Olivia the Korkeler

We went to the beach to go snorkeling with Matty and Alli on their last day here, hoping to see turtles. The waves were too big to see anything in the water that day, but the turtles decided to make a showing anyway and came almost all the way up to shore. They were feeding on the rocks right out in front of where the kids were playing in the sand. Olivia decided she wanted to try snorkeling, which she calls korkeling, and would not take no for an answer. Here is a hilarious clip of her getting the snorkeling gear out of the bag and putting it on all by herself.

Surfing Day

Off we went to Cove Park for an adventure filled day of surfing and frolicking in the ocean with Matty, Alli, Grandma, and Papa. Matty had a great time learning to surf on the blue foam board and was not afraid of the waves. Alli got up a couple of times on the surfboard and then went tandem surfing with Emma. They had the most fun paddling out to the surf and just holding onto the surfboard as the whitewash covered them. Their other favorite thing to do was looking for hermit crabs and crabs in the rocks.


Here is Matty shredding it up on the surfboard.


Tandem surf time with Alli and Emma!! Alli and Emma looking for crabs.




Alli having a great time surfing- what balance..

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Here are a few video clips of the kids surfing. The first one is Alli doing amazing on the surfboard. The next one is Matty ripping it up and the last one is of Olivia surfing on the board all by herself, getting braver and trying to get to her feet. Amazing for a 2 year old.





End of our fun day!!! Here is Julia and Matty goofing off...

Horseback Riding

We were able to get all the kids on a horse at Julia's horseback riding lesson. Matty was able to
have horseback riding lessons with Julia and ride his own horse. It was so cute to see Matty and Julia trotting their horses side by side in the arena. Matty did amazing for his first time riding. Supposedly Matty and Julia come from a long line of horse riders according to the teacher. Must be those old west riding ancestors? Alli and Emma were able to ride with each other or with Olivia. They all had so much fun. They rode horses for close to 2 hours. Matty said he couldn't believe that it was his first time riding a big horse and a horse by himself all in the same day. Emma and Alli got a kick out of trotting on their horse. They couldn't stop giggling or jiggling.
Here is a great clip of Matty and Julia trotting on their horses.

Halloween with Matty, Alli, Papa, and Grandma

We all were so excited to have Matty, Alli, Papa, and Grandma for Halloween. Our festivities started with Emma's classroom Halloween party. Matty came to help me with the kindergarteners and Alli was able to participate in all the games. We had a great time. Then we had Julia's classroom party. Matty was able to participate with Julia in all the games, and Alli observed. We then started getting ready for Halloween trick or treating. The only cousin we were missing very much was baby Jaylon. He was dressed up as a little pumpkin, so so cute, and we were able to see him on skype.
Here are some great pics of the kids outfits.
The two pretty princesses.











Basketball head, I mean basketball Matthew.


Cute little Minnie Mouse.

Julia played her part at Spiderella.












We went to Paia for dinner at 4:30 and sat across from Woody Harrleson at Flatbread Pizza. The staff was all dressed up and a lot of kids from the girls school came dressed up to eat there as well. We then went down a little ways to a very nice, expensive neighborhood, Spreckelsville, that is very popular for trick or treating. The streets and sidewalks were filled with many kids and parents. The kids had a great time until it started to rain. This was a perfect time to end the night. It was the first time we had seen people dressed up sitting on a golf cart and passing out candy. That is the ritz for you. The kids enjoyed coming home and taking inventory of their candy and then proceeded to devour many pieces, get all jazzed up, and then, my favorite part, sugar low and nightie night.