Last day in paradise...

We had to live it up on the last day. First thing on the agenda...go back to the Sugar Cane Train (since it was closed the day before)! This made our little girl a VERY thankful and happy girl!

We decided to forego the nap on the last day. Obviously she was happy about that decision! :)

Being silly on the BIG kid slide...

Of course we had to take advantage of the pirate ship one more time on the last day!

This was Aubrey's routine every time she went down the slide. She LOVED to go head first, then swim to the rope wall and check out everybody and everything. And then go right back for another round. :)

Having fun with Auntie Blair


For our last evening we walked to Whaler's Village and ate at Hula Grill and then we couldn't pass up a little more shopping before heading home the next day.

Aubrey Rose and Mimi

Auntie Blair and Aubrey Rose

Jordan and Blair

Thank you Big Papa and Mimi, for loving our little girl so sweetly like you do and for blessing all of us with such a WONDERFUL trip with so many special family memories. We LOVE you guys!!

We can't wait for more fun in the sun next time! Next time Uncle Bradley HAS to come! We missed him too much! Forget work and school! :)

More Maui memories...

We enjoyed the beach and sun again the following day. Aubrey Rose was in heaven once again. Even though she was a HUGE fan of the pool and the sand, we still have to work on the whole ocean thing. She was definitely NOT a fan of crashing waves. Hey, we have come a LONG way since those days she was not a fan of the sand or the grass. Baby steps. :)

She did however, make friends everywhere she went. She called this friend Pink. This little girl was 5 and she had a pink swimsuit and a pink lifevest. Hence, the creativity of the name. :)
Relaxing on the hammock is kind of a decieving picture since there was very little of sitting still. This girl was a busy bee all week calling everything her own. "My pool. My beach. Aubrey's boat. Aubrey's toys." You get the picture. She was in heaven, loving life.
That evening we went to dinner in Lahaina.
The girls...
Blair and Jordan
This brings us to Thanksgiving Day. All week we had been prepping Aubrey Rose we were going to go on the SugarCane Train. Linda was so sweet to call in advance and make sure of the details. We showed up Thanksgiving Day to ride the train. CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAY. Aubrey Rose was BEYOND sad. (We went the next day though, to make up for it.)
We made the best of the day and went into Lahaina for some shopping.

and eating at Cheeseburger in Paradise

and of course some more shopping!
That night we ate at the Pineapple Grill.

Maui Memories...

I realize I am cutting this close, but before Christmas passes us by I want to share what we did for Thanksgiving. We were blessed to be able to spend a week in Maui with Blake's family.

Here is Big Papa in his board shots and flip flops on the tram ready to fly to Maui! :) On the plane, ready for the 5 hour flight!

Aubrey Rose did great on the flights! Thanks to the DVD entertainment! The second we started unpacking the bags, Aubrey Rose found all of her swim stuff and started BEGGING to go "swimming NOW PEESE!"
They swam for a little bit, but then Daddy took Aubrey Rose out to the beach and buried her.
She LOVED it!

Great way to start the vacation! Sand EVERYWHERE!
The next morning Aubrey Rose woke up, quietly snuck out of bed and went to look out the window. Then, she came to me in bed, tapped my arm and said, "Mommy, Beach!! Come on...let's go...Beach!" Little did I know, this would be her morning routine every morning.
So out we went to the beach and lots of swimming in the pool. I love how she isn't even looking at the camera. She was eyeing the pool already.
Daddy and Aubrey Rose
That night we went to dinner at Duke's.


I can't get enough of her big cheesy smile.

The next day we did a little sight seeing. We visited some organic farms, which led us on quite the road adventure. We ended up at the Haleakala Crater. Absolutely FREEZING, but amazing scenery!

Then, back down the mountain and we ate at the delicious Hail'imaile General Store. It was an ADORABLE restaurant.
Then, we continued on our journey to the airport to pick up Blair and her boyfriend, Jordan. More family fun to come!

Fisbee, the Elf

A fun new tradition we started this year in our house was Elf on the Shelf. Even though some of the concepts are completely against my grain to go along with (since I did not grow up believing Santa was real), I absolutely LOVE seeing the joy and excitement Aubrey Rose shows each morning when she finds our Elf, named Fisbee. Each day does not disappoint. There is jumping. Huge smiles. Lots of twirls and clapping. It is adorable. For that, I am LOVING our new tradition. And of course, Blake is a HUGE fan too, since he might be Santa's #1 fan. :)
Every night, Fisbee moves to a different location in the house. He watches over us all day to make sure we are nice and not naughty. At night while we sleep, he tells Santa how good we were and then he moves to a different location of the house to watch us again the next day.

With only a few more days until Christmas, Fisbee is running out of creative places to hide. That and sometimes Fisbee is so tired that he moves in the morning. :) No matter what, the response in the morning from our little 2 year old is completely worth the while. So cute.