Mark!!!

Love this crazy boy! 

That looks clean, right?

One of Mark's favorite words is "BOP!" (HELP!)

He loves the water! 

Calisthenics  at the dinner table. Why not? 

When the kid needs sleep, there's no stopping him. Last weekend, he fell asleep on the way home mid cracker.

One of my least favorite things to hear... "Mom, look what Mark is doing!"
I did not give him this beer bottle, but I had to take a picture. I'm pretty sure it was mostly empty. :-)

Keaton's Word of the Day

Another vocabulary lesson from KRay.

Plagacy: [[plag-ˈəsē] noun

Something you need when you are going potty.

Example:  "Mark, please don't come in the bathroom right now, because I need some plagacy." 

Try to use it in a sentence today.

Waikiki Aquarium

We have been cooped up all week with Mark and his yucky cold. Yesterday, I decided we HAD to get out of the house or all 3 of us were gonna go crazy!  So, we headed over the mountain to Waikiki and check out the Aquarium! My friend Amanda (who lives in Waikiki) has season passes and has been offering to take us for a while now. Thankfully, she wasn't afraid of a little runny nose, so she and Sam met us for some cool fish time and a picnic by the beach. Not the most amazing aquarium I've ever visited, but the boys absolutely loved it! Mark just kept running around from tank to tank pointing and trying his best at words - "ERK!" (shark?) and "THHH!" (fish?)

Warning: cell phone pics

Puzzles

Keaton has really been into puzzles lately. 

We are totally stocked after Christmas thanks to Brumbra and her dollar store connection...

I just sit there and watch him totally amazed that he can put together a 48 piece puzzle all by himself. 

Didn't I just bring him home from the hospital like yesterday?

It's all fun and games until this one wakes up...

"Hey! I want to play with the puzzle too!" (A.K.A. "I want to pick up the pieces, run away with them, chew on them,  throw them in the potty or trash can or find another way to terminate them!")

Sorry, Brother. Puzzles go back in the box.

It's tough being a baby.

Morning at Bellows

Scott did not have to work today for MLK day, so we got up early (as we always do because somehow Scott and I produced not one, but two little roosters who wake up before the sun and insist that everyone within ear shot of them wake up as well even on Saturdays and holidays) and headed to the beach. We were there by about 8:00, so we had some amazing views of the low morning sun over the water. It was breathtaking!

I guess there are some advantages to getting up early...

How cool is is this tree? I'm amazed at how these trees continue to grow on the beach despite the sand erosion and their exposed root structure!

Run Daddy! 

I live here. 

That's my family right over there.

Pinch me, please.

Old Pali Hike

On Saturday morning, we took a little family hike on the Old Pali Road. This is the original road that connected the Windward and Leeward side, which was replaced in 1959 by the current Pali Highway. The road is basically in ruins, and is impassable by cars, but is still open to the public for hiking. 

Open to the public "at their own risk," I should say...

The hike had some pretty amazing views.

The town you see is Kaneohe. If you look closely, you can see our house! 

  

The hike was cool, but the boys were the most impressed with low hovering helicopters that were helping with a construction project nearby. 

and the brave guys hanging FROM the helicopters...

Mark especially loves helicopters. Every time he hears one outside, he points to the sky and says, "GA ga ga!" 
Clearly, "helicopter." :-)

Another Anderson family adventure for the books! 

Playground Fun

We visited Dad at work on Friday. They have the best playgrounds on base. 

Peekaboo! 

Flash Fieldtrip

Wednesday is not normally my shopping day, but the boys and I had to make a special trip to the grocery store yesterday morning to get some last minute ingredients for Daddy's birthday dinner and Snicker doodle cake.  When we pull up to Safeway, I see my good friend Karen's van in the parking lot. Turns out that Keaton's buddy, Lucas and his preschool class just happened to be meeting for a field trip to our Safeway at 9:30. We were just in time to join them! So, what started out to be a normal boring ole trip to the grocery store turned into a fun field trip. The kids got to go back in the back of the store and walk inside the big refrigerators, meet the butcher, see the stockroom, see the giant mixing bowls and huge ovens in the bakery, and see behind the scenes in the deli. Of course, I didn't come prepared with my good camera, so pardon the horrible cell phone pics.

"Does anyone know where an egg comes from?" 

"And here's a big sink where we wash all our fruits and vegetables."
Fascinating stuff folks.

"And here's where we bake all these yummy cookies!"

All the kids with "Uncle Kevin" who led our tour. 

Who knew the grocery store could be educational? 

Happy Birthday Scott

Happy 34th Scott! We had a very low key evening at home tonight. We invited some of our neighbors up for some delicious Snicker doodle cake and ice cream. Scott and I are very much looking forward to our night out on Saturday to Kona Brewery with friends to celebrate some more! 

Guess who helped decorate the cake? 

 Our neighbor took this picture of us tonight. It might be one of my least favorite family pics EVER.

What a raggedy looking bunch! 

I'm definitely looking a little tired (we rushed home from Cubbies just in time to throw dinner on the table and cut the cake). Mark's hair needs some serious attention. But my favorite thing about this picture is Keaton about to sneeze on the cake. Yes, that definitely happened right after this shot. Ha! 

 Happy Birthday, Dada! Thanks for being an amazing husband and father. 

We love you!  

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Spaghetti Night

Relax Brumbra and Grammie. I'm back. 

I blogged 67 times in November and December. I thought I earned a week off. 

We are getting back in the swing of things around here. Last week, Dada was back to work and we were at about 50% of our normally scheduled activites. This week, we are booked. 

MOPS, Cubbies, BSF, Playgroup. Hola 2012!!

Tonight was Spaghetti night. Watching a baby eat spaghetti noodles and sauce is just good family fun. It was fun with Keaton, it's just fun with Mark!

 

aren't you jealous that you didnt' get to be the one to clean this face? 

By the way, Mark has added to his growing vocabulary: 

"Cheeeeeese!" (this is what he says when he sees me with my camera)

"See!!" (this is what he says after I take the picture when he wants to see what the pic looks like) 

Of course, this cheeseball prefers his spaghetti with no sauce, but couldn't be left out of the silly face action!