Aulani Trip 2017 - Day 1

Having booked this trip last JULY, it had felt like we were waiting forever for our trip back to Oahu to arrive.  Especially Greg - who only get's 2 weeks off a year.  He was more ready than ANY OF US to get on that plane! :)

On Saturday morning we headed to SeaTac and grabbed our usual bagel sandwiches at the Great American Bagel, which has conveniently moved to the N gates which is where we were flying out of.  Ritual.

Ben, having always been good, is now a total dream to travel with.  We all watched movies, ate snacks, he took a short nap, and then we were landing in Honolulu - complimentary Mai-Tai's and all! 

 

 

After landing, collecting our bags, grabbing the shuttle, and driving for 20 minutes, we arrived in paradise: Aulani!  

Our room was ready for us and we immediately changed into our swimsuits and hit the beach!! 

 

 

Next, we got Ben all registered and checked into Aunty's Beach House - which is Aulani's kids club (complementary child care, all day - as much as you want - included in the room fee).  We had thought that we were just getting Ben signed up and ready for the next day when he had some scheduled activities, but after seeing the joint, Ben asked to stay for a bit!!

So Greg and I headed across the street to Just Tacos (one of the restaurants in the shopping center across the street from Aulani - AKA a better option in general for dining if you want more for your money...) for dinner and drinks.  And we were NOT complaining about that situation at ALL. 

 

 

After enjoying our time away (and if you know us, mealtime is the most challenging time we have with Ben), we headed back to collect our child and grab some food for him :)

And being on Seattle time and having traveled all day, we went to bed early and slept WELL that night.

Week in Photos: Mother's Day Brunch, A Visit with the McCoys and The Ingle's Night with the Cougan Children

A sunny day (one of the first) in Seattle called for me trying a new drink recipe: Coconut Lime Frozen Margaritas.  Delicious, but too much work IMO.

 

We hung out with the Christensen's a couple weeks ago on Cinco De Mayo and Greg played his usual catch with the boys.  Ben is SO happy now to be able to participate in these "big boy" activities :)

The most delicious brunch made for us by Jamie when we visited her, Collin and Jailyn on a Saturday morning.  So fun.

She is getting so big and is quite possibly the world's happiest little girl.

Afterwards we had to visit Seward Park to play before heading home.  Ben snapped our picture :)

There was a ton of traffic on our way back north and Ben crashed.  (Don't worry, I adjusted his seat belt after I took this picture).

That evening we headed over to relieve Rachel and Peter for an evening so they could go out to celebrate their 5th anniversary!  This date was the rain check from the weekend before when Rawls decided to get a 102+ fever and barf all evening (which I'm happy to say we were able to avoid)!!  

We all had so much fun playing and not sleeping much - although Pepper was an angel and slept through one of her usual middle of the night feedings as a gift to me :)

Later that next morning I attended Shauna's 3rd Annual Mother's Day Brunch that was fantastic and as beautiful as usual.  Such a gift she gives us all each year - the chance to hang out, kid and husband free for an afternoon and just enjoy one another's company (plus her delicious food).

 

Meal Planning: May 21st - May 26th

Review from last meal plan:

Koren beef bowls:

 

Chicken Paillard:

Plan for next week:

Having just returned from a vacation and dining out for all meals, I'm so eager to get back into my kitchen!  Starting today off with a big Costco run to stock up :)

Sunday: Grilled Salmon with a butter/dill marinade with roasted asparagus and potatoes.

Monday: Greek Salad with grilled chicken

Tuesday:  Blue Apron Meal: Spiced Cod & Summer Squash Cakes with Dates and Baby Kale

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Spicy Fried Chicken & Sauteed Green Beans with Creamy Mashed Potato

Thursday: Pizza night and open house at Ben's new school!

Friday: Blue Apron Meal: Meatballs & Tomato Sauce with Asparagus and Creamy Rice

Meal Planning: May 6th - 12th

Review from last week:

Greg made the most incredible smoked ribs - enough to feed a LOT more than 3.  We managed to take them down in 1.5 days...

 

Chicken in chipolte-tomato sauce topped with avocado crema and ranchero sauce.

We also had grilled burgers with greek salad:

 

Plan for next week:

Saturday: Take out or leftovers

Sunday: Chicken Paillard with Lemon, Capers and Olives 

Monday: Grilled Burgers

Tuesday: Korean Beef Bowls


Wednesday:  My mom and I are catching An American in Paris tonight (had to exchange our Sunday tickets for a week night due to this performance happening during our trip) and going out to dinner.   Boys are on their own!

Thursday: Cleaning out the fridge - will likely make some sort of veggie pasta meal to clear out as many perishables we can.

Friday: Parent's Night Out and our kick off to vacation!  We will either use up what is left in the fridge, or if we have sufficiently done that already, we will enjoy a night out kid-less before we spend all day Saturday traveling :)

Week in Photos: Playdates, Rock Climbing and Greg's Birthday

A selfie on a Sunday.

Greg ordered Ben a Michigan hat and he loves it so much!  Like, he tore open the box and had to wear it immediately.  He definitely likes to please his dad and loves to show his dedication to his favorite teams.

Our friend Oliver turned 6 and had a glow in the dark party at Pump it Up!

While Greg was away on his golf weekend, I had this guy to keep me company.

We also spent some time with Rachel and the kids, which of course meant silliness squared.

Since it had felt like SO LONG since Rachel and I could just sit and chat about life, we made a list of everything we needed to cover and managed to get through it all!

 

With my sweet gf Pepper:

 

Ben had his friend Kellen from school over for an afternoon.  Two 5 year old boys and an art easel and apparently this is what you get:

My mom took Ben out to get a new pair of shoes!

The YMCA hosted a "Healthy Kids Day", which was such a fun public event!  We spent HOURS going through all of the booths, doing all of the activities, including rock climbing!  Greg and I were both so impressed that Ben wanted to give this a try - so brave!

Getting a 12 painted on his face while wearing his Steeler jersey.  #dualfandom

That night Greg and I went out to dinner to celebrate his birthday (which fell on a Monday this year).  It was (as always) so nice to sit and have dinner in a restaurant.  Alone.

On Greg's actual birthday, we celebrated with dinner, ice-cream cake and presents (beer) at home:

 

Being silly at home:

Ben got his dance recital "costume" the other day and he is so pumped for his upcoming performance!  Watching him ask "Alexa" to play his performance song and then practice his moves is just about the cutest thing ever.  He is so proud of himself already :)