Aloha!!!

While in dental school Jayson and I dreamed of being able to go on a "graduation trip" when he completed school. We were thinking of something tropical, Mexico, Hawaii, or maybe a cruise.
That dream was not realized for a few reasons. #1 Sweet baby Sophie came to our family a little sooner than expected. #2 We were poorer than poor. Saving our pennies to get into our new home in Meridian.

Then, a new exciting opportunity to go on an "adult trip" with Jayson's siblings was in the works for this Spring...but then it died.  We figured it was for the better, save money, pay off loans, blah, blah, blah.

Then, we decided to go on a family trip to CA and visit all of our family. Jayson again decided he better not take work off. So for my birthday, Jayson gave me a plane ticket to visit my sister in CA. (Which was amazing!)

Then, Jayson's brother's decided they wanted to go to Cabo this summer for their dad's 70th birthday. Of course Jayson has to go. No question.  I had mentioned to him that I was happy we were both able to go on fun trips but I wished we were doing a trip together.

Apparently something I said worked! My darling husband surprised me with a trip to Hawaii!!!! He had been looking online for weeks trying to figure out the details and finally spilled the beans to me so I could help him in the planning.  We booked a travel package through Costco travel and it was fantastic!

We drove to CA to drop the kiddos off with my sweet sister and then flew out of San Fran. We were gone for 5 days.

Day 1
I was a nervous wreck on the plane ride to HI. I hadn't slept the night before and I was feeling anxious and guilty about leaving the girls. Once we landed, got our car and drove to the hotel I started to feel better. I was still exhausted, but feeling better. Our room wasn't ready when we got to the hotel, so we walked around the grounds (we stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua) and ended up eating at a restaurant right on the beach. It was beautiful and the food was delicious!!

 I am still dreaming about these chips, salsa and guacamole

 Lunch time guests

 After lunch our room was ready so we headed back for a much needed nap. Later that evening the hotel hosted a Sunset Reception for all of the guests who booked with Costco. We were late and by the time we got there it was pouring rain! We still had our free non-alchoholic drinks- a little watered down from the rain, and appetizers. We met a few other couples and became friends with Gordy and Shirley (pictured in Day 3). After the reception we were still exhausted and went back to the room to relax and we both ended up falling asleep at 7:30 pm!

Day 2
We were up at 6 am and went to the gym and then the delicious buffet breakfast at the hotel. It was a little chilly at our hotel so we decided to head South and check out Whaler's Village and Lahaina.  We spent most of the day at Whaler's Village shopping and walking around the surrounding hotels and beaches.

 Banana tree outside our hotel

 Gorgeous mountains!

 Our favorite Hawaiian treat!

Honeydew flavored Melona bars

After our day shopping we spent some time at the gorgeous Ritz pool. Since it was still chilly, we were the only ones there :) 

 After the pool we got a couples massage at the spa. Amazing! We again, weren't used to the time change and were in bed by about 8pm.

Day 3
Up early again. Exercised so we could gain 5 lbs. at the breakfast buffet. With the Costco travel package it included a day "sailing and snorkeling". We sailed out of the Lahaina harbor and went to the  island of Lanai.

 Banyan tree in Lahaina

 Trilogy Sail Boat

 Gorgeous Maui mountains in the back and our besties on the trip Gordy and Shirley (from Scotland)

A few Gordy and Shirley quotes

"we're just a couple of fat pies"

"have a smashing trip"

"we'll never get a convertible again, we're such fat bas$@#!s"

pretty much anything they said was hilarious because it was in a Scottish accent.

 Shores of Lanai

 2 Spinner dolphins

 Rule #1. Always Look Good

 Looking for seashells 

 Four Season on Lanai

 After snorkeling and beach time they fed us a delicious dinner of chicken and pork. On the way back to Maui we saw 4-5 Pilot whales, which are rare in that part of the ocean and our sailing crew was freaking out. It was pretty fun to watch them run from one end of the boat to the other. The whales were small- like dolphins, but black and more whale-like. Pretty awesome to see.

Day 4
We ran out of clean clothes so we did some laundry in Kapalua vs. having the hotel do it at $5 a shirt :)  The rest of the day we spent enjoying the sunshine at the pool and beach.

 At $237 we opted out of golf for the day

So relaxing...

The Feast at Lei Lei (Luau)

 p.s. Would you guess by looking at the picture that my hair was curled nicely when we left the hotel? It was pretty hot and humid.

 There were 5 courses at the luau. This was course #1 and my favorite because of the pork

Day 5
Enjoyed our last delicious breakfast of waffles, omelets, fresh fruit, delicious sausage, etc.
Spent the morning at the pool and beach. Checked out of the hotel at 1pm and decided we had had enough sun and drove to the Southern end of the island to Wailea.

View from our room

 Jayson was very excited about our rental car

 Delicious coconut and mango ice cream in Wailea

 The Grand Wailea

We had the most amazing time together in Hawaii. It was really fun to just be a wife for a few days, instead of a cook, maid, mom, and wife. We enjoyed sight seeing, relaxing, reading by the pool, the food, the uninterrupted sleep, talking, and just spending time together.  As much fun as we had, I was very ready to come home to our two little ladies!!

 Everyone waiting for their surprise

 Hula Girls!!

A ginormous thank you to my amazing sister and her husband and girls for letting our little ones stay with them while we were gone. Also thanks to my sil Cass who took the girls for a night and day during the week. It was so nice to know that our kiddos were well loved and looked after.

Saturday we drove to Windsor, CA to visit Nate and Paige and love on their new little addition Dex. It was such a fun way to end our little trip. I just feel so blessed to have the amazing family that we do. We love you all!
Sunday morning we hit the road and spend 11+ hours heading back to ID. We had a fun stop in Fernley, NV when we met up with Jayson's parents who were headed to Windsor to help with the new baby.

Savannah was asleep so Sophie got the ipad all to herself.

She was so proud!