Day 4 - Tuesday

Monday afternoon, after nap, we played in the pool. We all had the best time. It's a wonderful pool area with a great pool for the kids. Ryan had so much fun, but apparently swallowed too much chlorine water. He was throwing up by bedtime. It gave us terrible flashbacks to last year's trip. He was up until 2:30am throwing up. He would cry for more water, then throw it up 10 minutes later. If we refused the water he would cry and cry and cry. It was so sad.

We laid low most of the day. We went to the beach for a little while, but Ryan just snuggled up while we were there. It was cooler and cloudy, and just nice to be out in the fresh air. Once the clouds burned off and it started to warm up, we left. Ryan was dehydrated enough. He took a great nap when we got back, and was much perkier when he woke up.

We all met at Fred's Mexican Cafe for Taco Tuesday. We had the most incredible $2.95 tacos we'd ever had! We plan to go back next Tuesday!!

We watched the sunset at the beach and called it a day. There was a gal at the beach with a parrot. Ryan did not like it at all!!

We were so thankful Ryan was back to his silly self by the end of the day.

Day 3 - Kamaole I Beach Park

So now I'm up to date and will try to post our adventures daily.

We awoke to the birds chirping this morning. It is such a wonderful sound!

We joined everyone for breakfast, and then headed to the beach. We were all so excited to get our feet in the sand! Ryan didn't know what to think at first, but was soon running around like a crazy man. He would run and flop in the sand, and soon was a sand monster! I'm sure we will be finding sand for days after we return to Seattle!

Ryan ran down the beach without looking back. I tried to see how far he would go, but decided I better get him before he got too far down the beach. He just ran and ran without looking back, but as soon as I took off into the water without him he screamed. I just don't get it!! 2 hours of sun was enough for us today. We were all tired and hungry so headed up for lunch and nap.

David just headed out to snorkel with Chuck. They are checking out the hot spots for the rest of us!!

Day 2 - Trip to Maui

Our flight left Seattle at 8:25am. It was a long 5 hours, 48 minutes but all the kids did good. Ryan got the worst grade, as usual, but he really didn't do that bad. I always wish he would sleep more. He napped less than an hour the entire trip. Jack and I swapped seats for awhile so he and Ryan could watch a video together. We were all happy to land in Maui on time. We headed to Costco, then made the 20 minute trip to Kihei. The scenery never gets old, neither do the 80 degree temperatures I might add!

By the time we landed at our condos, we were all tired, hungry and crabby. We joined everyone for an early dinner, watched Ryan turn into a crazed lunatic, and forfeited the sunset to get him to bed. He slept great, which was awesome. He usually doesn't sleep well when he's overtired, so we were thankful sleep came easy last night!

Day 1 - Seattle Hotel

My parents, sister Jen and her family and Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Charlie flew into Seattle on Saturday, and we all left for Maui Sunday morning. Ryan and I drove out to see everyone at the hotel and have dinner. It took Ryan a little bit to warm up to everyone. He snuggled up to his buddy Jack right away, and after 10 minutes was running around like the crazy man he is! Watching he and Grace chase each other while giggling was so great!

Happy Birthday David!

January 16th - We celebrated David's birthday with balloons and cupcakes. Ryan had the best time blowing out the candles like it was HIS birthday! It's amazing how blowing out a candle can bring such joy to a toddler!! I think the best present David could have gotten was the smiles and giggles coming from Ryan.

Our little chef.

Ryan has been enjoying the play kitchen Grandma Karen and Grandpa Bill gave him for Christmas. The other night he put on his apron and made me a cup of hot cocoa. It was delicious!

Garden D'Lights

We visited the Garden D'Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens on New Year's Day. We weren't expecting much, and were pleasantly blown away! Volunteers transformed the gardens into a lighted masterpiece, creating fuschias out of hundreds of Christmas lights. It was spectacular! The pictures don't do it justice, but gives you an idea of this amazing work of art.