Life of Larisa or LOL

...while dad is away. We play. And bake. And make pirate hats. And let toddlers pretend to drive. This week we are counting down the days until Isom returns home from his business trip. But over the past two weeks we have been keeping busy. My favorite diversion is of course whipping up sweet treats in the kitchen. My latest baking project involved marshmallow, chocolate, and graham cracker. Gabe helped me eat s'more pie and a s'more trifle. Both delicious and fun to make. The layers of chocolate graham gooey goodness included brownie, pudding, Nutella, coconut and caramel drizzle, and chocolate chips. Sinful. My latest obsession (other than s'mores and Desperate Housewives) is putting any and everything in mason jars. S'more dessert was that much better spooned out of mini mason jars. And that much cuter too. The boys have been keeping me tired and laughing with their fort building, chalk drawing, and fridge shelf climbing (Zach). We have the pictures below as proof t...

...to happen on Easter weekend---another broken toe! Even though its April Fools Day, this is no joke. You can't make something this ridiculous up. The Easter Bunny paid the boys a visit two days early (we have VIP status with him) since Isom left for three weeks of training on Easter Sunday. This year Zach was loaded up with Elmo loot. He currently loves the fuzzy red guy and the moon. Gabe received a few treats and a book from a series he got sucked into over spring break. We paid a visit to the mall/rodeo version of the Easter Bunny. You can see from the picture what a success that was. Maybe running my toe into a concrete wall was my payback for mildly torturing little Zachy. I still got a good chuckle out of his sheer terror at being held by the wascally wabbit. Saturday Isom kindly fried up bacon and baked his famous ginger snap cookies for our Easter brunch on Sunday and we dropped him off at the airport. Sunday we enjoyed good food and company, an egg hunt, egg roulette (s...

Spring break is officially over for us, but we have two train rides, a monk seal, homemade brownies, tostada Thursday tradition, a tent in the dining room, Kua Aina avocado, JT's latest album, and flirty paper straws to show for it. We did our best to stay busy and entertained this past week. The pre-spring break adventures started with an outdoor concert at The Waikiki Shell. Sarah and I saw Bonnie Raitt. I've determined that she is the female Willie Nelson and it was a great way to kick start spring. The boys and I re-discovered many of the fun places that Gabe and I frequented when he was younger. This time around we chased Zach through the pineapples at Dole, corralled him on the train through the pineapple field, and marveled at his delight in seeing really big fish at the aquarium for the first time. The boys and I played hard, snacked hard, and slept hard each night after our daily trips to the park and tourist attractions this week. If this was a preview for summer vac...

...is what the old wooden train in Ewa should be called. It creaks and groans when you walk and sit down, but it hauled a good amount of folks out to Kahe Point this past Sunday. In years past we have spent St. Patrick's Day out on the town, drinking green beers, celebrating Sarah's birthday, eating cabbage...this year we spent it all aboard the non-polar express. Zach is getting to the age where field trips are exciting. He has a train table and trains that are captivating his attention these days, so I thought riding on a actual train might be fun. And it was. We were all decked out in our green (except Isom who said he forgot...or didn't want to claim association in case train riding was a bust). We enjoyed a picnic on the lawn, browsing the gift shop, and snapping a few photos before boarding the 90 minute train to a place maybe 20 minutes away by car. If you plan to make this journey be sure to bring plenty of water and lather yourself with sunscreen...it's hot an...