Maui Vacation

We survived our first real family vacation with a toddler! We have done lots of little trips since Grayson was born, and I've even flown solo with him, but we haven't done a big vacation yet, until now. It took me approximately two weeks and three pages lists to get all of our stuff packed and ready.

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.

Oregon Trip

Back in July Nick and I took a trip up to Oregon to celebrate our sweet friend's wedding. The timing ended up working out perfectly and my little niece was born just a few days before the wedding. Since my sister and her husband live in Oregon only a few hours away from where we were already going, we decided that I would stay, keep the rental car and drive up to stay the week with them and Nick would fly back home for work.

We both had the day off on Friday so we caught an early flight into Portland and made the quick drive into Hood River. Driving up there was such a nice break from being in the Bay Area. All the highways up there are two lane and the scenery is just amazing. We made a quick stop at Multnomah Falls, snapped a few pictures and got some ice cream for the road.


When we got to Hood River we went straight to a winery that Nick had found and wanted to taste at. Some friends met us there and we had such a nice relaxing afternoon with them visiting and catching up. Can I just say... wine tasting has become slightly less fun for me since no tasting is involved. But, sitting on a nice patio in the sun with good friends is always enjoyable. Even with a water bottle in hand.

After wine tasting {and water sipping} we went to check into our hotel. Our whole group of friends was staying at the same place and it was gorgeous. Our suite had a patio that opened up right onto the Columbia River and it was just so beautiful.

We all met for dinner Friday night at a local brewery and pizza place and then went out for drinks {also not as much fun anymore}. Saturday we had breakfast on our patio, just the two of us and then spent the rest of the day at the pool.


The wedding was held at a vineyard across the Columbia in Washington and it was seriously one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. There was an amazing view of Mt. Hood and I can't get over how much I loved that place. The venue was beautiful and so peaceful. The bride is a wedding planner professionally and she really outdid herself with this one.

 

 

Sunday Nick had to drive back to Portland with some friends to catch his flight and I took off toward Joseph by myself. A few hours in the car with snacks and a good audio book made for a really nice day, although I was so sad to say goodbye to Nick. We had never spent that much time away from each other since we were first dating and an entire week was hard.


I spent the rest of the week snuggling with Nayeli and adventuring to the grocery store and out for ice cream with my mom. I really had never spent any time with a newborn and spending that week with my brand new niece was so precious. Watching my sister become a mom has been so special and she just seems so at peace that it really made me feel better knowing what's to come for us this winter.

Needless to say, after spending that week in Oregon I definitely wish we could move up there. Life just seems so much more peaceful. It's so beautiful and we joked the entire time that we were just going to sell everything and move up there and open a coffee shop or Bed and Breakfast. Either one sounds good to me!

Five on Friday | On Being Pregnant at Disneyland

Happy Friday! I'm linking up with April & Co today for a little Five on Friday fun! I'm bending the rules a little bit and making all five on the same topic.

So, this summer I found myself on a long pre planned Disneyland vacation with my in-laws. Something I had been begging for, for years. I hadn't been since I was seven years old, long before California Adventure had been built and back when I was terrified of going on rides.

We were so excited to find out that I had finally gotten pregnant only weeks before we were supposed to go on our trip. I immediately started Googling what rides I could go on and only found a bunch of forums with ladies fighting with each other about being selfish, terrible mothers for even thinking about rides at a time like this. Yikes. Spare yourself that drama. 

Anyway, I decided to make it easy and just stayed away from any of the rides that Disney has dubbed unsafe for pregnant women. {Read: all of the good ones}. This doesn't mean that your trip can't be fun. I will admit I was pretty bummed at first but found some acceptable ways to cheer myself up that I'm going to share with you.

ONE
First, find yourself a cute pair of Minnie ears and let your little kid flag fly. I wore mine the entire time, even to dinner and was laughed at many times by my family. So what.

TWO
Since you are going to have to spend time waiting for the people you are with to go on a ride, at least be productive with your time and wait in line for a Dole whip, churro bites with chocolate sauce, cheese filled pretzels, and a giant corn dog or two. Sitting in the shade with a delicious snack is way better than standing in the sun in line for a ride for 40 minutes. {Avoid the humungous turkey leg at all costs though. Those seriously grossed me out. Blahhhh}

THREE

Try to be past your first trimester so at least you have a little bump and people might suspect you're pregnant. Otherwise you're just a weird girl wearing sparkly Minnie ears sitting by herself stuffing her face.

FOUR

When you go to the pool bring some kind of pregnancy book or magazine to read. That way, instead of people looking at you and thinking "that girl is shaped kind of like a jellybean" they will think something like "Oh she's pregnant! How cute!" Or whatever. Also, side note. Spend a little more to stay at a Disney hotel. We stayed at the Grand Californian and it was a-maz-ing. There is a private hotel entrance for guests to get into the park so you don't have to wait in line and it was so nice to be able to quickly go back to the room to change shoes, grab  a sweatshirt, take a nap, etc.


FIVE
There are still tons of rides that you can go on, albeit, most of them are little kid rides but not everything is off limits. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is fun! And, it's possible that people watching in Disneyland is more entertaining that going on any rides at all. Seriously, there are some funky people in this world. Also? Stroller shopping! I seriously became obsessed with strollers on this trip. I was constantly pointing them out to Nick who laughed at me every time. I definitely came home with a wish list.

When you can't go on any rides... take a selfie with your MIL who hates Splash Mountain :)

So, there you have it. I absolutely loved this vacation and was so happy to finally get to spend a couple days in the happiest place on earth. I'm happy that we went before my morning sickness and real food aversions really set in strong. It was so much fun and I couldn't help but imagine our first trip after this little one comes. It will be a while, a few years at least, but I can't wait!

 

Maui Family Vaca

 

We made it home! We got back late Saturday night, picked up the pups, and slept for about 11 hours. We woke up Sunday morning to the first 9er game of the official season and may or may not have decorated the entire house for fall and eaten a full batch of baked artichoke dip.

 

Here's a recap of our glorious 8 days in paradise. We arrived on Friday morning and spent the day lounging on the beach and drinking a few Mai Tais. We spent most of the week like that minus a few adventures and meals out. Major photo dump coming your way...



 

The view from our balcony

How cute is my sweet SIL? She is about 4'10" and this giant Rainbow flip flop was almost as tall as her. I made her try it on. 

 

Our family typically doesn't go out for breakfast much, we prefer to save our calories for dinners and wine but we couldn't resist this place. There are only a few other locations {Singapore, Tokyo, Portland, and Hong Kong}. In the unlikely event that you ever happen to find yourself in one of those places, definitely try it out. You order a squeeze bottle of pancake batter and they bring it to you with the toppings that you choose. We picked scallions, cheddar cheese, and crème fraiche. The best part is cooking your pancakes on the griddle built into the table. I never would have thought of making savory pancakes on my own but I am definitely going to be replicating these at home soon. They also had an entire menu of breakfast cocktails which is always exciting. I had a passion fruit mimosa. I pretty much have passion fruit juice running through my veins after this vacation.



The next day we ventured up the volcano and stopped at a goat cheese farm. They had tons of flavors of all kinds of goat cheese and goat's milk truffles. I picked a passion fruit one of course and we ordered a sampler platter of a bunch of their different cheeses.  Delicious. 

Nope.. that's not ice cream. It's goat cheese!

After the goat farm we kept driving to go to a winery also on the volcano. We got there only to find that they were closed for Labor Day and picnicked in the mini van instead. Can you tell from my MIL's face that she was less than thrilled? 

We spent the next day at our favorite beach in Napili. There is a little restaurant right on the beach that has a happy hour that lasts pretty much all day. It was really hot and we spent most of the day on the patio ordering drinks and food with a few occasional dips in the ocean. I snorkeled here for about 3 minutes and we saw a giant sea turtle. Turns out September is turtle season and we ended up seeing them all over the place. 

I ate more than my fill of poke {pronounced pokey} on this trip. Since we started trying to conceive I have completely cut raw fish of every kind, especially ahi tuna from my diet. That means I haven't had sushi since April. Sad face. Until this trip that is. I haven't had any hard alcohol either so a few fruity Mai Tais were a special treat I was really looking forward to. 

My all time favorite. Poke Nachos.

It is said that Maui has some of the most beautiful sunsets on earth. I think my photos turned out pretty good but really don't even do it justice. We sat out and watched the sunset every night either at the resort or at dinner. 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday while the rest of the world was counting down the minutes to the weekend, we were riding mopeds around the island. We had so much fun. I won't lie it's a little scary to ride one of these things down the normal street with cars all over the place and trying to pass you. We rode back up to our favorite beach and got some happy hour appetizers. What else would you expect? 

My husband is just so damn cute. I told him he should have been a motorcycle cop. He totally looked the part.

I got really lazy about taking pictures near the end of the trip. This one is from our last night before we went out to dinner.

 

Today was back to reality and over 300 emails... and a massive forest fire burning right outside our back door.