John fell asleep on the way to the resort after voluntarily skipping his nap on the plane. Poor kiddo was so exhausted. We arrived at the Villas and he woke up scared because he was overtired, had no idea where he was and my brother and his family came to greet us, further causing him confusion. He was pretty upset, so I hung out with him in our Condo, Villa 213, until he calmed down. Erik and Will went out exploring and we joined them once John was in better spirits. 

My parents arrived not long after us and decided to head out to grab some dinner once they were settled. We had eaten pretty late on our way to the villa, so we opted out of any dinner that night and got the boys settled in for bedtime at around 7:30 PM (which was 11:30 at home for them!). My folks brought Erik some dessert from Lei Lei's where both they and Pat, Amy, Riley & Mara ended up for dinner that night.

As you can see from the photo below, the boys had no problem with their sleeping arrangements that evening thanks to a very long and busy travel day.

*****

If there's one thing we can always count on, it's John to know exactly when he's supposed to wake up and have his milk. Forget time changes and long travel days, in his belly it was 7:30 AM so he woke Will, Erik and I up promptly at 3:30 AM local time to start our first full day in Hawaii. Only 1 of the 4 of us was happy about being up so early. I'll let you guess who!

The setup of our villa was great with 2 bedrooms in the front of the condo behind the kitchen and the master off of the living area. Each bedroom had a TV so we were able to keep the boys contained and happy with their morning milk, some snacks and some PBS kids on the TV while Erik and I continued to try to doze off for as long as possible between the 2 bedrooms our family was using. We didn't figure Grandma and Grandpa wanted a 3:30 AM wake up so keeping the boys happy was priority number 1!

The good part about being up so early? Catching some gorgeous early morning views of the resort and the ocean while drinking my coffee on the Lanai. It's pretty hard to complain about being up early when this is the view you're waking up to!

We made reservations at Pa'akai for dinner with the whole group. Dinner was good, but the service was very slow. We ordered the boys' food to come out with the appetizers so Will got to enjoy his steak (ordered by his own request) but John was not so lucky with the delivery of his spaghetti. We kept him happy with bread and eventually I asked Erik to get John's and my own dinner wrapped as carryout because I knew I couldn't keep him still much longer. By then we had been in the restaurant over an hour. The boys were still being good but I knew a meltdown was coming and bedtime was fast approaching. I walked both kids back to the room and got John started on some other dinner and within minutes Erik was in the door with our entrees and John's spaghetti. We finished feeding John, let the boys play while we ate our dinner and then off to bed they went. 

We left the TV on in their room and they fell asleep to The Golf Channel that night, which would become a nightly occurrence over the rest of the week. We thought it was hilarious how much they enjoyed falling asleep to it since it's something Erik and I both like to sleep to on lazy weekend afternoons!


The boys slept in today. And by slept in I mean John didn't wake Will up until 4:45. Poor Will was so tired and really just wanted to be sleeping. But, we did the milk, TV and pre-breakfast snacks much like the day before in order to keep them happy until the rest of the world was awake.

When mom & dad don't get much sleep the boys get to have cereal while watching a show! The lunch goggles made an appearance today as breakfast goggles. Ha!

There was a lot of swimming and relaxing again today! 

We fed the boys lunch, put them down for naps (thanks to the 4:45 am wake up time) and then my mom was nice enough to stay in the room so Erik and I could go out for a late lunch. When my mom got back to the villa she told us there was a seal on the beach! Apparently it shows up 1 - 2 times a week and the hotel staff blows a horn to get everyone out of the water, puts up ropes and keeps people away so that it can sunbathe and sleep on the beach. It comes to the resort and waits for the horn so it knows its safe to exit the water. Otherwise, it'll just keep swimming around exhausting itself looking for a place to rest. 

Erik and I tried to have lunch at Roy's Beach House (right next to our beach) but it was too late in the day by the time we arrived. So, we had a quick drink and headed over to The Point at the pool on the main resort. Erik had fish tacos and I had an Ahi poke bowl (raw, marinated ahi tuna over sticky white rice). Lunch was delicious and a local two man band was playing right next to our table.

After lunch we stopped to take in the scenery of Turtle Bay and watch a little surfing before heading back.

We got back from our walk around the hotel and the seal was still resting on the beach.

We went back to the Villa and the boys were waking up from their naps. It was pretty late already so we decided we wouldn't have any pool time that afternoon. That is, until John walked out onto the balcony and started asking for "a pool, a pool." Erik and I were planning to stand our ground but Grandpa offered to take him down to go swimming for a few minutes. Parent guilt set in and we decided to all put our suits on and go swimming. We were in Hawaii, after all, and had to take advantage! The air was a little chilly for swimming, but the pool was well over 85 degrees so swimming was really warm and we just had to bundle the kids up in their towels once we were done.

It was dinner time when we got back from swimming so we fed the boys spaghetti from the night before and ordered carryout from Roy's Beach House after the boys were in bed. Erik and I ate on the lanai and enjoyed a nice quiet evening. We decided that night to try the boys in separate rooms to see if it helped with their wake up times in the morning. We put John to bed in the boys' room and Will in ours. We moved Will to a sleeper sofa in the living room when we went to bed. It did the trick! The boys slept great!

*****

It was either an adjustment to the local time (finally!) or sleeping in separate beds, either way the boys slept in until their normal time of around 7:00 AM! We had breakfast and decided to go to Waimea Valley mid morning to explore the botanical garden, take a hike and see Waimea Falls. After talking with everyone, the whole family decided to join us!

The "hike" was beautiful, and it was definitely more of a walk than a hike, which worked out great for our boys. They got to run and explore! It was supposed to be a 20 minute hike but took us much longer because we made a lot of stops along the way to check everything out.

We had to stop for a quick rest at a picnic table. For John, it was very quick!

Pictures at Waimea Falls

The boys were tired on the way back so they got piggy back rides from daddy and Uncle Pat. 

We also ran into a new friend, which the boys both thought was a Gamecock!

That afternoon we went swimming back at the Villa pool and had a semi-relaxing afternoon. My parents offered to hang out with the boys that evening so Erik and I could have a date night dinner. We went to Lei Lei's and enjoyed a nice, quiet meal with a view of the sun setting over the golf course.

*****

The boys slept great again last night! Erik was up early for a 7:50 AM tee time with my dad & Pat. The boys and I went to breakfast with my mom, Riley & Mara at Kula Grille. Mara helped Will at the buffet and he thought it was awesome. John made friends with a mom, her 2 year old little girl and newborn baby at the table behind us. He kept peeking over his chair and saying "baby" - it was hilarious and adorable.

After breakfast, I wanted to take the boys on a little hike to see the Banyan Tree:

"Set amid the forest is Turtle Bay's famous Banyan tree. To be blunt: this tree is massive. With its creeping roots, the tree has been featured on numerous television shows and movies, including Lost and Pirates of the Caribbean."

It was an overcast, rainy morning and not very good swimming weather. So, I packed up the backpack with water & snacks and Amy, Riley and Mara set off with the kids and I to take the 1 mile hike to find the Banyan tree. It was an easy walk from the resort. We went past the golf course and stables, through the woods and along the coast line. 

The boys were hungry so they had a snack while I took some pictures of them.

Leave it to Will to pick up a log and tell me he found a stick!

Will found a stump to climb on.

We took a long walk back to the resort. And by long, I mean that John would not walk on the path and refused to be carried. He wanted to keep exploring the forest. Aunt Amy gave Will a piggy back ride (she's the best!) because he was tired and I attempted to do the same with John. Eventually, I scooped John up and carried him back.

I fed the boys some lunch and Erik returned from golfing shortly after. He offered to hang out at the condo with the boys while I went and had some beach time. It wasn't particularly warm or sunny but I wasn't going to refuse! I headed down with some magazines and relaxed while most everyone else in my family made their way to join me. I was watching a seal play with one of the buoys in the bay. It must have thought it was a ball and spent about 30 minutes batting at and jumping on the red ball!

When it was done playing, it took a swim along the beach and eventually made its way back out into the ocean. It may have been the same seal from the other day looking for a place to rest. 

I went to the pool for a little while to sit in the hot tub before heading back up to the room. My timing was perfect because I had just made my way into the hot tub when it started to rain a little. It didn't matter because I was plenty warm!

I got back to the room shortly thereafter and Erik and I decided we would take the boys into Kahuku (about a 15 minute drive from the resort) to Tita's Grille & Catering for dinner. We got our food just before the storms started that night! We had eaten a couple bites and thought we saw lightning but weren't positive. Then, another one lit up the sky and it was time to head to the car with the boys and our food. I had garlic chicken, the boys had fried chicken and Erik tried the Kila Moco (sausage, spam, hamburger, fried eggs and gravy over rice). All of the food was delicious. It is quite the memory to look back on with me sitting in the back of the minivan with the boys while all of us ate out of our styrofoam food containers! We had planned to stop at a food truck on the way back for some shave ice for the boys but with the stormy weather all of them had closed up by the time we started driving back. 

John was so hungry waiting for his food he started eating his sweatshirt!

We got back to the Villa that night and Will decided to make a car out of the dining chair cushions for him and Bear before bed. He thought it was hilarious :)

Everyone else ate at Seven Brothers at the Mill and told us their food was also delicious. That night we had major rain and thunderstorms. So much so, that the next day we'd find out about damage to Waimea Valley and that many of the roads had flooding in the area. The storms also caused major runoff from the hills into the ocean turning it a brown, mucky color that would last for weeks on the North Shore. Crazy!

*****

It was a rainy, chilly morning so after breakfast we took a drive to the Dole Plantation with the boys while Pat & Amy took a bus tour and mom & dad hung out at the Villa.

A little rain wouldn't stop us from having fun! The maze was closed due to the weather, but we bought our tickets to ride the Pineapple Express. While we waited, the boys played in the pineapple stand.

Here comes the choo choo!

All aboard!

We saw some banana trees up close and personal and could just about reach out and touch the bunches of growing bananas!

And we saw the other choo choo pass by, which made the boys really happy!

When the train ride was done, the rain really started coming down. No matter to these boys of ours. They still had fun exploring.

We went inside the huge gift shop and bought the boys some Christmas ornaments (a tradition for them when we travel somewhere special so they have it as a keepsake when they're older) and some Hawaiian shirt and shorts outfits. The Hawaiian shirts vendor even gave Will a change purse as a special gift. Will was upset when we got over to the shirt area because there was something else he wanted in the store, but I talked to him and he calmed down really quickly and the vendor said he was really proud of Will for being such a good boy for his momma. It was really sweet!

We made our way over to the pineapple ice cream after that and all enjoyed a special treat! Before we left, Will picked out a train puzzle set and John a Dole Pineapple truck & trailer toy. Our plan was also to pick out some pineapples to bring back for dinner but you had to purchase a 10LB box! 

On our way back to the Villa we stopped at Kua Aina burgers for some carryout lunch. It was recommended to us by Scott & Kari, Bob & Lehua (my dad's cousins who live in Hawaii) and the condo owner. I must say, it did not disappoint and was very delicious! I had the pineapple burger, Erik had the avocado burger and the boys shared a kiddie burger.

The skies cleared up that afternoon so we spent the afternoon /early evening swimming in the pool. The air was still a little chilly, but the pool was heated so we stayed plenty warm! We planned to do dinner in that evening so I made the boys some grilled cheese and the rest of us worked to prepare a delicious meal of steak, shrimp, potatoes, vegetables, salad and some yummy store bought carrot cake.

The boys skipped naps for swimming that afternoon so we put them to bed when our dinner was just about ready and they slept great after a very busy day!

*****

We woke up to clear skies and beautiful weather for our last full day at Turtle Bay!

Erik was up early to golf with Pat & Joe again. I ate breakfast with my mom & the kids in the Villa and we headed to the beach and spent the entire morning there until Erik got back from golf.

The boys had so much fun playing on the beach and the weather was just beautiful. I made an impromptu lunch snack (peanut butter sandwiches, cheese & cookies) and they sat in the shade and enjoyed it in between playing. 

Will and I went exploring on the beach while John played with Grandma. We built a volcano, complete with a lava trail made of rocks (his idea).

Then we went exploring on the beach for sea shells. Grandpa had told Will when we got to Hawaii that he probably wouldn't find very many seashells on this beach but lots of coral instead. Will made it his mission to collect as many seashells as possible so that he could show them to Grandpa. He was quite successful because we came home with a pretty good haul!

Erik got back from golfing and we ordered a late lunch from Roy's Beach House and spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. We skipped real naps again today because the weather was too beautiful to make the boys stay inside on their last afternoon. My dad's cousin Bob, his wife, Lehua, their daughter Ipo and her son Gabe all came to join our family at the beach and the pool late afternoon. We missed out on some of the fun because we were back in the condo resting by that time and getting ready for dinner.

On our way to dinner we stopped to take some photos by the beach to commemorate our last evening in Hawaii.

Not to brag, but I think I have the most handsome husband and boys. Ok, maybe I'm bragging a little :)

There was another family at the beach doing the same thing and we swapped taking family photos for each other.

We walked from here to Lei Lei's to meet everyone for dinner (Bob, Lehua and family included). The boys were a little rambunctious and over tired so we spent most of the time letting them run around on the putting green with all of the other kids, which they loved. Will made a new friend that shared his putter with him so Will got to hit a few golf balls while we were there. We also checked out the little turtle pond by the golf course entrance. 

We left dinner a little earlier than everyone else because the boys were exhausted after a very long, fun day at the beach and pool. We got the boys in bed and the rest of the group came back to hang out and chat before Bob & Lehua left for the evening.

*****

The boys slept the latest they had all week! We made breakfast in the Villa and cooked up as many leftovers as we could... eggs with ham & turkey, leftover steak, fried potatoes, pineapple (John's favorite!) and grapes. It was delicious and probably the best breakfast we had all week.

We packed up everything, did about 4 walk through's of the Villa to make sure we didn't forget anything and said goodbye to everyone. My folks were headed to Maui for a few more days and Pat & Amy were going to explore Waikiki Beach and do some shopping before their flight.

We loaded up our luggage, our kids and some snacks and made our way back to Honolulu.

We had plenty of time to go to Pearl Harbor Visitor Center to explore, have lunch and visit the Pacific Aviation Museum. We did not take the tour of the Arizona Memorial and will save that for our next trip when the kids are a bit older.

Erik and Will watched a quick movie about the attack at Pearl Harbor while John and I walked around the museum a bit. I didn't think John would sit still for the 10 minute movie! Then, we all went to get lunch before walking around the first building in the museum together.

We had to catch the bus back to the Visitor Center so we could head to the airport so we only got to see a very small part of the Aviation Museum. We will just have to come back and visit Pearl Harbor again! Erik bought the boys some toy airplanes and coloring books from the gift shop before we left. They were very excited!

We left Pearl Harbor and went to drop off our rental car and then catch the bus to the airport so we could take the red eye back to Chicago. We bought some snacks for the plane, magnet keepsakes (a turtle and a surfboard) boarded and settled in for the flight home. The boys ate dinner, played a few games, Will colored in his new coloring book and then it was time to get into jammies and "go to bed" on the plane. John fell asleep on Erik and Will watched a few minutes of The Masters and then fell fast asleep. Erik downloaded golf for the boys to fall asleep to since it was what they watched before bed all week! They both slept for about 5 hours of the 8 hour flight. Erik and I, not so much. 

We arrived at O'Hare on time, got all of our luggage and trekked to the Wally Park parking lot. It was about 1:00 AM our time so we were a bit tired. Getting the car took an unusually long time so we filled up on coffee and snacks in the waiting area. We were very glad to get in the car and finally head home!

John fell back asleep on the ride and Will fell asleep right before we got home. We put the boys back to bed and everyone napped for a few hours before we woke the boys up for "lunch" (which was still really breakfast time for us). Will was very mad at us that we woke him up and came downstairs to join us quite begrudgingly. I can't say I blame him, we were tired too!

We took naps that afternoon, had dinner and put the boys down at normal bedtime. They slept great, as did we when we went to bed a few hours later.

We had an awesome vacation to Hawaii and made some wonderful family memories while there. Still, it's always good to be home. Except for the weather. Ha! :) Thank you to my parents for taking us on this amazing vacation with our family. We can't wait for the next adventure!

Will is the best tower builder I've ever met. I love how proud he is of himself!

I got that baby toy out to pass down to a cousin of mine. The boys haven't played with it in forever. Today, they were fighting over it and John was carrying it around to stake his claim on it!

My Stella girl laying in her sunshine, trying to escape the chaos that goes on around her every single day. 

It seemed fitting that our March snow storm would be named winter storm Stella. She couldn't have been happier. She loves the snow!

Her boys love it too! Snow angels in the driveway for Will...

John was so funny while we were walking around the yard. He didn't want to walk and kept trying to convince me to carry him. Sorry buddy, we are out here for you to burn off some energy and get tired out. I'm tired enough already!

In true winter fashion, both boys ended up with colds after the snow storm. Sick days call for trains being built in the living room. Will built most of this track by himself. My little engineer :)

I sent these 2 pictures to Erik at work with a note:

The difference between how Will plays: all the frogs lined up neatly in a row

...And how John plays: Random items strewn into a basket with an upside down baby thrown next to it

The similarities between these 2 end pretty much in their looks!

More trains on the living room floor!

Cheese face while coloring pictures!

We went to a birthday party for Will's friend Hannah, who turned 5! It was so much fun and both boys had a great time. They had a balloon animal maker and magician and he (and is wife) were excellent! John got a Yoda hat and Will a stormtrooper. Will also got a blue puppy balloon animal. Such a fun afternoon with our friends!

It was Uncle Jon's birthday so I asked the boys to make silly faces that I could text to him. They delivered! 

Adventures in woodworking thanks to scrap wood in our basement. I brought it up to test out size and make sure my jars fit. Next up, paint! I really need a table top planer (hint hint, Mother's Day, honey!!)

Tried out the Pioneer Woman's pizza crust recipe. It was easy and delicious. I sent this picture to Erik on yet another day of him working late to show him what he was missing! :) PS, this is a Polish Sausage pizza made from my family's homemade Polish Sausage. Delicious!

PBS Kids, Milk, his "bay bay go" (blankie) and a magnadoodle. No better way to start the day!

The snow melted and it was gorgeous out so we headed out for some play time. John had to mow the driveway to keep it in check while wearing his new sunhat from Costco.

Will with his "pincher" aka a big stick. And, as always, safety first in that helmet while running round the yard LOL!

Erik and I spent a lazy, rainy Saturday afternoon looking at houses in Tucson while the kids were napping. I planned to make dinner that night but it got late and I had zero motivation. So, off to Buffalo Wild Wings we went thanks to a gift card we got for Christmas from my folks. The boys had fun, were pretty well behaved (thanks to coloring and electronics) and even earned post dinner ice cream! 

March Madness was in full force in our house with Erik's Gamecocks making it all the way to the Final Four! We watched in amazement as they got win after win after win. 

We celebrated with a spaghetti dinner. John ate everything on his plate!

Not sure if he was proud of himself for joining the clean plate club or if he was excited about the Gamecocks winning! Either way... he sure is adorable!

Morning time with my baby and his baby. I can't get over how much this kid loves baby dolls. He currently sleeps with 2 of them and can usually be found snuggling with at least one of them while asleep.

Snuggling with momma during morning coffee and cartoons. They really do love each other. Sometimes.

A nice day to play on the swingset! Their new favorite way to go down the slide is backwards on their bellies. They will do this over and over and over again. Too funny!

I finished my scrap wood centerpiece! Painted in Cottage white and added some cheap, fake flowers from Hobby Lobby. Mostly because I have a black thumb when it comes to keeping flowers alive and usually forget to change out the water in my fresh flowers often enough. I love how it turned out.

Will built a computer, complete with buttons (aka the fake pepperoni, peppers and mushrooms from their Melissa & Doug pizza set). 

Here he is explaining to me how it works!

When he gets really serious, his eyebrows go up. It is the cutest thing ever.

It was a rainy day at school so Will "needed" to take his ladybug umbrella. I was sitting in the car line for pick up and saw him come out and open it up. He tried sharing it with all of his friends. It was like an umbrella clown car!

John and his baby, fast asleep.

Will had his first real field trip, a trip to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum!! He and his classmates (and his buddy for the day, Henry) had a great time playing with all of the fun exhibits. There is a grocery store, a mail room, an office (with real telephones!), a packaging center, motorcycles and even a new baseball exhibit! The boys practiced pitching, hitting in the Home Run Derby and even running the bases!

The museum had a presentation for the kids on garbage and recycling, too. They played for an hour, had the presentation and then it was time to load up on the school bus and head back to school.

Most of the the photos I took have his classmates in them so I won't be sharing them publicly. But here is Will getting ready to run the base!

Wow, you sure were fast, buddy. Great job!