We’re Back from Hawaii!

Did you even know we were going to Hawaii? We didn’t know we were going either until a week before the trip! Chris had a one day business meeting in Kauai and we decided to turn it into a week-long family vacation :). This is something we have always wanted to do, so it was a wonderful surprise to be able to go for 1/2 the cost – and just in time for our seventh anniversary too :)!

We spent most of our time on the island of Kauai, but we also visited Oahu, where Chris lived for a couple of years in college. Here’s a fun family pic taken at Waikiki Beach with some tropical birds – I can’t believe I let them put that huge bird on my head!

Julia wasn’t in the family photo above, because she was asleep in the stroller at the time. But the bird guys did convince me to open the stroller cover up so they could put a bird on her too. I can only imagine what she was thinking when she woke up to see this little guy laying in the stroller with her ha ha!!

I took over 1000 photos during our trip, so I will be sharing more when I get a chance (free time for blogging is hard to come by these days)! For now, I will leave you with a nice sunset picture of the pool outside the condo we stayed at in Kauai :).

Fun with Uncle Tim!

I was so excited to see my brother Tim and his wife and daughter while we were on our trip! The last time I had seen them was in the summer of 2008.

Julia got to meet her Uncle Tim and cousin, Lila, who was so sweet with her!

Gabe had hugs for everyone!

I love this photo of the two cousins :)!

Gabe and Lila had so much fun playing in the backyard I grew up in (Tim bought the house from my parents when they moved here).

Here’s a flashback to the last time they had seen each other – same place, two years ago – they have grown so much!

While we had a great time seeing Tim and his family, it was bittersweet for me to go all the way up there and only get to see them for a few short hours. I hope that our next visit is soon and will last longer!

A Lovely Place to Stay in Gulf Shores

We really enjoyed the condo we rented this year at the Lighthouse Condominiums in Gulf Shores! It was so pretty inside, had great views and there was plenty of room for all 8 of us. Even from the 9th floor, it was easy to get down to the pools and beach.

It’s wonderful having access to an indoor pool for the occasional rainy day. We also loved the outdoor pools, especially the “zero entry” pool, which had lots of shallow water and fun jets for the kids to play in. And let’s not for get the hot tub, or “Hot Pool” as Gabe called it :). Ahhhh… I miss being on vacation!

We’re Home from the Beach!

We had a wonderful trip to Gulf Shores with more sunny days than were predicted and thankfully no oil washing ashore.

I have a full day of unpacking and getting back to regular life ahead of me, so I better go get started.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!