Aloha

Aloha....we returned from Hawaii on Tuesday night and as much as we love vacation, we are always happy to return home. The kids are so cute - they are always so happy to return home - it makes us feel great that they love the home we've created for them.

We had the absolutely best vacation. We had 12 days in the sun - beautiful weather and lazy days where we did anything we wanted. All of the kids had a blast - this was the first sunny vacation that Taylor really enjoyed and we had so much fun watching her. She was literally belly laughing and giggling the whole time. So many people said "she is so cute", "so happy", and "she's never sad...what a happy girl". Before she hasn't enjoyed the sun or being out of our element and it was such a gift to see her blissfully happy. She enjoyed being on the beach and watching the waves and kids play. And, she really enjoyed the pool - splashing around and spinning in the water. We also treasure the time that we can give her as a "normal" kid - no therapy, no exercises, no strenuous activity - just time for her to be a regular kid and for us to be a regular family. We could feel the stress melt away - it was so great for all of us.

Lauren and Jacob also had a ball. They swam everyday - Lauren is a fish and could live in the water. And Jacob is now a full-fledged swimmer. He can freestyle across the entire pool, dive down into the bottom of the deep end and get dive sticks, and he had fun playing with Lauren. They both made random friends with the various kids at the pool and had a great time. Lauren, in particular, is our social butterfly and will make friends with any kid quickly. They also had fun playing on the beach, hunting for coral, and beginning body surfing. They just had so much fun - we had picnics at the pool, walks on the beach, and played from sun-up to bedtime. We also always appreciate their gifts - Lauren has an eye for beauty and detail - she is the first to notice a pretty flower, the sunrise, a rainbow, or very minor, yet beautiful details. She drew many pictures and wrote a journal for her teacher, which was super cute. Jacob has a zest for life and it is such a joy to hear his belly laugh when he gets wet in the ocean, gets surprised, or finds something funny. He has a quest for learning and loves to accomplish new things - he was so proud of his swimming and loved to practice snorkeling in the pool before we went on our snorkeling cruise in the ocean.

We were very spoiled to have Alison join us for several days - she would help us for several hours a day - a few days we took the big kids on special outings (a whale watching trip and snorkeling cruise), which wouldn't have worked for Taylor. And, it was nice to let the big kids experience new things. They were so curious about the whales and they both really enjoyed snorkeling. We also had a few date nights, which was really nice for David and I.

We are thrilled for our vacation and are slowly catching up to life in Seattle. It is good to be home and we are so thankful for a wonderful vacation. I promise to post pictures soon.