2025, you came and went. at times you were a little sluggish and slow, but thankfully you picked up a bit and we survived with flying colors. so before we move on to the new, let’s recap what 2025 looked like for us.

we cartwheeled are way into the new year of 2025 with beach days, bike rides, basketball, and birthdays.

spent time as a family enjoying the sun, waves, and view at some of our favorite beaches. took family bike rides around kailua in search of flowers, fun, and food. caught a few uh wahine basketball games to support “kolby’s girls.” we even got to cheer him on during his first basketball season, while kendyl enjoyed playing another winter season of soccer.

celebrated my 39th birthday at kaimana beach during the day and the one and only, buzz’s steakhouse, for dinner. then we amped it up for kendyl’s 7th birthday with a “surprise” trip to disneyland. while we have fortunately ventured to disneyland before this one hit different as kolby was tall enough to ride everything, which made for new core memories.

then we got to celebrate another special human’s birthday on the shore of maili. highly recommend a staycation with your favorites— endless laughing, good eats, and lots of fun in the sun. kids enjoyed pool time, digging in the sand, crab hunting, and tide pool searching.

in the spring we discovered new family favorites.

we did a trial run camp out at bellows with just the four of us to see if we could all handle it. well, it was a success and we pitched tent a few more times throughout the year at malaekahana.

baseball is now a family affair. kids played their first seasons of baseball in kailua then played summer ball in manoa. we also caught a bunch of games at the les murakami stadium to cheer on the bows. absolutely love the culture the uh head coach has created— keeping local kids home is so darn special and an awesome reminder to our kids that they could one day be a ‘bow.

lei making has now become somewhat of a family affair as kendyl has taken a liking to the craft. in this season, many lei for many occasions were made. Plus the kids got to even experience the ups and downs of parenthood as we nurtured caterpillars into butterflies.

we started the summer months off with a bang and took advantage of the endless summer.

we were proud to celebrate the achievement of kendyl receiving the citizenship award, that she had her eye on all year long since not getting it her first year at kainalu. our girl has drive.

the ko girls then hopped on a plane to california, in celebration of our malia, who graduated with honors and as her graduating class’ valedictorian and our ruby, who said ta-ta to elementary school and heeelllloooo to middle school.

with the help of dnbs summer unlimited special, we discovered the kids love dnbs just as much as their dad. much fun was had there throughout the summer months.

then we got to spend some time at our special place, punalu’u — referred to by the kids as “grams’ beachhouse.” the days were filled with fishing, swimming, beachwalks and runs to mcdonalds for ice cream cones and fries. nights were just as exciting with card games, boardgames, and crab hunting. warms our hearts to know our kids feel its special-ness just as much as their mom always has.

the kids went from playing baseball at different levels in the summer to fortunately getting to be on the same team in the fall season. dad got to coach them, while mom enjoyed her long walks in the valley as she took in the beautiful homes and listened to some of her favorite podcasts.

wrapped up the summer with a visit from the gordon’s. got to play a little bit of tourist in waikiki and ate well around town— the deck, hau tree lanai, buzz’s, aoki’s shave ice, and many more local must-eats. lots of fun was had, which made the goodbye a bit rough for one kid.

kendyl entered the second grade and kolby is wrapping up his time at our family’s favorite preschool. kasey started a new position— college and career advisor, at the same high school he has been at for over a decade. ginger came into her own as a labor and delivery nurse throughout her first full year at her new hospital.

kendyl kicked a lot of soccer balls in her fall season of soccer and kolby ran routes in flag football…sort of. spend a part of fall break our “special place”— everyone caught a fish! then played a bunch of baseball while welcoming the holiday season with open arms.

halloween week was filled with pumpkin patches, truck-n-treats and trick-treats.

thanksgiving was a season of pumpkins, gratitude, and family.

seagull kailua book parade - casey up to bat.

christmas was full of birthdays, crafting, traditions, and more family.

when we reflect on the year, the best moments were the little ones spent with the amazing humans in our life— playdates, dinner with the ML regulars, sports with friends, family get-togethers, personal achievements, and just living in the moment created lifetime memories— like that time we went to pali lookout on a whim and we almost flew like mary poppins.

2025, you gave us the push to start this blog and yet, nothing really came of that. but it’s okay. we are changing that in the new year. the ko family is ready to make 2026 unforgettable.

so if you’ve read this far, come along and join us, the ko family, in 2026.

2025.

Favorite Coffee Stops - O`ahu

Strawberry Crush Cake