Brooke Goes to Hawaii!!

Brooke's a very lucky girl -- she's not even 2 years old and she's gone to Hawaii!  We left a cold snowy January for the warm sun and beaches of Maui, Hawaii, to enjoy a week of fun with our good friends Mike, Heather and Hailey (their 2 year old daughter). 

Here's Brooke buckled into her seat for the flight to Maui.  The flight there went well, with just a couple small bouts of crying and only 45 minutes of sleeping, so the other 8 hours and 15 minutes involved lots of entertainment on the parts of Mom and Dad (plus, and additional 45 minutes sitting on the tarmac at O'Hare, but who's counting).  As we deplaned the folks around us commented how good she was.  Phew!  (the flight home was a whole different story)

During the week we had great weather in the 80's and enjoyed a lot of pool time.  Here's Heather and Hailey enjoying some pool time.

Breaking for snacks by the pool.

Swimming with the pregnant Moms in the kiddie pool (we're both due in April).

Swimming with the Dads.

All wrapped up in towels after a long day of swimming.

The 6 of us ventured out to dinner a couple times.  That's always an "experiment" as you balance "racing to order food and keeping the kids occupied" while trying to also enjoy some adult conversation, a couple cocktails (or mocktails for the pregnant ladies), and a nice dinner.

During the week, the Moms enjoyed an moms-only day out, heading to Wailea for some shopping, lunch and spa treatments at the Grand Wailea (supposedly a site for many celebrities).  We didn't bump into anyone famous, but enjoyed our kids-free day.

The next day, the Dads went scuba diving off Lanai.  They said their 2 dives were great and they enjoyed themselves.  Meanwhile, the moms and daughters headed to the Maui Aquarium, where we also got to see some fish.  At the turtle exhibit the girls had more fun dancing on the ledge, then looking up at the big turtles swimming by.

Then it was onto the shark tank!  Again, the girls were more interested in climbing on the seats than looking at the big fish!

The couples also traded babysitting duties, so one night Heather and Mike went out for a nice kid-free dinner.  They hit Merriman's in Kapulua, raving about both the food and the location.  We'll mark it down for next time.  The next night Scott and Jen went out to the Lahaina Grill.

As the week progressed we "graduated" from the kiddie pool to the adult pool, as the Dads grew more adventureous in teaching the girls to swim and playing with them in the water.

Heather brought cute matching dresses for the girls, and we tried hard for a cute picture of the two, but they just wouldn't stand still together long enough.  I think they're headed in search of mai tai's here, as the paparazzi session comes to a close.

We also enjoyed a nice brunch out one morning at The Plantation in Kapulua -- another great recommendation.  It had beautiful views of the ocean, with nice scenic backdrops for family shots.

We had a fabulous week and thank Mike and Heather again for inviting us!

Winter Walks

While joining the gym has been good for Mom, Dad and Brooke, it hasn't been so good for Maddie.  She is at her heaviest weight ever due to lack of walks (1. wintertime, 2. Mom already gets exercise at gym). 

Well that's gotta change...especially because the cold winter months make us a little stir crazy as well when we don't get fresh air! 

We've had about 3 "reasonably" warm days, so Brooke gets bundled up in her snowsuit and off we go.  Brooke's not so keen on it by the middle of the walk though...either she's getting too warm (or cheeks too cold?) or she's tired of being the Stay Puf Marshmallow Woman.  Also, due to the bulky snowsuit, she can't be strapped into the stroller so we must be careful she doesn't slide out when we go downhill!

Lazy Winter Weekends

A couple lazy weekend shots.  Brooke likes to pull a blanket on top of her while she reads her book.  We caught her in the action here.

Snoopy, Dad and Brooke reading (oh, Maddie too on the side, of course)

Brooke smiles and smiles when riding on our backs / shoulders.  Here's some "horse riding" on Dad.

Charlie Visits!

For New Year's Eve and that weekend, our good friends Ross, Erin and their nearly 2 year old son visited.  We celebrated Ross's birthday (NYE) and watched lots of football on New Year's Day.  The kids had fun playing together.

 

Here's video of a good game of chase:

They had a marvelous time in the bathtub too!

On Saturday we headed down to the Children's museum.  The Dads had fun showing the munchkins how to work a ginormous robot.

They "experimented" with a stone blinko "musical instrument".

And to the Moms' dismay, insisted we visited the "water park" floor.  Charlie got a bit wet...

It was a great weekend and we were so glad to have our good friends visit!