Back at Home after the Trip

Rebekah and her favorite Sleeping Beauty Doll.
Dancing to the music of her Sleeping Beauty music box. She danced all over the living room carrying the jewelry box around proudly. You can see the box a little in her top hand, there's a better photo below.
Emma loving the lollipop that Aunty Lisa gave her!
Admiring the pretty Princess Aurora.
Modeling her new pjs from Great Mommy and Great Daddy.
On the airplane ride home, Kamele slept while Kahiwa concentrated on her travel journal pictures.
Still working hard to draw pretty pictures. Emma had her "tag" on the Thursday after we got home. Their Tag is a day reserved for each child to have a turn once a month to bring in a snack to share and show and tell. She brought in her journal to show to all her friends and she looked like a miniature tourist all decked out in Disney EVERYTHING when I dropped her at school that morning. It was a lot of fun for her to have so many special things to share with her class, she was very proud, and her teacher even emailed me to tell me how cute she was.
Alyssa peeking from the row in front of me. Alyssa is missing from the above pics probably because she was busy doing homework for a few afternoons right when we returned home. Even though she brought some work with her, she had other things to catch up on, and I was trying to photograph the girls with some of their "goodies" that we brought home from the vacation. I must have missed her while she was busy. The girls have so many wonderful souvenirs from the trip, from Disney PJs and Mickey Mouse Earrings, to clothes and candies, they had so many things they were excited to wear to school and bring in for "show and tell." Thank you to everyone so much for everything!!

Costa Mesa Shopping

We had a fun day of shopping in Costa Mesa. Here the girls are pretending to be models in the storefront window at Justice Girls. Ka'iulani's favorite store!!
Relaxing in a comfy chair at Justice.
Cute little shopper Kamele. She could not have been more pleased with this Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bag that Grandmommy got her at the Disney Store. She insisted on carrying it around herself, even though it was about as big as she is, and she would stop every few feet to check the contents of her bag. She had picked out a bunch of Sleeping Beauty stuff in the Disney Store and she was very protective of her new prized possessions.
Alyssa was very pleased with her purchase of a Hannah Montana shrug sweater from the Disney Store, and she even bought it with her own money!
Kamele spending time with "Great Mommy." She calls Dave's grandparents Great Daddy and Great Mommy instead of Great Grand...She has enjoyed looking at all the pictures while I decided which ones to post, and it's been fun to listen to her tell me who is in each photo.
The girls hardly even notice the Rainforest Cafe that is in our mall, but they wanted their pictures taken by this one.
Something about this giraffe made Kamele think she needed to bow. She kept saying: "Take a bow, take a bow!" Here she is in the middle of a big bow.
I think Aunty Kui and Kamele are both looking at Kui's camera in this picture, so her picture is probably much better than mine, but I still thought this was a cute pic of them together.
The girls and Daddy relaxing in the massage chair at the Brookstone. Kamele is using the chair's remote as a phone.
The 3 girls with Great Daddy.
The girls with Great Grandmommy and Great Granddaddy.
Happy Shopper.
Checking on her Sleeping Beauty Toy. She kept emptying out her bag, taking inventory, then loading it back up again.
Em with her newest webkinz that she named "Kissie Love."
Ka'iulani and Kaliko on the mechanical bulls in the Brookstone.
The girls with Granddaddy.
The girls with Grandmommy after a successful shopping trip. I think Ka'iulani would love to shop with Grandmommy more often, she still talks about how much fun she had, and the black hat she is wearing has become a staple item in her wardrobe. Thank you for everything!

Universal Studios Hollywood

Universal Studios was a lot of fun. Alyssa loved the Hollywood Glam, and how there is a red carpet that welcomes you into the park. We saw lots of great shows that give you a behind the scenes perspective of how they make things happen in the movies, it was interesting and cool.
This was the "Backdraft" show where they demonstrated how to control fire in movies. For the movie, Backdraft, they had an entire group of actual Chicago firefighters on the scene for safety and authenticity of what they were filming. Alyssa, who doesn't like fire at all was scared by this part of the program, I even jumped myself a few times.
This was showing a car from The Fast and The Furious.
A memorable Jurassic Park Scene, I always remember the mailman from Seinfeld and the vicious attack by these spitting dinos.
By the Universal Globe.
Emma by the movie makers fountain.
Alyssa in a red phone booth.
I wanted to post the picture of Rebekah and Emma with Marilyn Monroe, but Emma insisted that this one of Aunty Kui and Uncle Tommy was better :)
Meeting Dora, surprisingly Rebekah did not want to go up to Dora.
With Shrek and Fiona. Universal was a good place for the little ones to see some shows and meet their favorite characters. They weren't tall enough for many of the most exciting rides, so I'm sure it is a place we will enjoy returning to in the future.
Sillyness in the mouth of a shark :)
Here, the girls and I are looking seriously at the Animal Actors Show. It was a really fun and interesting show about how they train animals for roles in movies. Daddy even got to be a part of the show when a huge white bird took a dollar from his fingers, then later returned it to him. We don't have any pictures of that though, because it all happened so quickly and the camera was around his neck at the time it all happened.
The cute chimpanzee showing it's funny personality. At one point the chimp makes "tooting" (we don't allow our girls to say "fart") noises with it's mouth as a way of scoffing at the animal trainer, the girls of course thought this was the funniest thing ever!
An audience member being leaped over by a dog.
A doggie being trained to "play dead."
This little monkey was cute and had quite the personality too!
Scooby Dooby Doo! The girls LOVE Scooby, he is one of the most requested books at our house. Rebekah was a little hesitant to approach him, but out of all the character we met on the trip (not including the Princesses) Scooby was the one she warmed up to the most.
Dr. Suess's Whoville.
A demonstration of a fire scene, using the shark from Jaws to jump from the water (although I don't think you can see the shark here) On this tour of the backlot, we saw Gabrielle Union on set. I know she's done lots of shows/movies, but what I remember her best for is being the first African American "friend" on the show FRIENDS (I miss that show!!).
Practicing her Movie Star Poses.
A family pic by the Universal Sign.
The girls with Grandmommy and Granddaddy.

Legoland Fun

Legoland is one of my favorite parks to visit in California. Here we are on The Legoland Fairytale Brook. Daddy rode in the boat in front of us with Aunty so he could take pictures.
The Dino Coaster, Coastersaurus. Grandmommy and the girls are in the second car.
This ride, Kid Power Tower, looked like fun, but also looks like a lot of hard work too! It's a tall tower that you have to work with your partner to use the rope between you to pull yourself up to the top.
Grandmommy and Ka'iulani laughing as they let the pulley bring them down.
Peddle Car fun on the Sky Cruiser.
Granddaddy and Kahiwa.
Kamele in the mouth of the lion.
Oh no! Now the lion has Emma!
This fountain was cool. As you bounced on the foam pads, music played and the fountain in front of you squirted water.
The musical instrument fountain, Water Works.
Attending class at the Volvo Driving School to get her Legoland Driver's license. I love the look of concentration on her face.
Her driving has improved significantly since causing a multi car collision during our last visit.
The younger kids have an easier route, no stop signs or traffic lights, and it's basically just a big oval they drive laps around.
After completing the Legoland driver's school, the kids all can get their Volvo Driver's License. It's a neat keepsake to get each time we visit Legoland because it has their photo on it just like a real license, and the date along with Legoland's logo on it, so it's always a fun thing to have to remember the trip.
You have to be 3 to drive for a license, so Kamele played in the model car while the older girls waited their turn in line to drive the real ones.
Emma, Daddy, and Mommy on a roller coaster.
Legoland's Princess Lily. They have an entire section of the Legoland park that has a medieval Knights, Dragons, and Princess theme.
Alyssa on the Royal Joust.
Emma on horseback for the Royal Joust.
Grandmommy, Ka'iulani, and Kahiwa.
Daddy and Em on the Cargo Ace.
The Ship Captain made out of Legos.
Before getting in her boat, I warned Alyssa that she had to pay close attention to where she was steering because being on the water in a boat was different than just driving a car.
Again, I liked to see how hard she was concentrating on driving the boat. I think she liked the boats better than the cars, and was even passing other kids in the water who weren't going fast enough for her.
Emma and I shared a boat.
SHARK!! It's too bad this photo came out a little dark because they are all looking at the camera so nicely.
Laughing up in a baby swing.
Water fight in the Splash Battle.
On the Splash Battle Ride, the girls left Daddy in his own boat so they could go with Kaliko and Koa. Rebekah spotted Daddy from outside of the ride and said: "Look, Daddy!" When I looked over he was all by himself in his own boat, getting splashed by the kids.
Uncle David and Kahiwa on the Aquazone Wave Racers.
Aunty Kanoe took Ka'iulani on the Wave Racers.
Again, the girls left Daddy to ride by himself. Kanoe and Ka'iulani are behind him trying to avoid the splashes.
Emma and Rebekah playing with Uncle Tommy as we wait for the Coast Cruise boat ride that lets you tour all the cool lego recreations of structures from all around the world.
Looking around on the Coast Cruise.
Not too long after we left the dock for our boat ride, Kamele spotted "Great Mommy and Great Daddy" on the shore watching us as we passed.
The New York Skyline
Statue of Liberty
Mount Rushmore
Even Obama's Inaguration all made out of Legos. I could have posted many more pictures of "Mini City" and other landmarks, but I thought it might get a little boring. One of my favorites was the Sydney Opera House which took over 110,000 lego bricks to build. And to think I thought I had a lot to pick up when Rebekah spilled a brand new box of 1000 toothpicks on the kitchen floor.