming, we're going swimming!!!

Hey Maile, this water is pretty cold. Maybe we should come back another time?

Don't be a wimp, Daddy. Get in there - I'll be right behind you.

Oh man, he really went in! Hahahahaha!

This is so great. It does look freezing though - no way I'm going in...

... let's just take our pictures here, I'll sit right on the side like this.

Woah, woah - what are you doing?!?

Yes, yes, I love you too, Daddy, now let's head back over to the side...

That was cold, but fun. Happy to be back on dry land under these towels!

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Who knows how to ride a bike better: Maile or Daddy?

by Papa K on December 23, 2011

The answer is Maile, of course.

Grandma Jill and Papa Mike gave Maile a great new balance bike for Hanukkah. (Thank you!) I thought it’d be fun to teach Maile how to ride it before we left for Hawaii for the holidays. Of course, Maile insisted that the bike was “broken” since it didn’t have any pedals and instead wanted to ride her green tricycle. I should have known I was in for it with that start.

We headed outside with the green tricycle and Maile then insisted that the proper way to ride it was to sit on it and move along with her feet (vs. actually pedaling). So to make sure we are all on the same page, Maile was “riding” her tricycle the way one is supposed to ride a balance bike (while insisting that the balance bike was broken because it didn’t have any pedals – which were currently just hitting her in the ankles as she tried to move).

See for yourself:

On the positive side, this is an improvement from where we were a couple months ago. However, this is certainly a pattern Maile is developing at 2.5. She’s basically already decided that she’s learned enough from her parents and she’s ready to figure things out on her own. There is no right way, only the Maile way. I can only imagine where we go from here!

(Click here for the video.)

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Happy Hannukah 2011!

by Papa K on December 20, 2011

Since we are headed out of town, we decided to pack 8 crazy nights of Hannukah into the first (at least present-wise – we are bringing along a menorah so we can light the lights in Hawaii!)

Maile Girl knows she always needs to read the card first - which complicates things slightly for her because, well, she can't read...

These adorable headphones from Cousin Donna will come in very handy on the plane flight tomorrow!

YES! I got LEGOS! (Dad note: A daughter after my own heart!)

Maile received a lot of wonderful presents, but so far the chef gear from Auntie Elyssa is the big winner - she's barely taken it off since she opened it. Which is fine by us, because she's super cute in it and I think it's raised the level on her wood grilled cheese...

Maile Girl wanted to make sure I thanked everyone for the presents AND wished you a very Happy Hannukah!

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