Mom, Sam, Dad and Max at Wailea beach

We recently got back from vacation to Hawaii, and Sam and Max's first flight ever! The trip included the four of us, plus Grandma and Baba. As you'll see in the pictures, the boys spent plenty of time playing in the water, mostly at the pool. Overall the trip was fun, but it was also a lot of work. Hopefully future vacations will become more relaxing as the boys get older and continue to develop their skills and independence.

Max, Mom and Sam wading into the "sandy" part of the pool

Sam walking in the water

Baba helping Max back up onto the sand

Max sitting in the sand

The resort we stayed at had this wonderfully big swimming pool, complete with water falls (you can see in the background above) and a shallow "sandy" section for toddlers. I put sand in quotes, because the sand was actually a medium coarse gravel, which was perfect to walk on and play with, but was quite easy to shake out of towels and bathing suits. This area was absolutely perfect for Sam and Max to play, although much of our pool time involved carrying the boys around the main pool, and splashing in the waterfall.

Sam reading with Baba

Mom and Max sitting in the lanai

Max, Sam and Dad having ice cream

Max really loved the ice cream, but Sam was less interested in it. He said it was too cold, and he preferred cookies.

Mom and Max going for a walk

Mom, Sam, Dad and Max in front of the waterfall

Mom and Sam playing with the blue pool noodle

I love Sam's expression here

Sam has been making lots of silly faces lately. I don't know why he's so interested in silly faces, but a lot of them crack us up.

The Hawaiian trifolodalia flower

I just made that up, I actually have no idea what kind of flower that is. I'm not a botanist, do you think I have time to look these things up?

 The resort across the street, the Grand Wailea, had some fabulous grounds

It was nice strolling through here

A rare moment of relaxation without the kids

Max reading with Baba

A nice sunset from our lanai

Grandma and Max (foreground), Sam and Mom (background)

The boys' first trip to the beach!

Sam liked walking on the sand

Dad and Max near the ocean

Max really liked playing with the sand

Sam and Mom

Sam and Dad

Not bad for an old guy, eh?

Mom and Sam

Sam really liked splashing in the waves. Max wasn't so interested in the ocean, and he preferred playing with the sand.

Max and Sam playing with their sand buckets

Max digging in the sand

Max and Mom looking at the waves

Mom and Max trying out some free samples

Amanda's favorite thing to do in Hawaii is try the free samples from the Hawaiian Cookie Company chain of stores. Every time we enter one of these stores she acts surprised to discover that there are free cookie samples, but I assure you, its all a rouse!

Mom and Dad got to go out for a nice dinner without the boys

The restaurant had some beautiful grounds

Amanda posing in front of the flowers

Dad on a hike

Mom at the top

We also got to go out for a short hike while the boys were sleeping. It wasn't our longest hike, but it was nice to get out and see the scenery a bit.

Max, Mom, Grandma, Baba, Dad and Sam

The boys had a great time, and my only hope is that in the future we adults get to relax a bit more. Either way, Hawaii is a beautiful place to visit.