Here today, gone to Maui. Day 5. Luau!

I must say that no trip to Maui is complete without a Luau. Papa Wade really encouraged the luau. I was a little nervous that my kids running around would distract the rest of our party from the festivities. Millie did run around quite a bit, but the 2-3 Mai Tais I had before dinner really helped me relax about that behavior! I thoroughly enjoyed the luau...

think it was my favorite part of the whole trip!

The day of the Luau, Mima and Aunt Lindsey went out and found matching outfits for all 5 grandkids. They were as cute as could be. O got a thrill out of matching Carson, and these two littles are as precious as precious gets.

The best family shot we got the whole trip. Amelia likes portraits as much as her daddy.

But she'll be sweetsie when she doesn't know she's being photographed!

 

Love this shot of the Nieders. At this time, Carson was 9, Livi 7, and Ava 2.

 

We had another attempt at a pic of the 5 kids. This one was pretty decent.

 

Beauty!

Mai Tai Mike!

Awwww!!

The luau we attended was at the Wailea Marriott. This was by far the best setting for a luau I've attended (my 3rd luau). Does it get any better than the scene behind us? Chelsea, you would have had a ball taking pics.

Maui is for lovers? Oh wait, that's Virginia.

My dress had quite the 'lift'.

Maui Dave and his sidekick. Love these two.

Beyond grateful they've inherited the travel bug and are willing to share it.  

A Polynesian native about to crack open a coconut.

Sweet coconut milk.

Shredding the coconut.

Side note... Becky really likes Polynesians.....

Stud.

Dinner time music.

And then the real fun begins. Love the native dance, dress, song, culture. All.of.it. Some day I'd really like to get to the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu.

Hula, hula!

Sweet Ava was enthralled!

 

This one is for Becky.

Great shot by Maui Dave!

Watching the dancers.

Abs of steel!

Love the colors.

There was a moment in the show when kids could come up and learn to hula.

Love this shot of C & O!

itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow polka dot bikini.

i.have.made.fire.

Wish I could articulate the 'warrior' call they are making right about now, but you'll just have to imagine that in your head.

This guy kind of freaked me out!

 

Yep, reliving the pics.. my favorite part about Maui!!!

 

22 months: Mine, too

Today I'm taking a break from our regularly scheduled Hawaii blogs to update you on our dear Amelia who celebrated her 22mo birthday yesterday.

 

We are in full blown 'mine' at our house. Everything Owen has, Millie needs. Mine, too? Mine, too? Mine, too? This last week we've jumped right in to 'My do it!' 'My do it!'.

She's also gaining independence and playing by herself, some... favorite phrase is still

 'Mommy Hold You'.

That face. She's all of a sudden a picky little eater. Won't try anything new (even delicious fresh fruit), and her diet consists of bread and cheese. I promise she's offered MUCH more than that.

Big into mimicking and loves water play. She pretend feeds her animals, pretends to put gas in Owen's cars, pretends to water flowers. It's such a cute age!

 

Many of this month's pics are from LOTS of outings around the StL area. If you're reading this, you likely know that M was in Seattle for most of the last 6 weeks. For all of our mental health, we were here and there and everywhere. Here they are watching cars over the highway at the science center.

Exploring the energy required to make a roller coaster go! Thanks Papa Cooper for coming along. We appreciate all of your help!

'Horsie, Mine too'. Amelia is to stuffed animals as Owen is to cars. She knows which ones she wants and where they are. Common favorites are 'Bubbles' (dolphin), 'Mizzou-Rah, Kitty', and now 'Horse, Mine-too'. She carries these lovies around in her 'pack-pack'.

 

Mima and Papa Cooper treated the kids to build-a-bear day at Busch Stadium. This annual  celebration of Fredbird's birthday usually involves a Fredbird build-a-bear giveaway. This year it was a Clydesdale! We were there at the opening of the gates, had a great lunch at Ballpark Village, and even made it through 5 innings. I was proud of the kids and oh,so grateful for another fun and full-day outing.

We also were blessed with a great visit from Steve, Trish, Will, & Delaney Schuster from Denver. These are some of our favorite friends, so naturally their kids are wonderful too.

Delaney was so sweet playing with A.

The other day Owen said, 'Mommy, pretty soon you're gonna have 2 kids. Amelia is growing up to be just like me'. Well he's right. Can you imagine that her whole body used to fit in that car seat? She still had fun 'riding' in it =)

Takes her swim friend everywhere.

This is a common face these days. Still love her, but she's got opinions!

One day we went to see Georgie and Claire in Columbia. Georgie had to go down for a nap so the kids and I headed up to campus. O got a T-shirt and A got the 'Mizzou-Rah Kitty'. To entertain the kids on the drive I sang the fight song. Over.and Over.and Over.and Over. Millie requests it saying, 'Mo Mo Ti Ti, Mama'. How can I say no? It's also her bedtime song these days =)

I also treated them to ice cream that day. They come by their love of ice cream honestly.

'Poo' time on Mima and Papa Cooper's back deck. You'd think we lived there in July...

well we kind of did! Many nights spent at Camp Cooper!

 Zoo train with Papa Cooper('Papa Keeper'). We really distract him from his obligations. You can tell he's devastated.

 

Millie is starting to recognize colors like Yellow ('lellow') and Pink ('Peek'). She's talking a mile a minute and saying phrases. My favorite works are fishy ('ishy') and Bunny ('Money'), but my most most most favorite Amelia-ism is that she calls herself 'Minnie'. Love you, sweet baby girl!

Here Today, Gone to Maui: Day 4. Aquariums, Sunsets, & Calories!

I know in my blogging world the days have crawled by, but when we were in Maui, the days flew. Somehow we were already to Wednesday!

 

Early that morning, Dax & Randy (Papa Nieders) were up before activities to get the ribs on the grill. They continued to cook for the next 8 hours until dinner. Yeah, you've got it, they were GOOD. (Mike's been practicing this same recipe since we've been home from Maui, and I am not complaining ;) ).

 

Then we split in to big kids + some adults and little kids + some adults.

I went with the little kids, obviously, so that's the Wednesday perspective you'll get. We ate breakfast at 'THE' cinnamon roll place in Maui on the way to the Aquarium. Carson thinks they are only good with icing and macadamia nuts. Kid has pretty good taste. Unfortunately this time around, the 2000 calories of cinnamon roll didn't really agree with me. I'll try to remember that next time ;)

Off we went to the aquarium. It's right in the corner of the Maalaea Bay. The same place you leave to whale watch (in the winter months). So I guess Maalaea is a definite must for adventures in Maui.

I adore this shot of the giddy littles ready for their fishy adventure.

Amelia walked around the aquarium saying, 'blop, blop, blop'. That's her sound for fish. She must have said it 1000 times! 

Allllllmost tall enough to see the fish that changes from female to male when the (one) male of the school dies. So I guess women rule that roost.

Baby SEA Turtles. I will forever be in awe of these magnificent creatures. I hate that they're endangered, and I hate that so so so so many of them die before they reach adult hood. But at least the aquarium is helping! Here's an interesting tidbit- the gender of the turtle is unknown until they reach sexual maturity in their teenage years.

Mima Wade & her littlest girls!

Next we went to a shark feeding and scuba diver/ocean naturalist lesson. The kids were just as enthralled as I was. They sat on the floor and watched and listened.. and most of the time even without snacks!

 

The size of these rays?! I don't think I've ever before seen an aquarium tank this big. I was fascinated and had to keep my jaw off the floor.

The scuba diver taught about the animals as they swam by him. A unique lesson indeed!

After naps brought a little swimming. O loved the pool but A was lukewarm. I was surprised by this because she seemed to enjoy her swim lessons so well last winter. She kept saying 'cold,cold,cold,cold'. Until next time, Millie!

After our delicious rib & fixins' dinner, we went down to the park across the street to watch the sunset. I love this shot of A running with the sunbeam shining on her!

 

Now that's just sweetsie!

 

Gaga Nieders came prepped with a box of ice cream bars. Dax's parents are truly servers. They fed all 15 of us allll week long. The food was overflowing. They amazed me.

 

Now this is what he calls 'Bacation!'.

Ah, Joy! Vacation!

Oh Ava. I think she was pouting because her ice cream was gone. I just couldn't resist this pic; it's such a classic Ava pose! Dax says, "If you're going to be good at pouting, you have to practice a lot".

There was more than one occasion that these two were asked if they were sisters. Becky always responds, 'Yes, but I'm younger'. (Not true). Wish they got along better!

I don't even know.

Multigenerational Nieders.

 

And then it was time for the sunset.

The best one we saw the whole time in Maui.

Listen closely and you can hear it sizzle....

Here today, gone to Maui. Day 3

Day 3 brings us to Tuesday , May 27.

That morning Mike, Papa Cooper, Dax, Lindsey, and I went paddle boarding. To say I was tentative would be an understatement. You might recall that I tried paddle boarding on a 'calm-surf' day in Malibu with Britt. I didn't conquer it, but I stayed dry at least! Malibu was glass, especially compared to the Maui surf. Also, anytime Mike and I do something athletic (it doesn't matter what or with whom), he's the best and I'm the worst. So I knew I would be the one in the ocean the most (I was.. fell 6 times I think?). BUT, I'm so glad I went. It was gorgeous out on the water. We saw sea turtles swimming, we got a kid free morning, fish tacos for lunch, and the company (of course) was tremendous. We left all of our belongings in the car, knowing full well we'd be wet... so no pics of that adventure.

Tuesday night bought more kid free time. It's pretty nice to have more grandparents present than children! Dax, Lindsey, Mike, and I took Dave and Becky out to dinner to thank them for this wonderful trip. They chose Leilani's, an open-air seafood restaurant in Lahaina. The sunset did not disappoint, and the drinks were just as tasty as they were pretty!

Cheers!

Perfection in a glass.

Maui Dave with a Mai Tai. What a great couple!

View from our table! Seriously, sometimes I just pinch myself.

Wade, party of 4. All grown up!

Thank you, Leilani's for your delicious Mahi in Thai Coconut Sauce & Hula Pie.

You were very good to me. xo, Heather