Nature Lover

We drove to the west side of the island where it's known to be very hot!  Even at 8:00am in the morning, the sun was blazing on us.

This little park is a hidden gem.  If you don't live in this gated community, you wouldn't even know that it was there.

It rained the night before and even with the hot Ewa sun, the ground was still wet and muddy.  Lexie was a trooper and stood very still in the plants so she wouldn't get mud on her clothes.  She really wanted to move around and pick some flowers.

Even though we were all wilting from the hot sun, Lexie still had her sense of humor.

This girl knows how to work that attitude!

I love Lexie's eyelashes!  They are so long!

They also have these little docks where people can fish.  Again, very hot!  Lexie was eyeing that water!

Our diva loves hats and she chose this zebra print hat when we went to the mall.

She loves to wear twirly skirts.  She thinks they great for doing the hula.

Our girls loves to be deep in thought!

I wonder when I'm going to get those fruit snacks!  I've been standing here for a long time!

We hope to visit this park again because there were many other places to explore!  Hopefully when the weather gets cooler, we can go back there.

Much Needed Break

After a stressful week at work and dealing with a snotty nosed kid, we decided we needed to go somewhere peaceful to relax and get well.  We got up early and headed to Valley of the Temples.

We got this cute giraffe shirt from grandpa which matched her giraffe print skirt and as I was putting it on Lexie, she told me, "I don't want to be a giraffe!  I want to be a zebra!"

We decided to ring the bell for good luck.  Lexie tried to give it a try.

She was a bit too short!

So, we rang the bell together.  She was a little shocked at how loud the bell was.

This girl can look like an angel!  So sweet and innocent!

And then pose with such attitude!

Lexie's favorite part of the temple is feeding the koi fish.

This time, she fed the doves too!

Many years ago, there was a priest who used to show people how to feed the sparrows.  Daddy and Lexie gave it a try and some sparrows flew right on to Lexie's hand.

No matter where Lexie goes, she finds a bar to practice gymnastics.  

Lexie prayed to this statue for peace and tranquility.

Walking around the temple and being in such a beautiful setting was a great way to start the day.  It helped us to relax and made us thankful for being able to spend days like this together.

Here Comes Lexie!

Lexie went to her first wedding.  It was only fitting that she had the perfect dress.  A fellow Taiwan mommy helped me pick out her dress from Matilda Jane Clothing.  Hopefully this is the first of many MJ dresses that Lexie will have!!

It was a long day for her.  After gymnastics and a quick lunch, we headed out to Haleiwa.  We took the scenic route and got stuck in traffic for about 2 hours.  It would have been great if Lexie slept during the car ride, but only fell asleep for about 15 minutes.  She wasn't too happy when we got there.

All the little kids got a bag of popcorn, except eating too much red and green popcorn made Lexie throw up.

It was very hot and the tent that covered the reception area was transparent so the sun was just beating down on us.  We had to go down by the beach where there was some shade.  Lexie liked running around in the open space.

She had fun with Kelli and showed her how to make funny faces.

Lexie was a little grouchy with her cousins but finally let Aunty Terry give her a hug, especially since she made Lexie her favorite chex mix.

Lexie and her daddy share a laugh on the beach.

She is a daddy's girl!

I love that whenever we take pictures, Lexie always pulls me close to her!  It took some time, but she has turned into a very affectionate little girl!

Lexie did extremely well during the reception.  She sat nicely at the table and kept herself occupied by making patterns with peanut shells.

I'm sure she was wondering when were we going to the beach to swim.

Last Swim of the Summer

Our friendships that we've made through Taiwan are so important to us and for Lexie.  We're so lucky that many of these friends have become part of our family.  Although Lexie only met Nolan last year, she just loves spending time with him.  She was so excited when she heard he was coming over for a pool date.  All morning, she was asking when was Nolan going to be here and when she heard that doorbell ring, she went crazy!

They play so well together!  They were pretending to be sharks and chasing each other in the pool.

Then everyone wanted to put the bucket on their heads.

Peyton is contemplating if he should do it too!

They made it look like so much fun!  Why not!?!

The kiddies started to get hungry, so daddy grilled some hot dogs while they took a juice break.

After their lunch, it was ice cream time!  No one wanted to share!

Lexie and Peyton were waiting not so patiently to go back into the water.

These two are so adorable together!!  Can't believe that Pey Pey is 2 years younger than Lexie!

Lexie's middle name is impatient!!  She kept inching her way into the water.  I think she was hoping that she would fall into the pool while she was blowing bubbles in the water.

We finally got the kids to sit for 5 minutes before they were allowed to swim again!  Luckily a helicopter flew by and that kept them occupied for a little while.

Lexie had a fun day and is already asking when Nolan and Peyton can come over to swim again.

There was no naptime after her friends left.  Lexie went back into the pool and played until it was time to clean up.

We had a good laugh while we were deflating the pools.  Daddy decided to let the sides deflate, thinking the water would empty onto the grass, but instead it went out the other side and flooded our lanai.  The water started rising so fast that I had to run across the sidewalk to grab the electric pump, not thinking that I might get electrocuted if it got wet  We were up to our ankles in water and had to sweep it out to the drain.  Lexie had fun jumping in the water.  Even though we wasted all of that water, our lanai did get cleaned because of it!