Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ours was great! Hope yours was too!

Hawaii

Right after we got home from Palm Springs I had a day to unpack, do laundry and repack before Chris and I left for a trip to the big Island of Hawaii with our dear friends. Here are a bunch of pictures from our week in paradise without kids! Don't we look relaxed?

Black sand beach

We stayed at Anne's parents Hawaiian home. It was breathtaking to say the least. Here are some pictures of the view!

In the distance you can see the 15th hole of one of the Mauna Lani Golf Courses. Of course Chris had to play there!

The Big Island has tons of volcano lava rock all over. It is amazing because on one side of the street you see this:

And the other direction you see this:

Baby Luke was such a good baby and it was fun to get to play with him! He is such a sweetie!

Snorkeling fun!

We ate SO much! One of our main topic's of conversation was, "Where are we going to eat today?" One of our best meals was at Ruth's Chris. SO GOOD!

Here is the yummy dessert we had there.

We also spent almost every night playing games and laughing. It was so great. One of the funny things that happened while we were playing was when this huge moth flew in and landed on Anne! I had to catch and release it! Look how big it is!

Did I mention we ate a lot?

This was the best breakfast buffet EVER! We had to eat there twice!

More Golf!

The food was not only yummy, but very pretty!! I think Luke wants a bite!

Anne and Dan didn't believe that we eat milk shakes every night. I think they believe us now. Anne thought it was funny that we can finish a container of ice cream every night if we have the same flavor. YUM! She had to take a picture for proof!

Delish!

Hawaii just isn't Hawaii without a few trips to get Shaved Ice!

Me and my Hottie at the black sand beach.

Dinner at the Canoe House

We had such a wonderful time! Thanks Anne and Dan for putting up with us and letting us share your vacation with you! You guys are the BEST!

I also have to give a HUGE shout out to my AWESOME mom who watched all my kids for a week and survived! Thanks NANA! It is even worth being called Nanny (I am guessing a combination of Nana and Mommy) by Lily! :)

Palm Springs 2009

Right after Thanksgiving we headed to Palm Springs for 5 days. This is the third year we have done this with my parents and it is so much fun! The kids love playing around at the pool.

Hiking

This was the first year my mom and I (while Chris was golfing) took the kids to the Palm Springs Zoo called, The Living Desert. It was a fun change of pace.

Isaac was our little navigator around the zoo. I think he had more fun telling us where we were and where we were going than seeing all the animals!

This was by far the coolest part of the zoo! We all got to feed the Giraffe! It was so cool (and a bit sand-papery!) Giraffe don't have teeth so we didn't need to worry about them biting. They just would stick out their black tongue and we would put the pellet right on their tongue!

The Petting Zoo

Nana and the girls and I went horse back riding! We all loved it and it was just the four of us with our guide.

YEEHAW!

We love Palm Springs!

Stay tuned....Up next, Hawaii!