here and there

A few fun photos of our recent April happenings...

Parker loves to wear the Lightening McQueen light up hat as well as these sunglasses, too cute!

Parker with his lady friend, Gigi at the zoo!

Grant always asks to go straight to the John Deere tractor as our first stop at the zoo.

Colin, Parker, Grant and Jack at our church for story time and a fun little Easter egg hunt in the courtyard.

Brotherly love, I love this photo, they were both heading toward the fire engine to check it out!

I just can't get over how much Parker looks like a little (big) boy in this snapshot!

A little bubble blowing on a random wood pile in our backyard.  Grant and Parker love to play with bubbles, even when it's a mere 50 degrees out!

sunday funny

When picking Grant up on Sunday morning, I was greeted by one of the volunteers in his Sunday School class, and was told how cute he had been with his friend Sophia.  Evidently Grant and Sophia held hands during the entire story time and singing!  What?!

Once we were home I asked Grant about it and thought Frank was going to fall off his chair in shock at his eldest son.  Grant looked so happy and innocent giving us his explanation of holding hands with his friend, "just because I wanted to Mom!" I also have to note that he kept referring to her as his friend because he couldn't remember or just didn't/doesn't know her name, hahaha!

A few last random things I want to remember about this trip: 

+Parker didn't sleep well, therefore, none of us slept well

+Everytime the elevator doors would open he would shout, "OOOHHHHH!"

+Grant finally hollering each morning at Parker to be quiet because he was tired and needed his sleep!

+Grant was obsessed with the "hulas" (luau that happened three evenings of our stay)

+Parker ate a lot of sand/tiny rocks that comprised the sandy bottom kiddie pool

+Grant LOVES hot tubs and was always his first choice when we went outside for the day

+Grandpa R feeding Grant power pellets to fill in his holes :+)

+Cinnamon Fair shop in Kehei that had the most delicious cinnamon rolls

+Getting poured on at the golf course, resulting in no golf being played

+Getting poured on at the zip line but having a blast none-the-less

+Having to rescue my Mom, stranded out on the middle of a zip line hundreds of feet in the air, in the pouring down rain

The last smattering of photos...

Parker in his hula shirt looking adorable!  I hope to always remember how infatuated Grant was with the "hulas!"  He talked about the "hulas" a lot and each night they performed he asked to go see them out on the lawn.

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?!