Already August!

Hello friends! The month of August is over, and I still can't believe we've been here a full year.  Now, we're in the months countdown!  I don't know if that means 12 months or 2 months but I know that it's not years!  Unless we choose so.  Anyways, here's what we were up to all month...

The first 2 weeks of August were spent at home playing and goofing around.  I also had a Bunco Night with a group of friends out here.  Always a good time when its moms minus the kids. :)  I feel like an old lady! hahaha  Nothing against moms older than me!  It just reminds me that I'm getting older and priorities change when you have little ones :)

Happy Baby!

I must protect this house!

Already wrestling with sister

On the 14th, my small group of friends had to say goodbye to another friend, Mirna.  She and her husband moved out here a couple years ago and have now returned back to the mainland with their 3 boys.  Good people, great parents, awesome kids, fantastic friends.  Sad to see you leave Dahdals!  Anyways, we went out for dinner in Ko'Olina to say our last farewell.  It was a beautiful night, beautiful setting with beautiful women.

Luau at Marriot's resort

Sunset in paradise

Can't get anymore awesome than this!

The mamas!  Miss you Mirna!

Our little gift to her
*We will always have Hawaii*

Gracie has been busy taking swim lessons from Auntie Alyssa.  She loves sharing with us what she learned, and I'm so thankful that Alyssa is her teacher.  Couldn't ask for a more perfect match!

Practicing her kicks!

We also went back to The Discovery Center, this time with an extra kid.  Afterwards, we checked out a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives location, Hank's Haute Dogs.  I got the chili dog, and Justin got the Hawaiian dog.  Both amazing!  So yummy!  We also tried the brat with sauerkraut but we were not impressed.  In fact, it grossed me out.  But the other two, I would totally eat again.

Our little minis

There's something stuck in my tooth. A kid?

Griffin and Daddy reporting the news about the non-existent rail on Oahu.

Musicians

Judge Gracie~ I can see a TV show in her near future.

Honey, I shrunk the kid.

Bus driver

All smiles here!

I see you!

At Hank's Haute Dogs

Courtesy of Gracie

Can't wait to go back!

Another thing on our bucket list was to check out Sea Life Park.  We checked that box this month!  We saw stingrays and sharks, watched a sea lion show, played at the playground, watched the dolphin show and took in the scenery. We also got to see the world's only Wholphin.  That's right, a dolphin and a whale had a baby folks.  Didn't know that could happen, but it can.  It looks a lot like a dophin but darker.  Check it out here.

Looking at the stingrays and sharks

Look at that smile!  What a ham!

Gracie loved the shark tank!

Scuba diver below and a large sting ray above him.

Sea turtles!  This is was our favorite because it had an "A" painted on its shell :)

Silly Gracie

Checking out the fish with some of her best friends

Tip of a dolphin's nose

The trainer told the girls that if they put their hand on the glass, the dolphin would come to them.  I didn't capture it but it really did happen!  So neat!

Sea lion show

It was sunny and hot that day!  We definitely perspired more than normal.

On the pirate ship playground

Dolphin show

Amazing view

Dolphin in the air...just above the stage on the left of the blue pole.

Me and the littles.  What a fun day!

At the end of August, I hosted a storytime for the Mom's Club.  We had 6 moms and 7 children participate.  I've been really missing teaching so I'm hoping this will give me my fix until I get a job some day.  We read the story Cloudette and made a little cloud craft.  We will be doing another one in September.  We are very excited!  More pictures of this from my phone in the next post :)

All ready to go

Waiting for our storytime group

Excited to meet some new kids!

Now, Justin started a little tradition on Fridays.  We like to call it "Popcorn Friday!"  Yea, I know, really original. ha.  Gracie loves popcorn and would probably eat for all 3 meals if we let her.  This is our way of controlling the intake.  We love making memories, and it's even better when they turn into family traditions.

Eating our popcorn!