Wendy's birthday

Wendy had a great birthday other than she was sick.  She slept most of the day, but when dad came home she was ready to open her presents and have a little cake.  Above she is pictured with all her loot, her cowboy hat, her cake (she made it very easy and requested a cake with sprinkles), dressed up in her finery, ane two pictures from earlier in the week that show how cute she is.

 Here is Eric posing with all of Wendy's jewelry, and Zachary, Wendy and Eric smiling after all the presents were opened.  Wendy is an opinionated three-year-old.  She is also all little girl.  She loves to take care of her babies and pretend she is the mom or dad.  However, you can tell she has all brothers because she can fight the pretend bad guys as well.  We love Wendy.

Zachary's Hair

  

Here is Zachary's new haircut.  I was cutting all the boys hair one evening.  I asked how short Zachary wanted it and he said really short everywhere; so I started doing just that.  When I got partially done he noticed that he could have a spiky top and requested that I leave it that way.  He has had a fun time with it and has received numerous comments/compliments.

Eric's Birthday

Eric is now 5 years old.  He was supper excited for his birthday to come.  Earlier in the year I tried to help him understand the passage of time by giving some landmark dates, first was Hyrum's birthday, then our vacation to Hawaii, and then Eric's birthday would come. After the vacation he asked almost daily how many days were left until his birthday.  

 Here are pictures of Eric with his new set of Legos, his Jungle Book, and the check from great-grandpa. The check was one of his favorite gifts.  He is definitely a man who values having cash on hand :)  His cake was a treasure box full of gold.  Below is a picture of Eric with his preschool teacher after the program.  It was May 16th, but I never posted it and thought that I should.

Mud Island

We visited Memphis for the first time over Memorial Day weekend.  We decided to go to Mud Island.  It is located in the Mississippi river.  We rode a monorail over; walked through the Riverwalk, an exact scale model of the Lower Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois 954 miles south to the Gulf of Mexico; took a paddle boat; and walked through a museum that showed life on the river.  The kids loved getting wet!!!  
After our adventures we visited the Aldi's (a grocery store that Kyle remembered from his mission), and had some wonderful barbecue for dinner.  It was a fun day trip for the Flamm family.

Hawaii Days 8 & 9

The final two days of our vacation were as fun as the first week.  Saturday was a free day for Kyle so we chose to leave the resort and visit Sea Life Park.  We had fun watching the dolphins, penguins, sea lions, and turtles.  The darker jumper below is actually a wholphin, a cross between a false killer whale and a bottle-nose dolphin.  The kids also had fun playing on the playground there.  The drive there was also beautiful.

  

Here are Wendy, Eric, Hyrum, and I preparing to watch the dolphin show.  

The final day of our vacation was spent getting things together, attending church, and doing a little scavenger hunt at the resort.  It was an activity we could do even though we had checked out.  They provided us with a little phone that gave us clues and then would activate lights or water features when we found the right spot.  It was pretty cool.  That evening we headed to the airport.  Our flight left at 8:45pm.  We arrived at LAX 6:00am (five hours in the air).  The kids slept well, but Kyle and I did not.  It  felt great to finally when we got home Monday at around 2:30pm.

Hawaii Days 6 & 7

Thursday, we spent at the Disney Resort.  We spent the majority of the morning and early afternoon in the pools.  The kids absolutely loved it.  We were able to all have a great time thanks to Larae helping out.  There is no way I could have kept track of 4 kids on my own.  That evening we separated for our special events.  Kyle and I went to the Formal.  Zachary went to a pirate party.  Eric, Wendy, Hyrum, and Grandma went to a stroller drive in movie.  We all had fun.  I failed to get pictures on this fun filled day.  Below is the one thing I did record, Wendy reading to her dolly on our balcony.  Above is a picture of the resort and ocean from our balcony.

Here are some pictures of some of the Disney characters we saw.  Zachary is wearing his pirate hat from the party.  These were taken at breakfast.  I really appreciated the wonderful food that was provided at breakfast time.  Breakfast food is definitely some of my favorite, if I don't have to make it. :) 

Friday morning Eric and I walked down to the beach at 7:00am to feed the fish.  Eric loved it and actually got in the ocean.  Later that morning, Zachary and Eric went to Auntie's Beach House.  They had plenty of activities including computer games, so the boys were hooked.  Wendy and I discovered the fish, shark, and stingrays.  Later we also shared our discoveries with the boys.  Kyle and I also had the opportunity to do a little snorkeling.  

 

That evening was the family activity down on the beach.  Zachary played in the water until it was almost dark, Eric designed and built a variety of sand creations, Wendy split her time between water and sand, and Hyrum fell asleep.   Kyle stayed for the concert, which he very much enjoyed.  The rest of us went to our room for some much needed sleep.

Hawaii Days 4 & 5

Tuesday was a relaxing day.  We spent the morning at the Kottage.  I was able to get all our laundry done and the kids played in the back.  The afternoon we went on a train ride at the pineapple plantation and took our pictures.  I think we all look stunning as pineapples.  We then had a Hawaiian Ice which was absolutely delicious!!

Wednesday we packed everything up, checked into the Aulani Disney Resort.  Larae and I received beautiful flower Leis and Kyle got a nut necklace.  We then went shopping at the Aloha Swap meet.  Wendy and I got dresses and the boys picked out some toys.  Kyle got a belt, and a little tiki statue for his desk at work and Larae got us some delicious jam.  The last activity before we went back to the resort was a visit to Pearl Harbor.  The kids were not as solemn as the site would warrant, but we had a good time, and Kyle and I found it very interesting.

That evening we attended the welcome reception for the AGM (Kyle's company Annual General Meeting)  We had great food, renewed friendships, and the kids had fun getting airbrush pictures on their arms.