Mylee Opening Presents

Mylee had lots of presents to open from her 1st birthday party.  We opened a couple the evening after the party, but the rest had to wait till the following day.  Boy is she loved or what!  There were tons of gifts!  One lucky little girl!

This was just so funny to me since I tried to get her to open her presents but every time I took out my camera she came crawling to me quick to get it.  I think she likes the toys I play with the most but too bad she can't play with them yet.  Good think big sis Makayla was so helpful since Mylee was preoccupied.  One side of the room was filled with presents everywhere.  It took a long time!

Daddy helping the girls out.  Lots of great summer clothes and fun toys too!  Time to get rid of some of the toys we have since we are really busting out at the seams in our house.  Thanks everyone for all the great gifts for Mylee's 1st birthday!  What a great birthday week she had!

Mylee's 1st Birthday Luau

Well, another big celebration for Mylee's birthday week continues but this is it!  It's her actual birthday today so this was awesome that we could celebrate right on the day that she was born!  I still can't believe she's already ONE!  We had almost the exact same party as we did for Makayla when she turned ONE! They had some little differences here and there but overall I think it was pretty equal so no one can look back when they're older and say I got the better party.  haha!  Like any of them would care when they're older.  It's the Mommy guilt in me though.  But if any of you know us Arakaki's, we do like to party!

The luau starts!  Both Grandma & Grandpa's helped so much with all the food!  They are just all so amazing to us and our girls! We're so lucky!  Here's birthday girl Mylee with my parents and her signature board.  I'm bummed that I didn't get a picture of Mylee with her other Grandparents together.  Too much going on!

We got this awesome jumper for all the kids since we seem to know so many now!  It was also a Hawaiian luau theme and had a basketball hoop and slide.  There's Mia & Makayla in action sliding down.  I didn't see Makayla hardly at all at the party since she practically lived in the jumper!  I think we got our money's worth for sure!

My wonderful girlfriends!  Thought this was such a cute picture of us all together.

The guys!  Does Ry look like a Hawaiian tourist or what? haha

The best balloon dude around!  He's the fastest and makes the most creative balloon art out there!  He's just amazing and even all the adults love him!

Makayla was finally around so we could squeeze in a total tacky tourist picture.  

Isn't she adorable?  I just love this picture of her.  And isn't the personalized bib so cute?  

Choosing the book!  I think she's going to be a studious one!  This is an old Vietnamese tradition where there are some items of some significance as to when she grows up she's going to be such and such depending on what she chooses.  haha.  Kind of fun so we kept the tradition going.  Her big sis picked the book also when she turned ONE!  They're smart ones!

Mylee even got her own little personalized cake to dig into!  Time to sing and Makayla is right there to help little sis blow out that candle!  The mini cake was so cute!  The bakery did a great job as usual for us!

Now, it's time for all the big kids to cut into the big cake but they all wanted to blow out the candle here. They were all so excited!  The best cake ever from Kings Hawaiian!  Thanks Auntie Som & Uncle Alan for picking up the cake for us!  Means a lot to us since I don't think we'd be able to have that cake without your help.

More fun!  It's pinata time!  I didn't realize this wasn't a great idea that they're hitting the little hula girl on the head for candy.  When it was all done, her head was just hanging.  Not a good scene.  I guess I have to think through that a little better for next time if there is another one of these parties!  The kids had fun grabbing all the candy when it fell.

It's really one thing after another today.  The "Matsumoto" shave ice stand is now open!  Thanks Auntie Som for the great idea and manning the popular station!  This is something Makayla loves during the summertime with Grandma.  Now Mylee has gotten to love it also! I'm sure the parents were happy with me pumping their kids full of sugar!  But it's a birthday party!

Bubbletime fun!  This is the best bubble machine ever!  I think it can make 5,000 bubbles!   Now that's a lot of soap!  All the kids loved this!

Mylee was asleep for most of her party but when she woke up she was still excited!  Here we are just chillin' on her little highchair mat.  She's having fun!  Thank you so much everyone that came to help us celebrate this big even with us!

Disneyland Afterwards

On our way towards Disneyland walking through Downtown Disney we took a slight detour to Build-A-Bear.  Auntie Helen remembered that we stopped here for Makayla's 1st birthday and wanted to do the same for Mylee Bear.  She has such a good memory.  So special that she's been here all the way from Hawaii to help us celebrate our girls 1st birthdays!

Makayla helped pick out a really cute bear for Mylee.  We even sang "Happy Birthday" into a little recorder to insert into the bears hand that she can press and play.  Now it's time to get her bear stuffed to perfection!  It's so cute!  Fun memories and little traditions we've made! Thank you Auntie Helen!

Here she is with her new friend, Pinky.  She's super pink with pink bows and pink roses on her fur.  Big sis did a good job! 

We finally made it into Disneyland and it was a nice day. Kind of overcast but perfect for walking around so it's not so hot!  The lines were pretty short too.  Here we are at Pixie Hollow where Tinkerbell and her friends live.  We've never been able to see them since the line is usually too long, but not today!  So here is Makayla taking Grandma's and Auntie.  Mylee's now napping with Daddy so he's just sitting and waiting for us.

She got to meet Silvermist and get her autograph.  Makayla was being so shy.  She was excited and happy though!  She was pretty!

And now Tinkerbell, she was really excited about this one since she knows who she is real well.  She doesn't really know all the other fairies yet but I'm sure in due time.  Well worth it for the autographs today!

Here she is watching the Dance Party Parade.  Ry took this picture because she's just too cute and so getting into it!  Hands on her hips and all and shakin' it!  You had to see it!  Too bad he wasn't quick enough to do a little video clip. 

There was more through out the day but pretty much mellow.  The Grandma's and Auntie Helen were so easy!  We did all that we wanted for the day and our way out Makayla finally gets to meet Jasmine!  She looks for Jasmine almost every time but she's never there for as many times as we've been.  We've seen Aladdin by himself but Makayla never wants to just see him.  So she was so happy that we got to end our day with this! 

Goofy's Kitchen for Mylee's 1st

Mylee's 1st birthday celebration continues!  What a lucky little girl!  Of course we had to take her to Goofy's Kitchen since this is what we did for big sis.  And really any excuse to go here is always fun!  We love it that the Grandparents always join us too and Auntie Janai all the way from San Diego just for this!  So special.  Too bad the other Uncles and Auntie couldn't make it.  They all had to work. Boo!  It's the day before her birthday since her big party is tomorrow.

The family photo with Pluto before getting seated.  Mylee was really interested in Pluto.  She kept reaching for him and trying to touch him.  I remember Makayla not wanting anything to do with these big characters!  

Here's the birthday girl ready for her brunch!

See, she's super interested in Goofy!  Just checking him out.  It's autograph time!  Before all this we hung out in the food area and did a little dancing and cookin' with top chef Goofy himself.  So much fun!

And now Dale comes to sign her book.

Mylee is eyeing that cupcake of hers.  Big sis is having a good time celebrating with her little sis today.  She's showing the ropes on autographs, photos and dancing in the kitchen area.

Big Baloo before we leave.  Makayla has never liked him and he always teases her.  Mylee again, did okay with this giant and got her last autograph before we left.  What a fun morning so far!  There's still more to come for today.  It's a busy one!  The Grandpa's and Janai went home and the Grandma's, Auntie Helen and us Arakaki's took the birthday girl to spend some time at Disneyland.

Angel's vs. White Sox

Ryan got us great seats in the Diamond section for the Angel's game tonight.  They were not too far from home plate.  It made me a little nervous sitting this close with both my girls.  Kind of afraid of the foul balls.  We had a good time!  Thanks to AT&T!  Gotta love the vendors out there!  I think this was our first game for the season too!  Good start for us!

Mylee is just checking it all out.

Pictures of the game from our seats.  Not too shabby!

Daddy and his M&M girls!  

On our way out we took a picture of the memorial they had out in front in memory of Nick Adenhart.  The young pitcher that was just recently killed in a car accident by a drunk driver.  So sad!  It was a fun night!  We beat the White Sox 3-1!  Yippee!

Mylee's 1-Year Portraits

We took Mylee to get her 1-year pictures done.  I still can't believe how fast the year has gone by!  So far, I've been pretty good at still getting the same portraits done that I did with Makayla.  But boy do they have to slow down in some way since I don't know where else to put them.  They are all so cute but space is now getting limited!  I'm really excited about these pictures, they turned out perfect!  She was happy as can be and cooperated!  Hope you enjoy our little princess as much as we do right now!

I'm One!  She's got a super cute rhinestone shirt that has the number "1" on it and her name spelled out in rhinestones.  It's so cute!  Then I found this adorable tutu to go with it!  So much fun to dress them up once in awhile!

I had the idea to take her pictures with a cake.  I was very proud of my pink cake I made her!  Yes, we lugged it to the studio.  She was great with it and loved it!  You can't tell in this photo, but she already dug her hands right on in!  It was a fun little session and she was just full of energy!  I'm using this photo as her signature board for her 1st birthday party on Saturday.  Love that I'm getting all this done since this is also what I did for Makayla.  What I did for the 1st I'm trying to do for my 2nd, but boy is it difficult!  I know she won't remember, but the bad thing is that I'm a scrapbooker so there will be evidence for them to compare to when they're older.

Big Bonk and Oops!

Well, there was a little accident today with our little Mylee Bear.  Not good but it was an accident and I'm not freaking out!  It happened with the Grandma's today.  I guess she's really starting to stand way too much and super curious when she does.  So, she was in her pack and play since that's where she naps.  I guess she woke up and the Grandma's were not quick enough to get her out because she wasn't fussy at all, she just got up and stood up and played.  Well, while reaching out of her pack and play that was not yet lowered, she fell out of it and bonked her head.  And to make it even worse, we have hard wood floors so not even a little cushion for her to fall on.  Poor baby!  The Grandma's felt really bad, but what can you do.  Accidents happen and what's important is that she's okay.  A little bump on her forehead but that's it.  She's been super happy and no issues.  It made us remember the few times Makayla had some pretty similar accidents and she turned out just fine!  She also fell out of her pack and play and even down the stairs.  Makes me feel like bad parents, but you just can't be there every waking second.  Makes them a little tougher!

See, she's happy as can be and doing perfectly fine!

California Adventure & Ariel's Grotto

It's Memorial Day and we're celebrating it by heading to California Adventure!  We took the moms and Auntie Helen.  We got them the California Resident tickets so they can go to both parks on two different days for super cheap!  We've all been excited to take them.  Plus now Alan & Som got their annual passes to join us also!  We got there right before it opened.  They let us in the front gate but then we had to stop a little ways in before we could go any further until they actually opened.  It was probably just a 10 minute wait.  Can't believe we got going and go there just in time!

While we were waiting for them to open.  Ryan, Makayla & Uncle Alan.

Auntie Som, Mommy & our two little Snow White Princesses!  I usually don't dress them up for Disneyland but today was a special occasion.  We're going to Ariel's Grotto for lunch, a special restaurant for all the Princesses!  But first we headed to ride the new Toy Story ride.  The line was pretty long for 1st thing in the am.  Seems like everyone had our same idea.  But boy was it worth it!  I think Auntie Helen wanted to ride it again!

Here we are on California's Screamin'.  Makayla wanted to ride this so bad.  Too bad she's too small.  It's going to be awhile until she rides this one.  So she just waited and watched us take off right here!  It was so cute her waving at us before we launched off!  It was so much fun to be on a big kid ride!

After the roller coaster it was perfect timing to make it over to Ariel's Grotto for our lunch reservations.  We took this opportunity to celebrate Mylee's 1st birthday a little early.  Plus we've been wanting the moms to experience Ariel's Grotto with us.  As we enter the girls go to take pictures with Ariel and get her autograph.  Surprisingly Mylee was happy for it!  She's not usually this happy with strangers but we were lucky today!

We've now been seated and ready for our fancy lunch!  They started with a 3-tiered appetizer platter which was pretty good and fancy looking!  Just fit for our Princesses!  During lunch the Princesses all came by to visit our girls and take pictures with them and sign their autograph books.  Too bad birthday girl Mylee ended up falling asleep through it all.  I guess it's been a busy morning and she was pooped.  Oh well, I'm sure there will be another time.  But big sis Makayla loved it all, every single Princess that came to see her!

On our way out we were able to get a family picture.  Mylee woke up just in time for it but still groggy and rubbing her eyes.  So we were not able to get her face to look up in this one.  It's still a nice photo with the whole family though.

I had to change the girls after the Grotto into something more comfy and cooler.  Here's Mylee and her Daddy.  Isn't she so cute in that hat?!  He's wearing her red, white and blue for Memorial Day and so is big sis.  This outfit was Makayla's when she was a baby.  There's been great hand-me-downs!  We're waiting in line for the Aladdin Show which is fantastic!  If you haven't seen it you need to!  It's as good as a Broadway show.  Everyone enjoyed it!  Then we got to ride another big kid ride, Tower of Terror.  Again, my little Makayla was sad, but she seems to understand since we usually just ride her rides only. 

We can't believe we stayed all day!  There were lots more rides but I won't bore you with more.  Here we all are waiting for the parade.  It was great and we're so glad we stayed for it to end our day.  Everyone really enjoyed themselves, now for dinner and we're calling it a day!  What a great Memorial Day!  Not our usual, since we usually just have a family BBQ.  This was lots more fun but too bad we missed the Grandpa's, they are just not into the lines and crowds so it's probably better that they stayed home for this one.

Mylee's Steps

We had Korean BBQ tonight with the whole family before Auntie Helen goes back to Hawaii next week after Mylee's birthday party.  It was my parents treat tonight!  The BBQ was super yummy and real inexpensive also!  It was not too far away from Alan & Som's house and their suggestion.  They really know all the good eating places!  Afterwards we headed to their house for some coffee and dessert and also for Auntie to finally see where they live.  While we were there Mylee took some steps while holding on.  It was first with my mom holding onto her hands.  She took 5 big steps!  Then we go the camera out to tape her while I held her hand and she took another 2 steps for us.  I think she knew the camera was watching her so she was shy! haha!  We're so proud of our little Mylee Bear!   This is just 6 days before she turns ONE!

Watch the video till the end.  So cute when she gets pooped out!  This is real tiring for someone her size!  We take it all for granted!

Seabreeze

We are so happy that Alan & Som came out to check out the church we attend with us today!  They loved it and we're so glad!  They came just in time for a great LOVE series, but it's towards the end.  At least they got to hear some of it.  It's going to be great for their new marriage!  We hope they keep coming with us!  It's fun that the whole family is going together!  This was also a big day because Mylee let me make it through the whole service without having to go get her out of the daycare.  Not sure if that will last but we'll keep on praying for her to like it soon.  

The great campus!  It's just a few years old.  They use to have service at the library and now look what it has become and how we found it!

Here are some photos of the great church band!  They are awesome!  Very, very powerful music!

Auntie Som & Uncle Alan's B-day Celebrations

The birthday festivities are really starting with our May birthdays.  We sure do know a lot of Gemini's.  It's starts with Auntie Som on the 22nd, then Uncle Alan on the 28th and then Baby Mylee on the 30th.  But this weekend is all about Auntie and Uncle!  We started by celebrating their birthdays with the family at Matsu Teppanyaki!  We filled up a whole side table and had our very own silly chef.  He was really good an funny.  He entertained our group!  Especially Makayla and Mylee.  He kept their attention pretty well.  Som & I shared a meal since it's always so big.  There was even enough still for us to share with my girls too.  Plus, we've all cut our meal portions.  I think it's going to save us a little on our wallet too!

We got them this cake from The Great Dane Bakery.  Their wedding cake bakery.  I thought it was cute to get Mr. & Mrs. on it since they just got married about a month ago and still newlyweds.  It was a yummy red velvet cake with cream cheese filling and butter cream frosting on the outside.  It was so good!  I think this is one of Som's favorites!  Everyone really enjoyed it!

Me & Ry.  It's rare for us to just have a photo of the two of us.  I like this one.  Not bad.

Mommy and my M&M girls getting ready to eat some teppanyaki!

So cute, they took a picture of our whole family for us.  Seems like they do this for special occasions since they took one with their camera too and gave us the picture in a little paper frame.  Cute!  Get ready to sing loud Makayla!

Makayla is right there to help Auntie and Uncle blow out those candles!  Hope they didn't forget to make a wish!  We're calling it and evening for Alan & Som birthday celebration #1.

The next evening was Alan & Som's celebration #2 with their group of friends.  We headed to Sweetie Thai in Cerritos for this evening's celebration.  Som took care of ordering all the yummy food for us.  It was way too much but so good!  

Here's the birthday couple!

Oh, there we are again without the kiddos.  That's two solo pictures in just 2 days.  Again, rare opportunity.  It was nice to go have dinner with all the adults and not have to worry about the girls. I mean I do love being with them, but meals are just not the same anymore.  Boy you do take some things for granted.  I really enjoyed my dinner and a nice cold beer!

The girls birthday shot!  Pretty good looking group if you ask me! haha!  It was a fun and chill night for sure!  Happy Birthday to Alan & Som.  I think we're now done with their birthday celebrations.  It's been a full weekend of just food!  Then we went to have Korean BBQ with the family again the following night.  We're really cramming things in because Auntie Helen is going back to Hawaii next week so every one's gotta take her out!   Diet here I come on Monday for sure!