Boo!

We had an amazingly fun first Halloween in Hawaii! See below...

The whole day was GREAT except for some rain, which thankfully ended by trick or treat time. The kids were allowed to wear their costumes to school for a parade which was super cool! They were asked not to wear scary costumes, so Nico went as a non-threatening Dracula and saved his psycho clown costume for later. M'K wrangled up her Jessie gear and did Toy Story proud! Of course Nico wasn't posing for pictures, but M'K sure did!

Even the teachers and administration dressed up, which was very cool. This Oompa Loompa was super cute!

Mrs. Powell, M'K's teacher, was Brainy Smurf and all the other kindergarten teachers were other Smufs. Very cool! Below is when M'K's class was lining up to walk around the quad and show off all their costumes to the other grades. It was a different and fun way to celebrate Halloween!

Later that night, the kids trick or treated in the neighborhood, which was jam packed with kids! Our neighbors across the street had a haunted house that was very popular and other neighbors were on their porches, handing out candy. It was in the low to mid '70s and I was a bit chilly. It was fun to be in such an involved neighborhood! It made us not miss home so much... The kids got a TON of candy on just a couple of streets, which was good because I had to raid their stashes to serve all the trick or treaters we had! We finally shut down around 8:30 pm and went to bed.

First holiday in Hawaii? Check! Was it good? YES! So glad the kids seem to be adjusting...

Much love to everyone!!! Next up? A luau for Thanksgiving!

A Great Week!

We had a fantastic week October 20-27. M'K lost her first two teeth and Nico climbed Diamond Head!

First, M'K had two wiggly bottom teeth and she pulled the first one out with no problems. As soon as she heard money was involved, out came that first tooth!

After receiving $5 from the tooth fairy, she wiggled and wiggled the second one until she got it out a few days later. We quickly had a conversation about her not pulling out her baby teeth unless they were very, very loose! This girl has no fear!

As you can see, she already had her two adult teeth coming in from behind... "shark teeth" so I'm told. So she hardly looks toothless, but adorable still!

Nico and Monti decided to climb Diamond Head that weekend. Hot and tired but proud, nonetheless, they made it to the top!

It was an awesome week for the Montalvo Ohana!

Nico Turns 11

Happy Birthday, dear Nico!!!

Nico had a wonderful birthday and I'm glad. I was worried about it being a hard once since we just moved. I am happy to report that he had a fantastic day and a birthday that extended for nearly a week with all the mail he received!

On Sunday 10/16, we made cookie pops to take to school for his birthday snack:

 The next day we headed to Buca di Beppo for dinner at the chef's table in the kitchen. The kids thought that was super cool! Monti and I quickly decided it's not all that it's cracked up to be when numerous patrons pass by and stare at you while you are eating your meal. Oh well, lesson learned.

Nico loved all his presents, and M'K was especially proud of her gift to Nico:

Then it was time for dessert!

Several servers then sang to Nico and embarrassed him greatly, much to our delight!

All in all, it was a very happy birthday. We love you mucho and are very blessed to have you in our lives, Nico!!! :-)

Pali Lookout & Bellows AFS

This weekend we played "tourist" and took the kids to the Nu'uanu Pali Lookout. You can easily be blown away by both the view and the winds!

Next we headed over to Bellows Air Force Station in Waimanalo. They are an R&R base with campgrounds, cabins, miniature golf  – all on the beach! The waters were gorgeous and the beach had powderlike sand, but the waves were crazy! It was too strong for me but the kids loved it!

The beach isn't crowded nor does it have high-rises all over like on Waikiki. It was breathtakingly beautiful...

I was nervous the whole time because the current and the waves were strong. It's a great place to learn to body surf, though, so Monti and the kids went right out there! Nico caught a great wave one time, but of course I missed capturing it on video! I got M'K surfing on my iPhone, but I'm still trying to figure out how to post the videos! Argh!

We spent a couple of hours here and then headed home. Can you tell how exhausting it was? Take a look...

Poor baby!!! She got in a good nap and woke right up when I asked, "Chicken and french fries?" when we arrived at Hickam AFB to grab a quick dinner and run into the commissary.

All in all, another great Aloha weekend!

Sushi! Sushi!

Let me start by saying 1/2 this family does NOT eat sushi! ;-) But the kids and I found a cool restaurant that we knew Daddy would love so we "hit it" this past weekend... Genki Sushi!

It's a neat casual dining restaurant where you sit around a giant conveyor belt of food. Then you just pick what you want off the line or you can special order through your waitress. M'K was IN LOVE because they had edamame and "sticky rice." I loved that it didn't smell fishy inside and that they had veggie tempura and miso soup. Nico had California rolls, vegetarian rolls, and chicken teriyaki. Daddy, of course, loved everything! Here are the boys next to the "food line."

 

Then M'K wanted her picture taken...

Of course she was THRILLED when a chocolate cupcake came down the line and she snatched it right up!

Genki was our reward after a hard day of unpacking. We made some progress!

There's no point in showing you the garage, cuz' it's still the same. ;-) We did lots of cleaning out/boxing up garage sale items, but also found some goodies like the baking sheets and measuring cups! Sunday morning M'K said, "I smell something..." and then I surprised her with THIS!

It's beginning to feel more like home here now, I think...

And finally, the piece de resistance, a photo of our rent house!

It's a small house, but a good house so far.. we're getting ready it for family and friends to come visit!

Aloha!

Moving Day!

Ugh... now the REAL fun begins! The first of two shipments were delivered yesterday. The house is completely full of furniture and boxes and so is the garage. Our second shipment should arrive within two weeks so we've gotta clear this out and get ready for the next wave. Thankfully, the next delivery is much, much smaller!

Going from 3600 sq ft and a half-acre to roughly 1600 sq ft and zero lot line is quite the challenge!

Free room and board (but not airfare!) for anyone who wants to come for a visit... and be prepared to unpacking in between sight seeing! ;-)

Aloha!

Dole Pineapple Plantation

Our first official tourist outing was to the Dole Pineapple Plantation a few weekends ago:

I can still remember my first taste of a Dole Pineapple Whip from Monti and I's first trip here back in 2002! The kids really enjoyed the outing. You can walk some of the grounds at no charge and see pineapples growing...

But we opted to take train ride through parts of the plantation.

The kids and Monti also went through the world's largest maze. It took M'K one hour with Daddy's help and the map. Nico did it in just over an hour without anyone's help! The definitely want to bring the cousins here to run the maze!

We thought this sign was neat... just 3,796 miles to Mexico!

And, of course, we rewarded ourselves with pineapple whips and floats at the end of the day.

It really was a fun day trip!

Aloha!

Our Trip Over

I've wanted to start this blog ever since I found out we were moving to Hawaii. This post is going to show some history of our move, so bear with me!

We arrived on August 19th, 2011 after three different flights! We were exhausted, but M'K and I were still excited to be here...

We headed to the Hilton Hawaiian Village (which I love, love, LOVE!) and M'K and Nico quickly tested out every water slide!

We also checked out Hickam Air Force Base, Schofield Army Barracks, and Pearl Harbor to find the best BX/NEX/PX and commissary. I thought this restaurant at the Naval Exchange's food court was so funny cuz' there wasn't one Southern comfort "country" food on the menu!

We also went sight seeing along Waikiki and stopped at the International Marketplace.

We did have to start school, however, so we had our first day...

And, we got to do fun things like homework on the beach for a week!

Our Honda Odyssey is officially Hawaiian now, too...