Tea with Santa

Tyler got into the Christmas spirit at the Tea with Santa event at the Kahala Resort. He went with his mommy and Aunty Lisa-Anne.



When he first arrived, he played "Pin the Beard on Santa."



Great job, Tyler!



Then, with a "Ho ho ho," Santa arrived!





When it was time for Tyler to sit on Santa's lap, he had a lot of things to tell him!



I wonder what Tyler asked for. Could it possibly start with a "T" and ends with "rain"?



Tyler even made a Christmas tree puzzle with his own design!



Thank goodness, Aunty Lisa-Anne was there to help finish it!



We had a great time! Merry Christmas everyone!

The Tyler Cooking Show - Pumpkin Cheesecake

Welcome to the latest edition of Tyler's Cooking Show! For Thanksgiving, Tyler and his mom made a pumpkin cheesecake for a family get-together. Ty's mom found the Cheesecake Factory recipe online.

First, he had to make the graham cracker crust.

Crust:

• 1-1/2 cups graham crumbs
• 5 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
  

Oops!

Mix crust ingredients together, just till coated and crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 2/3 up the sides of an 8" springform pan. Bake for 5 min. at 350. Set aside.



Then it was time to make the filling.

Filling:

• 3- 8oz.pkgs. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. allspice

Combine cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl, mix until smooth with an electric mixer. Add pumpkin eggs, and spices, beat till smooth and creamy.




Pour into the crust. Bake for 60-70 min. or till the top turns a bit darker. Remove from oven and allow to come to room temperature, then refrigerate. After it has thoroughly chilled, remove the pan sides and cut. Serve with whipped cream.

And here is the finished product!

Mmmm! Happy Thanksgiving!

Ty's Glow-rious 7th Birthday!

Tyler celebrated his 7th birthday with friends and family at Glow Putt in Windward Mall.

He invited his friends for a round (or 3) of mini-golf.

Ty was lucky to have a Thomas the train cake...

And when it was time to blow out the candles, he invited everyone to help him.

Happy birthday Ty!
Thanks to everyone who came out to help him celebrate!

The Magician's Assistant

Anyone who knows Tyler knows he's shy and doesn't like to be the center of attention. Wait, actually he's the opposite -- he's quite a ham (wonder where he gets it from, hmmmm?). So when there was a magician at Colby Kimoto's first birthday party, Ty jumped at the chance to be the magician's assistant!



Ty wasn't the only one to get in on the act. Uncle Ivan also got up on stage to participate in a dangerous-looking trick.



Don't worry, no one was hurt in the process and everyone had a fun time, helping Colby celebrate her first birthday!

FORE! Ty Tees It Up

Ty took golf lessons at school towards the end of the year so to continue during the summer, he is taking lessons from Aunty Julie. They had their first lesson this afternoon at Pearl Country Club in Pearl City.

First lesson - how to place the tee.

Then it was actual putting lessons.

Ty lined up his ball...


And took a swing!


Aunty Julie helped him with his grip.




Then it was time to go to the driving range.


He learned the importance of keeping both feet on the ground.

Ty did a pretty good job swinging...

He swung very hard!

And he connected with the ball well!


He even broke two tees, which he was so proud of!


Thanks to Aunty Julie for the first golf lesson at a golf course!
Who knows, maybe he'll be a great golfer!
His goal: to be as good as his dad!

Tyler Beats Out the Competition

Tyler's first ever Pine Wood Derby Car competition ends with success.

His car design concept.

Progress Being made

Getting Some Color. Of Course Tyler's Favorite Color "Yellow".

Tyler's Competition. Some Nice Looking Cars.

Final Results From 1st to 4th. Who is That in 1st?

Tyler Posing with the Hardware. He Said He Was So Happy. Putting A Smile on Your Son's Face is What it is All About.

Tyler and His Car Will Represent his Cub Scout Pack 808 at the Makahiki Pine Wood Derby Race Against the Winners From All the Other Cub Scout Packs. Good Job Tyler.

Choo-Choo!

Tyler played train engineer on Kauai, when he got to ride the Kilohana Plantation train.

At first, he didn't want to sit up front because he was worried the whistle would be too loud,
but his mom convinced him to go.

The train ride is about 45 minutes long and goes approximately 5 mph.
Engineer Doug explained to Ty how to drive it.

The train stopped halfway through the ride to give passengers a chance to feed dozens of pigs.



Now Ty can say he got to drive a real train!

Tyler's 2009 Hokulani Christmas Program

Tyler performed with his 1st grade class at Hokulani Elementary's 2009 Christmas Program. He was so excited that morning, singing and acting out his songs.

But when he hit the stage (first row, 5th from left in blue/white aloha shirt), he seemed more mellow than usual. Stage fright, maybe?



For the second song, the Alvin & the Chipmunks Christmas Song, he got a little more into it with the motions, especially the "hula hoop" part.



He still did really well and his mom is very proud of him!

Happy holidays!

The Tyler Cooking Show - Project Train Cake

For Tyler's 6th birthday, his mom had a BRILLIANT idea to make him a cake. Not just any ol' cake, but one shaped as trains. She found the train mold at Williams Sonoma and thought, 'This should be easy!' Ty's mom sure is ambitious... maybe a little too much sometimes!



There were a lot of ingredients involved... from the cake mix...



To the candy decorations...


Let's start with the cake mix. Ty explains how to make it!

While the trains cooled...


It was time to set the "scene." Ty's mom got one of those oven drip trays as the base. She mixed green food coloring with frosting to make the "grass" and spread a thin coat on the tray.


Then, she used black licorice to make the "tracks."


She found little Japanese chocolate mushrooms and used them as "trees." Since they couldn't stand up on their own, she dyed mini marshmallows green and used them as "bushes" to keep the "trees" in place.



Now that the scene was set, it was time to decorate the trains. Ty started by using mini marshmallows as the "steam" coming from the engine.


We used gummy lifesavers for the wheels and strawberry sour belts as the bumpers and outlines of the train. Jelly beans, Smarties and lemon candies were used to resemble everything else, from headlights to cargo.


Here's the final product!

And in the end, it was a big hit at his birthday party!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TYLER!