Hawaii

We took off on a cold morning in Houston on Friday October 30th, boarding our plane and headed for paradise! I was consumed with fear that we would have a crying baby the entire flight and that everyone around us would be rolling their eyes and making huffs/puffs. So I made a few treat bags and let everyone on the plane sitting near us know that we were going to try to pull all our tricks to keep our little one quiet but in case we failed we hope to please them with a few sweet treats. All the passengers loved this and instantly doted on Jack, score!! The flight attendants who we also gave this to loved us and did everything for us on our trip! Note to self I will be doing this going forward for all vacations with Jack! However we really didn't even need any plane bribes because we had the sweetest baby on board! He was SO good and I don't think he ever got cabin fever, mommy and daddy on the other hand were ready to get off the plane! 8 hours is a long trip for your legs to be in one place! We got bulkhead seating so that we could utilize the plane bassinet, it worked great!! Jack slept in it a little on the way to Hawaii but on the way back home he slept the ENTIRE flight back! AWESOME!! Grandma/pa Strehlow were on the flight with us too! Grandma is somewhere under the purple, hahaha!

After 8 hours we finally arrived in beautiful Honolulu. We decided to not do the second flight into Maui on the same day, so that we could all rest and enjoy the rest of the afternoon not being on a plane. Flying in is always so pretty. Check out this view!

We stayed at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider, it was a beautiful hotel, with great accommodations! They had a full size crib set up for Jack when we arrived and gave us leis and a cute kids club bag.
The view from our room was great, beautiful ocean for miles! Jack was getting a little tired at this point as you can see. He had been such a trooper the entire day a little fuss was ok with me. But Daddy sure did know some secret to calm him down. :)

Once we got freshened up we decided to take Jack for a walk to make sure he still knew it was daytime, with a 5 hour time difference he was starting to get ready for bed time. We wanted to keep him up for as long as possible to get him accustomed to the time difference. So we took a walk along the ocean in search of dinner and ended up at Cheeseburger in Paradise! Yummm fat juicy burgers and a pina colada...enough to put us all to sleep early!

We got up the next morning, packed and ready to head to Maui!
We arrived in Maui around lunch time and headed straight for the Makena House, the estate Stacy and Joe rented for the trip. I could go on forever about this house, and I will devote an entire post just to it, but for now I think the picture and the view speaks for itself!!


We settled in our room and then quickly jetted for the great backyard for some family fun. Jack loved to put his feet in the grass and stomp around. It was so fun to watch him play and explore new feelings and things for the first time!
After play time we dressed him up for Halloween, our sweet puppy is one spoiled little boy. I don't know many kiddos that get to trick-or-treat on beautiful Maui!We ended up hiring a nanny for two of the nights so that Kevin and I could enjoy the rehearsal dinner and wedding night. As we were getting ready for the rehearsal dinner on Friday October 31st I noticed that Stacy and a few others had on adorable costumes...what is this I thought!?! I didn't know we were going to dress up so I quickly got into our rental car and went to the Shops at Wailea. There was an adorable store called Enchantress Boutique (side point that I love...Paris Hilton and Britney Spears shop there when they are in Maui!) I went inside and said I need something cute for myself and then something that my husband will wear too. The girls were so nice and suggested a Maiden costume for myself and a cowboy costume for Kevin. I was sold, and we had costumes!

Rehearsal dinner was at Tommy Bahama, it was so much fun with everyone dressed up, and the food was DELISH!! Thanks Gloria, Arwin, Joe and Maria for an awesome dinner!

The next morning we were treated a wonderful wedding day brunch at the Four Seasons restaurant Duo. The food was tasty and the company was delightful. We were seated in a private area overlooking one of the pools, what a great morning! I was amazed at how calm Stacy was for her Wedding Day! I was a crazy bridezilla, and thought hmmm maybe the ticket is to be in paradise...how could you ever have a worry when you are here! Take a look!


After brunch we came back the house to relax for a few hours before it was time to leave to the Wild Orchid Estate for the wedding. We relaxed in the hammock (this was done most days) and Jack took a little nap in his swing (we rented a few items to make it feel like home for him). I must say his view from the swing was pretty divine!


While we were outside enjoying the downstairs view, Stacy was upstairs enjoying the 2nd floor view while getting her hair and makeup done! What a beauty!
Once she was all dolled up, Gloria and Stacy headed over to the wedding site and we all followed shortly after. The wedding was breathtaking, with sunset views, sentimential vows, family abundant, and yummy Hawaiian food.....life was good! The dancing and mingling was cozy and just right! Once look at these pictures and you can see how stunning this night was!!

After the wedding we all came back to the house and roasted marshmallows and listened to the ocean waves. I can't think of a better way to end a wonderful night! yummmmy

The next morning and for the following days Kev, Jack and I just relaxed and lounged around the estate. It was the most perfect place for a 4-month old. We could nap, swim and eat when we wanted without a ton of resort guests! It was nice to have family around to hold Jack when we wanted to go to the backyard and snorkel. Just steps away you could swim with turtles and check out amazing reefs! It was perfection!

I even got a massage in the back yard alongside the ocean, talk about relaxing! I almost fell alseep but tried my hardest not to so that I could listen to the waves! I thought to myself ahhh I want a picture of this, but of course I couldnt take one. But my sweet husband knows me oh toooo well! When I got back and looked at the camera there was a picture! Brilliant, we were meant for each other :)

We had a few hours to ourselves while Jack was napping so Grandma Gloria watched his monitor for us. We went a few miles down the same street that our house was on. It dead ends into this magical, breath taking lagoon! ahhhhhh I did not want to leave! These pictures don't do it justice!

Once we got back Jack slept for a few more minutes and then he was up and ready to play! We took him out to the pool and he loved it! We even took a dip in the hot tub (turning down the heat) and that relaxed him to the point he was giving us sleepy eyes again! I have a feeling that we have a water baby on our hands! Oh and I love those little wrinkle toes! So fun!

Dinner at the estate was so fun! Grandma Gloria has a timeshare in Maui and has made a tradition that each person gets to cook dinner one night while you are there. So the tradition carried over to our stay here at the Makena House. Since we had such a large group, instead of one person making dinner we had certain family teaming together to do it buffet style. Italian and Greek night were my favorites! Yummm yumm! Oh and thanks for Marcia making breakfast each day! Wahoooo!

You are not a Strehlow unless you love to play games, thankfully Joe and I do. So we fit into the Strehlow clan pretty well. Monopoly isn't just monopoly with our family. It's all out war and a race to build hotels! We had some smarty pants with some serious strategy playing the game, but no one could out beat THE Jessica KING Strehlow :) I cashed in winning the game for the night...making that a late night! By midnight we were a pretty tired group! Marcia was a trooper, since her bed was in the den, and the game room was right next to it. She pulled out a book and read while we played. I love her reading light! So funny.

The highlight of Jackson's trip was the beach! He LOVED the beach. We took him to a black sand beach which was right out front our doorsteps and then we took him to the Polo Beach Club which was down the street. His little face lit up when he felt the sand. He loved the ocean and watched as the waves came and went. He was fascinated at the water retracting back to the ocean. It makes Kevin and I soooo excited for the trips ahead. As he gets older, playing on the shore, building sandcastles and getting the sand diaper butt!

Always in fashion our sweet angel had a TON of clothes that I packed with us. I dressed him up each morning and then usually by mid afternoon he was back in a comfy onesie. Most mornings he was fine, but there was one morning that he was not digging his terry cloth hoodie outfit...but it made for a cute picture :)

For the most part we kept Jack at the house, there was really no reason to go elsewhere as the house had everything we could need. However we did want to venture out as a family and take a nice drive. So we went up to the mountains to Iao Valley. Its just past the airport and the green covered mountains are a site! The one waterfall that is in the area was mostly dry, but from afar it looked like there was a small trickle of water.

On the last day of our trip, I think we all were a little sad, no one wanted to leave paradise. Joe and Stacy had a few moments with their favorite friend Dom Perignon, and Kev and I, with Jack in tow, set out for the beach behind the house. We picked three flowers to represent each of us. If you toss them to the ocean and they come back to you that means you will be graced with the pleasure of a revisit to the island. So we gave Jack his flower to toss, but he was not interested in tossing, he only wanted to eat his flower. We quickly grabbed it from him and Daddy tossed our flowers in for each of us. They floated back to us, and we smiled .......we will be back!

What an amazing trip. Congratulations to Joe and Stacy, may your life be blessed with laughter, happiness and love. As Rita Rudner puts it best...I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life :)

I will leave this post with one of my favorite pictures from our trip. My two boys sharing the couch watching football...yes even in paradise football finds a way...look at the faces of Kev and Jack...they are the same! I love these two with all my heart!