The Growing Walnuts: All Good Things Must Come To An End

Thanks to Nana & Papa we just got back from the most amazing vacation! We spent a week at Ko Olina on Oahu with all of Esme & Chan's cousins and my siblings (except for Judd, Ness & newborn Mahina). We could have been anywhere and would have been happy just to spend time with family but this place made it even better. We had great weather everyday and made the most of it with walks in the morning, pool or beach time during the day, naps in the afternoon, and beautiful sunsets off the lanai every night. We also ventured out to the waterpark, aquarium, zoo, and the usual Punchbowl and Oahu Cemetary visits to put flowers on the graves. And Chan Chan got to celebrate his first 4th of July while we were there. It was by far the best one we've ever had since we just had to step out onto our lanai in order to see the fireworks. Esme was a little afraid at first but warmed up to the idea by the end of the show.

Like I mentioned before, sometimes it was a zoo to try and do anything with 9 adults and 8 children under the age of 6 but it was still worth it. The kids transitioned well to our temporary sleeping arrangements and did fine. Esme had a pack-n-play in a side room off our master bedroom and we took the travel bed for Chan Chan however he just ended up in bed with us. Chan Chan slept so much and was held by so many relatives on this trip that I bet he forgot what it feels like to lay down in his swing or bouncer. Everyone noticed how much he changed during our stay too. He became much more responsive and started smiling when anyone talked to him. And not just the Elvis smile but with his whole face and even cooing to go along with it. He also found his fists and started putting them in his mouth. It'll be interesting to see if he'll be a thumb sucker like his sister since he's not a very committed pacifier sucker. At the end of our trip we noticed that Esme's talking had advanced a lot too. She's saying so many new phrases and using a lot of descriptors/adjectives when talking about things.

We had a few extra days to kill before returning to Seattle so we went to Hilo for a brief visit. In the end it felt like such a tease though because I only wanted to stay longer. Esme was happy to jump on Nana & Papa's trampoline though and see the chickens in the chicken coop, along with the rest of their animals. The mosquitos were also glad she came cause they always love her despite the bug spray we put on her. Ha ha!

And thankfully our return flight was even better than our previous one. Esme slept for almost 3 1/2 hours which was not surprising since the heat in Hawaii and also the travelling really tired her out. At one point my water bottle fell off the tray table on the plane and hit Esme on the head but she barely woke up, whimpered and then went right back to sleep. Allen & I were shocked. Chan Chan also did fine and slept a good portion of the plane. When he was awake or fussy then he just calmed down with feeding.