Hawaii - the final round

We ended the week swimming with the dolphins again. We absolutely love doing this.  Brilee was a little bummed she didn't get to go.  We could hear her screaming the entire time we were in the water:(  She is such a little animal lover, next year she will be able to get in with us.

My mom trying to distract her 

B man anxiously awaiting getting in the water.  They make you go 30 min before you can actually go in, I don't know why they think that is a good idea with kids who are just so excited.

His first touch.  This was the mom, Ewa and you can kind of see the baby in the shadow, Ipo, he was born when we were there last year.

Ipo

Brennar actually kissed them this year, he just loved it! After our swim, we headed over to the turtle pool, here Brilee is checking things out.

And here is one of my most very favorite moments of the entire trip...my baby girl finishing off my coffee! I just can't wait to go to starbucks for coffee with her!

Bre

Brennar lounging in the warm sand

I love action shots!

He loves everything about his "Crapa"

At breakfast on our last morning we sat right next to all the Duck Dynasty family

Nothing cuter than a naked baby

I dont know why, but I think this is such a cool picture

What a stud!

Brennar and this bird just love each other, I still can't believe he remembered the birds name before we even got to the hotel

Proudly displaying his shark tooth necklace him and Grampa picked out

This rhino gets more attention from our family then it probably does the other 51 weeks of the year combined!

The kids running of some energy before the long and sad trip home

Brennar's first attempt at log-rolling, I think he mastered it

Brilee loves her daddy, especially when he is on the ground and the same size as her

Brennar giving Brilee a flower:)

And one more of the little Miss

It was the best trip I have ever been on! We all had a wonderful time!! Can't wait to go back!

Hawaii - part 2

I forgot to mention how horrible are plane trip to get to Hawaii was:(  So, we were set to leave at 6 am on Sunday the 3rd, well, Tuesday afternoon Brilee started getting sick.  I was so upset, I seriously hadn't let the kids do anything or go around anyone who was sick, but she got something anyways. It started with a runny nose and a pretty bad cough and a slight fever.  So, Thursday I took her in to our pediatrician just to check and make sure it wasn't anything too serious. She said it was just a cold and her ears looked fine, so I was relieved about that. But, she just kept getting a little worse each day. I finally decided at 8:30 on Saturday night that I needed to take her to urgent care to check her ears again.  It was awful, the intake nurse was a total b**** to us. She needed a weight for Brilee, so I set her on the scale and Brilee was just terrified, I was standing right next to her but she was moving all over and reaching for me. So, I put my hands out, so she didn't fall and the lady screamed at me that she needed her to sit still so she could get the weight. Seriously, what do you expect me to do!!! I was pissed!  Then she wanted to get her oxygen level. So she tried taping the little probe to her toe, again she was scared (she doesn't like strangers and she didn't feel well!) and again she yelled at me to keep her still. I am sure all moms know, kids are much stronger then they look, I did my best to hold her still but it wasn't working too well.  Then she wanted a temperature for her.  She wanted to do it rectally, I said no to that one, seeing how the weight and oxygen level check went.  Sure enough she had a fever, so then she tried telling me I needed to give her some tylenol in the form of a suppository. Umm, sorry, no! She took it fine for me in the liquid form.  Finally the devil nurse takes us back to a room.  Brilee just wouldn't calm down, she screamed every time someone walked into the room.  After about an hour of waiting, the doctor came in, looked in her ears and sure enough she had an ear infection.  We get some meds and at 11 we are on our way home.  We had a pretty restless night, and by night I mean 3 hours before we had to get up. I made myself sick by worrying about Brilee, she didn't feel well and couldn't sleep either.  So, I dreaded the plane ride.  Finally, at 5:30 we are in our seats and ready to take off.   And the screaming starts!! She did this for about 45 minutes, until she wore herself out enough to fall asleep. We get to CA and they have a little play area for kids, both kids were super happy, which I thought was a good sign for the next flight. Boy was I wrong! As soon as we sit, the screaming starts again.  This time it was about an hour, then she fell asleep. Woke up and did it the last hour again, too.  I know the screaming baby on the plane is annoying to other people, but it is usually the mom who it bothers the most.  But, I still felt awful.  For others, for me, but especially for her.  She just was inconsolable. She didn't want to walk around, sit in her own seat, sit with any of us, nothing, it was so sad.  But, we made it, and she pretty much, besides the cold and runny nose, was perfect the entire week!!

So, on to the fun pictures after that rant!!

Isn't she such a little doll??? :)

Brennar and daddy building a sand castle, without buckets - we will remember those next time!

Grampa and Miss Princess frolicking in the surf

Brennar wanted to ride on the "whale" in the water, not that he thinks his daddy LOOKS like a whale!

I LOVE this picture of them, they have so much fun together, Brennar LOVES his daddy so much!!

The family that plays together, stays together!

We walked on the shake-shake bridge over and over, it was as much of a hit this year as it was last year

One of my favorite pics of all time - this is so her personality!

She had no fear of the water, it was so fun to watch her

Brennar and his daddy on the trolley or as he called it, the train bus:)

One of the few pictures of my mom! The picture taker never gets to be in any photos!!

Brennar could probably tell you every single type of whale and shark on this poster, not even kidding!!!

Hawaii!!

The month of February has finally come, and we have been looking forward to it since August - not that I EVER want to wish time away with my kiddos, but we had our "annual" Hawaii trip planned!!! I may have been the most excited one, but Brennar came in a close second:) My mom became the designated picture taker, she had 825 pictures and that was after going through and deleting a bunch.  So, I think I am going to separate our trip into a few posts.

For Christmas, we gave my parents a whale watching excursion. So that was the first thing we did. The company said we were guaranteed to see whales or you would get to come back for free until you do.  But, I still had my doubts.  But we climbed aboard the Spirit of Kona and off we went "to sail the Seven Seas" according to my little pirate.  Before we were even out of the harbor the boat was being led by a group of spinner dolphins, it was so cool.  We could just look over the edge and they were right there, Brennar thought it was fantastic.  But, he kept asking if we could tell the captain to sail to the other pirate ships on the water:) We ended up seeing a mom and calf with an escort and a group of 5 males, it was pretty cool.  But, we actually saw so many whales from our room - I shouldn't have been so skeptical, I guess

The 5 of us (mom behind the camera) getting ready to climb aboard.

The 4 of us, watching the dolphins

Brilee not quite sure about her parents:)

After the whale watch, we headed back to the hotel and out to the beach. Miss Princess a.k.a. Diva all ready to hit the beach

Brilee and Grampa touching the ocean for the first time - this trip

She loved it:)

It took Brennar a little while to want to get in the water for some reason - he liked to play in the sand though. Next time we need to remember to get in sand toys the beginning of the week, not the last day!

He did like the hammock again though

The 4 of us on the paddle boat - we were heading back to where my parents were, to throw Brilee overboard - I mean give her to them:)

My little vet checking out Christian and Chelsea the parrots.

My kiddos sure do love their Grampa!!

Brilee at the luau - she is watching Elmo on the ipad, not the actual show right in front of her :)

My Big Kahuna

The sheep picture - this is always a favorite thing to do for the kids

One of the biggest attractions was the coy pond - everytime we walked by them we had to stop, which was probably a good 10 times a day, minimum

The happy little water baby

Brennar walking the beach in search of treasure!!