A Princess By The Pool

Saige was impossible to watch by the pool unless we stuck her in the floating crab. She has ZERO fear of the water. The wading pool was up to her chest and you had to hold her hand or else she easily lost her balance and sort of floated away. Did I mention anywhere that all the pools were saltwater? Of course all she wanted to do was shove my hand away...I suppose in a round about way, I'm trying to say we didn't get too many shots of Saige in the pool. She did however, enjoy her poolside naps each day and confiscating my sunglasses. To conclude the poolside stories..our books, magazines and daily newspapers remained unread and on the table. I couldn't quite figure out why they provided adult sized lounge chairs by the kiddie pool since there most definitely wasn't any lounging going on! Perhaps next time we can outfit them in life jackets and toss them into the pool to fend for themselves while we enjoy an evian facial spritz and poolside massage.

A Pool For Princes

So...back to vacation stories and pictures...below is a shot of the kiddie pool area at the resort. There was a wading area attached for the really little ones, a slide, kiddie toys, cabanas that closed off for wee ones napping and poolside services that offered playpens for naps! We spent a lot of time at the pool. Dayton had a couple of "friends" to play with but mostly he spent his time taking their toys and throwing them into the bigger kid pool or splashing them. Go figure. Dayton saw all the other kids wearing swimmies so he wanted some too - the ones I had bought before vacation were too big for him so Daddy & Dayton went and bought some smaller ones. He reminded me of that kid in "A Christmas Story" wearing the snowsuit. He did great with them and was for the most part, independent in the water while wearing them. He didn't particularly care for Daddy's "one tug" removal though. Of course, the nervous nellie that I am, I was right close to him anyhow. There were people that would come by and offer a spritzing of Evian water on your face if you felt a little hot...they also came by with trays of cold cloths AND freshly baked mini muffins and chunks of pineapple. Dayton caught on quickly to poolside lunch service and would ask for his own menu when the ladies came by...he was too funny...he would open it up and pretend to read and say "oh yes, I want pizbah (pizza) and nemons (lemonade) pwease." Or he would say "oh yes, I want toast pwease." It cracked me up. As you can see from the photo, had Saige been able, she also would have ordered herself a pizbah.

Around & About

I would have loved to have taken more pictures in and around the resort but it seemed like every time I tried to take a picture, by the time I was done, one of the kids was missing! They are so darn fast! As I mentioned before, the flowers were freshly cut and changed and arranged differently every single day. The funny thing was...I never saw a worker changing them so they must do it in the middle of the night. In the lobby area they had local artists selling their works and that was really neat because it was also different each day. We saw a couple of pieces that we loved, but as you can imagine they were super expensive. We also managed to get ONE family picture while we were there. I think it might be the first family picture since Saige was 2 months old.

Our Room & First Meal Out

So our room was beautiful...well until we arrived! They had the kids name spelled out in sponges in the bathroom, personalized toiletries for little ones, bath toys, they each had a stuffed whale, there were fresh baked goods on our table...ah, finally our vacation had started. Dayton LOVED having his own big bed and actually stayed in it all night - of course he wanted one of us to sleep in it with him, but that worked out okay anyway since Saige ended up sharing a bed with me! The crib was pretty, but not very functional since it only had one setting and it was too deep for me to put her down while sleeping. I had to sort of drop her in there and she would wake up and scream, so I resorted to co-sleeping for the week (which was awful because she had to sleep ON me). But anyhow, we freshened up a bit and went out to eat. Everyone was starving and we even took a couple of pictures after our expensive but delicious meal!

The Four Seasons Wailea

We stayed at the Four Seasons in Wailea (more resort pictures will follow) and it truly was a beautiful place. We were greeted with lei's as you can see from Dayton's shells. While Daddy checked in, Saige explored and Dayton of course went straight to the water fountain to do a hula dance. I think he was just happy to be done with the spit up bag. (which he still talks about today) The flower arrangements were fresh and changed everyday and the grounds were immaculate. After check in we all decided to get changed and have something to eat. To be continued...

The SuperFerry

Ah..the SuperFerry...or should I say "Super-puker-Ferry?" It was very nice - sofas, coffee tables, comfy seats, a restaurant, nice bathrooms, a play area for kids, a gift shop...more luxurious than what I expected. Or was it? Scott took dramamine. The kids couldn't take anything. I wore seabands and took some ginger chews. 30 minutes into the 4 hour ride Dayton threw up all over himself. He's never been sick before (at least not since he was wee little) so it kind of scared him. Mostly he was upset about his clothes being all "bose" (gross). I didn't really have much warning so round 2 got all over the seats. I sure hope those poor workers on the boat get paid well! I got him changed into outfit #2 and he sat on my lap throwing up into a bag the remaining 3 hours. I felt so bad for him. Saige also threw up all over Daddy...several times. I'd take baby puke over toddler puke anyday..but that is neither here nor there. Both of them would sleep for short bouts and then wake up and puke. I wasn't doing so hot myself, but held myself together because what else was I going to do? The waters were pretty rough and I watched the beautiful scenery pass by....waves, boats that looked like ants and the workers walking up and down the aisles with their red hazardous waste bags for all the pukers. Apparently the beautiful scenery was on the other side of the boat. So much for taking some nice pictures. Instead, Scott was nice enough to get a shot of me holding Dayton's barf bag. Oh, and did I mention that Scott actually threw out both of the kids outfits? You cannot imagine how incredibly happy I was to see us docking. We got into the car (smelly and all) and drove off the boat feeling 100% better. I think we had our discussion about me flying the kids home after vacation instead of taking the ferry back, before we actually drove off the boat. What a start to the vacation! To be continued...

The Day We Left For Maui

So I thought I would start to post some pictures from our family vacation to Maui - for storytelling purposes I am going to post them in order. So here we go... Our alarm went off at 4am since we needed to be at the port to board the car on the ferry 90 minutes before departure. As you know (those with little ones) it is a challenge to get out the door on time for anything especially at 4am! We decided to get everything ready and let the kids sleep until the car was ready to pull out of the garage. It took a couple of pokes and prods to get Dayton up. He kept rolling over and hiding his head under my pillow. After a few mentions of the "boat" he decided to wake up. Saige on the other hand did NOT like the pokes and prods and was intent on screaming the whole time. (Don't forget that both kids had colds) Saige eventually stopped screaming in the car. I managed to snap a happy picture of Dayton and he wanted me to snap a picture of his travelling buddy. (Dora, not Saige) I decided not to take a picture of Saige since she had finally calmed down and I didn't think she would appreciate the flash in her eyes. Scott didn't want me to take a picture of him. We had hoped the kids would fall back to sleep in the car on the way to port, but that didn't happen. If only we knew what was about to transpire. To be continued...

Happy Birthday Great Grammie!

Even though I know you won't see this, we all just wanted to wish you a wonderful Birthday Great Grammie! Wish we were closer to celebrate with you and eat some cake! We love you and miss you! YaYa and or Auntie D, could you please pass on the message?Great Grammie with Saige.
Great Grammie with Dayton.

Post Vacation Mayhem

These are NOT pictures from vacation but I thought I should post something just to let you all know that we are home, healhty, alive and getting back into routine. When I get a chance (not likely this week as our schedule is soooo busy) I will sit down and upload some vacation pictures and post some funny stories. So the pictures I've included are just of a family day at the beach last month and Dayton's new favorite place to rest/nap. I think he likes the hot cement on his body and the shade from the grill on his head. Such a strange little bug... Oh and just in case you think I actually let him nap there...I don't.

Pre-Vacation Mayhem

Dayton still has a snotty nose, but otherwise is acting his normal sweet, well-behaved self. Saige is sleeping horribly because she can't breathe through her nose and chokes. She HATES getting her nose suctioned and wiped. Her teeth are still cutting. Scott is complaining of a horrible sore throat. I am ignoring any twinge of a symptom that I notice. Mothers don't have time to get sick. It will be a miracle if I do not get sick for vacation since I am constantly walking around with snotty kleenex in my pocket, have both kids hanging off of me and am getting no sleep. Despite it all, Dayton is excited to be going on day-dayshin on a boat..Mommy & Daddy are running errands and packing, Saige is walking everywhere and her favorite word these days is "eye". (she is constantly poking at my eyes). Shey is too busy looking for dropped food and barking at mysterious noises to notice something is going on. Tula is already acting a little funny...sensitive, stinky being that she is. Two new cute pictures.

A Moment Only Mothers Could Relate To...

So I had a profound motherhood moment the other night...I had made Dayton dinner (mashed taters, fish sticks, peaches, chocolate milk) and he was all finished eating. Saige had eaten a little earlier than that...some freshly steamed carrots, mashed taters & peaches). Both children were fed and happily playing. Scott had just gotten home and we had decided to have a "fend for yourself" dinner night. I was sitting on the steps in the kitchen eating my bowl of cheerios. (Don't all mothers resort to cereal some nights?) Saige was sitting on the steps beside me and was holding onto my shirt so that she could balance and step up...and down....and up...and down. Periodically, she would sit down and poke her sticky fat fingers into my bowl of cheerios and swish it around and then eat her hand. Dayton was behind me tangling himself up in Saige's birthday balloons (intentionally I might add) and then fussing that he was "stuck". He kept asking for a bite of my cheerios as well. Scott was standing in the kitchen eating his dinner (waffles I think) and watching the news. Both dogs were at my feet waiting for cheerios to drop. For half a second I thought about telling everyone to leave me in peace so I could enjoy my cheerio dinner and was about to get up and go to the table...when I realized...not only do I LOVE my life, but that everyone would follow me. Instead, I sat there and shared my cheerios.
A side note for YaYa: I made Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Dayton shortly after you left in June. We both had fun and it actually turned out pretty well. Thought I would share the pictures...not quite Roy's quality, but just as yummy and much cheaper!

Not A Whole Lot Of Sharing Going On

Not the best quality photos and in the wrong order, but you get the idea...Saige sees something she wants that Dayton has and slowly works her way closer. Dayton tries to drink it as fast as he can before Saige steals it. Of course, we all know how it ended: Dayton got mad, Saige scratched him and threw a fit because she didn't get what she wanted. Let's see..what's new here? Saige is still running random fever and has periodic fussiness. Those 12 month shots caused Dayton to run fever for quite some time if I remember correctly. I also discovered yesterday that she is cutting her first molar!!!! She still doesn't have her front bottom four (only 2) and already she is working on the big ones. Poor thing. No wonder she's been less than pleasant. I lowered her crib a notch today as she is starting to try and swing her leg over the rail. Dayton is still refusing to swim even though he loves it and sings the swimming songs all week! Mommy has been a master at sneaking him into the pool without him realizing it. Last week I had him enticed with a floating leaf in the water that the lifeguard wanted Dayton to help clean up. This week he had no movie in the car and I told him that the park (right beside the pool) was only for little boys who swim. I eventually got his feet in and then once he saw all the other kids in the water, he decided he needed to do the same. Once in the water he does GREAT! He's kicking and paddling really well. We've had a couple of busy weeks here with things booked everyday and next week we are leaving for our first family vacation! We're taking the ferry to Maui - with the kids of course! We haven't been on vacation since Dayton was 9 months old, so I am really excited about it.

Some Things Never Change...

...like boys. At 4 months old he couldn't even reach the floor to make the jumperoo bounce and he wasn't heavy enough to help lower him, so we had to use the dog bed under it! How funny is that? Well, for some reason now, at age 32 months, he's decided that it might be kind of cool to jump in it. So, since he still is under the weight restriction...why not? He thinks it is pretty funny. I think the jumperoo is good up until 35 pounds, so maybe I can still get a picture of him in it at age 5!

Birthday Celebration Pictures

Saige gives her dolly a kiss.Dayton models his BBU (big boy undies)and Saige's balloons.
Saige sharing her chair!So glad to finally have her own chair.Embarrased to be getting older.Joining in the festivities.The taste test.Dayton's turn to wear the "special" hat.Mommy & Dayton's masterpiece!The first candle. (not such a hit..in fact, Dayton blew it out)