We Are Home!

Phew...what a trip! I am exhausted! We had such a wonderful time in Hawaii, but it's time to get back to reality.

Here's a recap of some of the things we did:

* AJ really enjoyed playing in the pool. We figured out that he liked the little kid pool best when we brought cups down for him to play with. He'd fill up the cup and the pour it out...over and over and over again :)

* We took AJ to the Maui Ocean Center; or the aquarium. He liked it, but was feisty that day. He would have rather played on the steps outside or ran around on the grass. He wasn't terribly interested in the fish.

* He ate at MANY MANY restaurants. Because we were out of town, we ate out. A LOT. We were at a timeshare, so we were able to make some meals, but we went out for every lunch and a few dinners too. He did really well, but it's a whole new experience when you have to RUSH through a nice meal in 45 minutes for fear that your child is going to flip out (which he did a few times) It's going to take some time for him to get used to eating in his own high chair again. And I don't plan to go out anytime soon :)

* I went SCUBA DIVING! It was amazing! So, here's the story: Jason's been trying to talk me into scuba diving since we went on our first vacation. I was always scared. Scared of Jaws or scared that something would happen with my tank and I'd blow up (ya, I know- crazy right?) or scared that it was too much to learn and I'd drown because I would forget. Well, Dave asked me this trip if I wanted to try it. I don't know what came over me, but I decided, what the heck? Why not try it? And wouldn't you know it, I LOVED IT! We had a 3 hour lesson. We had to fill out all kinds of paperwork, then put on all our gear and try it out in the pool. We learned to breathe in the pool and about the gear we had. Since I am not certified, I could only go down about 30 feet- far enough for me! So, we finally got out of the pool and went into the ocean just outside our condo. It was awesome! I wasn't afraid at all. Never really gave much thought to Jaws or my many other fears. We saw some amazing coral, colorful fish an octopus and a HUGE sea turtle. It was probably 3 feet in diameter. TOTALLY worth it. It was very calming and just a lot of fun. I really enjoyed myself and wished that I'd done it earlier.

* We played in the grass. As you can see from the video, AJ loved the grass area just outside our timeshare. We took appetizers and drinks out there and let AJ run around and play. He entertained all the people walking down the boardwalk by waving or showing off in some way. He LOVED the freedom and the audience!

* We rented toys! Seriously, THE BEST IDEA ever! I got a TON of toys for AJ thru Easy Travel (http://easytravelhi.com/home.aspx) and it was a great investment. I paid $50 for the week and they delivered clean, age appropriate toys for us to keep the entire week and then picked them up when we were done with them. This was wonderful because I didn't know how much time we'd actually spend in our room. Well, when AJ wakes up at 2:45am or 4am and there is NOTHING else to do- you NEED toys! It was great not having to haul them all to Hawaii and back.

* We saw a hula show. The last day we were there we went to the Lahaina Cannery Mall where they have a free hula show. I wanted to take AJ to a luau, but after seeing him at this show, I'm glad I didn't. He enjoyed it, but for only about 15 minutes. He's just too young to really understand it.

We all had a really great trip- AJ was a DREAM child on this trip. Of course, he is only one, so he was a challenge at times, but we expected it. He napped well, and rallied when he was tired. He never threw a major fit or tantrum and even thought he didn't sleep well in the beginning, I don't blame him. He is used to his sleep habits and we threw a major wrench in it!

When all is said and done, I'd say that he'd REALLY enjoy himself back in Maui when he is 3 or 4 years old. He'll understand more, sleep better and just really have a great time.