Hawaiian Holiday

Ella and Sarah at Hanalei Bay

We somehow managed to have a wonderful two weeks in Hawaii. :-) We spent the first week in Kauai, where my parents got us a condo across from theirs in Princeville.

The girls stayed with them, so Meg and I had a REAL vacation. We spent a lot of time at Hanalei Bay and then did daily trips to kid-friendly beaches like Anini, Lydgate and Poipu.

We spent the second week in Honolulu visiting family. Meg, Ella and I stayed with my cousin Kathy and her beautiful family, while Mom, Dad and Sarah stayed at Uncle Bud's house. It was great to be able to spend so much time this branch of family and get to know them a little better. Meg still can't believe I had never visted them in Honolulu prior to this trip (Uncle Bud has lived in Honolulu since the '60s).

I posted a bunch of pictures to Flickr, but here are some gems...

Sarah at Waikiki at Sunset

Wailua Falls

Fern Grotto boat ride

Ella with a new hair accoutrement

At Uncle Bud's

The cousins at Duke's in Honolulu

Waikiki

Hawaii Bound!

We're off to Hawaii tomorrow for two weeks of fun in the sun and fun with the family. First, we're meeting my parents in Kauai for the first week, and then we're headed over to Honolulu for the second week to have a mini Klein family reunion with my Uncle Bud and some of his brood. Needless to say, the kids (okay, Ella) are pretty excited. Ella started packing on Monday.

I imagine we'll be taking some pictures while were there, but in the meantime I thought I'd leave some cute photos of our girls for all of you in the interwebs to enjoy!

Aloha!

Happy Mother's Day X2

My Mom, Meg and the girls on a Mother's Day picnic at Twin Pines Park

I think Hallmark can get carried away with all the various occasions it promotes to sell cards. Do people really send St. Patrick's Day cards? When was the last time you sent a Secretary Day card to someone? But Mother's Day, that's a day I understand. In fact, I think it's even more important than birthdays. Without Mother's Day, I wouldn't have a birthday to celebrate in the first place.

In many households (including mine), it's the mother who has the lioness' share of work when it comes to raising children - and it is a lot of work. Given the amount of effort and the tedium that can creep in from the inherently repetitive tasks involved with parenting, mothers deserve a lot credit for all they do. Now that I'm a parent, I have a deeper understanding and respect for the sacrifices that my mother made for me and my brother. I'm lucky to have had someone who supported me in all my dreams, and stayed up late to help me finish school projects that I had procrastinated on.

I'm also lucky to have a beautiful wife who is a beautiful mother to my two beautiful daughters. I lucked out having two exceptional mothers in my life, and my life is better for it.

Future Artists of America

Like most parents, I save select pieces of artwork created by my kids. However, unlike most parents, the reason goes beyond mere sentimental value. I'm hoping to cash in when Ella becomes the next Picasso. "Next up on the Sotheby's auction block, early art from Ella Klein at age 4. The bidding starts at $50,000."

Ella became adept with markers, paint, scissors, tape and glue at an early age, and now she is a master of multimedia. Often combining orginal drawings with found objects and images from magazines. Here is one of her most recent creations.


Of course, Ella is also very interested in exploring the natural world, whether exploring the smaller creatures...


Or the wetter ones.


Sarah, on the very hand, loves music. I'm secretly hoping that she becomes the next Neko Case. She recently demonstrated her indie rock cred at a local toy store by deftly pounding the "skins" in her Fountains of Wayne t-shirt.


She also seems to have a thing for tattoos, which should serve her rise to rockstardom well.

Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has finally arrived, so last weekend, we took advantage of the warmer weather to go see the annual tulip garden at the base of the windmill in Golden Gate Park.

The girls were fascinated by all the flowers, although one understood the concept of "look with your eyes" a little better than the other.


Grandpa and Fafa were in town, so they got to share in the beauty too.


This weekend, we carried on the Spring festivities with an Easter Egg hunt put on by the San Mateo Mother's Club. The Easter Bunny made an appearance and apparently had the energy to hide hundreds of eggs after laying them (no postpartum depression here).

The girls (including Ella's friend Ava) were eager to fill their baskets.


Sarah contemplates ones of her more spectacular finds - the rare green plastic egg.


Afterwards, Ella and Sarah examine the loot they received for returning the eggs to the Easter Bunny. He/She must have been so relieved. I question the gender, because a rabbit laying eggs may defy more than one law of nature.


Back at the house, the girls celebrated the Easter Bunny's generosity.

Ella, Future Aviator

Last weekend, Ella and I went on a field trip to Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos. I drive by the museum all the time (it's right by my work), but I'd never before had the occasion to visit. While it doesn't look like a whole lot from the outside, it's pretty impressive inside.



There are tons of full-size replicas inside, including plenty of interactive exhibits. Ella enjoyed checking them all out, but she really enjoyed the outside area behind the museum. Not only do they have the front end of a 747 and actual cockpit, the museum borders the San Carlos Airport, where you can watch small aircraft take off and land.

Part of the tour included decorating your own toy plane, which Ella promptly took for a test flight.


After mastering the test flight, she was ready for the 747.


Flaps? Check!


Engine? Check!

Snow Day in Auburn

Last weekend we went to Auburn to visit Megan's cousins and play in the snow.

It was the last time we'll see Laura, Jared and Dax as a family of three, as baby girl Sellers is due in about two weeks.


We hit the snow with Lisa, Kevin and Ryan on Saturday morning.


Everyone was interested in pulling the sled, but some had more success than others.


Ella fared a little better at pulling than Sarah, but only for short periods.


It turns out that the Mama pulling both girls was most effective.


Ella did take some time to make a snowball, but preferred eating it to throwing it.


Sarah was more into sledding.


It was a gorgeous day and the snow was fresh and deep.


Afterward, Sarah needed a coffee to warm up.


But Ella was happy with a video game.