Hawaii Day One 8.03.12

We were luckily enough to be forced to go to Hawaii for Callie’s wedding.  I was pretty apprehensive about the travel as the idea of the girls sitting sit for even one hour seemed impossible let alone 6.  We were able to get a pretty decent flight time, leaving Las Vegas about 6pm.  We drove down that afternoon, Todd dropped the me and the girls and our luggage and left to park the car at Callie’s future in-laws.  That hour we waited for him at the airport was probably the most difficult of the whole travel.  The girls kept wanting to ride the escalators which got a little sketchy, Charlotte got her hand stuck in this big rotating sign when I turned to chase Lyla, and Lyla had to pee twice.  Sheesh.  After that every went SCARILY well.  Lyla loved flying.   I was SHOCKED.  I think she felt pretty special that she got her own chair, right in the middle of me and Todd and that we both just attended to she and Char the whole time.  I had every entertainment element and snack imaginable.  That helped.  She didn’t watch much on the ipad (of course) but we ate a lot, drank coke, played fish, played cards, played store, colored, stickered, and read books.   Charlotte was really good to sit on my lap.  They both slept which was a small miracle.  We flew for six hours, took another hour to get our luggage and rental car, and then had to drive the hour to our place.  It was a LONG night.  You should’ve seen us manning 3 suitcases, 3 carry ons, 3 backpacks and two babies onto the shuttle and into the rental car.  It was interesting.  We started travel at about noon and arrived at 3am our time.  It was a party.  That first night went better than I expected too.  They both slept pretty good considering the new place.  I think Charlotte woke twice and only slept 8 hours but I’ll take it.  That morning we mainly nursed our hangovers but also went out to get some groceries.  That was when I finally got excited about being in Hawaii again!! It was dark when we had arrived, so taking in our surroundings in the daylight was nothing short of surreal.  Gosh this must be what heaven is like.  Everything is SO lush and beautiful.  I had forgotten.  I also loved the thrill of having our own car and money (whereas last time we were more at the mercy of my mom) and knowing that we could go and do ANYTHING we wanted.  I stopped at some fruit stands and bought all the groceries for the two weeks…OUCH.  Milk was $8 a gallon. Oh my.  Our meals consisted of frozen food and ramen.  After we got settled in we went to Sunset Beach with everybody.  I had forgotten just how beautiful Hawaii is.  It really must be what Heaven looks like

Artic Sensory Bin

I say this every time but this really was probably my favorite sensory bin to date!  I decided we had to do this after our amazing visit the the Artic exhibit at the Zoo!  It all started to melt and move before I got pictures but this one looked REALLY cool and you two both thought so.  I used blue water, ice, marshmallows, fake snow, and these “scent crystals” in the cleaning section of the $ store.  It made for a total sensory experience: sight, sound (ice melting and the crystals melting), smell (which was BAD) and taste (unfortunately Charlotte sampled).  Lyla, you went right for the BIG iceberg while Charlotte went for the little marshmellows and delicately plucked them out.  So indicative of your personalities.  We talked about the polar bear we saw at the Zoo and the Artic.  At one point Lyla, you did the motion of swimming backwards that the polar bear did at the Zoo!  It cracked me up. 

Rainy Days

More than any year living in Cedar City, I have loved late July/August this year.  It’s almost like the heat reaches its pinnacle and is released by rain.  This weather works perfectly with our lives.  It’s nice in the mornings for park visits and backyard play.  And then as if it’s signaling naptime, the rain comes and cools off for for evening time.  I’m trained by my mother to open up the door at the first drop and take in the smell of sagebrush.  The rain makes me want to snuggle in a blanket in bed and read.  Which is what we do while Charlotte naps.  When you get bored, we put on your rain gear and go out for a minute.  This day Charlotte wanted to go out when she woke up for her nap.  You two have both gotten into watching for rainbows from the back door.  My little treasure keepers.