Andrew is OFFICAL!

 After waiting a heart wrenching 3 extra months, Andrew FINALLY is legal to drive all by himself! We picked up his license this morning, and in true Andrew fashion I was not allowed to take a picture of it. But here's a cute one of him from Hawaii. And yes, he has already done his first solo drive - to Home Depot - of course.

 

Hawaii 2024

 How is it sometimes 2 weeks goes so slowly (like when Christopher travels) and sometimes it flies by (like when I'm in Hawaii)? We have another amazing Hawaii trip under our belts, and as per usual I have way to many pictures to even try to post adequately on here (hence a book is started!). But Hawaii needs a place on our blog - so here are a few highlights:

1. Ben joined us! Because of school commitments he wasn't planning on making it this year BUT once summer classes started and he had a little chat with professors, he figured he could miss a few classes and still be ok. We found him amazingly cheap tickets and he joined us for most our trip! Yes, he had lots of homework and spent lots of time on his computer BUT he was in Hawaii with us and I could hug him anytime I wanted to!

 
2. Christopher, Ben, Kallie, Andrew, and Zack went to Hana AND camped overnight. They had amazing adventures that included lava tubes, black sands beach, and their tent blowing over in the middle of the night and getting rained on and finishing the night in the car with Andrew asking every hour for the windows to be rolled up or down.

3. Surfing lessons! 

4. Seeing Lahaina after the fires. So heart wrenching.

5. Amazing Grandparent dates - and Kallie's last one

6. Xander turned 3!

 

7. Our little family arrived a day before everyone else and enjoyed the Marriott resort.

8. We played a crazy amount of Pickleball

9. Dan and Emily slept at the airport because of the mircosoft update. They left a day before us - and got home a day after us. So sad!

10. We took family pictures!

 

11. Guys Day 

 

12. Girls Day

13. Adult Night Out

14. The boys took up spear fishing and were really good at it!

Xander is 3!

This lucky boy got to celebrate his 3rd birthday in Hawaii, surrounded by cousins! What more could you ask for?! Well, I'll tell ya - he also got to piggy back on Nick's birthday back in May. This kid is killin' life! For his actual special day he was a super grumpy kid. I hope this is not forecasting what is ahead for us this year with him. I can't take it. So I'm going to say he was just enjoying his all about me day and living it up to the very fullest! 

We played at the beach, played pickleball, jump roped, swam, had cake, and went to bed way too late. Sounds like a Xander party to me! A few things about Xander:

1. He still sucks on his 2 fingers and I think it's adorable (until he puts those wet fingers on my face - then I'm not a fan)

2. He loves "mommies" and will comment on everyone's mommies

3. He loves to be a big kid and wants to do everything Nick does

4. This kid has the biggest, darkest, brown eyes and they melt me.

5. He is a huge cuddle bug.

6. He always has a little something mischievous going on

7. He is the perfect youngest kid in our family!

Monkeys - Meet Felix

We bought these two cute monkeys at the Vienna Zoo and I love them! How cute are they hanging off the boys?! Our housekeeper in Vienna even tucked them in while we were there!