Waikiki? Why Not?

After a week in Maui, we island hopped to Oahu to see our friends, Tina and Rodger, get married.  Anyone who has been to Hawaii will agree that the pace of Maui compared to Honolulu is quite different.  We bid goodbye the the seclusion and quiet of Maui and were ushered into the hustle and bustle of Waikiki. We spent the weekend eating, window shopping, and of course, celebrating friends.

Waiting to board our flight to Oahu. 

Wandering the streets of Waikiki

Nose snuggle in our hotel room.

More breakfast buffet-ing.

New favorite fruit.

We especially liked the made-to-order smoothies.

A view from our hotel of Waikiki beach in the background on a surprisingly clear day.

Just hanging out in the hotel lobby and getting some vitamin D.

This view doesn't get old.

Again, lots of napping going on during our trip.  She was averaging 1-2 hours both in the morning and in the afternoon.

All the napping meant fruity cocktails for us.

An afternoon pick-me-up.

Anyone who knows me knows I love spam.  So this musubi place was like my personal candy store.

"Mommy said I looked like a musubi."

Touring Waikiki

"Taxi!" 

The. Best. Meal. Ever.  Oxtail ramen.  Ella ate all my oxtail.

A surfer catching the last wave.

Watching the sunset.

Waikiki Beach

The picturesque setting for Tina and Rodger's wedding ceremony. 

The beautiful bride.  And she cried the whole way down the aisle!! 

It was a beautiful, thoughtful and very personal ceremony.

My two babes looking very Hawaiian.

The North Shore

Catching up with friends.  We really looking forward to having Ella get to know Elise.

Time to go home.  We made sure we had ALL our luggage accounted for.

Waiting for our flight

All smiles at the end of our trip.

Maui Wowie

We had two couples to celebrate this month, so after Kelly's wedding, we jetsetted to Hawaii to celebrate our friends, Tina and Rodger, and their nuptials.  We turned their destination wedding into a family vacation and spent a week in Maui before flying to Oahu to attend their ceremony.  Adam and I have travelled quite a bit together and we have established a really well-oiled system when it comes to vacationing and trips.  But now that we have a wee babe to account for, we've had to make some adjustments.  Even though it was more work to travel with a baby, it was well worth it to share this experience with her.  And while we know the only memories she'll have of it will be the pictures we took, it was still really special to have some uninterrupted family time together.  Oh, and the poolside cocktails and room service were an added bonus.

We were fortunate to be able to upgrade to first class for the 5+ hr. flight to Hawaii.  Ella did relatively well, though she didn't sleep as much as when we flew with her at 6 months old.  She ended up taking over my seat every once in a while so she could spread out. 

We arrived in our hotel pretty late at night, so Ella missed this welcome gift.  But we appreciated the thoughtfulness!  And Ella came home with a nice little souvenir. 

Heading out for lunch.

Ella was mesmerized by the sculpture. 

The weather was rainy off and on, so we spent a lot more time poolside than in the water.   We didn't mind it at all.

Ella loved watching the people.

The view from our hotel after a particularly stormy afternoon.

Ella's first outing on the beach.  It was too cool to put her in the water, but she liked watching the waves.

She really got spoiled with room service.

Cheeseball.

This was the tastiest cotton candy I've ever had.  It came as a special "dessert" with our meal.  We couldn't figure out if it was melon or kiwi flavored.  But it was good!

Despite the overcast weather, we spent some time on the beach.  This is Ella's first time digging in the sand.  We kept having to keep her from eating it.

Watching the waves.

She nosed her sandy arm and got it all over her face.  We thought it was funny.

The breakfast buffet at the Four Seasons is excellent.  Ella ate like a king every morning.

Ella got to try lots of different foods while we were on vacation.  One of her favorites?  Fresh, sweet rambutan. 

Watching the birds after breakfast.

Lounging and listening to the waves.

Ella napped A LOT while we were on vacation.  She got the R&R part down pat.  So we resorted to lounging around while she slept so we could at least get out of the hotel.

With my Babycakes.

The beach on a sunny day.

An excellent little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Kihei.  We loved the fried seafood and Adam got his poke fix. 

Ella has an obsession with my purses (she's a girly girl).  She was ready to head out on our excursion.

Waiting for our car.

More poolside longing and a late lunch.

She LOVED splashing in the pool.

She DIDN'T love having to wear a hat.

We braved a downpour and bumper to bumper traffic to go to Lahaina for some shaved ice.  The ice was good; the drive, not so much.  We'll be avoiding that area in the future.

Wedding Bells

The past few weeks have been quite a whirlwind, filled with weddings, plane rides, and a Hawaiian vacation (our first as a family of three!).  And through it all, it's felt like Ella has grown into a whole new baby--a little person almost--and it's really crazy to see her mature so fast.

First things first, Kelly's wedding, which kickstarted all the celebrating and traveling this month.  The wedding took place on a beautiful day in the Palos Verdes/Redondo Beach area.  The bride was blushing and the festivities were perfect.  It was so great celebrating the union of such a happy couple full of love.  Adam and I love being witnesses to such an important day for our friends, and this wedding was no exception.  (That, and we love adding to our "married club." Ha!)

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to snap too many photos.  But here are some of the beautiful bride reading for her big day.

A HUGE congrats to the new Mr. & Mrs. Belfi!!!

Rub A Dub Dub

Someone finally got the hang of bath time and is now loving splashing around.  This is probably Adam's favorite part of the day with his baby girl.

We are definitely on the last leg of that infant tub, but she still loves her baths, nonetheless.