It has been one crazy, busy and wonderful year since sweet Isla officially joined our family. She is silly, sweet, loyal, feisty , unique and everything that our little family needed. For her birthday, we had the rare opportunity of having almost all of our family in town, so we had a little birthday party on a Wednesday night for her and Lester at one of our favorite parks. Friends and family from all parts of our lives came, and it was such a good reminder of how good life is and how blessed we are. We bbq'd, played in the ball pit, threw the football around and just generally hung out. Isla's friend Kate had a birthday as well, so we decided to make it a joint effort. It was fun to watch the girl's different personalities exhibit themselves-Isla was very unsure, even wary of the attention from everyone. She started out upset, then timid, then willing to try it, then finally dove all in and happy. She loved her cake and the sweet presents so many of sweet friends brought her. Lester as well enjoyed sharing the day with his daughter, and it was over all a great time. Thanks to all the wonderful friends who came and who have always supported us! We're so lucky!
































On their actual birthday, Lester had a very rare, unexpected Saturday off, so we went to the Farmer's Market at the Ferry building in San Francisco. It was a gorgeous day, with lots of yummy food and fun shops. We played at the park for a little bit before heading home and relaxing for the day. That evening we joined with some of Lester's family for dinner for Brazilian BBQ, and once again, had a great time.

Unfortunately now, us three ladies are all in the long process of recovering from a nasty cold/cough-well, they are I should say. I am in the hospital for pneumonia as it turns out-guess that's one way to get a break huh? Haha...ultimately though, it makes me feel even more grateful that we were all well enough for the last few weeks to do all the amazing things we needed to. And more then anything, it makes me feel more grateful for this wonderful year we've spent with lovely Isla, my sweet husband who takes such good care of us, and my family who is always here for us. Here's to many many more! Love my sweet husband and adorable Isla girl.

It is unbelievable how busy we've been, which in turn has led to a ridiculous long time since I've journaled/updated my memories on here. This summer has been filled with endless amounts of trips to the Academy of Sciences, play dates, zoo visits, family and friend excursions, a few small vacations, and so much more. I will share the highlights along with a photo dump by way of catching up.


Like I said, we've been spending a lot of time with friends and family at the zoo and Academy of Sciences. We love keeping active and getting to appreciate the world around us, and these places do an excellent job of helping us to do so. Our favorite thing at the zoo so far is the giraffes, red panda, park and train. At the Academy we love the butterfly's in the rain forest, the aquarium and all its underwater wonders, earthquake exhibit and the kids play area. We also love the whale exhibit, considering that we have seen an insane amount of whales in our very own hometown this summer.














We've also had a few holidays. On Father's Day, we spoiled our Daddy's with fun kid answered cards and pictures, a lavish dinner and dessert and a few other little presents. We are so blessed to have these guys in our lives, and I will not waster more time gushing about them because I've already done that over the years so many times. We also had the 4th of July. For this, we did something new and went to the free opera simulcast at AT&T park, and picnicked on the field [in Hunter Pence's spot might I add]. It was Marriage of Figaro, and we loved everything about that experience-the music, the atmosphere, our city by the bay, our Giant's team, and just being a family. So that was fun-the next day we did some fun 4th of July crafts, had a BBQ with visiting family at the park, and then did fireworks with our friends at their place. Isla loved the fireworks, but Addy was more interested in going inside and playing Lego's her buddy Sean haha-still, a great day.









Speaking of Lego's, this is Addy's new hobby. She has already spend a huge chunk of her time 'building' with bigger blocks, and as soon as she discovered Lego's it was love at first sight. This came at a perfect time, because we promised her some of her own as incentive for being a good flower at our cousin Steffani's wedding. Being 2 1/2 we weren't quite sure how well she'd do, but day of the practice [for the most part] paid off and she did an amazing job [apart from a few Hey Mom's and Hi everybody's she yelled during the ceremony haha!] The wedding itself was beautiful, along with the bride and it was really fun to spend time with most of my Hanaike family.















And of course, it wouldn't be a California summer without some beaches and sunsets, so of course you can find us in the sand fairly often. Other then that, my whole family is in town for an unanticipated visit, so we are just living the life and enjoying hanging out, and watching our new generation enjoy each other. Later this week, we have Lester's birthday and our sweet baby Isla's 1st birthday. Seriously though..how does it all go so fast?!?!? Life is crazy wonderful!