Apple Picking in New Jersey

 Our friends Devi and Matt invited us to go apple picking with them last week. Carson stuffed himself silly munching on all sorts of apples. We tried Empires, Cortlands, Granny Smiths, Golden Delicious, Romes, and more! They were all so delicious straight off the tree. We ended up also picking some peaches. They were SO juicy and sweet. Wished we had saved more room for those yummy peaches! We seriously love living in a place where we can drive fifteen minutes just to get to another state. The New Jersey suburbs was such a nice breath of fresh air from city life. We'll be back again for pumpkins when it gets cooler!

Carson's 1st Christmas: The Eve

Christmas this year was one of the craziest I've ever experienced. Between a few new additions to the family and Missy's family coming home from the mainland, Grandma & Grandpa's house was filled with so much laughter, happiness, and craziness. We ate (Marly's amazing chocolate cake), acted (the Nativity), sang (the Twelve days of Christmas-local style), and laughed so much. I'm so thankful Robby has a big and crazy family because family gatherings are SO fun. Although I miss my family in Taiwan/Minnesota, I was grateful to be able to spend Christmas with my other family. The saying is true guys--There's no place like home for the holidays. I hope your holidays were full of the people you love most.

While Wai Po was in Town

So guess who my Mom was in town to see? Obviously not me. I'm guessing the number of pictures she has with her grandson gave that one away. This was the second time she's seen Carson since he was born. She was so happy just to see him and hold him.

A few of the things we did during the week my mom was here:

          1. Swam in the pool.
          2. Went to the Waikiki Aquarium.
          3. Had dinners with Tutu at Gyotaku and Kit n' Kitchen.
          4. Went to the park and played on the swings--Carson's first time.
          5. Got shaved ice at Waiola.
          6. Went to Ala Moana A LOT--per Cynthia's request for lots of new clothes.
          7. Ate out almost every meal--yay!

It's always sad when my Mom leaves because we go from eating anything we want at yummy restaurants to tuna sandwiches and lots of leftovers. We had fun while she was here and I hope Carson gets to see her Wai Po more often. Its tough having your family live on the other side of the world!

One Hawaiian Pumpkin Patch

Yes! There are pumpkin patches in Hawaii! And here I was, naively thinking that locals only pick up their pumpkins from air-conditioned grocery stores. We met up at Aloun Farms with Sharlie, Josh, and Koen a couple of weeks before Halloween and had so much fun despite the blazing heat. The farm went on farther than my eyes could see. I seriously had no idea such a huge pumpkin patch existed on this island. We explored a large portion of it, but was still nowhere close to conquering the whole thing. We left happy though with grilled Ewa sweet corn and pumpkin gelato in our tummies and three tiny pumpkins for our apartment.