family vacation

Monday, May 13th, Caden turned 42 weeks old in Hawaii! Not too shabby! This was our view of the golf course (they were aerating and sanding it while we were there, which was some of the best entertainment possible for Zane - tractors zooming around. We had a 1 bedroom condo with a kitchen, so it worked out great for us. We checked out our first beach on Monday morning:


We had fun splashing around, checking out the fish even without snorkel gear, and spotted some little crabs in the rocks.


Caden had fun playing in the sand and water too. He even took a snooze in the pea pod since he was so wiped out from waking up extra early...


We drove around and explored some after lunch, partly so the boys could nap. After a few minutes of being silly of course:


We heard the "troublemaker" song a lot on the radio while we were there and serenaded Zane with his song at every opportunity. :)


We saw some hula that night after dinner:


Zane had a good vantage point:


Then the next day we set off for Volcanoes National Park. It was Caden's first national park trip, and Zane's third. On our way, we stopped off at a botanical garden near a waterfall:


There were even some cows at the top of the hill that Zane got to talk to:


And this was their view (I'm a little jealous!):


Caden cruised around in the ergo a fair bit during the trip, and he liked walking around the garden:


We made it out to the volcano after that and saw the steam coming out of the caldera when it was light out.





Then we drove around the rest of the park and stopped several times to check out steam vents and lava fields (the boys had to stay in the car for most of it though bc the wind was blowing the sulfur in that direction, so we alternated hopping out of the car).


Check out how high the lava was above the road:


We eventually made it all the way down to the water just as the sun was beginning to set.












Which meant it was dark by the time we made it back up to the caldera to see it glowing!


We stopped for dinner just outside of the park and changed the boys into their pjs for the drive back. For our last full day, we checked out the pool, and Zane showed off his new swimming skills with a swim vest:


Caden wore himself out splashing around and laughing, and he got to nap again in another fabulous spot:


It was too cute, and my hands were free...


Then that afternoon we checked out the Hula Daddy coffee farm and went on the tour. We learned a lot about coffee and the berries:


We saw a chameleon:


Saw the roaster and got to taste some coffee. Even Zane tried a tiny cup, and ended up really liking it, at least the dark roast, but then didn't like the medium. Our plan was only partially foiled!


We hit up another beach and got some tasty shaved ice while we were there too! It was a quick trip, but we got a lot checked off our list. The last morning we checked out the Wild Orchid for breakfast before heading to the airport. Caden once again snoozed through most of it (he had been awake far too long already!):


But Zane thoroughly enjoyed his "passion juice!!!"


On the way back home, all 3 boys snoozed again, funny how that works! I stayed home with them on Friday because we all needed a recovery day. We also continued Caden's newfound ability to sleep at night with his arms out of his sleep sack once we were back home. Caden was excited to be reunited with the jumper:


On Saturday morning, we met up with one of Zane's buddies from school (they hadn't seen each other for over a week!) and his little brother for breakfast and then a playground. Two moms and four boys. It was a chaotic meal!