Hawaii | Part 1.

As soon as I started working at the hotel, I knew I wanted to go to Hawaii and take advantage of the cheap hotel rooms. It is soo hard to find discounted rooms in Hawaii and I searched daily for anything available. By some miracle, I found 2 rooms available at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Oahu. I booked those rooms as soon as I found them and then called Austin and notified him of our pending Hawaii trip. I promised golf plus it is Hawaii so I figured he couldn't get too angry I booked without running it past him first. I asked my mom and dad if they wanted the second room and they quickly snagged it up. It was too good of a deal to pass up. Unfortunately, I had to book the rooms a whole year out. It was painful waiting for the vacation to approach but on the flip side, it gave us plenty of time to plan!

Austin's mom was sweet enough to watch the girls for us. She is the real MVP. I kept asking Kennadi if she wanted to go to Hawaii with us, and she kept telling me no. She was too excited to hang out with grandma for a whole week. I think it is natural to worry about the girls when we are away, but it sure made it easier knowing they were in good hands.

Austin, Madison, and I flew out on Monday. My mom and dad were on a different flight and we landed about the same time. We met up at the baggage claim, grabbed a rental car, and embarked on our week in paradise. We kept the first day super low key. We checked into our amazing resort and explored everything it had to offer. The resort is located right on Waikiki Beach and our rooms overlooked the ocean. It was so peaceful to sit on our balcony, hear the waves crashing, watch the surfers, and feel the ocean breeze. The resort was also home to 4 pools, water slides, a secluded lagoon, and a bunch of restaurants and shops. Because I am a Hilton Team Member, I got 50% off most of the food places, so we grabbed quite a few snacks there. Cheap rooms, Cheap food. What more could I need?

The next morning we woke up super early. Luckily it didn't feel super early because of the time change. We wanted to be at Sharks Cove early in the morning to go snorkeling. I read that this is one of the best snorkeling spots on the beach and they weren't wrong. The snorkeling was amazing. We had the whole cove to ourselves for most of the morning, which was a huge bonus. There was a good variety of fishes, and a large quantity of them as well. It was really rocky so we had to be aware so we didn't get scrapes and bruises, but it was so worth it. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me. After snorkeling, we kept exploring the North Shore. We stopped and had lunch at Ted's Bakery and had some of their famous chocolate haupia pie which wasn't too shabby. We tried boogie boarding at Sunset Beach, had the famous Matsumato Shaved Ice in Haleiwa, and then ventured to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. At the plantation we took a train ride through the plantation and ran through one of the largest mazes (Austin and I dominated my parents and Madison FYI). We finished the day off at Ko'olina. Madison insisted we visit Disney's Aulani and it wasn't disappointing. It is a huge resort and lets be real, I'll probably never be able to afford staying there so it was fun to visit.

Stroll down Waikiki Beach

Sharks Cove

Sunset Beach

Matsumoto Shave Ice

Matsumoto Shave Ice

Dole Pineapple Plantation

Pink Pineapple!

Family Pictures.

By some miracle, I convinced Austin to get some updated family pictures taken. It actually was more like I just booked pictures and told him the after fact. Oops! It had been over two years since our last ones, so I figured it was about time. We had Ashley Huish at Boston J Photography take our pictures once again. She always nails it and I'm so happy with how they turned out. Kennadi loved taking pictures. She kept suggesting different poses and didn't want it to end. Quincy was our stubborn, refused to look at the camera, never smiling child. It is amazing how different two sisters can be.

Zions Weekend.

Austin has lived in a Utah a long time and had never visited Zions National Park before. We decided that needed to be changed. It is so convenient having my parents live in Southern Utah because it makes these kind of quick trips more doable. We spent the weekend at my parent's house and decided that Saturday would be our Zion's National Park day. It was super quick but it was fun. 

We started the day out driving through the tunnels and then we stopped and explored some slot canyons. We even saw some mountain goats! After that adventure, my parents dropped Austin and I off at a trailhead and they took the girls back to the visitor center for a picnic. Austin and I hiked Emerald Pools. The hike was super easy, almost too easy. The waterfalls were refreshing and beautiful. After the hike, we met back up with the rest of the crew and headed back to Cedar City. The trip was short but sweet. We will definitely be back to tackle more hikes!

Soccer Season.

We took a chance and put Kennadi in spring soccer. She hasn't been involved in any competitive sports or clubs so I was unsure how it would all play out. I started really questioning the decision at her first soccer game. She was getting frustrated that she wasn't scoring goals so she would flash me the thumbs down constantly. After each play she would look at me, frown, and give me the thumbs down. Towards the end of the game, she finally scored a goal and her whole outlook turned around. She realized that maybe soccer isn't really that bad.

Luckily, Kennadi is a very social and competitive kid so she thrived the rest of the season. She tried so hard to score goals and was able to score one in every game! She would also create game plans on how to distract the other team and steal the ball. Before one game she told me was going to yell, "Look, snacks!" to the other team. They would look over and she would steal the ball and score a goal. She is not afraid to do whatever it takes to win! At the end of the season, Kennadi enjoyed soccer so much we decided to sign her up for the summer league. Hopefully that turns out just as well.

The Super Dinos

Quincy loved going to Soccer Practice to watch

Our Super star

Watching a game.

Tulip Festival.

The Tulip Festival is something I look forward to every year. To me, it is a mark for the beginning of spring which means warmer weather! I love walking around the gardens, feeling the sunshine on my face, and looking at all the pretty flowers. Kennadi loved being a little diva and getting her pictures taken. She is quite the photogenic child. Quincy on the other hand, hated the pictures. She has proven to be my stubborn, independent child.

Quincy Turns 2.

We couldn't have Quincy turn 2 without having some sort of celebration. Unfortunately it is really hard to plan a birthday party for someone when they can't eat any of the traditional party foods. We managed to make it work and had a fun ice cream sundae birthday party. Most of our immediate family came to celebrate and I'm not confident Quincy liked all the attention. She did enjoy all the fun presents she received though. She was spoiled rotten.

I can't believe my baby is now two!  I'm hoping the terrible twos are good to us.

Quincy | 2 years.

At 2 years Quincy is...

-28 pounds and 33 inches long
-wearing 2t clothes and size 5 diapers
-loves Moana, Dory, and Mickey Mouse
-Loves playing puppies. Whenever she is in trouble, she instantly falls to her hands and knees and starts acting like a puppy.
-leaves destruction where she goes and no where is off limits because she can open door knobs
-loves to clean up, read stories, and play with Kennadi.