Aloha from the Always

When we decided to have a baby, Stew and I promised ourselves that we would do everything we could to continue our current, somewhat adventurous lifestyle -- tiny human in tow.

I'll admit that the reality of actually having said Mini Me has made that vow seem a little more daunting than it did before, but for the most part we've forced ourselves to continue doing all of the things and taking all of the trips that we would do even if it was just the two of us. And this summer that meant traveling to Hawaii with my family to celebrate my brother's college graduation!

Honestly, I'm glad we booked this trip while I was still pregnant, because looking back I doubt I would have volunteered to travel with a newborn had I realized what life with one would be like. But our nonrefundable vacation was already all planned out just days before my water broke, so we were going, come hell or high water.

And it was an absolute blast!

Ryder traveled like an absolute champ. Neither plane ride was a problem, and on the way home the plane wasn't full, so he even got an entire seat for himself!

Keeping him covered up from the sun didn't make him the most stylish baby on the island, but we did what we had to, keeping him in the shade and making sure his baby soft skin stayed covered up.

First time in a swimming pool! He didn't know what to think, but seemed to like it for the most part.

The pool, steps from our condo's patio and overlooking a gorgeous cove full of giant sea turtles!

Oceanfront barbecues made for fun dinners every night.

Another view of the cove, where we could snorkel with the turtles any time we wanted.

Another view of the pool, this time looking back at the condos. We rented a two bedroom, ground floor unit that was just perfect for the whole family.

My little bro-ski... so proud of him!!

And my amazing parents, who were so helpful on this trip -- there is no way we could have taken Ryder without them!

This gorgeous beach was in a cove just a few minutes walk from our condo, and we made it there at least once every day.

Ryder taking a nap in the shade at the beach.

Beach time with an infant looks just a little bit different.

 

I bought this vibrating bouncy chair for him at Wal-Mart and then just left it in the condo when we headed home. A solid $25 investment for the week.

At the beach with my baby, his first time seeing the ocean.

We loved taking family walks on the beach in the early morning every day, before the sun got too hot.

We also liked taking him for stroller rides each evening along a path at our condos that paralleled the beach.

We rented an umbrella for the week so that Ryder could stay shaded at the beach. More money well spent.

One of my favorite photos of the trip.

Again, keeping the babe out of the sun. I was afraid that if I wore sunscreen Ryder would touch me and then put his hands in his mouth or his eyes, so I basically just stayed out of the sun all week, too. Oh well, skin cancer isn't high on my list of priorities, anyway.

Another early morning beach walk. We were able to roll the stroller right up to the sand, it worked out perfectly!

Going to Hawaii with an infant definitely isn't the same as a romantic getaway, but we had a great vacation all the same. It's always wonderful to be able to get away and relax with family, and that's exactly what we spent the week doing. However, I will admit that as we watched other tots who were a little older run shrieking in and out of the surf, we began to really look forward to the day when Ryder will be old enough to actually play with. And we'll definitely be taking him back to this spot, it was absolutely perfect.

Aloha!