McDonough Five in Bahamas - Day 2

The set up at the Reef works great. The boys are sleeping together on the sleeper sofa and Hayden is in a crib in our room. I'm not sure who was up first but around 7:45 local time we all got up and hung out. It was nice to be able to get some food in the kids before heading out. 

Around 9am we headed down to the Splashers Kids Pool. The splash park portion didn't open until 10am but the kids could still play in the pool. 

Yes, Ryan is wearing floaties. 

Around 11:15ish we decided to go look for some lunch. My friend Jenni recommended the Lagoon Bar & Grill so we headed over that way. 

We made it all the way over there and for some reason it wasn't open. We checked out downstairs aquarium before figuring out what to do for lunch. 

The double stroller that American Airlines unsuccessfully gate checked would have been super handy about now...two little kids tired of walking right about now....

We grabbed lunch at Shark Bites, which is a casual outdoor dining spot. The kids portions are huge - the boys got cheeseburgers (again) and Hayden got the hot dog...which was the largest kids hot dog I've ever seen! Kevin got a spicy crispy chicken sandwich and I got a fish fillet sandwich which was pretty tasty. Oh and we also had some fun drinks. I had a frozen mango daiquiri (so so sweet, I need to stick to beer & wine) and Kevin got the Route 66 which I think might have been the best bang for your buck because I'm pretty sure it was all alcohol.  Like wow. 

After lunch we headed back to the room so that Hayden could take a nap. Grayson also said he was soooo tired and wanted to nap but of course once we got up there he suddenly had all of his energy back. I must warn you that there is a ton of walking. I kinda love it but I think it's a little hard for the kids - well Grayson mostly. That stroller would be pretty great.  By the time we got back to our room I had around 9k steps for the day! Woot woot. After an hour Kevin took the boys down to the Cascades pool and I am up here blogging. 

I woke Hayden up at 3:30 so we could meet the boys for a little more pool time. We found them enjoying some ice cream by the pool. 

We headed down to the beach for a little bit...

Hayden wasn't a huge fan. The boys enjoy tolerate it for a little while but as soon as Grayson's legs get wet and sand sticks to him he freaks. He starts screaming saying that his legs are stinging. I know his eczema is pretty bad so I am guessing maybe that has something to do with it. Oh well, we headed back to the pool and all was good again. 

We grabbed dinner at Mosaic at The Cove before heading over to the Royal Towers to check out The Dig Sunken Ruins. 

This little lady annihilated her shrimp & pasta. And some orange jello :)

There are some random cats that hang around and Hayden gets so excited when she spots one. She keeps trying to pet them but she isn't quite quick enough. 

The ruins were pretty cool and the kids really enjoyed seeing all the different kinds of fish. 

Ryan yelled "Mom, look - there's a Bevo" lol. Hook'em :)

We walked back to the Reef and put the kids to bed. The boys seriously fell asleep in less than five minutes. The lights were still on - we went in our room to put Hayden down and came back out to find them asleep. So sweet. 

Jamaica Mon!

Kevin and I just got back (Sunday evening) from our first trip away from Ryan. Well, I guess MY first trip away from the little guy. I have never been away from him for more than 24hrs, so going away for four days was a BIG deal!

I was nervous leading up to the trip and really sad (especially when I realized our flight out Thursday was at 7am, so I wouldn't get to see R before we left for the airport) but I knew he was in good hands and would have so much fun with grandma, grandpa, Yia Yia and Papu. We are so fortunate to have our parents so close and that they were willing and able to help us out! They tag-teamed the weekend taking turns to watch the little guy.  I know they loved hanging with the little man - who wouldn't?!? I missed him SO much but we had an AMAZING time and am so glad we were able to celebrate Jessica & Johns wedding day with them!

And on to the pictures....here is Kevin and I before dinner the first night. We pulled the curtains (which  made a pretty cool backdrop) for a few pics.

The next morning we boarded a catamaran for a nice outing. Sounds nice and fancy, huh? Well, it was a really a booze cruise and it was wonderful. Don't let the weather fool you - that was about the most sunshine we received until the morning we left. 

We did a little snorkeling, a little drinking (ok, a lot), some dancing. We also stopped at Margartiaville and played on the 2-story slide and water trampoline - it was amazing. 

This is the slide - there is a pic below of me shooting out of it. Kevin said everyone came out all normal and then when I came out I was just crazy twisted - thats what I felt like too. goodness. 

Moving on...here we are at the rehearsal dinner that night. 

 And here we are before the wedding!

 Love my Mk!

 The boys

The view

 Walking down the aisle with her dad! Jessica looked beautiful!

Fun photo booth at the wedding! So Cute!

Jessica & John! Congrats!

 My J Bird!

All the ladies hanging out on the beach after the wedding!

And the boys! Why are they sitting and we are standing? Goodness!

And here are even more pics ( I have about 200 of them! yikes!) We had so much fun the entire weekend but it's probably a good thing we were only there for a short while - I don't think we could have made it any longer. We acted like we were back in college and boy oh boy is that hard on your body. I am so happy to be back in Dallas with my little man and not drinking. ok, so maybe a glass of wine tonight :)

Congrats again to Jessica & John! 

Hawaii

Aloha! We just got back from an AMAZING vacation in Hawaii.

We were a little nervous about the long plane ride and the time change but Ryan did so well. When we boarded the plane to Maui we were prepared for a long flight and to our surprise it went pretty fast.  I packed lots of toys, some food and we had baby Einstien DVDs for him too. So he nursed, he played, he watched two 30 minute dvds, he ate peaches and bananas, and he even took a couple of naps. When we were landing Kevin and I couldn't believe that it went so fast!

From the moment we landed in Maui everything went seamlessly. We picked up our luggage then headed to pick up our sizzling mini van. It was great having such a large car but it has even further cemented the idea of buying one in Kevin's mind - he really digs them.  I told him he could buy one for himself if he felt so strongly about one! haha we will see! Anyhow, I have never rented a car but it was ridiculously easy ( I just remember it always taking forever as a kid). I went inside to check the board and it had Kevin's name next to a number...which was the parking spot where our ride was parked.  We didn't even have to talk to anyone...way to go Hertz! I was able to feed Ryan really quickly then we picked up my parents and headed to our condo.

We were so pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the Ka'anapali Alii. Our beachfront condo was perfect! We had so much space and had all the benefits of a hotel with maid service and a concierge too - would definitely recommend staying here! I had rented baby stuff from Easy Travel Hawaii the day before and everything I needed was delivered to us. We rented a crib, highchair, bouncer and toys and it was so great. Ryan loved all the toys! Also, the Alii had the largest beachfront and two pools to enjoy! It was also a quick 5 minute walk to Whalers Village where there were restaurants and cute shops.

The weeks went super fast and it was so nice and relaxing. We enjoyed lounging on the beach and hanging out at the pool. The waves were great and we boogie boarded. We were going to try surfing but I injured my foot on some coral so we were unable to. One morning Kevin and I did long boarding which was pretty fun. We also went up to Kapalua and did Zip lining which was really cool. The boys played golf one morning and T, Ryan and I went shopping. And then since it rained all day Friday we headed to the other side of the island to try Mama's Fish House...which was so worth the drive! We went to a luau one night and also made it to the Aquarium before heading back to Dallas.

Ryan absolutely loved the beach. He loved touching the sand and of course he ended up with a fistful in his mouth - which he didn't seem to mind either.  He took naps in the cabana while we laid out and was one little happy camper. There was always a nice breeze blowing so he never got super hot. Since our condo was right on the beach we always kept our windows open to hear the sound of the ocean and it pretty much knocked Ryan out (no need for sleep sheep).

We had such an amazing time and definitely want to go back! Here is a link to all of our pics from the trip:  Hawaii Vacation

And in case anyone was worried about Bob, you will be happy to know that he stayed with our friends Stacey and Jacob. You can check out how he spent his week here : Stacey & Jacob's Blog