Hailey wears a dress

For some reason Hailey decided that she wanted to wear a dress that spins out when she twirls. Talk about a Fickle Pickle, one day she is wearing boy soccer shorts and the next day wearing a pink girly dress. We just never know which Fickle Hailey is going to surface until she wakes up in the morning. 10% girl and 90% boy

The Shane-effect

The other day Mrs Lomino said to the class, "Everyone take out your practice work books" and there were a few moans and groans. Apparently Shane yelled out, "Yes" and was excited (for real). His teacher was impressed and he got to move up to Awesome Day. You can imagine what the class says now when Mrs Lomino tells them to open up their practice workbooks.

Shane-e the Phenomonon

There is something about Shane that every one of his friends loves and they all want "Shane-e" approval. They all want to be his best friend, and they want to know if they are his best friend. His friends all want to hug him and be next to him at school. They argue with each other saying, "No, he is my Shane-e." They all want playdates with Shane-e, and sometimes he is double booked. He won freeze dance at school and his friend Liam said, "Shane, you can do anything!" He doesn't do anything out of the ordinary or try to be the "it" man. He is just Shane, and it is very appealing. All my friends keep telling me that he is going to be Valedictorian, Athlete of the Year, and Homecoming King. High expectations!

Easter Morning

Shane woke up at 4am ready to hunt for eggs. Hailey being the little sister who likes to bug decided to sleep in and we had to wake her up at 8:15, it was just killing Shane but he was a good sport.

Kids opening their Easter Baskets. Still clueless, those are the same glasses in their baskets as last year. You wouldn't know it by the looks on their faces. I am keeping the ears for next year, trying to see how long it will take them to catch on. Shane opened an egg that had a blue bunny necklace that he has now opened 3 years in a row and he still gets excited like it's year #1.

The kids were so civil during the egg hunt at our house it almost made me want to puke. They would find an egg and then the other one would say, "this one is for you", "you can have that one", "i have enough, that's yours". I have no idea why they were acting like this, i always raced to get the most eggs regardless of who, when and where. Then to top it off they opened all their eggs together and categorized them into piles and then split everything in half. Who are these kids? This is what Hailey said as she was dividing the chocolate eggs up, "1 for you, 2 for me, 1 for you and 2 for me." Shane heard and set her straight

The first sighting of the Easter Bunny at the golf club, not so sure

Hailey finally got comfortable with the bunny but would only go if she held Shane's hand. He was a nice big brother and did so. Then about a minute later Hailey said, "That was fun, i want to take another picture? So they did.

At brunch Shane said, "This is just like the Four Seasons brunch" back to back Sunday brunches, he is in heaven. It's only down hill from here. At least he eats his moneys worth! Here is our view at brunch -Wild and Crazy

Happy tummies and a great day

Dying Eggs

Dying eggs with thier fingers

Final product

side-effect

We had egg salad sandwiches the next day and both kids gobbled it down

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday morning we had our annual egg hunt at the tennis court.

best of buds

Shane you have to....

After we got home from Santa Barbara, Hailey kept telling Shane, "Shane, You have to play with me, it's my birthday." She was going to get the most out of her day!

Mass Burial

Last Friday we went to the beach after school and just relaxed while the kids played for hours. We were there until sun down.

We bought some industrial strength adult shovels for the kids and they made a mass grave for themselves. We were just waiting for a big wave to get them.

SpongeBob Cake

The Kato's came over to celebrate dinner and cake. Shane sang Happy Birthday while playing the guitar, Gavin sang different lyrics to Happy Birthday and the rest of us sang loud. Hailey covered her ears the whole time and said afterwards that it sounded awful. Such high expectations at 4!

Reiko made a card for Hailey that was so sweet and from the heart. Stuff like- Hailey you brighten my day and put a smile on my face...........It was really long too, I am keeping it forever

Hailey wanted a SpongeBob cake, thank goodness because a square is about all i can do. She originally wanted a Pickachu cake and i told her that maybe she could ask Nana (Cathy) to make one when she comes out next weekend. Good Luck

Smile Hailey

Hailey got balloons and a crown at preschool but she said she wouldn't smile for the picture.

Bike ride

Took some of the hotel bikes and cruised along the bike path

Biltmore

Papu, Shane and Papa riding along the bike route. Shane learned how to use gears on the bike and now wants a bike with gears

Chillin at the Biltmore

Strolling the hotel gardens

We stumbled upon some croquet and couldn't resist

Shane was challenged by Papu and guess who won, Papu! -no mercy

Birthday Brunch- If you tell Hailey that the flower on her dress is pretty she will say, "Take it off" and will try to pull it off, "I don't want to be pretty" Shane would find the "perfect" moment and tell Hailey her flower was pretty and she would get so angry. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and as we were unloading Shane would whispering in her ear, "Your flower is pretty". I can't imagine what she would have done if she had woken up.

Heading back home =( What a great weekend

Hailey is swimmin'

Hailey decided she was going to swim the day we got to the hotel (she made up her mind and did, just like the day she decided to walk. First steps were across the enitre house) She is now totally on her own in the pool. This is going to be a good summer. Hooray for Hailey!

Yoshi and Hailey cruising the pool

There were speakers underwater in the pool that Shane loved listening too. "Tonight's Going To Be A Good Night" was playing and what a great thing, he was underwater a lot! No music was playing outside or around the pool, you had to stick your head in the water to listen


The proud grandparents watching, ready to jump in to rescue Hailey. She always managed to make it across the pool. We all had our mouths wide open watching her



Jumping into the deep end 5ft with no assistance, totally on her own. She is so calm in the water it's crazy to see what 1 day can do


Jumping in together, Shane goes up and Hailey jumps down

Hailey's Bday at the Biltmore

Do i look older? I'm 4 years old!

A few presents to open

Guess what this is................

..... breakfast in bed. What every 4 year old needs. The kids thought it was great but it's not happening at home

Rebecca and Emmanuels Wedding

A perfect day for a wedding in Santa Barbara. My childhood friend got married at the Biltmore and it was beyond gorgeous. We got a babysitter for the kids at the hotel. As Jesse was walking across the street he reached down to hold Hailey's hand. She refused, and ran up to the sitter and held her hand who she just met 5 mintues ago. You just never know which Hailey is going to surface.

Beautiful Bride and Groom

Cocktail hour

Shane and Alyson, high school buddies

A pleasant evening, even outside

Off to see the kiddos in the room, who didn't miss us one bit. They went out to dinner, swam at the pool and played the Wii

Rattlers

Some shots of Shane "playing" baseball, not his favorite sport!

Hotel

The hotel that we stayed in was great. It had a pool and jacuzzi that we got some use out of. Hailey learned to swim at the hot springs we went too and the hotel pool. Thanks to Reiko who kept a close watch and helped Hailey swim. Reiko was once again a lifesaver for us, Haiely loves her and Reiko is so patient

Hailey loved to tease Gavin when she was nude. He was waiting for the pillow to move, i think. Those two are great buds

The kids thought that it was fun to get hit with whip-lash on the bed from daddy. Here is Hailey in action and Shane patiently waiting for his turn