We are so lucky and blessed that we got to spend Thanksgiving week with Chris's entire family in Maui. The trip was pretty much amazing. I had to constantly tell Grady that he cannot expect every trip to be like this one because this really set the bar too high. We had lots of laughs and created a lot of memories and I have a ton of pictures to prove it. In the unlikely event that you need even more pictures, you can find more on the Whitfield blog.
Grady got in his full share of Grandma and Papa loving. His sweet little grin turned into a squinty eyed, full face smile whenever he saw one of them. He just could not get enough of either of his Grandma or Papa.
Our routine pretty much consisted of waking up and going down the beach and spending most of the day down there. Grady always began his morning nap while still on the beach. He apparently likes the warm humid weather in Maui, smart boy.
The one disappointment was that in typical boy fashion Grady has already decided that laying out is not for him. We tried putting him in tents, under umbrellas, sunglasses, hats, you name it. Who would have thought that my baby who doesn't do much more than lie there on a blanket at home would refuse to lie on the beach on a towel in one of the most beautiful places in the world? So instead he spent time sitting with us, going for walks, or going "swimming" in the ocean. We cannot really complain about those things, they are pretty awesome in their own right.
(I love his face in this one).
And ended like this:
I was a water kid growing up and from what I know Chris was too. I had to be pulled out of every pool and lake that I could get into so I was delighted to see that it seems Grady might be a water kid as well. He LOVED watching the waves and wading into the ocean.
Not a bad place at all to take your first dip ever. Lucky little boy!
Although sometimes even that had the affect of lulling Grady to sleep.
On our last full day (of course) Grady decided that laying on the beach in his tent was really not that bad.
Grady was so happy to be a naked little boy for most of the trip. Despite packing a full suitcase for him, about 90% of the time he was without clothes. On the first night while sleeping in just a diaper and his swaddle blanket, he snuck out of his swaddle and giggled when I went in to get him as if to say, "you forgot to put my clothes on and I love it." From then on, he was left in his more natural state more often than not.
We took one morning and went to the aquarium. When growing up, I wanted to be a marine biologist or a trainer at Sea World so I pretty much love all aquariums and thought this one was pretty cool.
(love how Sophie is adoring her papa)
I didn't think that Grady would take notice of anything at the aquarium, but he actually seemed to like staring into the big blue tanks at the fish. His little outfit for our visit was special too because it was a gift from Buffie (Chris' grandma) to Chris from Maui approximately 30 years ago!
We have been lucky enough to see the Whitfield kids three times while I was on leave. I think that is a record for us and it has been so fun to watch them grow before our eyes. Grady also grew up what seems like A LOT on this trip. He started babbling so much more, raising his head better like his little role model Cameron, and he even chose to roll over for the first time in front of the whole family. My little boy is changing so quickly!
Love Miss Sophie so much.
Do you get any cuter than this?
We are so thankful for this family and the memories we created together this wonderful Thanksgiving!
The Johnson men.
Auntie E!
Cannot get enough of Grandma.
Papa loving on the boys.
What lucky kids to have grandparents as awesome as these two!
Our first "family" vacation was a huge success!
We miss Maui already!
