Thursday, July 8, 2010

Sawyer in Paradise...

Sawyer and I decided last minute to go to Kauai so we booked our flight on the 27th and left 2 days later... Willie couldn't get it off work with such short notice so we went and met Sonia, Sophia, and Ciria there (they left the day before us), and I also convinced Danika that she wanted to go too. Thank goodness, because she was a huge help, especially with Sawyer and the plane ride. Here's what we did...

We saw tons of beautiful places and I can't imagine a more perfect place to vacation...waterfalls everywhere...just mesmerizing...and all the wild roosters were cute too!


We stayed in a different place from Willie's family but we were still really close by so we saw each other a lot. Sonia was going to have to start chemo as soon as she got back so we wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. Here we all are at Fern Grotto on our last morning in paradise...


We drove to the top of the canyon on the west side of the island and found the MOST breathtaking sight ever...I felt like we were in the clouds...


Sawyer's first trip to paradise...here he is in happier times...most of our photos of him are not so happy, but he had a good reason....

Waimea Canyon Lookout...

We met some awesome people...Larry and Linda Eyestone...we actually met them 17 years ago when our families were vacationing and our parents told us to give them a call. We didnt' even remember that so we made our parents call first, but we ended up talking to them for 3 hours one night and then on our last day in Kauai, Larry was our own personal tour guide and drove us around for hours. It was so amazing...and Linda had a friend who worked for our airline so she totally hooked us up and we ended up with an empty seat in 0ur row (one of about 2 on the flight). They were soooo nice and we are so grateful for them!

Everyone was so into Sawyer...I felt like we were treated royally. Everyone wanted to hold him and kiss his hands and just oogle over him...so cute!

But the poor little muffin got sick toward the beginning and had to go to the doctor. The nurses were amazing and he ended up wth a shot of antibiotics for an ear infection. The next day he kept spiking fevers over and over and he vomited so to the ER he went for day 2 of doctor's visits. By the end he was feeling much better and if you've gotta be sick, it may as well be in paradise, right?

Our Hawaiian Luau...

The beach bum...before he got sick...love those wrinkly feet!

Sawyer exploring the sand on our first day in Kauai...


I love this becuase he hates crawling on grass. Instead, he poses like a dog and tries to go on all 4's.

The view from our lanai...

This was the flight to Kauai...we didn't have much room but thankfully we had a wonderful "seatmate" who played with Sawyer and let him crawl on her. Let's just say he didn't sleep all that much on this flight...

Our "seatmate" Kaylee...

It's hard packing and carrying everything for yourself and a baby...thankfully Danika was there to help me...this was just after we had arrived in Kauai...


And this was on the way home...it was a red eye flight and Sawyer slept almost the entire time...it was wonderful.

Danika and I both agreed that we definitely want to go back to beautiful Kauai. Even though Sawyer was sick most of the time we still felt like we got to see a lot and would love to return!

Happy Birthday Sawyer!

Today Sawyer is officially 1 year old!! He's now considered a "toddler" which feels so weird to say or think about! This had been the best year of our lives and we can't wait to see how much more joy he will add to our lives everyday!!!


I made special chocolate owl cupcakes for his birthday guests but for him I made a blueberry parfait...graham cracker crust with blueberry yogurt, then real blueberries, and finally, a dollop of cool whip on top...he loved it!

I made him this birthday shirt a few months ago with the owl in the tree and the eyes are buttons that move around. Willie liked it so much he wanted one on a black shirt with a rat in the owl's mouth. I was going to make one for me and him but our trip to Kauai didn't leave much time left for birthday prep...it was well worth it though!

Our 1 year photo op in his luau outfit...and finally a big smile!!

Sawyer is so loved and we can't wait to see what's next...well, we can wait actually...we don't want him to grow up quite so fast!
Happy Birthday Sawyer!