Hawaii Vacation, Part 1

We finally made it to Hawaii! We had planned on a family trip to the islands for the summer of 2020, but we all know how that year ended up. Hawaii took quite awhile to reopen to tourists too, so we were finally able to reschedule this for the end of May. We were all looking forward to it, but we all agreed afterwards that it far exceeded our expectations. It was a fantastic trip!

We flew out on a Wednesday. We landed and took a taxi over to the famous Waikiki Beach where we checked in to the Ritz Carlton. Big time thank you to Granna and Papa for giving us the Marriott points to stay here; what a gift! They gave Ryan a lei of polished black nuts, and they gave the three of us girls beautiful leis of purple and white orchids. They were so fresh and absolutely gorgeous!

In addition to the beautiful leis, they gave each of us a glass of mango-pineapple juice which was so refreshing. When we got into our room, we noticed there was also a little pack of gummy pineapples. We definitely felt welcomed here!

It was so fun to see the beach from our balcony!

It was coming up on 5pm by the time we truly got unpacked and settled in at the hotel. We were all fading pretty quickly, so we decided to simply head downstairs to the little corner market to buy an easy dinner of sandwiches and salads for dinner. We then relaxed with a little Food Network and by 7, we were all falling asleep; that was about 1am eastern time, so we were pretty pleased we'd made it that long!

Thursday morning was absolutely beautiful! After breakfast we headed down to the beach where we had arranged through Viator for the girls to have a surfing lesson. What better place to learn than on Waikiki?!

Their instructor, Eric, first explained several safety tips about surfing, and then he walked them through the motions of how to get up on the board. They practiced several times while still on land until they felt like they had the hang of it.

After this Eric helped them get out into the water! They actually went pretty far down the beach where a few other small groups were learning too. He'd set up chairs for Ryan and me to relax in while they all went out for almost an hour. We were so grateful that they have a photographer/videographer out there with them, and he was able to capture some cool pictures of the girls. I especially loved the ones that had Diamondhead volcano behind them! Both girls got up on the boards and surfed - how cool is that?! 

Here are a couple of Lily.

Here are a couple of Mia.

Ryan walked down a nearby pier while we waited and took this stunning shot.

When they came back, both girls said how much fun this adventure was and how much they loved surfing. Yay! I love when they have fun and make memories like this! A little while later we stopped by the cute upscale Dean and Deluca store, and I couldn't resist buying these cute cookies to commemorate their achievement!

We enjoyed some smoothies for lunch right by the beach and then headed back to our hotel to get some pool time in. The Ritz has a beautiful infinity pool that was calling our name!

They had these wonderfully relaxing chairs that sit right in the pool. We were definitely able to enjoy some summer reading here.

We ordered some yummy drinks and snacks to enjoy while we were poolside. At 3:00 each afternoon, they serve complimentary homemade gelato. We all enjoyed the mango gelato this afternoon.

We knew it had been a tiring day in the sun and we were still adjusting to the time difference, so we decided to head across the street for dinner at Tommy Bahama's. I was excited to dig in to some fresh seafood! I enjoyed this macadamia crusted mahi with rice and asparagus.

When we saw there was a pineapple creme brulee on the menu, I knew we had to try it. Creme brulee is one of my most favorite desserts, and I always love when there's a twist to it. Look how gorgeous this dessert was! Even better, it was quite delicious. We did a little bit of shopping in the nearby stores afterwards before heading back to the hotel for the night.

We went in different directions on Friday. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the Ritz's spa. I had an 80 minute hot volcanic stone massage followed by a 50 minute facial. I also enjoyed some time in their spa lounge which was wonderful. Of course I always love the little snacks found in a spa lounge, and this was no exception. My favorite was the dark chocolate with pistachios and almonds. Other delicious items were dark chocolate with coconut and sea salt, pineapple coconut cookies, roasted cashews and almonds, dried goldenberries and mango, chocolate covered ginger, and some small hard candies. So yummy! Talk about relaxing!

While I was enjoying this fabulous morning, Ryan and the girls took a photography tour around part of the island. It was another clear day, so they were able to see lots of beautiful places everywhere they went. They also stopped for lunch (garlic shrimp and garlic steak) and for malasada treats. They had a wonderful day together!

We joined back up at the pool for part of the afternoon which was fun. We all really enjoyed this pool area! For dinner we found a cool spot specializing in different types of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. It was exactly what we needed that evening.

We had a calm Saturday morning as we packed up our bags. We all put on our cheesy Hawaii-themed shirts and headed on out.

We had to make one stop on our way out though. We headed over to the famous Leonard's for some fresh malasadas. Ryan and the girls enjoyed them so much yesterday that they wanted me to try them today; no way would I argue that! We waited in line for a bit, and then placed our order. The girls had cinnamon-sugar ones, Ryan and I both got a guava-filled, Ryan also ordered a blueberry-filled, while I also ordered a li-hing (sweet and sour sugar). This was definitely a sweet treat that we all absolutely loved!

It was time to say goodbye to Oahu!

Wrapping up 10th and 8th Grades

 It's hard to believe another school year is wrapping up. Both girls have enjoyed excellent academic years, and they've lots of activities to be involved in. We are so thankful for our sweet Stonehaven! Of course, one of the best parts of this school are all the awesome people that are a part of it. The girls both enjoyed a very fun end of year saltere with their friends. Lily and her friends met up in Marietta to get some pictures before the dance. How cute are they?

I love these girls, but especially Lauren and Kate.

Lily was glad to meet up with Ben once they got to the school too.

Mia was glad to see her friends and hang out with them at the school.

Ryan enjoyed being there with the other teachers too!

A few other items going on:

Mia's class had an early release after the CLT exam one day, so all the girls and a few moms met up at Zaxby's for lunch. This was a fun and relaxing time to hang out together in the midst of a very hectic end of school season.

Decker hanging out with Mia one evening.

Decker felt he needed to investigate a little more what Ryan and Lily were up to, especially since Ryan kept putting Decker's toy around Lily's legs!

Mia, Hudson, and Eliana on the last day of school. These three have been together since Pre-K!

Stonehaven offered a new drama practicum this year, and they put on a Ramona Quimby play. It was fun to watch them perform and see their hard work! All the kids did an excellent job; we were so proud of them!

Hanging out with my favorite 16 year old at the Jonquil Festival!

Lily has two absolutely lovely pieces of art from her practicum this semester. I love this treehouse drawing she made with Raegan.

This ladybug looked like it is jumping off the page! I am always impressed with Lily's creativity.

It was a fun surprise to receive an email from the school that one of our girls was receiving a special award at this year's end of year award ceremony. Both girls were recognized for their straight-A's all year accomplishment which we were really proud of. Then Mrs. Jackson and Mr. Hancock started to give out the character awards. We were thrilled to see that Mia was recognized for her compassion! This is definitely a natural gift she has which we've seen for awhile. As I was leaving, Mrs. Myrick (the music teacher) along with a couple of different parents stopped to tell me how Mia deserved this and how they (or their children) had witnessed her being compassionate first hand. We are so proud of both of our girls, and they each have so many wonderful gifts, traits, and talents. It was great to see this one recognized!

One evening Ryan and I joined Blake and Heather Martin for a concert at Eddie's Attic to see the band Hawktail. We didn't actually know this band, but we're always up for live music, especially with friends. They turned out to be really good. It was all instrumental (guitar, stand up bass, mandolin, and fiddle), and they had a great sound. It was along the lines of Nickle Creek, so it's no surprise we enjoyed this one.

I'm taking part in the first "Smyrna Safe Business" program. It's teaching small businesses how to prepare and respond to disasters. We've only had one class thus far, but it's really interesting. I'm glad I was chosen for this and look forward to learning more in the next five classes.

We are so excited that McKayla and Bennett are getting married in August! It was a lot of fun to celebrate McKayla and shower her at Jodi's house with the ladies in our family.

We may have purchased an axe-throwing set from Costco for the girls' summer baskets, and we may be having an absolute blast with it!

It's been a great school year; now, bring on summer!

King Charles' Coronation and Mother's Day

There were a couple of special days this May. 

First up was the coronation of King Charles III on May 6. Ryan and I got up at 5:45am to catch the end of the procession and the ceremony at Westminster Abbey. I had made scones the night before so we'd have something fun to snack on while we watched. We put lemon curd on some while we put clotted cream and jam (raspberry though, not strawberry) on the others. They were super delicious.

It was pretty fun to watch this historic event as it was happening.

Mothers Day was the following weekend on May 14. 

We started our morning at church which was lovely; I am always so thankful for First Baptist Smyrna. After that, Mia and I came home to get her ready for her Legally Blonde performance while Ryan and Lily stopped to pick up Publix subs for us. We ate a quick bite then headed up to Woodstock for the performance. After dropping Mia off, we had a a couple hours to kill before the actual performance, so we walked around the cute little downtown area and found a Bubble Tea. I always love a good bubble tea! 

Then we watched Mia's last performance which was very fun. It was about 5:30 when we left the theater, and I asked if we could just go by Whataburger for dinner. It's new to the area, and I thought it'd be fun to get something different. I definitely didn't want to drive almost an hour home and then we start figuring out what to cook! 

After dinner I opened my gift from the girls (a denim jacket I've been eyeing!) and then I headed over to my parents' house. We sat outside in their garden for a couple of hours chatting, and it was so wonderful. I'm very thankful for both of my parents, but on this day, especially for my mom.

It was a lovely day celebrating being a mom and loving my mom. I am blessed by both!