thing 1.... thing 2

Thing 1: We are leaving for Maui for a family vacation shortly. I am extremely giddy over the matter. I kinda wish I could stay there during the winter. To educate the kids as to what Hawaii is, I made a poster board. For FHE (family home evening). We taught the girls where Maui is, what an island is, taught them the state bird, fish, tree, flag, and flower of Hawaii are. The poster board is teaching them to countdown. Sydney loves to change the number of days every day. After showing them the poster we watched Hula dancing on You Tube and tried our own version of it. We also taught them to say "Aloha" and the "hang loose" sign. I plan on packing nothing but bathing suits, shorts, flip flops, skirts, and shirts w/ short sleeves...something we won't be wearing again until next May or June. I'm also super excited that my parents will be meeting us in Seattle and joining us on the same flight to Maui and staying with us for the week. Sydney and Jordyn are just as excited as me. All of us just want to bask in the sun near the beach or pool and play with the kids.
Thing 2: Sydney got her ears pierced today. She got her ears pierced when she was 9 months but kept pulling the ear rings out and losing them when she hit 12 months so I took the ear rings out for good. She's been wanting ear rings again. She used all her piggy bank money to pay to get her ears pierced. We went to Claire's at the mall. She picked the color stone she wanted which just so happened to be her birth stone. Prior to going to the mall, we watched another You Tube video in which this 2 year old happily got her ears pierced with no flinch or anything. The You Tube video served to show Sydney the process of getting ears pierced and showed her that it hurts but nothing too serious. Sydney understood that getting one's ears pierced was like getting shots. Her are the pictures.
Before: Very excited

Before: Still happy while the lady marks her ears

After: a second after the shots she's not as happy. She wanted to cry I could tell, but was brave and didn't.

After: A couple minutes after. The pain has dwindled away and she's feeling great again. She grew a couple feet after today. She felt like such a big girl and has been walking on cloud 9 ever since.