Aloha from Hawaii!

We made it back safely from our trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. It was definitely an adventure to be had but I guess that traveling with a two year old that is somewhat expected. We left on a Saturday and surprisingly Ethan was fantastic on the plane ride over. We were a little nervous about this and packed accordingly but ended up not bringing out any of the toys we had purchased prior. He slept almost the entire five plus hours over there and when we arrived we knew something was amiss. He ended up coming down with a viral flu so we spent three days of our six days cooped up in our hotel room. We even had to venture twice to the E.R. because his temperature was up to 107 degrees which was extremely frightening. While we were frantically trying to get him there he was excited that we got to ride in the security golf cart to our car and go underground the hotel through the staff areas. After an x-ray and some blood work they found out it was a viral infection so we had to wait it out. Luckily on the fourth day things were finally looking up and the fever had passed so we were able to enjoy the last three days of our vacation.


The hotel that we stayed at, the Hilton Waikoloa Village, was amazing, especially the expanse of the property. On the first day that Ethan was back to normal we spent several hours swimming in the salt water lagoon at the resort. He really enjoyed it once we got his SpongeBob water wings on him. Jeff and I were able to take turns and go snorkeling and we saw a ton of eels and a turtle which was very cool. That evening we drove to Kona and went to our favorite spot “Bubba Gumps”. In case you ever get to go there you have to order the Shrimp Dippin’ Broth. Yummy!

The second good day Ethan, Jeff, and I got to swim with the dolphins at the resort we were staying. This was a highlight of the trip and I recommend this for anyone visiting this resort. That evening we walked to the Queen’s Shops and we got to watch a local Hula Dance company perform that Ethan enjoyed.

The third good day we ventured to one of our favorite beaches at the Mana Lani Resort. Ethan help build sandcastles on the shore while Jeff and I took turns snorkeling. This is a great beach to go to for snorkeling and for little kids since it is very protected. After snorkeling we headed back to get ready to go to a luau at the resort. The luau was a bit of a disappointment since the MC was very much Love Boat meets Don Ho esque. I would say to skip this one if you visit the resort.

Other than the sick incident we had a great time and if you ask Ethan the highlight of the trip would be the tram at the resort. Since the hotel property is so huge they have trams and boats to take you to the different areas of the property and Ethan absolutely LOVED the tram.

We are glad to be home however I could of used another week there in the sun and sand.

Here are some pictures from our travels, enjoy!

(Hotel Swimming Pool)

(Another swimming pool)

(Palace Tower Lobby)

(Ethan and Jeff walking near the Ocean Tower)

(Ethan on the tram, his favorite thing to do there)

(Buddah point at the hotel)

Easter Egg Decorating...

After dinner last night we decided to pull out the hard boiled eggs for a Easter egg decorating extravaganza. This year Ethan got to pick the colors to dip the eggs into and then he got to paint the eggs with sparkle paint. He really enjoyed painting the eggs, especially telling us what color he wanted to paint them and what color egg he wanted to paint. As you can see from the pictures he had to go shirtless since he likes to make a big mess. He REALLY gets into the coloring.

Plus, Ethan got a new balloon when we went grocery shopping. It's name is funny and he really liked it.

What Easter activities are you doing? We have a couple of egg hunts to go to and our visiting family for Easter dinners.

Here are a few pictures from our neighborhood Easter egg hunt that we had. Luckily they had a seperate area for the little kids and with only three little kids being there Ethan made out like a bandit. He even got a huge tube of play-doh. It was definitely a lot more fun watching him this year since he now knows how to do an Easter egg hunt.

Flower World

I am planning on starting a garden this year on the side of our house. Originally there were a bunch of out of control bushes growing there so I have been removing them every few weeks to make room for a veggie garden. I thought that it would be fun to teach Ethan about veggies and growing our own. We went to Flower World in Maltby to buy the seeds. If you have never been there it is a great adventure since they have animals, a lot of water fountains, and a bunch of little trails to venture around. For any of you that are looking to buy flowers in the near future I highly recommend going here. They have everything.

Here are a few pictures that I snapped up. Enjoy!

Sunny day in Edmonds...

This past Saturday we had extremely good weather. It was sunny and upper sixties so we decided to head to Edmonds to do some shopping. I had some wine I needed to pick up so I thought that it was a great excuse to go. We had a great time wandering around the downtown area, had lunch at Olive's Wine Bar, and went to the wine shop to get my favorite Pinot Noir.

After shopping and lunch Ethan wanted to go to the water so we walked down and played on the beach. Ethan go to enjoy his favorite beach activity, rock throwing. I hope that we have even more of these sunny days in the coming weeks.

Better version of School Pics

These are higher resolution (aka better quality) of the three school pictures Ethan was in.

Sunriver, Oregon - Mt. Bachelor Trip

As a present to my dad for his 70th birthday I took him on a four day road trip to Sunriver, Oregon to go skiing at Mt. Bachelor. We stayed in a fantastic condo that was located at the Sunriver Resort, specifically Wildflower #17. I did not know what to expect when we arrived at the condo but it was great. We had a great time skiing, going to the High Desert Museum, and hanging out in the town of Bend. I will definitely be coming back to stay at the Sunriver resort again in the future. I would suggest visiting in the Summer since it looked like they had a ton of stuff to do this time of year.


Here are some photo's of the condo we stayed at. It was four stories, had two bedrooms, two baths, two fireplaces, and two decks and overlooked the golf course.

Here are the photo's from the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon.

Jeff and Ethan were happy for me to get back home. Both of them were sick the whole time I was gone so they were very happy to have me back.

The first of many school pictures...

Several weeks ago we got a notice that Ethan's daycare was going to have a picture day. It completely escaped our minds until we got an envelope in his cubby full of assorted pictures. Of course we had to purchase them after seeing the final results so if any of you grandparents reading this want one, just let us know. There are a couple of different shots to choose from.