While we were away...

Last week, while we were all out of town, everyone had a great time.  Roxy enjoyed three walks every day (more than she gets a week when we're around) and spent quality time with Corey's mom.  Jackson had a great time with "Gwamma Linda, Gwampa, Gweat Gwamma, and Kitty Kat" in Yakima.  More to come on this in a few minutes.

With both kids in great hands, we were ready to head to the Fairmont Kea Lani in Maui for a week of rest and relaxation.  It was so nice not having to worry about a thing for the whole week, and I think both Joan and my family were more excited to have guests for the week, than we were to go on vacation - and we were pretty excited for vacation.

We went with very few plans other than sleep, enjoying lots of good food, getting sun, and reading, and we successfully checked all of these off our list.  Though both of us woke up early most days, it was so nice to be lazy and ready in bed for an hour or two, or head out to breakfast.

During our week there, we enjoyed a few breakfasts at Longhi's at The Shops at Wailea, dinner at Mama's Fish House (one of our favorite restaurants in Maui), a meal at Star Noodle (known for employing Top Chef contestant Sheldon), dinner at Sushi Paradise, and dinners at Nick's Fishmarket and Ko at the Fairmont. 

Add to that some shopping, shave ice at Haukohi Shave Ice in Kihei, iced blendeds from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, poolside snacks and drinks (I am still thinking about the many virgin Mary's I had - delish), doing some light racing off the line in our rental car to see how fast we could accelerate to the speed limit (yeah, we're crazy like that, and in case you were wondering, a Chrysler 200 can accelerate to 45 MPH in 9.6 seconds), a swim in the ocean, and you have yourself a nice relaxing vacation.

We didn't take many pictures, since we didn't do much - in fact, this was the first vacation ever that Corey didn't bring a camera! - but did capture a few:

 

Random cat that became our tanning buddy one afternoon

Jackson on the other hand was very busy in Yakima,

Throwing rocks in the river:

Helping Grampa wash rocks (an activity my dad pretended to need help with, and one that Jackson had a blast doing):



Putting his shoes away after coming inside:

Finding, and finally becoming friends with, the Kitty Cat (Nikki):

Watering trees:

Sharing a cold milkshake with Grampa during a hot afternoon (temps were near 100 every day): 

Getting familiar with the pool (for some reason, he's not been wanting to go swimming this year, so this was as close as he got):

Playing with Great Gramma:

Posing for pictures for Gramma:

He was so busy, the few times we called to talk to him, we only had seconds with him before he ran off to play.  According to my parents, he was a perfect angel - he ate well, slept great, and had no tantrums (apparently he saves those for us).  In fact, he didn't cry at all until Friday, when I think missing us finally kicked in.  My mom said he seemed sad that day, and needed extra hugs, and some cuddles.

And, we couldn't not share any photos of our other kid.  Here's Roxy relaxing after one of many walks around her old stomping grounds:

Thanks to all the grandparents for taking such great care of our kiddos!  It allowed us a worry-free, relaxing vacation and we couldn't be more thankful for all of you!