Thats a wrap up

Tomorrow is my final day of babysitting Hailey. We have enjoyed the last few months with her and are sad to see her go. I think she also has had fun playing with the boys and picked up a few new tricks from Zach. I think we will be welcoming her back in Fall, as long as her mom & dad don't change their minds during the summer :-)
(this picture was the best one I had after many attempts to get a decent one of all 3 of them together)

Although its been a joy and honor to have her, it will be a bit easier to get around with just the 3 of us for the summer. I feel like I have a 'to do' list with Cam that I have been putting off, as I want to get him down to one nap and need to drop his bottles now that he is one. All of which are tasks I am not really looking forward.
We also have a busy summer planned, as I have signed Zach up for all kinds of stuff.
Here's the list of activities that he's not completely aware of yet: several summer camps at school, Vacation Bible School at church, T-Ball and swimming lessons.
We are also hoping for lots of summer play dates (probably many over at Sara's to keep her company while she's on bed-rest) and afternoons of swimming at my mom's pool. A fun summer it will be!

Bringing in summer

Max, Zach and Seth playing together at the BBQ

The unofficial start of summer! Love it!

We had a great weekend of yard work, bonfire with some friends, BBQ with some other friends over at the Haartmans', attended Naperville's Memorial Day Parade and some swimming at my parents pool. A wonderful weekend to begin the summer.

Zach and his friend, Hailey, at the parade flying their flags

Changes

First day of Preschool, September 2007

Last day of Preschool, May 2008

Back in September, I shed a few tears when I dropped Zachary off for his first day of school, as it was hard letting go. Now this past Wednesday when I dropped him off for his last day, I almost cried too, but it was at the fact that school is officially over till September!
My how in the last 9 months both Mom and Zach have changed.

Its hard to see changes in your own kids on a day to day basis, but when you compare pictures, its amazing to see how quickly they are growing up.

Trying to capture our trip

Maui & Kauai

Where should I begin?

I feel like I could blog and blog and blog about this trip, as it was absolutely amazing. Given my international background, I have been blessed to experience many parts of the world, but I must say that Hawaii tops my list, as one of the most beautiful places in the world. The islands were absolutely breathtaking and despite taking about 300 pictures, I don't think we truly were able to capture the beauty of it.

However, I have put together a slide show with way too many pictures.

A brief itinerary of our trip was:

To start we had 4 nights on our own in Maui, where we spent some time relaxing by the pool and laying out on the beach. The beaches in Maui were gorgeous with crystal clear ocean water and soothing breezes. Mark spent time each day snorkeling at Black Rock, which was a volcanic rock right by our hotel that is known as the best snorkeling spot in Maui. We also rented a car and did some of the tourists things, such as 'The Road to Hana' and hiked down to some of the blow holes.

Then we were off to Kauai, the original purpose of the trip, for Mark and 83 other winners to be recognized by Waste Management, as part of the 'Circle of Excellence.' The resort we stayed at was gorgeous and the events/activities/gifts/dinners they had organized were also phenomenal. On the first day, we chose a catamaran boat ride to see the Nepali Coastline and snorkeling. The second day the boys enjoyed a golf outing while Stacy & I enjoyed a visit to the spa. Every evening we had a dinner to attend and followed by live entertainment.

It was an honor to be a guest at such an event and so proud of my hubby for his hard work in 2007 that earned him this trip. And as I mentioned before and you can see in the pictures, what made it extra special was to be able to enjoy this trip with our dear friends, Steve & Stacy. We had a great time with them and also had many laughs with several other couples from Mark's office that we hope to maintain friendships with.

All in all a fantastic trip! And now that I have been back for a few days it already feels like it never happened and that it was all a wonderful dream. Isn't that the way it always goes with vacations?

My 1 year old

Birthday cake, umm... 'what am I supposed to do with this'?
Needless to say, it was not a big hit with the birthday boy.

We made it home from our AMAZING trip in Hawaii (5.20am Sunday morning), just in time for Camers 1st birthday bash.
Despite the major jet lag (all thanks to the planning and prepping of my Mom & Dad) we had a small BBQ with family and some friends to celebrate the big event.
I know us Moms all say this, but I can't believe he is one already. Seems like the past year has flown by. I am very happy to report that Cam has now dropped to the 70% for his weight, I guess that diet we have him on is finally working!
Actually, he is starting to walk a little bit, which might be slimming him down. Amen to that!





So loved by his big brother

P.S. I am working on a blog about our trip, but my photographer of a husband took almost 300 pictures, so I am having a hard time deciding which ones to post. The scenery was absolutely unbelievable, which he did an amazing job capturing.

This time tomorrow.....ahhhhh......

This time tomorrow, well plus a few hours, and hopefully all being well, Mark & I will be enjoying our first sunset in Maui. Where we stay until Tuesday am, when we fly over to Kauai.

While we are sippin' on our 1st cocktail, Mark's parents will have the pleasure of taking care of the boys for the weekend. Then my Mom & Dad (I do feel kind of bad that our Mothers have to take care of my children on Mothers Day, if you need to blame someone, blame Waste Management, poor planning on their part --- thanks again Moms!) take over till the following Sunday when we return, on a wonderful red-eye flight.

Although I am a bit anxious to leave the boys, I am ready for a break from parenting. As I mentioned before, Zach continues to struggle (with crocodile-tears most days) going to school. But I am sure after a 9 day stretch of TLC from grand-parents, ALL separation issues will be fixed! Just in time for school to end for the summer.

Maybe, I will give my Dad my blogspot password and they can blog about how the week is going, I am sure by Thursday, if not Wednesday, they will be exhausted. We will be thinking of you :-)

Weekend around the house

Quite an uneventful weekend around here. We were busy getting both the house and the yard ready for our departure later this week. We leave for Kauai on Friday and I am not going to complain, BUT I feel like we had/have a lot on our 'to do' list to get ready. However, we made great progress over the weekend and I am almost feeling ready to leave the boys/house/daily routine for 9 days.
I will honestly admit that I am a feeling a bit anxious about being gone for that long from the boys, but I can only hope and pray that I will be able to enjoy and cherish every moment, of what might be, a once in a lifetime experience.
I just need to keep telling myself that after 1/2 hour of being back in the chaos I will probably be asking myself "what was it that I really missed while I was gone?" It probably won't even feel like I was gone.

Here's just a few pics from things we did this weekend.

Zach getting his first tractor ride with Dad.


Hanging in the yard on Saturday

Sunday afternoon trip to the park for some swinging

Taking the boys for a ride. I must admit it was hard work pulling an additional 60 pounds! Oh my... quite a work out