Isolation

By Monday afternoon, Cole appeared to be feeling better. We were so relieved the bug was short, sweet and out of our lives.

Tom planned a cute Valentine's Day dinner but around 9pm the evil bug decided to make my life hell. Not even saltines would stay down and Tom was in the same boat. Fortunately we were feeling better on Thursday (finally eating again!) and just in time for Cole's 2-year wellness check. Clean bill of health and we're on our way - Not even three hours later, the poor kid is a coughing/sneezing/dripping mess.

Eleven days of white walls and Wow, Wow Wubbzy... One gets creative!







He loves his 'nunnels!'

Back to Reality

We had an AMAZING time in Hawaii - Cole had a few toddler moments, but overall he was very well-behaved allowing us to accomplish more than we hoped. His excitement for upcoming adventures was adorable and we couldn't wait to show him something new each day. All good things must come to an end, I suppose.

We were on our way to the airport when Cole got sick. Madness - Traci trying to battle traffic/pull over... Me trying to catch it all... Brett and Tom trying to find a bag... We pull over and Tom jumps out. Trapped with no air circulation, I throw up on myself. Joys of being pregnant - NO tolerance for my other child's aromas! We get to the airport and we're delayed an hour. Awesome. We get through security... Cole gets sick again. Kleenex, wipes... Doing all I can to clean the airport floor and our child. We find an empty gate and entertain ourselves watching planes land. AND again. Great. Tom takes him to the bathroom, I attack the floor. They're back and one heck of a diaper decides to throw us for a loop. Fantastic. Two seconds after new diaper, another one is needed. Really? Am I on Candid Camera?! Three shirts, two shorts - One hour. Plane is boarding and Cole decides to grace first class with his presence. I stole one of their barf bags in the nick of time- Bet they loved us!! He was asleep by the time the plane took off and slept 3 of the 5.5 hours. It was 12:30am when we realized we were the only ones standing at baggage claim and our luggage was not coming. Cole's music box was in it, so it was quite the evening getting him to sleep and stay asleep. Woke up the following morning to him coughing/getting sick all over again. Welcome home, Zanetti Family! Vacation is definitely over!!

Hawaii - Part Three

Thursday

Our first stop was Kaena Point State Park (northwestern point of Oahu). We hoped to see whales, but didn't realize it was a 3-mile hike to the tip of the island. Bit tough with a toddler more interested in rocks, sticks and running the hills! Took us about an hour to go two miles, so we decided to head back to the car and continue our day - If only we had the Bob!









On to Haleiwa!



Turtle Bay - Found one!!





A seal on the same beach



Matsumoto Shave Ice - Island favorite!



Haliwea Beach





Cole finally fell asleep around 4:30pm. We know he loves adventure, but never imagined he'd last 9 hours! He was such a trooper the entire day - Not one complaint out of the kid, even when we were cruising the Haliwea shops. We took advantage and drove along the North Shore so Tom could watch waves. The waves were supposed to be 20ft high, but no such luck. Plenty of surfers having fun though!

Ehukai Beach (Banzai Pipeline)



Sunset at Waimea Bay



Friday

Waikiki Beach



Looking for a crab



20 weeks - Halfway there!



Worn out from 9 days of non-stop fun in the sun!



Saturday

Ko Olina Disney Resort (western shore of Oahu) with Traci & Brett













Sunday

Our last day in Honolulu - Couldn't believe we woke up to a rainbow!





Hanging with a local



DOLE!



Sad to leave our friends and so very thankful for their love and hospitality!

Hawaii - Part Two

Tuesday

Manoa Falls Hike



Collecting "howers" - When he sniffs them, he blows out through his nose. It's adorable!







A hurricane came through just after this picture - And we thought the first half of our hike was muddy... Only option was to keep going up!







150 ft falls - A spectacular site and definitely worth the wet hike. Just wish it wasn't raining so hard so we could've taken more photos!

Nu'Uanu Pali Lookout

Cold, rainy and windy the minute we got out of the car...









Lanikai Beach - East Coast

Ranked as world's top beach in 1996. Thanks to all the rain we brought with us, found it to be currently under water. Of course!



Drove a bit down the road to see if we could find another access point and it started pouring.

Back to Kailua!







Cole was asleep by the time we got out of the parking lot, so we drove up the coast. Gorgeous!

Wednesday

Dole Plantation and the North Shore



Perfect first stop - Fresh pineapple for Tom, a giant maze for me and a train ride for Cole!









Collecting our stamps at the hidden stations!





Took us an hour to find 7 stamps - Let's blame Cole's love of puddles and not my map-reading skills... It was tough for us to give up on that last stamp, but it was getting cold and Cole wouldn't stop screaming "TRAIN!" when he heard the whistles in the distance. He clearly wasn't going to understand our need to complete this task, so we made our way to the station!







Is it bad that before this visit I thought pineapples grew on trees?



Next stop - Turtle Bay Resort









Mid-afternoon snack at a shrimp truck - Giovanni's hot and spicy shrimp nearly killed all my taste buds but it was absolutely delicious!