"Don't go in the water!"

We took a long anticipated trip to Hawaii in early May. At the beginning of the year Sawyer started being obsessed with the ocean, whales, big waves, sand, surfing...you get it.
I was so excited to take him to the ocean and have him actually connect with it and remember it this time. We couldn't wait until May! I was also excited to take Eliot because he would be the same age Sawyer was the first time he went. I was excited to have pictures of Eliot in the same outfits and in the same fun places we had Sawyer. 
We went with Jake's cousins Ty and Sue and we brought along a friend, Heather, to help with the boys. The plane ride went surprisingly well considering Sawyer is a wild child and Eliot is in no way a cuddly boy. Sawyer did, however, not sleep one wink until we started landing....Ahhhhh, so frustrating!
Sawyer's Hawaii Experience:
We landed and took a taxi to the condo. In the car Sawyer started saying, "Not this kind of Hawaii! I wanna go to Hawaii! Maui, Hawaii." Me: "Sawyer this is Maui, Hawaii." Sawyer: "NOOO! Not THIS kind of Hawaii! A DIFFERENT Hawaii. MAUI, HAWAII!"
Once we got to the condo, tried to get overly tired Sawyer to sleep. It didn't work. We also took him down by the beach and the pool and he was TERRIFIED! I don't think I've ever seen him more scared in his whole little life. He was clutching so hard and his heart was racing as fast as can be and he was crying so hard. Poor boy. I thought, well, maybe it's because he is SO tired.
I put the boys down for bed early and as Jake was saying goodnight to Sawyer, Sawyer pleaded his little heart out..."Daddy, don't go in the water. Not in the water Daddy! Don't go in the water. There's sharks in the water Daddy!" He was so scared.
The first few days I couldn't even get Sawyer to play in the sand. I was so surprised he was that scared! For months before we went he kept telling me one of the first things we were supposed to do in Hawaii was bury him in sand and build a sand castle. Nope. I would set him down in the sand and he would run his little heart back to the gate for the condos. Slowly I got him to at least only run to the top of the stairs. And even slower, I got him down on the beach chairs. After he was sitting on the beach chairs it only took another day to get him to play in the sand. But if we even got close to the water he panicked.
You'd think that it would have been different for the swimming pools. He swam at both grandparents' all last summer and loved it. Nope. It took several days for him to even sit on the steps in the pools too. Anytime I would be about to head down to the pool or the beach I'd ask him to come. He start whimpering, "Noooo! I will just stay here with Heather! Me will just stay here." So, he stayed in a lot watching "Over the Hedge" and "Bolt."
He did end up making lots of friends. There were a few different families with kids his age. Because of the little friends he got a nearer the ocean and farther in the pool than ever. By the last day we got him to walk holding Jake's hand across a one foot deep pool. (which is one of his proudest moments that he randomly tells me about. "I was brave! I walked in the pool all by myself!"
We also got him in the ocean for 30 seconds while putting him in a kayak for a boat ride. He was so excited because we even got to see a turtle pop out right next to us. The rest of the day he made a pretend boat in the condo and rowed. He would sing while rowing and tell us what we were seeing and where we were going.
Eliot's First Flight, Trip and Hawaii:
My sweet Eliot is NOT a cuddler so I was nervous for the flight...apparently there was no need to be nervous. He was an angel baby. He loved all the people. He slept in my arms great (so weird!) and slept in Heather's arms (not so weird she is a miracle worker with that kid.)
We got to the condo and he went to sleep pretty well. Both boys were in bed early and woke up early (4am) most of the trip excluding the last couple of days. Eliot didn't, however, sleep good at night ever! He would wake up around 2am and scream for an hour and then be awake for the day at 4am, down for a nap at 6am when everyone else was starting to get up for the day. Boo!
He LOVED Hawaii though. He loved the pool. He loved the sand. He loved the ocean and the waves. He loved playing with Sawyer. Sawyer would try and show/tell him how to dig in the sand. He loved snuggling Heather the whole trip. He loved the grass. He loved all the people to smile at. He loved eating a whole bunch of new food. (side note: we went out for Sushi on Mother's Day and I let him eat some ginger. He ate ginger for an hour straight! If I took it away he started whining for it!)
Let's face it, Eliot knows that Hawaii is the place to be. :)
The one down side (aside from sleeping which is a down side even at home) was that Eliot, sweet Eliot, does not take a bottle. So, it put a little damper on our adventures. I could only stay away for a couple hours because then I needed to feed Eliot.
Jake and I:
I was still training for Ragnar, so I went running a couple times. Jake even came with me. It was so nice running on sea level! I felt like I could go forever!!!
We also went on an attempted snorkeling adventure, but the water was too murky. I was okay with that because I really have a hard time staying calm while having my head under water.
Then we went on a long hike over the lava fields. We saw some beautiful goat families wandering around. Some amazingly high waves and lots of lava rocks.

*Pictures to come