Growing Lima Bean(s): grandpa tom

Showing posts with label grandpa tom. Show all posts

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Off to Kauai!

We had a nice morning at church seeing old friends. Look how cute Alexa was in her little purple dress!

After church, Daddy and I flew to Kauai for a couple days on our own. Alexa stayed with Grandma and Grandpa! We stayed at the Grand Hyatt, which my friend Blythe recommended. It was AMAZING!

Meanwhile, while we were enjoying the amazing pools at the Grand Hyatt... Alexa was playing pool games in Grandma and Grandpa's back yard. She also tried an ice cream sandwich -- and liked it! (duh!)

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Moanalua Gardens and dinner at Buzz's

Another great day in paradise! Today, we met up with my friend Renee and her son Ashton at Moanalua Gardens Park. I had actually never been to this park before, but when I looked up the directions it was described as an off-the-beaten-path spot in Hawaii with beautiful large canopy trees. It was stunning!

Alexa and Ashton had fun playing. And check this out... Alexa got her first kiss! They were so cute. Alexa took Ashton's hand. Then Ashton kissed her on the cheek. And then they hugged. So cute!

After the park, Alexa took a long nap. And then we headed to check out grandma and grandpa's condo. Alexa had fun watching the ducks in the pond right outside the balcony!

Finally, we ended the day with dinner at our favorite local spot: Buzz's Steakhouse. Yum!

Friday, April 29, 2011

Lanikai beach with Kamakoa! More pool!

We had a great day at Lanikai Beach today with my friend Cheryl and her son Kamakoa! Alexa was pretty fussy at fist, but she eventually warmed up to the sand. She even started chasing birds around and using her bucket to scoop sand! We also got her into the water by playing games. When we said goodbye, she gave Kamakoa a hug. It was so cute!

After Alexa's loooong nap, she enjoyed some afternoon pool play with Daddy and Grandpa Tom!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

A foodie trip to the North Shore!

Even with a toddler in tow, we did it all! Daddy, Grandpa Tom, Alexa and I stopped at Chinaman's Hat, then drove to the Dole Pineapple Plantation to see the koi fish and enjoy dole whip cones, followed by lunch at Pizza Bob's and shave ice at Matsumoto's. We finished the day with shrimp at Giovanni's White Shrimp Truck, where Alexa got a new book and met the author! What a great day. We were stuffed -- and super tired when we got home!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Alexa feeds ducks! Plus more beach & shave ice!

Another great day in paradise! Alexa got up early again, so we took her for a walk on Duck Lane to see, you guessed it, ducks! We saw a few, but when we started feeding them, more ducks started high tailing it over from all over to get scraps of bread! We also saw some baby ducks. Alexa was mildly amused.

After all the fun with the ducks, we headed for Kailua Beach Park. Daddy set up the umbrella and mat and we had a great time hanging out. Alexa tried chips for the first time and, big surprise, decided she liked them. She also tried on Daddy's sunglasses. Around noon, she got tired and we headed home for a nap.

After Alexa's nap, we headed out for some more shave ice at Island Snow! Yum! Alexa has started calling it "Purple Ice" because that's the color of shave ice Daddy had the first time she tried it. Ha!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Alexa visits the Honolulu Zoo!

This is the zoo I grew up going to! I have so many memories at this zoo. So naturally, I wanted to share my zoo with Alexa. Unfortunately, as usually happens, the zoo today is very different from the zoo of my memories. But we still had a great time! After looking at all the "ah-molls" we had a picnic lunch under a banyan tree in the middle of the zoo. Now that I'm getting the hang of slide shows, here's another!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Alexa's visits Kailua Beach & Island Snow!

Alexa got up early, so we headed to the beach! She was admittedly a little upset when we first got to the beach. Maybe it was the wind? She didn't want me to sit down, or put her down. Finally, we coaxed her into sitting on the towel. Then we got her to play with her toys. She ended up having a great time!

The same scenario repeated at the pool. Alexa loved her swim classes last summer, but cried when we took her in the pool! She finally calmed down and had fun playing next to the pool. Silly girl!

We ended the day with some shave ice at Island Snow! This is one of my favorite places in Hawaii. It's only about five minutes from where I grew up. And, as you can see from my collage below, it's also frequented by President Obama, who has spent two Christmases in my hometown. Cool!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Alexa's 1st Easter Egg Hunt!

Daddy helped Grandpa hide a TON of plastic eggs all around the yard for Alexa to hunt. Once we showed her what to do, she was off! She loved picking up the eggs and putting them in her basket. She also loved opening the eggs to discover the chocolate and goldfish inside! Yum! We enjoyed that part too! Anyway, I took way too many photos, but she was so cute! Note the adorable dress that she's wearing, handmade by Grandma. Here is a slideshow of my favorite photos:

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Alexa trims the tree, then spins the dreidel and eats potato latkes!

Another merry day of Chrismukkah! We started off by decorating our beautiful tree! Grandpa hung the lights and then Grandma and I unwrapped all of the ornaments and put them on the tree. Alexa helped us out! We hung birds and flowers made of felt on the bottom branches. We also hung a set of felt Sesame Street characters that Grandma made for Alexa, just like the set she made me when I was a kid. But Alexa's favorite ornament is a DOG, from Grandma!

Later, when Alexa went down for her nap, I made potato latkes! It was my first time, but I followed Grandma Fritzie's recipe and the instructions on the Modern Jewish Mom site. It was easy! And they passed three important taste tests... Daddy loved them! Grandpa loved them! And Alexa did too! Alexa even mastered the art of dipping them in applesauce. So proud. So proud!

After stuffing ourselves silly with latkes, we lit the Hanukkah candles and Alexa got another gift: A Noah's Arc shape sorter, Tzedakah Box and two dreidels! In the photo above, Daddy is showing her how to spin the dreidel while she waits for her potato latkes. Below, she's playing with all her toys (and watching football with Grandpa)! Fun!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Alexa picks out a Christmas tree, then lights Hanukkah candles

Yes, Chrismukkah has begun in our house! And begun in earnest. Daddy and I took the day off and we all bundled up and headed out to a farm to cut down a Christmas tree! This was a big adventure for my family. Since I grew up in Hawaii, we always BOUGHT our tree. We never cut one down! Grandpa Tom was over the moon excited.

Here we are checking out the trees... Alexa liked a small one her size. But we wanted a big one for our living room! We finally found one and before I had time to change my mind, Daddy and Grandpa chopped it down! Way to go!

Back at home, we lit the Hanukkah candles, lit Shabbat candle and enjoyed some yummy Challah. Check out our beautiful menorah. Thanks, Aunt Missy!

Finally, after dinner, Alexa got a Hanukkah gift from Grandma E and Pop! She immediately dumped out the books and wanted Daddy to read one. How cute! She also got a piano from Grandma E and Pop. Stay tuned for some photos of her playing it... She loves it!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

More fun with Grandpa and Grandma

When we asked Grandpa Tom what he wanted to do today, he said "The same thing as yesterday!" He had so much fun playing with Alexa all day. So she stayed home from daycare again to play! This time, she got Grandpa Tom to play dolls with her. So cute!

She also made him work to get her to eat... I love the photo of her covering her mouth. She was like, "I'm DONE! What part of DONE don't you understand?!"

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Alexa plays with Grandpa!

Alexa's Grandma and Grandpa from Hawaii came to visit us this week! So lucky Alexa got to stay home and play with them all day. She and Grandpa Tom read books and played with blocks. It looks like they had a great time!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Surprise visit with Grandpa Tom! (video)

Turns out, Grandpa Tom was flying into Chicago for a conference the same morning that we were flying back home. When we figured out that we'd overlap a couple hours, we planned a meet-up at the airport! Alexa quickly warmed up to her Grandpa. What a nice visit!

Click HERE to watch Alexa give me five! Click HERE for another video of her people watching.

Click to enlarge!

Here is Alexa on her second airplane flight. This time, she wore a baby flight vest that is supposed to help keep a squirmy baby in your lap. Um, yeah right! She was still all over the place! But, that's OK. She was all smiles too. What a good little traveler she is!