Cousins

Nainoa not only loves saying "COUSINS!" he also loves playing with them. It's a trip watching him go from parallel play to playing with other kids. He's never been surrounded by so many little cousins before. At one point he was surrounded by nine kids from the age of 20 months to 8 years old. He just fits in here. Hawaii has changed him in ways I can't explain. Summers or Winter breaks in Hawaii are going to have to be a must as he grows older. He needs to always remember where his Daddy comes from. I want him to be an island boy at heart. I want Hawaii to be his second home like it is mine.

Hanging at the Honolulu Zoo with Brogan and MJ

Nainoa loved riding along with MJ

Alema, Donovan and Nainoa. Nainoa loved playing football with these two. I seriously thought Nainoa was going to have a heart attack because he was running so fast up and down the col du sac. He kept yelling "Alema! Alema! Alema!" He even said Alema's name while sleeping.

Kylie and Nainoa were so cute together. He kept following her around all morning.

My favorite picture of them. They are staring at a trapped fly in the window.

Girlfriend and Cousin

This week we had a really short 48 hours in LA. Between going back and forth to the hospital, I had just enough time to squeeze in a visit with Nainoa's girlfriend Pema and her brand new 3 months old cousin Dru.

Nainoa and Pema met at Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino. In all my life of living in Los Angeles I had never been there. The Japanese Gardens were just gorgeous. I felt like I was was back in Japan.

Nainoa was SOOO happy to see his girl.

Pema was thinking about last time when Nainoa accidentally hit her in the face.

Nainoa consoling Pema or getting fresh?

Cousin Dru who's 3 months and VERY cute!

Dru couldn't figure out just what to make of Nainoa.

Seeing Double

My 9 year old twin nieces came for a visit and stayed for almost three weeks. We had such a

great time. It was so cute to watch Nainoa look at them both...like..."Hey.....wait a minute...there are two of you!" I tried to keep the girls creatively busy while they were here so when they weren't in the pool or helping Lola in the kitchen I had them write and illustrate a book for Nainoa. They LOVED the project and were really into it. After they were done we went to UPS and I had each page laminated. Their books came out really cute and I think I'll have the girls create a book every time they come visit. Here are some photos of their week here.

Kea just HAD to get into the photo.

The Three Little Ducks by Dorian and The Giant Who Couldn't Sleep by Gillian

Reading IS fundamental and Nainoa loved being read to by his cousins.

Lola was so happy to have ALL of her grandchildren under one roof!