zipping

We helped my Mom cross off an item on her bucket list in Maui, zip lining through the rainforest.  It really was a beautiful and amazing way to see the island.  We were absolutely drenched by the end and even had a rain/lightening delay during part of it but still had a grand time at the Piholo Ranch.

This set of lines was over a half-mile long and so high up that there were orange balls to alert helicopters, what a blast!

more fun!

The boys found the hammocks to be fun on the hotel grounds

The Koi pond was another highlight each time we passed the lobby

 Grandpa and Grandma O with the boys, taking a leisurely stroll across the grounds

 Snorkeler Frank and Grandpa R watching Grandma R build yet another drip castle with Grant

Grandma O trying to wear little Parker Bear out with another walk along the beach

 Yes, more drip castles!

 Grant having fun and posing on the fun water feature at the pool

Umm, yeah, the life of luxury buddy, try not get too use to it!

Marvelous Maui

We have returned from paradise and it has been a tough re-entry into the rainy weather of Portland!  Today we woke up to snow on the ground, welcome Spring!?!

We were fortunate enough to travel with both sets of Grandparents to the island of Maui and spend a week being spoiled.  It is such a blessing to spend time with both of our families together in this way and the memories made we will always treasure.  

We can never say thank you enough to our families for this amazing trip but, thank you, we loved every minute with you.  (Even the sleep deprived minutes, with Parker awake during the night, and at 4:30 AM thinking he's on PST...every morning!)

Here is our only group shot, an evening over Italian fare.

Parker Bear with his Grandpa and Grandma O in the lobby of our hotel

There were splendid views all around, absolutely gorgeous

Some brotherly love for the camera, I pray they will always be so affectionate and loving toward one another

We spent a lot of time in this sandy beach/kiddy pool area, it's hard to beat with little ones (Grant thought he needed to wear goggles a good portion of the time!)

The Grandma's each have iPad's which were of great interest when indoors!

This just makes my heart melt, plain and simple, love these two!

Grant looks like he's trying to catch a wave but really just rinsing off his hands from all of the sand castle building he did

Additional photo overload to come shortly...

classes

The boys enjoyed a couple of classes this winter at one of our local rec centers.  I spend the half hour with Parker in a parent participation class while a friend and her son look after Grant on the court next door to Parker and I (we are just behind the giant green curtain you see below).  Grant looks forward to sports class each Monday with his buddies Colin and Matthew!

Poor Colin, watch out for the giant lick Grant is pretending to give you, his version of a kiss I suppose?!

February

The last full week of February found us, once again, at the pediatrician's office.  Another ear infection for Parker and a nasty three week cough for Grant, we left with antibiotics for both.  I can't complain, Grant hasn't been to the doctor since his three year check-up last May and thankfully this antibiotic took care of his yucky cough pretty quickly.  


Our little bear, on the other hand, has given us a run for our money this winter and we were hoping to make it until our ENT surgeon appointment (only 2 days later!) without another ear infection but he had other plans!  Strange, you might say, but this was actually an answer to our prayers, we wanted to be absolutely positive Parker would benefit from having tubes put in his ears and this final ear infection was our answer.  We now knew what our decision was going to be when meeting with the ENT doctor later that week.


Fast forward to last Monday...

(Excuse the phone photo.)  Parker was taking a cord and pretending to stick it under his armpit to take his own temperature.  He was just starting to get a bit groggy from the initial medicine given just before being taken back for his surgery.  You can tell we were pretty tired at this point, we had to check-in at the hospital at 7AM.


Thankfully, his surgery was very quick and went very well, no complaints.  He was, however, quite upset that the mini dvd player had been taken from him as we handed him over to his nurses and they said in the recovery room the first thing he did when he woke up was search through his crib until he found it again!  What a turkey.  


NOTE to self:  In case he is ever under anesthesia again...once we arrived home and his anesthesia really began to wear off he was a complete basket case.  He was in hysterics and finally had to be put him in his crib for fear he was going to hurt himself, thankfully the screaming, throwing himself all over the place, and thrashing about eventually ceased.  The, "He may be a bit irritable and anxious when the anesthesia wears off." warning wasn't quite sufficient for what we experienced!


We love you Bear and pray these tubes bring you much healing and comfort for many, many months/years to come.