Remember G.L.O.W. (the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling)? Well this picture has nothing to do with them. These are just some photos of Oren testing out a glow stick for Halloween this week. She looked so cool playing with it in her dark room, I had to take some shots. It looked like she found Kryptonite!

Aunty Kristie gave us a call on Saturday morning and alerted us to the festivities at the Oahu Urban Garden Center in Pearl City. Every Second Saturday, they offer tours of the gardens, a mini plant sale, and since it’s October, they had a multitude of Halloween-related activities, the coolest of which was a build-a-scarecrow station! Oren watched as her cousins Tehani and Logan stuff old clothes with hay (while she stuffed her mouth with it), and had a blast in the gardens where she traversed a bush maze and crawled through a topiary tunnel. We also came away with a couple free sunflower seedlings! The Valdez family gives this place three (green) thumbs up!

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Here’s Oren and her trademark “blast off” countdown and dive into the pool. Although we’re proud of her counting and fearlessness, she always forgets 14 and 15!

Oren had her first field trip last Friday. The school took the kiddies out to the Aloun Farms Pumpkin Patch in Kapolei. I think this picture sums up the day for her. Our first mistake was agreeing to be chaperones for the day. The minute we show up at the patch, the meltdowns began. She was hysterical on the hay ride; pumpkin picking was more like pumpkin pointing (while Daddy served as rickshaw); and during lunch at Kapolei Park, she refused to sit with her classmates, and by the time she did, everyone was ready to leave. If anything, it was a lesson learned; chaperone at your own risk!

Tags: aloun farms, field trip, Preschool, pumpkin

The Valdezs got out of the house for once this weekend and graced downtown Honolulu with their presence at the 15th Annual Children & Youth Day at the State Capitol. The event sprawled across several civic areas; from the Frank Fasi Civic Center to the Hawaii State Art Museum. It was just too massive to cover, especially in the blazing hot Sunday sun. We quickly realized that even though it was labeled a children’s event, there wasn’t much for a 2.5 year old to do, with all the rides and activities geared towards older kids and young teens. Oren did enjoy the slush floats, meeting up with her buddy Ensen, then the crafts at the Hawaii State Art Museum. I must say, that’s the cutest paper bag hat I’ve ever seen! We’ll definitely be back though, and by then, maybe Oren can strap herself into a bungee trampoline!

It was a low key birthday weekend for me as usual; nothing to celebrate when you’re getting closer to middle age! But it was great spending time with my mom and sis last Saturday, as they treated me (and Oren) to birthday dinner #1 at Ruby Tuesday then clothes shopping at the Navy Exchange. Birthday dinner #2 didn’t go as planned as Oren’s gift to me was mean cold (my wife’s gift to me was allowing me to buy these). We slugged all day at home, cancelled our dinner reservations at Buzz’s Steakhouse, then got take-out from Kiawe Grill (and a bday pie from Anna Miller’s). I had the Buffalo Pulehu Patty plate. YUM. Throw in a couple bday wishes from friends and coworkers and it was a great past few days for me. Thanks everybody! You make this old man feel loved!