I know this blog is meant to be about the babies on the way, but we just got back from an AWESOME trip to Maui, Hawaii, and I decided I might as well post a "scrapbook" of our one last fling prior to changing to our new role as "responsible parents"!! We had a blast and couldn't believe how fast 10 whole days flew by! We managed to make the most of our trip, and stayed pretty busy the entire time, but it was SO worth it! (Tiring, but worth it!) We did take time to rest and hang out by the pool at the beautiful Ritz resort where we had priveleges as part of our house rental. It was an awesome place to relax, drink "lava flows" (Gary's new favorite drink), and play in the pools with Haley, Reganne, and Riley! We also spent plenty of time on the beautiful beach, where Gary, Clayton, and Jason tried surfing...of course, the girls who wanted to try it were smarter, and they took lessons and had much better luck! :)
Besides hanging out at the pool and having lunch by the ocean, Gary, Whit, and I took multiple "Jeep Adventures" around the island. Gary and I officially circled the island by our last full day! It is definitely one of the most beautiful places on Earth! "The Road to Hana" is one of the most famous "attractions" on the island, but the day before Sheryl's wedding, Gary, Whit, and I found that the South route to Hana is actually better than the more famous north route! There is little vegetation and no rain forests like there are on the "official" road, but the cliffs, mountains, and valleys are unbelievable! We traveled to the "seven sacred pools" (although there aren't 7 and they aren't sacred!) which was a beautiful sight, and finished off our trip with a visit to Charles Lindbergh's grave. He planned his burial place himself, and couldn't have found a more primitive spot! The road is pretty bumpy, narrow, and curvy, and Whit and I were both pretty sore by the end ;-), but it was well worth the trip! We had to hurry back to be ready in time for the rehearsal dinner back at the resort.
The morning of the wedding, we made a quick trip just past our resort in Kapalua, only to find that we were staying within about 2 miles of roads as beautiful as we'd seen the day before! So that we wouldn't be late, we turned back for that day, but Gary and I started our own "road to Hana" trip from there later in the week.
The wedding was absolutely beautiful! Sheryl looked gorgeous, of course, and Ryan was studded out in his beach "tuxedo"! They released butterflies at the end of the ceremony, per Hawaiian tradition, then after champagne, cake, dancing, and pictures, everyone headed to the reception, which was a traditional Hawaiian luau. The luau was so much fun, and the food was amazing!! Whit surprised us all with a little bit of stage dancing, and Reganne and Ryan did their share as well. The highlight of our show was watching the kids. I've never seen more happy children as Reganne, Riley, and Haley were. They especially LOVED the fire eating and twirling!!
The wedding was absolutely beautiful! Sheryl looked gorgeous, of course, and Ryan was studded out in his beach "tuxedo"! They released butterflies at the end of the ceremony, per Hawaiian tradition, then after champagne, cake, dancing, and pictures, everyone headed to the reception, which was a traditional Hawaiian luau. The luau was so much fun, and the food was amazing!! Whit surprised us all with a little bit of stage dancing, and Reganne and Ryan did their share as well. The highlight of our show was watching the kids. I've never seen more happy children as Reganne, Riley, and Haley were. They especially LOVED the fire eating and twirling!!
The sunsets in Hawaii are everything you'd expect...some of the most beautful sights you'll see. Unfortunately, haze moved in later in the week due to the eruption of a volcano on Kona, which was a bummer for the sunsets, but there's no cooler excuse for a bad sunset than to know it was hazy due to a rupturing volcano!! On our final evening in Maui, Jason, Jen, Riley, Reganne, Jim, Marian, Gary, and I did a sunset cruise on a catamaran. The kids loved that too, and it was so peaceful and relaxing!
Speaking of sunsets, we also saw our share of sunRISES! The 6 hour time difference made us miss very few toward the first part of the week (although we got more lazy as the weeks passed!) and we could even see a pretty good set of colors from our own bedroom! Afterward, Gary would share tea with Haley, and then play in the koi pond on our patio! :)
The day after the wedding, Melissa, Whit, Gary, and I made the long trek up to Haleakala (volcano) to watch the famous sunrise from there. We had to leave our house at 2:30 am, and had heard it would be cold, but had no idea what we were really in for! We had stripped blankets from our bed, but still couldn't hardly stand the cold! It was a beautiful sight, and we were glad we made the trip up to 10000 feet anyway!
The other main adventure of our trip was a day trip to the island of Oahu, where we toured the Pearl Harbor memorials. The USS Arizona is the ship that has been laid to rest in the Pacific with a beautiful monument built over the top. You can see the ship in the water, and can even still see trickles of oil rising to the surface. What a way to celebrate Memorial Day weekend! Beside that, we toured the USS Missouri, the ship were the peace treaty for WWII was signed with Japan. No trip would be complete without a visit to the Pacific Air Museum. Unfortunately, this was a pretty rushed trip, but we saw what we needed to, and then headed to the airport to catch our flight back to Maui!
On Monday before we left, Gary and I headed out on our own trip to Hana! As mentioned before, there were lots of beautiful flowers, plants, and waterfalls along the complete trail. Between this road and the others that we toured, I've never seen more bumpy, curvy, and scary roads, but luckily, Gary drives like a champ, and we made it safely all the way around the island! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make the hike to see many of the "hidden treasures" promised along the road, but there's no way we would have made it to all of the stops anyway, and Gary was glad I wasn't able to kill him with hikes! :) We stopped for some amazing banana bread in one little town, and picked up a box lunch that we ate at a different stop along the way.
By Wednesday, we were exhausted, but VERY sad to leave the beautiful island...and much dreading our trip home! Fortunately, we slept most of the way home, and then stopped over in Atlanta to see our beautiful new neice, Emmy Cate! After a quick overnight visit, Gary headed to work, and I headed home. Back to the real world...
Anyway, the babies seemed to have no issues on the trip, and I think I grew several inches while we were there...we've officially entered the 3rd trimester, and went back to the doctor today. No major news to report. Very good doctor report based on baby heartbeats and all of mom's measurements and vitals. We go back for an ultrasound for baby meaurements next week! We'll post more updates as soon as we have them!
