Wowie Maui

We're back. Felt like we were gone a long time. And given the response Hannah and Griffin gave us, it must have been, because they were a bit dazed and confused as to who Mike and I were when we walked in the door! Abby, on the other hand, welcomed us with open arms and told us that us coming home was her favorite part of our vacation :-)

Mike and I had a wonderful and relaxing time in Maui. We did a lot of lying by the pool, swimming in the ocean, eating good fish, and playing cards. You can't beat the Maui weather, sunny and mid 80s the entire trip. We took a fun sunset boat cruise one evening, but other than that, we didn't do any other activies....which was fine by us. Our goal was to relax, and we did just that. We went with our good friends the Seastands, and are already planning our trip in 2009!

Maui has some wonderful restaurants, and one of our favorites is Mama's Fishhouse in Paia. On our visit there, the owner of the restaurant told us that they would be filming a tv segment while were dined, and apologized for the intrusion. We said no problem, and went about enjoying our evening. We did see the film crew setting up near us, and we assumed they were going to be filming for a locat network. We were surprised to find out it was actually The Food Network and Giada DeLaurentiis would be filming. All you foodies out there know she is the host of the program Everyday Itailian. Jami and I were thrilled to see and meet her, and even more thrilled when she agreed to get a picture with us! Little does she know that she helped me survive last fall and winter while I was just about house-bound with H&G! Her biggest 4 year old fan - Miss Abby - was just about as excited as I was when I told her the story.

A big thanks to Mike's parents who held down the fort while we relaxed in the sun and surf. Abby had lots of fun G&G time, and Hannah and Griff obviously loved having them here, as they are still looking at me funny when they wake in the morning, like they are expecting Grandma to get them instead of me!

Anyway, we had a lovely time, and now it's back to the day to day. Enjoy the pics!

Story Time with Dad

The Crisp Fall Air.....

is nowhere to be found. It's the first day of fall....it's 88 degrees. I know I'll regret saying this in January, but I'm ready for summer to be over.

I took the kids pumpkin shopping this morning. Abby had a great time picking out all our pumpkins, and then helped me do some decorating outside once H&G went down for naps. She then decided she wanted to wash the trucks, so she and Mike got busy doing just that.

Abby is thoroughly enjoying her gymnastics class. She goes every Friday for an hour, and is exhausted by the end. She runs, jumps, tumbles and laughs the whole time she is there. I'm really proud of her. She is trying things she used to be afraid of, and is doing really well. She walks and "kicks" down the balance beam by herself, and she just learned how to do a flip over the uneven bars all by herself. I can see her confidence growing - I'm hoping it will feed over to pre-school, since she stills a bit unsure about it. H&G like to go there, too....they get to play with a whole new set of toys and have fun "playing" with the other siblings that get dragged to class! I don't get to watch Abby as much as I'd like, as I'm usually chasing after H and/or G, but from what I can see, she is loving it!

That Didn't Take Long

One day of school, that's all it took. Has to be a record. First day of school was last Wednesday. By Saturday, Abby was sniffling and walking around here clutching her box of Kleenex. Sunday night she was up all night coughing (which means, of course, Mike and I were up all night, trying not to lose our patience with our patient :-) We kept her home on Monday, and she was good as new on Tuesday. Abby promptly gave the cold to Hannah, who, because she can't walk around clutching a box of Kleenex, has snot running down her face all the time. She is getting very good at the "back of the hand" wipe. I'm just waiting for Griff to catch this...wait, is that a sneeze from him now????

I'm sure Abby picked up some other illness yesterday at school - I can see the vicious circle starting already: Abby goes to school ---> picks up some type of cold --> brings it home --> gives the cold to Hannah --> who gives the cold to Griff --> Abby goes back to school --> picks up a cold......... It's going to be a long fall and winter around here!

First Day of School - Sniff

Abby's first day of pre-school! She was very excited this morning, and couldn't wait to go. They have a drop-off at school, so I don't need to get out of the car, and she couldn't get out of the car fast enough when we go there. Jumped out of her seat, grabbed her bag, jumped out of the car, gave me a wave, and was off! Hopefully she will have a good report when I go to pick her up. It's unusally quiet here this morning, with her at school and the twins napping.....something I'm not very used to!

Hannah and Griff are doing well. Both are walking up a storm. They are still a bit unsteady on their feet, but you can tell both would rather walk than crawl now. Hannah is a bit more cautious and takes very deliberate steps; Griff just GOES...fast fast fast and then tumbles right down when his feet can no longer keep up!

US Open, Here We Come......

Another beautiful fall day today. Abby decided she wanted to play tennis with Dad, so they were out there hitting the ball against the garage. She does pretty well for a four year old! Although we couldn't convince her to trade in her flip-flops for tennis shoes! I guess she isn't that serious about tennis yet :-)

Picnic Lunch

Friday, Abby, Hannah, Griff & I went on a picnic lunch to the park with some friends. It was a perfect day, not too hot or cold. H&G had a good time playing with our neighbor, who is also a year old, and Abby had a great time running around on all the slides, climbers, etc.