Day 1...

Well, it's time to get back to reality... but before I do that, I'm going to spend a few more minutes longing over the beautiful week Madi and I just had in Maui with my mom, sister and SIL (for a few days)...

I was a little nervous about our flight. Mostly because it was 5 and a half hours and I had NO idea how Madi would do... Thankfully she was AMAZING, especially considering she had to sit on my lap the whole time...

Unfortunately, I'm not crazy enough to think that I can take pictures of the two of us on the plane while keeping track of everything else that I had brought with us, so our adventures in pictures don't start until we landed in the islands.

Can you say, "Aloha"?!?!

Mads was SO happy to be out of the plane... even if it meant she had to ride in her carseat!

I'm sure it helped that she was with some of her favorite people!!!

Aunt Decca "Caca" didn't waste anytime and they headed straight for the pool! Madi was THRILLED... she loves water and usually pushes whoever is holding her away because she's pretty sure she can float by herself?!?!?

She's crazy.

I know.

Don't worry, I bought her a lifejacket before we left.

Best $17.00 I've spent in a while!

We got all dressed up and headed to Lahaina for a Sunset Dinner Cruise!

It was the PERFECT night for it!!!

There was NO wind and we saw TONS of whales... in fact we watched them until it was just too dark to see them anymore!

So serious! Waiting for our "boat"!!!

Checking out what a smile actually looks like!!!

Watching the "Whales" with Nana... Madi loved them, but when the sun-set we told her that the whales had gone "Night night"... I think we all regreted that because for the next seven days we would here a frantic, "Whales, night night?" at least 10 times a day! It was always with a questioning tone, like she was checking to see if they were still okay...

It was pretty cute.

And yes, that's what she tells you about if you ask her about Hawaii!

Here's just a FEW whale pictures from the, um, 150, that we took. I was SO happy to have a zoom lense, which capture these amazing creatures much better than I expected. I had no idea what setting I should have been on as my camera doesn't have a "whale" icon... ;) So here was the amateur in me...

This was the baby whale popping up... he was being taught how to slap his fin and tail... SO cute!

As you can see it was a BEAUTIFUL night! We could not have asked for more perfect weather, or a more perfect location!

The BEST way to start off a week in Maui, if I may say so myself! =)

Although Madi and I were pretty exhausted after traveling all day! She's quite the trooper!

Here's to day 1... and many more beautiful ones to follow! =)