dear finn,
this past week we were lucky enough to go on the trip of a lifetime, to the beautiful hawaiian island of maui! this was, in my mind, our first real family vacation, and everything turned out wonderful.
dad and i have been talking about going on a trip for a few months. we try and go on a real nice vacation once a year, but last year you were so young and the timing was just not right. but this year, with your little brother on the way, we decided we couldn't pass up a chance to go before he gets here. also, dad has been so extremely busy with work, and was in desperate need of a vacation. as soon as he gave me the go ahead, i started looking. i was debating between hawaii, mexico, or a cruise. we talked about it and even though everyone advised us to leave you at home with grandma (rude, i know!), i decided that i would have too hard of a time leaving you. besides, i wanted you to be able to experience something new. even though you are too young to remember any of it, i figured the pictures would be priceless and memories we could look back on for years to come. :) so after making that executive decision, i decided a cruise probably wouldn't be the best. i liked the idea of mexico, mostly because we always seem to go to hawaii, so at least mexico would be something different. however, since i'm pregnant, and it being a foreign country and all, i just didn't know if it would be the best. that left hawaii, which, even though we have been a lot of times, it is just paradise and i don't know how a vacation to hawaii could ever be bad. i had never been to maui before, and dad has only been once, but he got really sick and ended up in the hospital for most of his trip, so we figured it would be the perfect place.
i scouted out the best deals for a few weeks before booking a flight/hotel package. we found the perfect place for the perfect price, then all the sudden the rates went up! so, i kept looking, and found the most spectacular condominium resort. the rooms looked beautiful, the grounds looked beautiful, it was right on the beach. and without really looking at the price of it i fell in love. it was ranked one of the best places to stay when traveling with an infant to top it all off. i figured it was a long shot since it cost so much money, but i decided to ask dad if there was any way we could stay there. well, i must have caught him on an extremely good day, or maybe i am just that convincing, haha but somehow i worked some magic and he agreed to it! for days after we booked our trip i would get on the iPad and look at pictures of the hotel. it was seriously one of the nicest hotels i had ever seen, and made me that much more excited for our vacation. :)
one day dad and i were talking about our trip, and dad mentioned that it would be nice to have grandma cindy come! the room we booked was a suite with a pull-out couch, so she would be able to stay in our room with us. all she'd have to pay for was her airfare and some food, and i knew she would love spending time with you. plus, who wouldn't want to go to hawaii?! so one day i told uncle zac to ask grandpa jimbob if grandma could come, and sure enough he said yes! so he booked her a flight and it was set in stone...grandma was comin' with us! now i was even more excited, if that was even possible. :)
anyway, we were there from june 20th to june 26th, and it was an absolute blast! i don't regret for a second our decision to take you with us. even though the trip wasn't quite as relaxing as it would have been if we left you home, it was an amazing experience that i know i will look back on for the rest of our lives. :) we made some wonderful memories, and i thoroughly enjoyed experiencing hawaii through the eyes of my sweet baby boy. you make everything better little guy, and each day i fall more and more in love with you. crazy how that happens. anyway, more on the trip in another post!
love ya!
mom
