Why, Hello May!

With Griffin's arrival on the 7th, our month really flew by.  We weren't up to a whole lot since he was so new, and we didn't want him to be out too much.  But we did find time for a little bit of fun here and there before our next batch of visitors came.

First trip out of the house (Target)

Gracie and Griffin- Hard to believe that he'll be that size in 3 short years :(  Babies grow too fast.

Griffin's 1 week old, and we took Gracie to the Kroc Center to swim.

Obviously, she loves it there.

Mister Griffin slept the whole time :)

Swimming with Daddy

Sleepy baby

Our two little Gs

Had to get him with a mustache.  Now he looks like a Hernandez :)

First bath

Best big sister ever!

Memorial Day Weekend at Bellows Beach

It was sunny and super windy that day.

The view at Bellows

Gracie is such a beach baby!

Love her

On the 27th, our next batch of visitors arrived.  My mom, sister and aunt all made the very long trip out to see us.  On Memorial Day, we ventured out to Waimea Bay in North Shore to splash and soak up the sun with my family and some of our friends.

Aunt Rosie and Gracie

Daddy and his baby girl

At Waimea Bay, they have this large rock/cliffy thing that people jump off of into the water.  It's a good 20-30 feet high.  Our friend, Jeremiah, and Justin decided to take the plunge.  If that were me, I'd still be standing at the top contemplating jumping or climbing back down.

Jeremiah

Justin

Afterwards, we went and had lunch at a restaurant that I think should be called Longboards but I can't ever remember the real name.  Longboards is what always pops into my head.  We stopped for a photo op before heading back home.

Gracie and Aunt Tina

Gracie and her buddy Kamryn

On our trip back home, we stopped at The Dole Plantation for yummy pineapple ice cream.

Tina, Gracie, Mom and Aunt Rosie

My mommy and her newest grandson

Tina and Griffin

A couple of days later, we decided to go on a catamaran ride in Waikiki.  This is on my Hawaii Bucket List, so I was thrilled to be able to go.  The ride was fun, the view of downtown was amazing and the company was perfect.  Gracie absolutely loved it!  She loved being at the front of the boat when we were riding over the big swells.  She laughed hysterically every time we dipped down.  I squeezed on to her and the rail harder with each dip.  I'm so glad that she is braver than I.  She makes me do things that I am scared of.  She makes my life so much better (and so much more nerve-wracking! :)

Group photo before taking off.  The catamaran is right behind me.

Sooooo cute!

Aunt Rosie and Tina

Mom and her grandbabies

Leaving the pier...Tina and Mom

Gracie, me and Tina.  Griffin's in the car seat.

Diamond Head

Tina, the boat captain

The next night, we went to Paradise Cove for the luau.  Another item on the bucket list checked off.  Lots of different activities to see/do.  Gracie danced the hula in a small group, Tina tasted real coconut milk, we watched a man climb a really tall palm tree, watched a few small shows, ate some Hawaiian bbq and saw an amazing show.

Mom and Tina at Paradise Cove

The girls

Tina and Gracie

The man climbing the tree and giving us a flower shower.

Aunt Rosie only wanted a picture of her with her food.

Mom only wanted a picture of her with her umbrella drink (checked off her bucket list).

Gracie showing us her new hula skills.

My hula girl

The one and only picture I got from the actual show.  My camera died. :(

We had a blast!  After this picture, they asked for volunteers to come up on stage to learn a hula dance. I took Gracie because I knew she'd love it, and Aunt Tina came up too because she is a brave woman.  While up on the stage, Gracie managed to do the splits, almost crowd surf, jump up and down, shake her booty and do very few of the actual hula moves.  She loved being in the spotlight!  When the song was over, it was our turn to walk off the stage.  She cried and screamed because she wanted to stay up there!  Boy, are we in for it or what?! haha

We found out at the end of May that we will be back in July for a visit!!!  Justin has to go back for his quarterly meeting...which means Kiewit is paying for his ticket and MY ticket to come back home...which means we travel for free...which means the kids are coming with us because we only have to pay for Gracie's seat!  Yay for a summer trip back home!  We are already planning to see lots of people and play with lots of friends and eat some yummy food.  We are also going to baptize Griffin while we are back.  This family is soooo excited to spend 10 days at home when we weren't planning on coming back till probably next year.

Next post, June.  Where does the time go?