Country Mice Hit the Big City!

This past weekend, we packed it up and headed to Honolulu to visit our dear friends, Wanee, Ivan, Noe, Elia and the soon to be baby girl Gomez. Before Lance came along, we made it out to see them a few times a year. Can you believe that it had been almost a year since we have seen them? way too long.
It was an awesome trip that included beach time, much needed shopping (for me) relaxing around the house, and Lance's first concert!
Lance did great with the lack of routine (a first for him) which gave me even more confidence to travel with him in the future.
He LOVED hanging out with the boys and got in lots of good playtime with Noe and Elia. I think we can safely say that they are both going to be amazing big brothers and I'm pretty sure Wanee and Ivan can count on Noe being completely in love with his little sister. Noe was always ready to show Lance toy he thought he'd like or just hang out with him on the ground where Lance spends most of this time...
We got in two days at the beach with jetskiing in an inflatable ski, paddleboarding and sand play.


We attended our third Kokua Fest, and got lucky enough to sit next to a photography student, who took these great pics for us! Lance perfected one of his latest moves while we were there- crawl to sitting and practiced it multiple times to a live soundtrack of Ziggy Marley and Jack Johnson, among others...
Unfortunately, there aren't any photos of my mad frenzy at the Nordstrom rack, trying to make up for over a year of lost shopping time while pregnant... for those of you who aren't familiar, Hilo doesn't have much to offer in terms of shopping. And by that, I mean that we don't even have the Gap. So, I am pleased to report that I came home with a few new items!

Most importantly, however, it was a great weekend spent reconnecting with our friends and making promises that we won't let another year go by without doing it again.

Another Glorious Visit with Nini

Two weeks have passed since Nini was here for five wonderful days and I have been waiting for the CD of photos to arrive so that I could share all of the best.

As mom said, the visit was not Eau de Parfum or Cologne, but pure Perfume. Five concentrated days of quality time together. Complete heaven for me. And for Lance.
We mostly stayed around Hilo and spent time sharing Lance's usual routine with Nini. They got to spend lots of time playing together, with Nini noticing all of Lance's growth and changes during her stay.
We also took a day trip to Hawi where Lance ate his first lunch at a restaurant. He had avocado and papaya (his favorites) while mom and I ate some incredible sushi.
We had lots of trips to the beach, despite the so-so weather and spent Easter morning relaxing together.

One of the highlights was when mom and I came out of our rooms unintentionally wearing matching pants for our walk. Naturally, I had to change my white tank top to a white tee-shirt to seal the deal. Boy, did we get a kick out of ourselves!
I know I say it all the time, but visits like these always bring up a lot of mixed emotions about living so far away from family. It just feels so good to be together! I guess I have to appreciate the perfume for what it is- short periods of time in which we get to totally focus on each other... what a gift for all of us.