More Birthday Fun

We started the morning by skyping both my sister and her family. They even had a piece of cake with a lit candle and sang Happy Birthday to Rian. It was really cute!
Rian has been asking to go to Underwater World ever since we came back to the island. When our friends asked us to go with them on Tuesday, I thought that would be a perfect way to spend Rian's actual birthday. Unfortunately Matt had to work, but we will have many more chances to go with him in the future. This aquarium consists of mostly a huge walk-through aquarium...almost like a really long shark encounter at Sea World. We saw tons of different fish, sharks, sea turtles, and sting rays. Rian was expecting to see Shamu, since there was a huge statue of him outside of the aquarium, but I had to explain to her that this was not going to be anything like Sea World. She asked to see the penguins, polar bears, and dolphins too. Of course, we didn't see any of those animals either, but she had a great time anyways!
After the aquarium, we were invited to the USO. I had never been to one, but was very pleasantly surprised when we arrived. How can I explain it to those of you who aren't sure what that is....it's basically a place to hang out for military and their dependants. They are almost always located at airports, and this one was in a hotel close to the Underwater World. The volunteers were so incredibly friendly and gave Rian 3 DVD's since it was her birthday. They popped some popcorn for the three kiddos and then the three of them snuggled into the home theater section and watched a Disney Princess Sing Along while munching on popcorn. The mom's sat around and chatted and were served some yummy chili that the volunteers had prepared in the crockpot. They didn't even charge us for any of the food, snacks, or sodas! They run off of donations, which we were happy to give:)
When we got home we skyped my Dad, so he could see Rian open a few gifts and he read some of Ri's favorite books to her. It was so cute to watch! When my Mom got home from a night out with the girls, we skyped her too, so she could also watch Ri open some gifts. When Matt came home from work we had dinner, ate more cake and opened more presents! Sadly, a big box my mom sent out to Rian was mysteriously 'lost' in the mail even though it was supposed to be tracked. Don't even get me started on how irritating that is! But luckily, some of her presents did make it to us. She loved opening up her gifts....again! And we've been happily playing her games ever since! I think Rian really enjoyed her birthday celebrations this year and is really eager to celebrate my birthday in a few weeks. She can't wait for more cake and ice cream!!

Beach Day Fun

Our friend invited us to celebrate her birthday with her at her other friend's beach house. We had a great time! This beach actually had good sand that we could build sandcastles with! Usually it's full of coral. And the water was so shallow for what seemed like a fourth mile. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see the water is really light and then turns really blue way far back. That's where the waves broke. So we didn't have to worry about waves taking Rian out or anything. It was so fun to just sit down in the warm (and I mean warm!) water and have Rian play all around me! I have a feeling we will be back to this beach in the near future :)

Legoland

**I just uploaded several posts! Click on the collages to make them bigger**

Nancee, TJ, and Brea (my sister and her kids) came out for one last visit before our big move (again!). It was really important for us to get our kids together since it'll be three years before they see each other again.

First stop on the list......Legoland California!

This was my first time there and I loved it! Partly because we only paid $10/person, but also because it is the perfect park for little ones. And the lego masterpieces were amazing!

Sea World...Twice!

We love Sea World! We had so much fun the first time, we decided to go again before we took my sister to the airport! Rian was pretty scared of Elmo, but then warmed up a little bit when we saw Zoe.

Hollywood Sign

...click on collage to enlarge...

Two weekends ago, we decided to head down to South Pasadena to visit our friends Drew and Lorraine. It was such a beautiful day and we had so much fun! We walked around Downtown South Pasadena, did some shopping, and ate at the Cheesecake Factory! Then they took us to the Hollywood Sign! Both Matt and I had never been there before so we had a lot of fun! We didn't actually get that close to it because it's quite a hike, but we got close enough! This was also the first time we met their adorable little boy, Warren! He is so cute and has the most amazing blue eyes! Thank you so much Drew and Lorraine! Lunch was wonderful and we had an awesome time catching up with you guys!

One more thing...while driving home we passed by a KFC. I had to get a picture of it. It is the most modern KFC I have ever seen in my life :)

Our 1st Space A Experience

Warning: This is a long post!

We found out on Sunday, Jan 3rd, that there was a flight from Guam to Hawaii to San Diego! I was so excited, but I knew I needed to contain myself until I actually boarded the aircraft, since we all know we could be turned away and what an disappointment that would be.

When we checked in we found out that we would be flying on a C-17 Globemaster III, which is a gigantic cargo plane....see pics below! I don't even know if these pics do the plane justice. I mean it was so big, it was carrying two military helicopters. Yes, I am dead, serious. We flew home on an airplane with two helicopters strapped down next to us. It was just crazy!

Do you see how tiny the stairs and door look in the first picture? And that is like 13 or so stairs we had to climb up. This aircraft was gigantic. In the next picture, I wanted to show how big the back door is so the cargo can be loaded. The third picture shows how tall this aircraft is. Those are people standing inside of it...do you see them? And last is a picture of the plane taking off. It was just so big, it was incredible!

Since this is a cargo plane, the seats are lined up along the sides of the aircraft. I opted not to bring Rian's carseat onboard because I knew majority of the time she would be allowed to run around. She looked so tiny in the seats. I bought a boxed lunch on both legs for only $4.25 each and they included a sandwich and bunch of goodies and drinks. Not to mention they had free all-you-can-eat/drink soda, bottled water, and cookies once we boarded the plane. So here is a picture of Rian digging through the box of goodies!

Since our seats were lined up against the walls of the aircraft, one would think that your view would be the other passengers on the opposite side of the plane, right? Um, no! Instead this was our view: a gigantic medical helicopter! If you click on the picture, you can see some stairs to the right of the front of the helicopter. Those stairs lead up to the cockpit. That's how tall this plane is!

The first picture is another view from our seats, but this time towards the back of the plane. This contraption was holding the propellers in place while we were flying, so they didn't bounce around. Can you see the second helicopter too? The second picture was taken while I was standing next to the second helicopter in the back of the aircraft facing the first helicopter.

Here is a picture of the back of the aircraft. I was trying to show how tall it is.

Our flight left at 5 pm island time, so it was nice that we were flying mostly throughout the night. But of course, I still had to entertain my little girl for many, many hours. They only had the fasten seat belt sign on for takeoff and landings, so we were allowed to walk around the plane. In fact they handed out blankets (because it was absolutely freezing) and pillows for everyone too.

A generous passenger offered his foam mat to us so Rian could use it while laying on the floor of the aircraft. I love these pictures because it shows how close we are to these helicopters. Rian also made a friend on the flight, who nicely shared her Nintendo DS with Rian. Even though Rian had no clue how to play it, I liked this picture because here she is on our layover in Hawaii chillin in her chair, legs crossed, looking like she knows exactly what she is doing!

Overall, we were traveling probably 18-20 hours. We only had a few hour layover in Hawaii, but we got to see the sunrise there, so that was cool. I am very grateful that this trip back to California worked out so nicely. Instead of spending $3000 and flying on a commerical plane, we spend $8.50 and had the most incredible experience on a military aircraft. Seriously, I will remember this forever!!!

'Tis the Season

Matt and I returned to the Hilton Resort this time with Rian to enjoy some of the Christmas decorations.

She absolutely LOVED the trains! I imagined my Dad and her sitting there for hours just enjoying it together. Maybe one day he'll be visiting during Christmas and they will be able to do that!

Sorry about the face Rian is making in these pictures. Lately she does not want to smile for the camera. I swear she really had a good time, eventhough her face tells another story :)

beach day

We tried out a new beach on Saturday. Even though the water was a little rough, Matt and Rian still had a great time building sandcastles and searching for shells, while I relaxed and read Twilight :) Matt and Rian found some amazing shells. We started a collection and I'll post pics when we get some more.

We thought Rian looked so cute in her little baseball hat, so I went a little picture happy. I think I may have found our spot next year's xmas cards. This place was beautiful!

Two Lovers Point at Sunset

We came back to Two Lovers Point to watch the sunset. I took some pictures while Rian made some friends.....but I'll post about that another time :)

It was kind of hazy that night and there was a marine layer. It wasn't the best night for a sunset, but it was still pretty. After the sunset, we went out for a nice, yet expensive dinner. You know when the kids meal alone is $9 you're in trouble, but we still had a great time and Rian got a balloon out of it!

trunk-or-treating

We went to our Church's annual trunk-or-treating this year. It was fun to finally meet some people and have Rian interact with some kids!

The various faces of Rian. Can you tell she is saying "Cheeesssee"?

Mommy and Rian decorating some Halloween cookie. Yummy!

Rian trunk-or-treating. She had so much fun gathering candy. She mastered the "trick-or-treat" asking. Then saying "thank you". And of course letting everyone know "i'm a pumpkin". What a cutie! This year was definitely a lot of fun. Two is such a great age.....most of the time!