Aloooha!

We're back from Hawaii and had a terrible time. KIDDING! But of course you knew that. ;) Wow, a lot has happened since my last post. Aaron's travel schedule has gotten nuts, so we actually flew out to WA to see family before we flew out of Seattle for Kona. We had to change our flights a bit to accomidate Aaron's last minute work adventures ("adventure" is a great word to describe this new job!) but all worked out well in the end. Plus any reason I can find to visit family is always fine with me. We just realized that Casey has now flown for the 12th time. Can you tell we live far away from family or what?! He's a great little travel companion.

I won't go into too much detail about our vacation because it will only make you jealous, i'm just sure of it. Plus it was much more fun to live it than to type it or for anyone else who wasn't there to have to read it. How about I just suggest that you take a trip to Hawaii?! We visited the big island and stayed "local" style in a family friend's home. It was truly such a wonderful getaway. Aaron's parents were gracious enough to invite us to crash their 2.5 weeks vacation for a week. We can't thank them enough!

Since my last update, Casey turned 8 months. He's now eating more "man" food. He had some quinoa noodles with tomato sauce and BEEF...small bits. ;) My dad will be so proud. He also started saying, "mamamama" and "dadadada." I think he just likes the sound of both, but of course it melts our hearts! For Aaron's credit, he started saying dada first. My husband is very competative!

Here are a few pics - out of TONS of great ones - to highlight our last few weeks:

I know, we really do have the cutest kid on the block!

Would you believe that this is a shot of our FIRST real date since Casey was born?! Yeah, I don't recommend waiting that long. Aaron's parents took Casey for the day while we lived the life on the beach in Kona and then went out to see Polynesian dancing. Aaron also treated me to fancy drinks and good food at a restaurant on the beach. It was UH-MAZING to say the least. Casey was a stinker and wouldn't take the bottle, so he didn't eat until we got home. He's clearly stubborn and doesn't get that at all from me.......hmmmm........

We visited the southern-most point in the USA and had to take a cheesy, touristy picture of course. We saw a huge pod of whales. No joke, tourists pay hundreds to go whale watching in Hawaii this time of year. We saw ours for free. It was so thrilling and I wonder if I'll ever see anything like it again in my entire life! Seriously. It made me want to be a oceanographer. Is it too late to go back to school??