Destination

Hello!
The Cunningham clan is excited to welcome in 2014 in just a few hours. The coming year will no doubt be fun, busy and as challenging as ever. Seeing these babies grow so fast makes me want to slow down the clock sometimes, but then again I am excited for what will come when they are more independent and less demanding of our time and constant attention.

Just yesterday we returned from an incredible week-long vacation on the big island of Hawaii with my parents, sisters and their families. Before we left (at 4 am on Sunday the 22nd), I told Jason "remember, its the journey not the destination..." to help me mentally prepare for the 18 hour travel day that lay ahead. He corrected me and said, "no, in this case its all about the destination!"

The long flights over and back were something I was dreading with the kids, but all of my anticipation and concern turned out to be for nothing. Both of the kids were great and absolute poster children of good travelers. I am quite certain that there were adults on every flight that fussed more than they did put together!

In preparation for the trip, I had been talking to both of them a lot about Hawaii, teaching Olivia to say 'aloha' and telling her about the ocean, whales, turtles and so on. It was absolutely precious when we came in for landing in Kona, she looked out the window and said "Ocean!! Daddy, there it is!" We climbed down the staircase to the tarmac and she started running excitedly and calling for the whales - "whales, I'm here! I'm coming whales!" I believe she expected them to be all around, on land, water, waving and grinning at her like the whales in her books. The airport workers got a good chuckle out of it. We did go whale watching and saw a few splashes off in the distance (btw, I don't recommend taking a 1 YO on a 3 hour whale watching catamaran excursion on high seas). Unfortunately she was a little disappointed on the whale front, but she still really loves whales and doesn't appear to be holding it against them.

We swam in the ocean almost every day we were there. In the evening, I took Olivia to watch the beautiful sunset from "our" spot on the beach. The stars were so bright and she sang 'twinkle twinkle' to them each evening. Honestly BOTH kids had an absolute blast doing island activities and playing with cousins, aunts/uncles, mom/dad, grandma/papa and just about anyone else who would give them attention. Each evening, we all fell into our beds to get rested up for another fun day to come.

On almost every trip we have taken with the Olivia, by the end of it, she is asking to go home. She loves being home, her bed, loveys, dogs, etc. But on the last day in Hawaii, she was asking to go to Hawaii. I think this little one has found a special connection with that island! We will have to save money and plan another trip over there someday.

Quinn is starting to walk some, and on the Hawaii trip, he really turned in to a chatterbox, trying on several new words and phrases. We got the kids some cute Hawaiian outfits and Quinn really rocked his little ensemble. He must be going through a growth spurt too because he has been eating a lot.

Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Love and blessings to all in 2014 and beyond.

~claire