hawaii 09

chistmas time is here again....and again i am not sure where it came from. so much has been going on. in the middle of november we started getting ready for our trip to maui. for the first time in my life i was packing up to the last minute...typically i am done a week before (i know, very sad....but efficient!) actually, my husband was the first one packed....and a week before at that. anyway, we left and thoroughly enjoyed our eight and a half hour plane ride....ha! the kids actually did pretty well, it was the adults that were going insane! funny story though....when we were landing in maui the pressure in laineys ears were really bothering her. i tried to explain how to open her mouth really wide, like she was yawning...or to swallow....none of that worked. so, i told her that she really needed a piece of gum to help with her ears. after giving alaina her piece of gum, i turn to look at her and found her actually trying to jam the unchewed piece of gum into her ear...i just about died!!!! this child is so literal. it really was one of the funniest things she has done.

anyway, the trip was amazing! so much fun and not enough time...it just goes too fast when you are having fun! every morning we would wake up and have breakfast, then gather up our stuff and head down to the beach. the girls would swim for several hours (i didn't partake that long...i had a few books that were calling my name....and sleep too...nothing better than a nap on the beach), then we would come up for lunch, the rest of the afternoon we would either hang out on the lawn...resting in the sun, or cleaning up. we'd watch the sunset while getting ready for dinner and then after dinner of course came the nightly trip to lappert's ice cream. the girls loved that...well, who am i kidding, i loved it too!

a few days after we got there we were able to celebrate papa's 60th birthday! it was pretty special. that night we had dinner on the lawn while watching the sunset...with pineapple upside down cake for dessert. later we all sat around and were able to share 60 different reasons we were thankful for him. the girls got a little confused because all of us adults were crying...it was a little comical.

a few days before thanksgiving we went on a little excursion to see dophins and to snorkel. it was awesome!! on our way out we saw several whales (that actually breeched, like six times in a row), then when we had almost reached our snorkeling destination we came upon a large pod of dophins! it was so amazing to see so many at one time, i wasn't expecting that at all. the girls loved it! lainey wasn't too sure in the beginning (she was clinging to daddy for dear life), but after seeing the whales and dolphins she thought it was pretty neat. once we got to our snorkeling spot we all jumped in, kylee and alaina too! i have to say that i am very disappointed in myself for not bringing some kind of underwater camera.....it was the cutest thing seeing both girls' little legs with little flippers on treading water. kylee even decided to put on a mask.....and that was all it took because after that came the snorkel and she was off.....then lainey decided she wanted a mask too (but no snorkel...that came later). i couldn't believe kylee was snorkeling and lainey was following us around putting her face in the water. i really was so proud of both of them. i don't think i ever would have been brave enough to try something like that when i was either of their ages. when we were finished and we got back on the boat lainey looked up to me and said, "i conquered my fear." yeah, our three year old said that! kylee was so proud of herself. it was just a few days later that we had to go and buy a kids snorkeling set so they could snorkel when we were swimming at the beach. the second to last day when we were in the pool lainey put the snorkel in her mouth and off she went. amazing i tell you. i wouldn't believe that a three and six year old were actually snorkeling.

thanksgiving was great...nothing better than spending the morning on the beach and then later stuffing your face with a bunch of thanksgiving carbohydrates...yum, yum! but once thanksgiving rolled around we new we would be leaving soon....too soon. by the end of the trip lainey had been nick named "tan toosh," kylee was ready to go home and see bella and alan and i were sad because we didn't want to leave. it was so wonderful being together as a family and really relaxing.

when we got home we got to our car at the airport to find really cold weather and a dead car. luckily someone was able to give us a jump...but the next day after getting a car full of groceries, the battery was dead again. between groceries, new battery...and a few extra car things that needed to be fixed we spent A LOT of money in one stinkin' day. it was pretty disgusting. anyway, all is better now. i think i've written enough for one post...i'll will shut my yap now.