We caught a super early flight out Wednesday morning which meant leaving the house before five am and having all bags packed and loaded in the car the night before. The flight was relatively painless. I was actually the most nervous about this part of the trip, to the point of actually dreading the trip all together. I'm a major worry wart. I can't help it. Anyway, Grayson kept pretty calm and after playing and then fussing a little bit at the beginning of the flight, he eventually went to sleep for almost three hours.
The first few days we fell into a perfect little routine... breakfast, beach walk and playtime around the resort grounds, nap, and then Grayson's favorite.. pool time! He did such a good job swimming like a little fishy every day. We couldn't believe how well he was doing in the water by the time we left.
He's now jumping off the side of the pool into the water non stop. We're trying to teach him to say One.. Two... Three!! Before he jumps so we at least have a little warning. He mostly just shouts TREE!! and flings him self in wherever he feels like it, no matter if there's someone there to catch him or not. The kid has no fear... so this mama has lots of fear.
This trip was very different than our Maui vacations pre-baby. We used to go out to nice dinners every night and shop around downtown Lahina or hit up happy hour and order one of every appetizer on the menu. These days restaurants are hard because G refuses to sit still for even two minutes and pretty much hates most food unless he's allowed to throw it everywhere, which, is generally unacceptable. We were able to get out a few times which was nice even if it meant trading off chasing G through the restaurant out to the beach.
We mostly just picked up take out or grilled at the condo. Most nights we would feed G dinner and let him run off the last of his energy. He went down around 7 every night and then we would grill dinner and sit out on the patio for dinner.
We did get to get away for a dinner date and adventure in the mini van. Dinner was amazing and so nice to get away for some alone time. Nick told the restaurant that it was our anniversary to make sure they gave us a good table but we realized at dinner that the next day was actually our five year engagement anniversary. Ha!
We went to breakfast down the beach from our condo on the morning of the 4th and spent the rest of the day at the beach. It was a really mellow day considering how we usually spend the 4th, but it was nice for a change. That night we lit sparklers on the sea wall and Gray shouted Birdday! Birdday! Birdday! all night long.
Grayson did so good at the beach this day. He collected little shells and carried a cup around and smashed every sand castle we tried to build. Otherwise, every other day he wasn't a huge fan of the beach. For now, he prefers the pool which was just fine with me. Sandy babies are not my jam.
Most nights looked pretty much like this. Comfy clothes, and no make up. Perfection. I only actually did my hair once the entire trip which was useless anyway thanks to the humidity and non-stop misty rain we had all week. It was so nice to have such a long break from having to get ready all the time.
Our best times were spent wandering around the resort looking at all the things. Gray loved watching the feeshies! in the ponds and poking sticks into the water for the crabs to pinch.
One day I dressed him in this adorable Hawaiian outfit and let him wander around and ham it up for the old ladies on the putting green. He's just too much!
The last day we went down to Lahina to see the boats in the harbor and to see the Banyan tree which Grayson more or less ignored completely.
We spent the last night out on the lawn watching the sunset with the family and Grayson ran around like a wild man.
I know G is too little to remember this trip but it was such a special one for our little family. It was the longest consecutive days we've ever spent all together, and the longest I've spent with Gray since I went back to work after maternity leave.
The trip home was easy, except for a rather smelly barf episode in the mini van on the way to the airport. Nothing like a good pukey car ride to bring you right back down to earth. We need to talk to Grayson a little bit about not doing things that will completely freak his Auntie Caitlin out about having kids. We would like so have some cousins on this side too, one day.
We made it back Friday night, picked up the pups and grabbed In-N-Out {complete with two puppy patties!} for dinner on the way home. Gray was ready for bed after a long flight and we took advantage by heading to bed early too. As much as we love vacation, it feels so good to be home.
