Maui is Heaven

Pete's parents, who are always very very generous (as are all of our families, we are very fortunate), flew the three of us and Aunt Su Su to Maui to stay at a resort for a week. A WEEK! Holy smokes, that was a fabulous time.

First of all, the resort was gorgeous. Fabulous pool with awesome slides right out our back door. Beach just a few feet away. It even had an adults only pool that served cocktails. IN THE POOL. You looked out over the pool edge to see the coast and ocean and beauty. And typical Maui weather, 80's and dry all. day. long. For a WEEK.

{resort entrance}


{view from our room}


{beach even a 1.75 year old could walk to from our room}

Then, we went on this awesome bike trip down the side of Haleakala after freezing our behinds off to watch the most amazing sunrise I've ever seen. I'm not even sure how to describe it except to say we were above the clouds. And it was really really really cold, and I hate being cold, and it was absolutely worth it.

I did not want to go on this ride by the way. Getting up ridiculously early (I don't care what time it was back home) to freeze for 30 minutes in the dark and then fly down the side of a very tall mountain on a tiny bike did not sound like fun to me. I was wrong. I can admit that.

Then, they have this really amazing aquarium. Really amazing! Ellie was fascinated. The best part was they had basically a tunnel through a tank with a small portion of the floor that was see-through. The reaction from Ellie running down the tunnel then realizing she was about to cross an "open" pit was hilarious. Wish we'd caught that on video.

{the wind is always blowing on this part of the island}

Then, the grandparents took Ellie for the day and Pete and I just explored the island. We hit the little winery, and then we ventured a bit further south and saw the sights.

The story of the black rocks is these are not tiny pebbles and they make the most amazing rumbling sound in the surf. It was impossible to get a recording of it because the wind is always blowing, but it was definitely worth a trip to hear it.

Otherwise, we just had an amazing time hanging out with the grandparents and relaxing and enjoying everything about this entire trip.

Even the plane ride home wasn't too horrific.

Sometimes I Wake Up Crabby

Sometimes I let her sleep. That's Pete's favorite joke. He's sooooooooooooooooooooo funny. Crab fest at Scruncle and Aunt Julie's marina gave Ellie her first boat ride! An important rite of passage in this family. And resulted in one of my favorite videos of her.

The "wee" is so convincing, don't you think? Anyway, we all had a good time, and overdosed on crabs and old bay.

Yum.

Camping...Finally

In August, 2008, I mentioned that we wanted to go camping and mused at how long it would take us to actually get around to it. Almost a full year later we went camping!

We packed up the entire house, threw the two dogs in the trunk (not really), and met up with some great friends, their two younger kids, and their little dog for an excellent weekend enjoying the outdoors.

It rained for part of the first day so we shut the dogs in the tent. Ilow didn't like that at all. Otherwise we enjoyed eating and sitting by the campfire and drawing and the dogs went swimming in the river.

{Sherpa required some rescuing}

Ellie got her first taste of two kid staples; juice boxes and fruit roll-ups. Yum.

She also further honed her beg-like-a-dog skillz. Why eat my hot dog when I can have yours?

It was tons of fun and I hope we get around to another trip this summer.

Because I'm so behind

I'll add this little video I assembled from a funny afternoon adventure in the yard a few months ago.

More Visits

The next set of people to come for a visit were my dad and step-mom. This marked the first time they'd had a chance to see Ellie since we went up to the lake house last September. So, she'd changed a bit.

We played in the sandbox...

...and went for a few walks around the neighborhood...

...and attended the fun but very odd "Green Man Festival" at our little downtown area.

Generally, Ellie just enjoyed getting to know another set of grandparents, and I think the feeling was mutual.

Some Grandparents Pay a Visit

Still playing catch up. We're getting there.

Pete's folks made it out to visit near the end of April. They were here for about a week and got to spend a lot of time getting to know Ellie, which I think they all really enjoyed.

We finally got her sandbox set up while they were here, and she loves it. She had so much fun playing in the sand and throwing the sand and eating the sand.

Aunt S. was able to come up one afternoon so we had a little bbq and enjoyed the nice weather.

BBQ's typically mean food on people's laps or carried around. This means there's a lot of potential for food to be dropped, of which the dogs are keenly aware. Our dogs are pretty typical dogs in that anything that looks like something you might eat they want, and anything you drop on the floor they will eat. Now I guess we have to add Ellie to the list of beggars who won't be choosers. If the dogs want it, she wants it. And if the dogs will eat it, so will she.

Yum. So, why doesn't she eat what's on her plate? I really don't know. It's one of the many great mysteries of toddlerhood.

Once Upon A Time on Easter

We had a pretty laid back Easter this year, probably our last as Ellie will know what candy and chocolate and hidden eggs are next year (she already knows what "cookie" is, as we discovered today). So, we took advantage of it by dying some eggs and having some people over.

Ellie "helped" us dye the eggs, it was a lot of fun. She really enjoyed it once she figured out what all the glasses were for (not drinking). She made a mess, of course, but it was worth it.

{finished product}

Later that afternoon a couple friends and their two dogs came over, and Aunt S. joined us as well. It was a really nice day out, our first of the season really, so we enjoyed hanging out in the yard all afternoon.

{our dogs being lazy}

Hmmm, no pictures of the adults. We just hung out on the porch and ate too many chocolate bunny brownies (made by Aunt S. Aren't they cute?). It was nice.

Cherry Blossom Festival

One of the advantages of living near D.C. is that, even when they predict the wrong date for the peak blooms of the cherry blossoms, we can still pop down and see them. Which is just what we did the first weekend in April.

What I would have preferred doing was skip out on work and go down during the week when it isn't so crowded. But we didn't do that. So, it was very crowded. Very crowded. It sure was beautiful though, and the weather was perfect for walking around all afternoon. Ellie was content to ride in her stroller the whole time. Because she fell asleep. But a sleeping baby is much better than a screaming baby.

After walking around the entire tidal basin, stopping at the Roosevelt and Jefferson Memorials along the way, we made our way over to museum row, grabbed a couple of hot dogs, and sat in the grass behind the American History Museum to eat and let Ellie run around a bit and enjoy the sunshine.

Ellie was surprisingly not too impressed with the hot dogs (she has since changed her mind on that), but she was happy just chewing on the bun. She also made a new friend, as kids this age are want to do.

I'm really glad Pete convinced my curmudgeonly self to get out of the house and brave the crowds, it was a beautiful afternoon and fun to get downtown again. Starting to feel like spring.