O'ahu, Hawai'i

For the first time in two years - I had a vacation! I went to an airport! I got on a plane! The smell of LAX was invigorating and so welcoming and exciting. My days of crazy travels all around the world multiple times a month feels so far away, I almost forgot it existed. Even though it was a domestic trip, it still felt so fresh and new and exciting... I mean it is Polynesia. And the best part was that we pretty much saw the entire island.

Monday, February 28, 2022 was Sophie's first plane ride - Los Angeles to Honolulu, that's a fun one! And I was so relieved to have the extra hands available to help with Sophie for that 6 hour plane ride, and we had a whole row which helped her be able to stand up and move around. Here she was, reclining and enjoying some light plane reading.

Our timeshare had a great location just about a block from Waikiki Beach and in the great neighborhood with the international market and shopping and just overall beautiful scenery.

Sophie had had a long day and I was pretty exhausted, so we collapsed in our room while everyone else went out to the grocery store and then dinner. It was the best decision ever cause I woke up happily refreshed the next morning. AJ went out golfing, and while he often invites me to come do the ride-along with him, I can never bring myself to join, at least not for a full round. But with the pictures he sent from the course, I was starting to second guess myself...

While he was out golfing, the rest of us went walking out in the beautiful weather and stopped and got some amazing Hawaiian breakfasts (I went all extra and got this raspberry smoothie, which I'm still salivating over)

and then we walked to the Honolulu Zoo, because God knows if there's a zoo nearby, we need to visit it. It was beautiful! We saw a black swan which was something new, chimps, rhinos... the hippos were lazing against the glass and we got to watch them for awhile - they were shockingly incredible. We also got to see an elephant playing with a ball and rolling it around! Sophie's favorites that day were the zebras and giraffes (they were in the same enclosure) and then some form of hyena or hunting dog?? We just called them puppies and she was sold.

By the way, Sophie was obsessed with every dog and bird (read: pigeon) that we passed. She would practically throw herself out of the stroller to point and wave at them.

That evening, we wandered into an H&M on our way home, and that's where we learned that Sophie will strut through a store with her hands behind her like this. I have no idea where she learned it from but she does it a lot now!

The next day, AJ cashed in on his birthday present from me and had a round of golf up at Turtle Bay Resort (oh hello Forgetting Sarah Marshall!) which was on the total opposite end of the island on the North Shore, so we got to drive pretty much around the entire island by going up one way and coming down the other. (So beautiful!) We dropped AJ off and then found a cute little stand of food shops to get breakfast at.

While AJ golfed, we hung out at the resort beach until he finished and came to join us. Sophie wasn't totally feeling the water, but we got her in eventually.

We drove down to Kailua and cut back to Honolulu through the Pali, and of course none of these car pictures do it justice, but the whole drive was so picturesque.

With AJ's golf trips done, we spent the rest of our trip pretty local, spending time at the beach and visiting the Iolani Palace, which I really loved. AJ's mom and sister also did us a huge favor by taking Sophie for an afternoon/evening and we got to go out on our own. We explored the southern part of the island, saw a beautiful sunset, and had diner at a "French" restaurant. It's in quotations because, aside from the name (Michel's), a painting of the Eiffel Tower at the front, and escargot on the appetizer menu, there was really absolutely nothing else French about it LOL. I got a salmon dish and AJ got an "Ocean's Bounty" that was every seafood piece you could imagine. Still delicious though! And beautiful beachside location with downtown Honolulu in the background.

We had a later afternoon flight out so we had time on our last day to drive up to the one northwest corner of the island we hadn't seen and visited the "Mermaid Caves", which actually require you to climb down a hole to access. The tide was kinda high so there wasn't a lot of mobility but it was still pretty cool to see!

And that was our trip. Of course the travel home basically undoes all the relaxation of your vacation, but we have great memories from such a good week, and AJ's family stayed through the weekend which helped us relax more since we could sleep in and nap - praise the Lord!

Slava Ukraini!

Becoming a mother has really made the world a more unbearable place. Not like I would ever celebrate what's happening, but this hurts more than I've ever experienced before. I've become consumed by what's going on in Ukraine, truly devastated and incensed that this is happening, and essentially, being allowed to happen. Although one of my best friends is a first-generation American with parents who immigrated from Ukraine, I don't need this to see humanity around the world and how we all care about our children and our families and safety and life. 

I have cried about it and really become depressed over it. I have to actively disengage from social media and the news for my own sanity and mental health. but I have to acknowledge it because I can't just go on eventually like nothing had happened, or I don't think about it, or it doesn't bother me or upset me and it's not like I don't sit here wishing there was something that I could do to help.

And my God, how is Zelenskyy real? This man is a treasure; a straight badass, a shining example of selflessness and dedication and values and integrity. A movie couldn't write him better, I can't even believe each new update that I read about this guy. God bless him and keep him, and Glory to Ukraine!

Le Petting Zoo

Another day, another post, another animal adventure. While I am obsessed with animals (and don't understand how anyone could not be), Sophie seems to be taking more and more of a liking to them, and while it could just be because animals are cute and kids tend to like them, I recognize I could just be an animal pusher and forcing her to like them but either way, who cares?

AJ's dad had a great idea to check out this petting zoo down in south county, and I think we were all surprised about how much it packed a punch, especially because it was pretty small.

Chickens, pigs, emus, llamas, ponies, cows, goats, sheep, rabbits... and apparently their specialty was the guinea pigs, which were pretty cute because they would set them on the bench with you.

Sophie was OB-SESSED with feeding the goats. Once we showed her how to do it, she just wanted to stay there, feeding them food, then immediately reaching for our feed basket for the next piece as soon as the goat downed it. I did the feed the cow but I was pretty intimidated. Those things are really big and strong, I just felt like it could chomp off my hand if it wanted, even though I'm not even sure they have teeth...?

We went back to the guinea pigs after the goats and Sophie kept trying to shove carrots in their mouths to get them to eat but they wouldn't LOL. Had to steer her away from that.

We went to dinner afterwards to celebrate AJ's birthday, and even though she's had whipped cream before (her birthday cake had whipped cream frosting), she either forgot what it was like or else this was way better, because she was a fan.

She's back at daycare today (after 4 days at home) (Hallelujah LOL), and we're looking forward to our upcoming vacation.

PS Happy Twosday! Tuesday, 2/22/22!

Santa Ana Zoo

When Debbie lived in Orange, we were driving up there often, and as we took the (pretty fun) carpool lane of the 5 north, I would often notice a lush landscape of treetops that seemed to appear out of nowhere after the midrise buildings and apartment complexes, and wondered what it was. I finally looked it up and discovered it was the Santa Ana Zoo (Santa Ana has a zoo??)

It had been on my list of things to do, and we finally had an open day with nothing planned and Sophie home with us, desperate for things to do, and we decided to visit it. And it was so cute! (For the record I wasn't expecting much. After all it's a zoo... in Santa Ana).

It's small and quaint, but cute and walkable and so palatable, especially as a funtivity with a newly-walking toddler. They don't have lions or tigers or zebras or giraffes... but they have lots of farm animals,and aviaries, and lots of monkeys, and anteaters and llamas and camels. And they have a big playground and a snack bar and a Ferris wheel and carousel and train. I thought it was a perfect little space.

So perfect that... we became members! LOL. It was cheap, and now I have a great place to bring Sophie when I want to just get out of the house for an hour or two that's fun for both of us, and isn't just walking around a shopping center where the entertainment is spending money.

Happy New Year: 2022!

Happy 2022! We had a nice, low-key New Year's Eve with champagne and a fire going. On New Year's Day we got some play time at the park... Sophie is getting used to the slides (and not instinctively laying down each time and instead sitting up) which is cute. She's such a walker, so the park and much more interactive and fun now. 

Yesterday we ran some errands and Sophie couldn't rest until she got my (empty) Starbucks cup. She spent the rest of the evening carrying it with her and throwing it back LOL.

Now that she's mastered walking, her talking is really on a roll! She still seems to say mama, papa and dada almost interchangeably and I'm still not even totally sure she gets it. But she loves to say puppy (puppuh), hi, bye-bye, she said night-night (nai-nai), as of yesterday we got her saying touchdown! (tuh-dow) and we've caught her versions of peekaboo (pee-buh)... see below!

The talking is fun, I'm looking forward to so much more of that this year.

And talk about knowing when you're a parent... I'm really enjoying this Monday sooo much more than some of the days of break, now that Sophie is back in daycare and I have some peace and quiet to get stuff done. 

Happy 2022!