Now that we tell people that we are expecting our first child they seem very excited but there excitement is often followed by comments like, “Your lives are sure going to change,” “You better get in all your fun now”, or “Get some sleep, you’re going to need it.“Not all together the most comforting of comments but we are sure that they were all shared with good intentions as we realize that many changes are coming our way. So how did we react to their words of wisdom? We went to Maui! Not that we weren’t already planning another vacation for the year but this is one that we had on our pre-children to–do–list and so we made some last minute adjustments and snuck it in just barely under the wire.
While most people think of Hawaii as this great relaxing place, our first several days there resembled anything but peace and tranquility. Yes, the island was beautiful, but it was somewhat of a blur for the first five days. We wanted to do and see it all and I am confident that we certainly did that. We traveled to every corner of the island and while Maui is not that big of an island, we can proudly say that we traveled on every major road, and quite of the few of the less developed ones, on the island. Needless to say that although we questioned whether or not we could function without a rental car when we were planning the trip, the 850 miles that were driven in the eight day period confirmed that we definitely made the right decision.
Overall the biggest surprise to me over the first five days is that my wife was able to do it all. For those of you who know her well you know she is certainly a Type A personality who wants to check everything off of her list, but I thought that the pregnancy might change her approach on how we vacation. I was wrong! It was not uncommon for us to be in bed by 10 but up at 3 so that we could start the day and get to where we needed to be at (she did find time to sneak in a nap or two along the way but that is not really all that unusual even when she isn’t pregnant). Whether it be a sunrise on the top of the volcano, an early morning snorkeling trip, or at the airport for an early flight to Oahu, she was always ready to go. In fact one of the most common things heard over the course of our trip had to have been, “Was she pregnant?” This was usually heard as Jill hiked past someone, or as they caught a glimpse of her as she buzzed by. Again, she continues to amaze me!
In an attempt to reward ourselves for our first five days of non-stop activities we scheduled the last three days of our trip to focus on our tans! That’s right, our focus was on nothing but relaxing. This was the peace and tranquility that we had heard so much about. We traveled a short distance to another part of the island and spent our day’s pool/oceanside and our nights enjoying great restaurants. Our biggest task over the last three days was to sneak in a ukulele lesson, but other than that we could be found lounging around or walking along the beaches.
Overall, we know that this is our last vacation without a child, but we are certain that we made the most of it. And to all those who tell me how much sleep I am going to lose out on, my only response is – it can’t be any more than what I lost during our vacation to Hawaii.
Loved this infinity pool!!!
We had great meals and views!
What trip to Hawaii is complete without Ukulele lessons
Waterfall along the road to Hana
Hula Trees
One of our favorite memories was hiking through a bamboo forest.
We got up one morning at 2:30 am to see the sunrise on Haleakala Crater
It was 32 degrees on top of the old volcano
Loved the shaved ice!!
Top of Diamond Head in Honolulu
Waikiki Beach
Oil still leaking out of the Pearl Harbor Memorial
Did I tell you we loved the shaved ice?
Snorkling with sea turtles
Old Lahaina Luau
Sunsets were beautiful!
Hiking in the rainforest
It was a wonderful trip!!!
Sears Tower
"The Bean" at 
Navy Pier
Fireworks on Lake Michigan
Night at the ballpark
Taste of Chicago
Field Museum
One of my favorite summer activites for the last couple of years has been picking blueberries. This year my parents had some friends that had to many for them to pick so we got to enjoy them. John Paul enjoyed the day as well, even though he did not like to eat them at all!!
Yum-- Fresh blueberry muffins
This race was to be held in Marionville, MO and I couldn’t believe a race hosted in a town of 500 (with two of those residents being my Grandparents) would be listed in Runner’s World. So I quickly tried to encourage all of my family members to take part and to chase after the infamous “White Squirrel Medal” -- which is only handed out to the top three finishers in each age category. It is much better to suffer through something together than to go at it alone and it seems like my family is always willing to jump right in and try new things and so the challenge was made. And they did not disappoint. I am proud to say our family members represented 16 out of the 150 or so participants. Some of us ran, some walked, and some did a combination of both, but we all survived, got a t-shirt out of it, and most importantly we had a great time doing the event together.
Looking for a chance to get away on a short trip during Memorial Day we decided to make the trip north to St. Louis. It’s hard to believe that it has been five years since we have been there and quite frankly we were somewhat disappointed that we have allowed so much time to pass prior to making a return trip. The last time we were in the city Jill had just finished school, we were both packing up all of our belongings, and we were putting the finishing touches on our wedding plans. Needless to say we probably didn’t take enough time to take in all of the final moments and didn’t enjoy our exit as much as we should have. So we were thankful to get the chance to visit the city and visit some of our favorite spots.
Shakespeare in the Park
