Hawaii 08

Ben, Carolyn, Carson, Mishawn, Matt, Elsie,

Devin, Justin, Tyris, Matt

In the beginning of July my Mom and Step-Dad, Ben, so generously took my brother's family and our family on a trip to Hawaii. We stayed on the big Island, Kona side, for a week of paradise...or so we hoped! We have traveled with the girls many times before, however, the smooth restful trip we were hoping for was intermittently overshadowed by sickness and sleeplessness. Thankfully we had fun spending time with the grandparents and my brother's family, had a great place to stay, and saw some wonderful sites. So, for that, there are no complaints! Here are some pictures of our days on the island:


Day (minus) 1: Carson threw up 2 times that day, both in the car, getting her seat soaked with puke. We washed that seat 2 times and it still smelled. Good thing the next day it would be bagged up on a hot airplane for 8 hours to keep that smell in! Needless to say, we washed it again when we got to Kona.


Day 1: We were nervous Carson would throw up again on the airplane, so we came VERY prepared...with towels, a grocery bag, and a change of clothes for everyone! She made it just fine on the 5 hour flight, and so did Elsie, of course. She got to sit with her cousins and play with them. My Mom and Ben were waiting for us at the airport. We made our way to the condo (our family with my folks and my brother's family in another condo) and went swimming in the pool. This was a nice relaxing evening in which we went to bed around 8:00pm!



View from our condo Our first sunset, looking out our balcony




Elsie learned how to "float" with her floaties





Day 2: 4:45 am...good morning! Let's just say the girls NEVER got accustomed to the time change, so EVERY morning around 5:00 am they both got up...bummer! Good thing we had Boz and our portable DVD player. And Sesame Street came on at 6:00am instead of 7:00am like at home, which was awesome! Matt ended up taking Carson for a walk most mornings on the shore since she is only captivated by Boz for about 20 minutes and is also very loud.


This is the island "graffiti," white coral against
black volcanic rock. It is all along the highways. 6 am in the morning, taking a walk.




We went snorkeling this day at a nearby beach. It was great! The kids played with Grandma in this shallow water area enclosed by rocks. We saw our first turtle swimming in this area as well. We could walk right up to it. It was my first time being so close to a sea turtle. Matt and I snorkeled out past the rocks and saw some really neat fish and coral.

Day 3: We drove to the Northwest part of the island ending up in a town called Hawi. We enjoyed touring a macadamia nut factory and eating the samples; picnic lunch at a beautiful park; eating our daily shave ice; and swimming at a white sands beach. Unfortunately, the evening didn't end so well. We were on our way to take my folks out for dinner as a thank you and Elsie threw up in the car on the way. I think the tiredness, long driving, and hunger all set in at once. So, for our "nice " dinner, everyone else went in while we cleaned the car and then Elsie spent her dinner time laying between two chairs and falling asleep. Not at all the "thank you" we had anticipated!

Day 4: Elsie woke up still not quite herself, so we decided to spend the morning relaxing, then go to a place close by to sight see for a couple of hours. As we were getting ready, Elsie still was not feeling well, so my mom decided she would stay back with her. The rest of us packed up and got ready to go. As we were pulling out of the complex, Carson threw up! Thankfully we could just turn right around, disassemble the car seats AGAIN (3rd time), and then let my mom be on her way with the group while we stayed back with both girls. This was the same day that, while Carson was supposedly napping, she learned to crawl out of her pack-n-play! Once we got her back in, the girls, Matt and I had a restful afternoon napping. I think we all needed it!

Day 5: After the previous episodes, we were quite nervous for our big day of traveling around the island. So we came prepared: towels on the backseat, towels in each of their car seats, towels for our laps, a grocery bag, plenty of rags, resolve carpet cleaner, febreeze, and our DVD player, with of course an extra change of clothes for everyone! We were ready! This actually turned out to be the best day of travel. We saw so many beautiful sites on the island . The girls did great!

Girlies with Aunt Tyris Black sands beach

Opening to a lava tube Kilauea Crater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

We were constantly trying to beat this tour bus
everywhere we went!
Free zoo near Hilo






Rainbow falls-Hilo Matt hiding from the black smoke in Lost





Cousins in the banyan trees-we were all tired at this point!



Day 6: Since Matt and I didn't go to the Place of Refuge due to the sick girls, my mom and Ben stayed back to watch the girls so we could go enjoy it without them. We heard there was great snorkeling at this beach too! After we saw the site, we were able to snorkel in the bay. It was the best snorkeling we have ever experienced. My brother and nephews came along and we all enjoyed the beautiful fish and coral. There were many tide pools as you entered into the water. It was a great place to just sit in the water and enjoy the view. Of course our day was not going to be that easy! We put our electronic key in a Ziploc baggie so it would not get stolen from the beach. When we pulled it out of Matt's pocket we discovered there must have been a hole in the bag, because it was filled with brown water! The key of course did not work and we could not get the car started. So, 1 1/2 hours later, after many phone calls; one in which we could pay a taxi $80 to pick up another key from the airport and bring it to us and then pay an extra $300 to pay for a new key, we talked to the park ranger. He said this had happened many times before and he had a solution for the problem. Apparently when you flush any electronic device with fresh water and then use a bathroom hand dryer to dry it, it works again!! We were very thankful for the ranger to show us this trick! Off we went to quickly get ready for a birthday celebration dinner for Matt at Bubba Gumps!

Place of Refuge-in the bay behind us, is where we found the best snorkeling!







Day 6: We spent our last day shopping in Kona for a few hours in the afternoon to get some gifts and souvenirs. We also had our last, and best, shave ice! We spent the rest of our evening playing games and packing.

This was a medium!

Day 7: Flying home. We prepared ourselves for any puking incidents on the way home as well. We made it safe and sound with a fairly uneventful flight. The girls both slept on the plane for a time, in which we were eternally grateful! Despite battling the "elements" we had a great time with family and saw some wonderful things. We were very happy to have gone on this trip and share it with the family.

Success...both girls asleep! At last!



Good news: Day 8-the girls slept in until 8:30 and 9:00!! Hip hip hurray!

Keep Dreaming...keep, keep dreaming love

The title of this post might lead one to believe that we have been listening to Ryan Seacrest in the Morning a bit too much lately; but that is not the case. At the end of June, we had our annual Tremper-Panfilio summer getaway. This year, and hopefully many to come, we tent-camped at Hume Lake in Central California. This was a wonderful site to camp as it afforded great surroundings including the lake, hiking trails, and killer milk shakes! Mishawn was in a nostalgic mood all week as she grew up going to Hume Lake as a camper in high school and vacationed with family friends for many summers.

This was our first camping experience with the girls and they did great! Elsie and Carson loved sleeping in the tent (and Elsie in her princess sleeping bag), getting dirty, and eating smores! And of course, Paige was there so it couldn't get any better than that!

Funny stories...

#1 Our camping neighbors thought it would be cool to play static-filled music until the wee hours of the night (2am). Matt was wearing Kleenex in his ears the whole night so he missed most of the noise except when Mishawn struck him in the side to wake up and deal with the inconsiderate neighbors. Due to the muffled noise and dream-state, Matt thought he was hearing a song that went "keep dreaming, keep, keep dreaming love..." He could not place where he had heard this song - High School Musical, maybe? However, we know this song actually says "keep bleeding" by Leona Lewis (Simon Cowell's prodigy - that's what we learn from watching the 5 o'clock breaking news in LA)! Needless to say, Aaron could take it no longer and asked them politely to shut up! Thanks Uncle A!

#2 (Mishawn will retell this one) As we were getting ready to go to the beach one day we all got our bathing suits on in the tent. As Matt began to change, he told Elsie to turn away. I was sitting on the blow up mattress getting my shoes on when all the sudden I heard Matt yell, "Owww"! (Now brace yourself for this one, try not to think about Matt at this point, but instead just any male-this is the best part so I do feel like I must share it!) Since I am sitting, I look up and see Matt falling backwards into the pack-n-play with legs in the air spread eagle...and nude, with everything in full view! I couldn't help but fall over and laugh hysterically (to where I literally nearly peed my pants) for quite some time. Apparently Matt had stepped back onto a flashlight and snapped his ring toe. He was in pain, but I couldn't stop thinking about the "show" I had received and continued to laugh. The rest of the trip was spent with his toe "buddy-taped" and watching it turn black and blue. Of course Matt had to endure some injury on this trip! He is probably the only person I know that can break his toe on a flashlight!

#3 Matt burned his thumb lighting the camping stove and sliced the same thumb with an ax!

Here are some fun pics of our trip!

We are notorious for overpacking!

The girls riding noisily in the backseat. The guys had it easy!! At one point, all 3 girls were yelling, "ahhhhh" as loud as they could!

Our campsite

Elsie's first campfire...what a cutie!!

Elsie's first smore...yum!

Finding Carson half way down the ravine eating a "leaf of three, let it be!"

Hume Lake

Uncle A playing with the little ones

Lamama and Mishawma

After the broken toe incident Matt wasn't able to make it up on this log many times, however Aaron's Fire training came in handy as he stayed balanced for quite some time!

Daddy's girls

Paige actually fell asleep (moaning of course) while they all rocked in the hammock for a while

BFF

Paige turns 10 months!
The infamous broken toe!

Our 1st morning, sometime around 6:00 am!

Puke, Poop... and Father's Day!

This is how we spent about a week leading up to Father's Day. Amongst Matt being busy with finishing up his school year and spending many evenings house hunting, the stomach flu was not particularly something we were wanting to deal with. But, Carson woke up one morning seeming very fussy and tired. After giving her some breakfast (big mistake) and putting her down for an early nap, it didn't take her long to bring her whole breakfast back up again all over her bed. Of course it was a week day, during pre-graduation craze-in which Matt was working many hours, so our main puke cleaner was gone. I was left to handle it on my own...bummer. Not only did Carson have issues with puking but her other end was cleaning itself out as well. I have never cleaned up so much puke and poop in such few days. Carson proceeded to be sick for the next 5 days, having the same morning routine. Needless to say, it was a nice change to have Carson lay around for those days. I pulled out her mattress on the living room floor and she actually stayed there and laid down all morning. I don't think she ever stops moving other than taking naps and going to sleep. So, for that I was grateful! I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with Boz?? But it is a "friendly" green bear that lives in a tree house in twins, Drew and Gracie's yard. He sings and dances with them and talks about colors and letters and all sorts of characteristics pertaining to God's love. He's a little cheesy if you ask me, but Carson LOVES Boz! It is the only show she will actually watch. So, she spent many hours watching Boz and laying on her mattress. Elsie took full advantage of the TV being on and spent most of her days watching Boz and some other videos we had-she loved that Carson was sick so she could benefit from hours on the couch!!




























Because Carson was still sick on Father's Day, we decided to stay home as a family and take it easy...again (not like we had any other choice!). Since Matt was home, he got to clean up the puke this time! I probably should have given him the day off, considering Father's Day and all, but he of course was fine with it! We did have a nice breakfast with him and Elsie enjoyed giving him his presents, a basketball and wiffle ball/bat, that she picked out. We also had Matt's dad and brothers join us for lunch, chicken wings...Matt's favorite, and some golf followed by the NBA championship game. So, although maybe not his favorite Father's Day, a memorable one at that...and I'm sure many more to follow. But, it was very nice being together as a family and spending much needed time together.

Purple Party Times 2

The past two weekends have been a blur. However, amongst the blur we had MANY celebrations! On May 9, Elsie celebrated her 4th birthday! I can't believe she's already 4 and we only have one more year left with her before she goes to kindergarten! She really wanted a purple princess party, but since one of her best friends is a boy, we couldn't let that happen, for his sake! So, we had a purple party. I should mention that 2 weeks before her birthday Elsie asked me if people could not sing to her and if they did she would cover her ears and hide. I asked her why she would do this and she said because it was going to be too loud and she was shy (we have a very sound sensitive daughter-she hears EVERYTHING!). I told her we would sing to her, but we would whisper. She was really preparing herself ahead of time. Anyways, Elsie had a fun time with her friends and their siblings. We had purple chips, koolaid, grapes, and cupcakes of course. Everyone came dressed in purple, even Matt! We played a couple of games, for like 5 minutes (4 year olds do not have much of an attention span), opened presents, and then said goodbye to our friends. Matt bought Elsie a sleeping bag, with a tent, and backpack for her birthday. They went to pick it out together. Of course, he came home with a complete princess camping set (I am so over princesses at this point in my life!). Elsie was very excited. We told her she could sleep in it that evening and that we would have a camp out in the living room. Matt and I slept very uncomfortably on the futon, while Elsie slept very comfortably in her tent (oh the things we do for our little ones!).
Saturday, was quite busy as we made our way down to Costa Mesa for Jack's graduation from Vanguard University. After a ridiculous drive down to the beach (gotta love So Cal traffic), we made it just in time to see the processional. All the grandparents were in town and we were able to celebrate Jack and see him for the first time in 5 months. He is currently serving in Tunisia and supporting a cultural arts center there, along with other various things. He was in town for 2 weeks and has now returned until he comes back for good in December. It was great to see him on his visit. The nieces had a fun time with him too (although, Elsie was a bit freaked out over his graduation regalia and she wouldn't even talk to him!).
Then came Sunday...Mother's Day...Purple Party #2. I read in a magazine once, that a mom had their kids paint a ceramic tile (at a paint place) every year for Mother's Day. Then after they grew up, or collected enough tiles, she framed a mirror out of them. So, I thought I would like to start that tradition. The week previous to Mother's Day, Matt took me and the girls out to paint a tile. We just had them paint a 2 x 2 inch square. I figured if I was going to get one every year from each kid, it would need to be somewhat small. Elsie had such a fun time painting. She got to draw her own design, a heart, and then paint it herself...more or less. Then she helped paint the background of Carson's. And then Carson got to use a round dot sponge and make dots on it! I put their initials on it and dated it and they came back so cute. I can't wait to see them progress every year in what they make and how their artistic abilities grow. While we were there we ended up having Elsie paint a coffee cup for all the grandmas. That was a bit much and took a lot longer than expected!! But, the grandmas loved it and will use it; it is a great memory to have.
We spent another fun day celebrating the moms and grandmas at our house and then on to celebrate Elsie again with purple party #2. She had a fun time opening gifts and again making everyone whisper happy birthday to her. We had a great day with family and were very happy to have the evening to ourselves so we could crash on the couch and watch 3 fabulous hours of Survivor!! Now that is how I like to spend my Mother's Day!!

Here is how we were greeted by Elsie when we came in to sing to her the morning of her birthday. Picture this with a loud "stop" while covering her ears!! What a joyous birthday morning!!

Elsie with all her birthday gear.

Elsie's friends at her party. I love how all of the older siblings are trying to keep their younger sibling in place for the picture, it was quite funny to watch.
(Left to Right: Isaiah, Zoe, Savannah, Kaylin, Trevor, Elsie, Carson, Abby, Megan)

Elsie covering her ears in preparation for the whispered birthday song!

Sleeping in her princess tent. I thought I would spare you from the picture of Matt and I in the futon.

Happy Graduation Uncle Jack!

The brothers: Matt, Jack, Todd, Scott

The family representing

Happy Mother's Day!

3 generations

BBQ at it's best, dogs, burgers, and family

Each year Papa gets the girls a CD of a musical that they will collect throughout the years: this year, Peter Pan and Sound of Music!

Carson and Elsie's painted tile: dots and a heart!

This was taken at 16 weeks (roughly 4 months)

Your Must Have Baby Pictures

Isn't it funny how we always bust out the camera when our kids are doing something new or silly or unusual? It's natural to want to capture that moment on film to look back on several years later, particularly those "first" moments. Parents (me included) love taking shots of our kids doing something for the first time - first nap, first time in the car seat, first time at home, first bath, first steps, first words (on the video camera), first performance up front, first day of school, and so on. However, there is one baby "first" picture that I can't stand; the first picture of a child eating solid foods. I can't count the number of times I have received an email of a friend's kid whose face is covered with crap. Though I appreciate the thoughtfulness, I am honestly not interested in seeing a young child with bean burrito, rice cereal, and chocolate ice cream all over themselves. This is not cute, this is freaking disgusting. I don't mind future pictures of kids going crazy at their first birthday party with cake everywhere; it's just that first close-up shot of kids covered in organic broccoli-peach-soy-cookie dough baby food that is not endearing. So here is a picture that is always a first and won't make your stomach turn...Carson's first bath time Mohawk! Actually, she probably has had many of these but we never captured it on film. Hope you enjoy these cute, clean, smiling faces!

Ode to the Panfilios

For those of you who don't know, the Panfilios are one of our closest friends. We used to see them very often when they lived nearby, but since moving to Fresno, our visits have been limited to special occasions. Elsie LOVES Auntie Lala, Uncle A, and Paigie. I cannot emphasis that enough!! Well, for about the past month, every day (not an exaggeration), she has been saying, "we haven't seen Auntie Lala in a LONG time." Or for her birthday party we asked her where she wanted to celebrate and she said, "how about at Auntie Lala's house!" We have been trying to find a time to meet in Bakersfield for the day so Elsie keeps asking, "we need to go to the park to see Paigie, when are we going?" So, all that to say, I couldn't take the sad comments any longer, so I asked if she wanted to make a video for them to see how much she misses them. So, here is the clip we got. Carson is even saying Lala now. It was quite funny to us. So, enjoy our Ode to the Panfilios!!