April in Hawaii

We got the opportunity to go and visit our daughter Heather, her husband Ryan and our newest little grandson Harper in Hawaii. He is the sweetest, coolest little guy in Hawaii!


Of course any opportunity I got I wanted to hold the little guy and give him some Memaw love! He is so much bigger than he was only a month and a half ago. When we first saw him he was 12 days old and weighed in around 7 lbs. Now only 2 1/2 months later he is already 15 pounds.

At only 3 months old he is already so accustomed to the water. He is going to be a little fish! Living in Hawaii he will have almost daily trips down to the beach and the ocean. His mama and daddy are advid surfers and like to be in the water as much as possible.

He is so sweet! I hope I get to make plenty of trips out to Hawaii to be with him. I only wish they lived closer and didn't have an ocean between us!

Hawaii

I also made a solo trip to Hawaii for 10 days to visit my daughter and son in law. They are expecting their first baby, and although she was visiting us in early May when she shared the news that I’d waited a lifetime to hear… Heather and her hubby Ryan were expecting a baby!!!


I wanted to be able to see my little baby in different stages of her pregnancy. So when I found out she was having a couple of doctor appointments and another ultrasound, that would probably be able to tell them the sex of their baby, I planned my trip around those appointments. I really wanted to hear the baby's heartbeat in addition to finding out whether or not it was a boy or a girl!


So luckily I was able to go to two of her doctor's appointments and the ultrasound appointment in that one trip. She is a little thing so even though she was only 4 months pregnant at the time you definitely could tell she was pregnant. She had a nice little bulge to her belly. Hearing the baby's heartbeat was wonderful! That was one of my sweetest moments I remember from when Brenda was pregnant with Connor also. I mean you know their pregnant, but when you hear that little thump thump thump of their little babies heart, it just makes it so real. I had such a warm feeling come over me when I heard that precious baby's heart beating so little but so strong! I can't wait to welcome Grandbaby #2 into this world and hold it in my arms and love on it. I've got lots and lots of Grandma kisses ready to shower it with.

Then to get to see him on the ultrasound! Yes it's going to be a little BOY. My baby is expecting a baby boy! He looked absolutely perfect, healthy and growing strong. 10 little fingers and 10 little toes! The doctor said everything looked great and there should be no problems at all. This baby is going to be so loved when he gets here! We can't wait to meet him!! He is due sometime in mid January 2011 around the 14th.


I also spent a lot of time at the beach working on my tan. I did manage a little shopping and a little sightseeing too. I also went on my first kayak adventure with Heather. We were able to spend the weekend at her in law's home and took the kayaks almost out their backyard right into the ocean. I had never been in a kayak let alone paddled one. We had a blast though and went to a little secluded beach and had our picnic lunch there. We then looked for seashells and I collected some sea glass also.



They also have recently bought a sailboat and have been working on sprucing it up and making it their own. We took it out for a few hours and sailed around Honolulu. We saw quite a few large sea turtles swimming around and I was on the look out for a dolpin but didn't see any. It was the wrong time of the year to see the whales.





We did a circle island tour again and Heather stopped at a few of her favorite beaches for me to get out and look at. We had a great lunch at a North Shore island favorite restaurant. They had huge hamburgers and some killer cake! Yum Yum!! We stopped at the famous Pipe Line on the North Shore and was able to also go to the beach for awhile where the large sea turtles hang out at. There are "Turtle People" there watching the turtles and making sure that the tourist leave them alone and for the most part let them be. There was a few on shore and the most I had ever seen swimming real close to shore.





I once again had a great trip to Hawaii!!! It's really cool that my daughter lives in paradise and is so close to the beach. I think I could get used to this.... I guess I'll be racking up the frequent flyer miles when I come to babysit!



“Grandmas are the people who take delight in hearing babies breathing into the telephone.”

Where Has The Summer Gone?

I can't believe that summer is over! Where did it go? It seems like this year in particular summer just flew by us. As a child I thought summer didn't last nearly long enough and now as I get older I seem to be having the same feeling about it not lasting long enough.

I thought I'd make a few posts and include a few pictures of what I did over this summer to refresh my memory. That way I can see just exactly what I was able to do over these past few months of summer.

I went to Mazatlan Mexico with my husband for the first week of June. We try to go there every year as we just love vacationing there. The resort that we usually stay at is so nice and relaxing. The people that work there are very accommodating to your every need.

They have some of the most beautiful sunsets that I've ever seen. Each night we would watch it dip into the ocean either from our balcony or from the waterfront restaurant that was just a few steps away.

We spent a lot of time just relaxing by the pool and working on our tans and taking siestas in their hammocks. Nothing taste as good as some delicious nachos and a cold margarita when your just laying around the pool working on that tan!

We did manage to do a little sightseeing though. We went to the downtown historic part of the town on a trolley tour. We saw the cliff divers, the old cathedral and the market place. We toured a jewelry store that does their work on-site. They specialize in diamonds and Mexican fire opals. We also did a little shopping downtown and then went to the newer area of town where most of the clubs and restaurants are. I managed to do a little shopping there also.

You can take me out of the country or anywhere for that matter and I will still be able to find someplace to do one of my favorite activities which is shopping! My friends tell me I'm one of the best shoppers they know. I'm like the Energizer bunny when it comes to shopping. I can go and go and go the distance and last a really long time when shopping is involved!

Mexico Vacation May 2009

We'll we went on vacation to Mazatlan May 15 til the 23rd. We were there during the so called "Swine Flu" epidemic. I don't know what the news was talking about but there wasn't any swine flu along the coast of Mexico. We only saw a few people working at the airport that were wearing masks. They asked us if we were sick when we got off the plane and then there was no problem... on to beautiful Mazatlan and the Pueblo Bonita Resort.

The resort

Sad to say since there had been so much in the media about the outbreak in Mexico the resorts and the whole town wasn't even half full. The locals are really hurting because tourism is what they mostly make their little living from.

We had 8 days of pure heaven soaking up the great sun and swimming almost every day. There was a small pool over one of the bars and we were lucky enough to get it to ourselves for 3 whole days!

"Our pool"

We took a Catamaran sail around the coast and saw some great sea caves and birds. Then we went over to Stone Island to horseback and have a BBQ lunch on the beach. We've been to Stone Island before and loved it. It was so rustic the last time I was there and I felt like I was truly in an old Mexico city without all of the modern day appliances and things that we take for granted every day. It was still a very nice trip but the tourist are being brought over by the boatloads so it has lost it's rustic charm a little.



We went horse back riding down the beach and then through a coconut grove. There was only a family of 4 with us so it was nice and quite and laid back. I of course got the horse that wanted to gallop! I kept on pulling back the reins and telling him NO! This girl hasn't been on a horse in awhile and was never very good at it. Luckily the horses just about knew the route so it was a pretty easy ride. I of course wanting to go slow was at the back of the group. A ATV and a car wanted to pass me and I finally figured out how to get the horse to the side of the ride. Of course by then the guys that were with us caught up with me and coaxed the horse off to the side.



We went back to the beach and had a yummy plate lunch. It was BBQ chicken that had been cooked over an open grill. We off course also had beans and rice and tortillas. David got the comb plate so he also got some fish with his meal. It was a delicious meal and they had an open bar the whole day so it was quite nice. We ordered us a dessert to share. It was fried bananas with a brown sugar kind of caramelized topping all over it. It was great! I let David have most of it though cause I was already pretty full.

We then took a horse drawn cart through the town for a tour. We were the only ones who opted for the cart ride. We could have chosen kayaks but neither of us knew how to steer and paddle. They also had banana boat rides but I didn't want to have to take the boat ride back in wet clothes.



We went down to the Golden Zone one day to look around. The Golden Zone is their major shopping area in downtown Mazatlan which is where most of the jewelry stores and diamond outlets are. They also sell pottery, ceramics, hammocks, clothing and just about anything you could want to buy in Mexico all in the one area that goes about 4 blocks long. It was almost deserted in the stores. We have been to Mexico so many times that we didn't really need to purchase anything but I wanted to help the economy so I made a few purchases. Okay that's my story and I'm sticking to it!! You all know I am a major shopaholic!!

I bought a cute shoulder purse that is made out of candy wrappers of all things. They are woven and then sewn together. It is totally cool. It is a little bright in colors but I will use it this summer. We got Connor a little outfit, the girls some pretty bracelets that are made with gemstones, David got a hat and I bought some tequila to take back and share with Davie. Unfortunately I had to gift my tequila at the airport to some man that was working on the shuttle. I found out that I couldn't bring it back because the bottles were more than 4 ounces and we weren't checking our luggage this time.

Hawaii Vacation & David's 50th BD

We went to Hawaii the end of March and early April to celebrate hubby's 50th BD and to see our beautiful Hawaiian girl and her hubby, Ryan. We made it a family affair and my parents accompanied us and we also brought David, Brenda and Connor as a surprise to Heather! It was also Ryan's birthday while we were there so we had a lot of fun celebrating everything and anything! A few Pina Coladas, Mudslides and Pomegranate Tini's were sampled by most everyone along with some great food.

The birthday guy and his little grandbaby
G-Ma Donna and baby Connor

Mom and Dad Unger

The beaches were beautiful and the scenery was spectacular! We managed to see quite a few whales right off the coast and they did some beautiful breaching for us to watch. I've always wanted to see them in Hawaii but never have any of the times we've been there. They came out in numbers to make it up to us. We also went to see the big sea turtles. They come right up on shore in the same area every year. They are smart and have set up a "safe" place for them with guides making sure the visitors stay their distance away and don't harm them in any way.


Hawaiian girl Heather also know as Auntie Bo and her little nephew

David, Brenda and Connor

Hawaii is always a great vacation but it's even better when you have all of your loved ones with you. Heather and Ryan have lived there almost 3 years and they know some of the best unspoiled areas to go to and enjoy. We had a ball and will try to make it out there maybe late summer or early fall for another trip to paradise!



Isn't he the cutest little thing?