With Love and Aloha

Of all the catch-up of posts this is the toughest to write, in August my grandfather passed and reunited with his Mama and Papa, his brother and sister, and his golf partners.  His final message to us all was to be "Strong Together!"

Poppa Sam loved us all unconditionally and made you feel you "special" whenever you were with him.  He had passion for the islands and truly lived the spirit of ALOHA. Among my Poppa's favorite things were the ukelele, fishing and golf.

It may be just a coincidence that I married a man from Hawaii, but I am so thankful that Jeffrey will be able to continue to teach our kids about the spirit of Aloha and surround them with the sweet sounds of the ukelele which will forever fill my heart with memories of Poppa Sam.

Baseball and Hawaii...life is good!

We began the month with our neighborhood 4th of July party.  This year we had a the First Annual Bike Parade sponsored by our neighbors, Uncle Dave and Auntie Gail.  The kids had a blast decorating their bikes and even came home with prizes!

We had our first test of travel sports when we headed to Visalia for B's All Star tournament.  The team did great and really came a long way since their first games in June.  And most importantly they had a fun time together!

At the end of the month we headed to Hawaii.  We enjoyed a great trip with Jeff's parents.  The trip was filled with plenty of time at the beach.  B is very interested in the military so we visited a couple of musuems as well as Pearl Harbor.

Summer is here.

June started with the end of baseball season for B.  The Phillies had a great season. B tried out and made the 8 yr old All Star.  Yay B!  The rest of the month was filled with All Star practices and games. (With that being said and spending most of my life in organized athletics, I am even more appreciative of all the work my parents did to get me to and from practices and games.  I really never truly understood how time consuming all of that can be.)

While B was busy with all stars, I attended Storm tournaments on the weekends.  The family tagged along and after a day of scootering around the ball park, we found a food truck meet-up.  The kids posed in front the "Ninjas with an Appetite".  Jeff and I had some awesome food at the Lime Truck, winners of the Great Food Truck Race.  (I am going to find Seoul Sausage the next time I am in LA.)

School is out for summer and the neighborhood was in full swing.  We threw the kids a last day of school party.  The kids on the block keep busy and this time even earned a few dollars with their snowcone stand.

I am an Auntie!  We welcomed Madison to the family at the end of May.

The Happiest Place on Earth

The month of May started out with a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth.  While Jeff and I were at the Niner playoff game back in January, Miss Addy pitched a fit becuase she didnt' have her Minnie Mouse pajamas.  My response to my Dad was that maybe if she had been to see the Mouse, she wouldn't have thrown the fit.  So maybe he should take her for his birthday.  He said that he would!

We had a blast, minus a few meltdowns.  It was a great experience for all of us to share together.

Addy loved seeing the Princess.  The 2 hour wait for the Princess walk was definatley worth the wait.

B bought a Goofy hat almost as soon as walked down Main Street.  And was pretty pumped to meet up with Goofy in toontown and to get picked to be a Jedi.

Having my mom come along was like having our own personal photographer on the trip.  She took close to 500 pics, including these before the parade that came out way better than the ones took by the Disney photographer.