STRANDED - Celebs Addition

Today I'm linking up with Erika and Shay for STRANDED! Today's topic...the three celebs you would want on an island with you! 

Gosh this was hard for me! I don't have an obsession with really any celebrity, so I had to think long and hard. Here are the three that didn't make the final cut: 

Don Henley

I'm sure some of you may find this odd, but have you heard his voice?!?! I guess I might have a slight obsession with him since my daughter is named after him, but oh well! He came to mind because I would love for him to sing me to sleep each night. I would need something to drown out the fear of all the creatures around me. When it came down to it though, it just wasn't a necessity. 

Ellen DeGeneres 

I know, I know...how did she not make the cut?? Well, when you see one of the celebs that did make the cut, between her and him...I know I would be peeing my pants with laughter. And you know, on a deserted island, pants are limited! 

Lauren Graham 

She didn't make the final cut only because it is really her characters on Gilmore Girls and Parenthood that I would want on the island with me. No offense, Lauren, I'm sure you are pretty fabulous too, but I have a feeling I would be a little disappointed that you aren't really Lorelei Gilmore. 

Ok, lets get to the good stuff! Here are the celebs that made the cut to be on a deserted island with me! They should obviously feel honored!! 

James Corden

Oh I just love this guy! Can you see what I mean now with him and Ellen? My pants wouldn't stand a chance! I don't actually stay up and watch his show, but I love to watch his videos online. We could be carpool (I guess it would be more like rafting) karaokeing ALL THE TIME!! 

Jennifer Lawrence

I just find her to be so interesting, fun, funny, etc. I think she would make the island experience so much fun and very light-hearted! Plus, with all that Hunger Games training, she's bound to be at least a little helpful on the island. I'm pretty sure we would become best friends! OH...I COULD BE A PART OF HER SQUAD!! 

And last but not least...

Bethenny Frankel 

Yes, I know, everyone has their opinions about her, but I just simply do not care! I have loved her since the very beginning of Real Housewives of New York and have loved her ever since. She is just so real and although her potty mouth might alarm me, I think she would make the experience fun as well. She has definitely got some survival skills with all those ladies and she is tough as nails! 

I mean I just think the three that I chose would be hilarious all together. They each seem pretty dry and sarcastic and I think we would just be rolling the entire time.

Who would you pick to be stranded with you?

The Final Hawaii Post

Don't get me wrong, I loved our trip to Hawaii and all, but I'm ready to get back to blogging about other things! Cheers to the last Hawaii post!! 

Day 10

After a pretty tiring day on the Hula Girl the day before, we really had nothing planned other than the much anticipated family pictures for this day. We originally had them planned for sunset, but rescheduled for the 8:30 morning session since apparently the water would look better. 

The pictures turned out great and I am so excited to make some of them canvases for the house. There is just something so sweet about a little girl in a white dress on the beach! Henley did great for the most part...she wasn't really into smiling a lot, and once we got on the beach, she suddenly became super interested in the sand after a week of hating it. She kept getting up while we posed to walk and then look at her feet. What can you expect from an 18 month old?!?! 

After pictures I shopped a little bit at the hotel boutique. I had my eye on a bathing suit in the window  all week. I ended up not getting the one I originally wanted but found a better one and was super excited to sport it at the pool for the day! 

We hung out at the pool all day and Henley was in rare form! She was so much fun and then totally fell asleep on Ben's chest! After a little extra time in the sun, Ben and I hit the gym to workout and watch the NBA Finals. I told him I wanted some time at the gym/alone time and he wanted to watch the game somewhere so it was a win win! 

Dinner was at Merriman's and was amazing! Henley was fabulous at the restaurant, the food was amazing and the atmosphere was pretty fabulous too! It was my first night to try the famous mai tai, and I must say, they are lethal!! 

That ice there is what saved us every single meal! Henley loves loves loves ice and as long as she had a cup of it, she was pretty occupied at dinner. 

Day 11

Since we spent most of our days at the pool, we were ready to hit the Hawaiian beach! We ate a delicious breakfast and then hit the road for our friend's place. Their beach was super easy to access and was really close to the bar/restaurant. We had a blast! 

Their place is at the Hyatt Regency and their bar/restaurant was amazing! For lunch I ordered Henley a pbj (a staple in her diet in Hawaii) and I got the ahi tuna tacos. They had this wasabi sauce that was to die for! I so wish I could eat them every single day! Henley took about an hour or so nap in the cabana while we hung out and talked. We even got to witness some drama on the beach between two dads. 

When Henley woke up, the guys wanted to rent some boogie boards and take advantage of the waves. Lets just say it didn't go according to plan...Ben was the first in the water and we were sitting on the beach watching. All of a sudden, everyone was screaming and Ben was not okay. He came stumbling out of the water and unfortunately, he stepped on one of the sea urchins we saw while scuba diving. It was no bueno. According to the locals who helped us take care of it, it was the worst they had ever seen. I ended up counting and he ended up with about 35 spines in his foot. Super painful! 

We put vinegar on it and his dad even peed in a cup and poured it on his foot. Yes, I know...TMI and gross, but it was necessary! We headed back to our place not too long after to try to get Henley a proper nap and get ready before dinner. 

Henley was pretty devastated that her daddy was injured, so she stayed pretty close to him the rest of the day. 

Dinner was at Lahaina Grill and again...it was amazing! I must say that Maui has some pretty wonderful restaurants. I loved going to a different place every night and being amazed again and again. I could pretty much eat seafood every day of my life, so I was a very happy girl! Lahaina Grill had a really need little village/town around it that was fun to walk around. Henley and I got to see a few things after we were finished eating and waiting on everyone else. 

Day 12

Our last day in Hawaii. Ben and his dad scheduled a round of golf for the early morning, so the girls packed and hit up the pool. I can't say enough what fun Henley was this trip. She's pretty fun everyday, but going on a trip made me realize even more how easy she is. She played and played while I packed. We left the room quite a mess and headed back down to the pool for one more day of fun! 

We played at the pool and playground for a little while and then Henley just wanted to wander around the resort. I'm pretty sure I didn't sit down for about two hours before Ben got back. We played in the grass, with the shuffle board, we walked around the pool and got cups of ice, we sat down on the stairs and just chatted, etc. I just love my little best friend! 

We ordered lunch by the pool again and enjoyed staying a little bit past Henley's nap time before heading up to the room for nap and packing before we had to leave. 

Sidenote: While Henley and I were playing at the playground earlier in the morning, we played with a little boy and his mom for a little while. I chatted with her for just a little bit, but Henley decided to roam. Ben's mom ended up talking to her at the kiddie pool while we were roaming and told me about her while we were eating lunch. She was telling me about her running when it clicked...I have followed her on instagram for a long time and so admired her!! It was RUNEMZ! I ran up to her and asked her who she was and told her that I adored her! I was super excited because she started following me on instagram and even told my MIL that she could tell I was a runner! It was probably the best thing to happen to me on the trip! (I'm dramatic!)

Ben and I raved all week about our date night at Frida's, so the rest of the fam decided they wanted to try it before we left. On our way to the airport, we stopped for some Mexican food. I was pretty excited because I can't say that the airplane meals are my favorite, so I was glad to have a meal before getting on the plane! It was delicious and a good farewell for us! 

The flight home was pretty easy. It was an overnight flight and I knew Henley would sleep. She struggled for a while going to sleep which is super unusual, but when she finally went to sleep she was out. She slept until we got to baggage claim! 

Well, that's it for our trip...we had a blast in Hawaii and are so glad we got to experience it with family, friends and especially our little Henley! 

Hawaii Part 3

 I'm excited to post more this summer and to join some link-ups that are going on, so hopefully I can wrap up Hawaii in just one more post after this one. Enjoy part three!! 

Day 7

We woke up bright and early, excited about our activity for the morning...a helicopter ride! We really weren't planning on doing many more activities where we would get to see the island, so I was super pumped to really get to see things in a way I never had before. Ben's mom didn't want to go, so she stayed back with Henley.

We made the hour drive back to the airport with a quick detour on the side of the road to take some pictures of the view. I'm not going to lie...I was a bit nervous. After having a baby, I choose my activities a little differently now, or at least think about them a little more. When our pilot came over to talk to us, I felt a bit better. Unfortunately, this morning, there were a lot of clouds in the sky and it was raining in certain places on the island, so we couldn't go over the road to Hana or above the Crater. It actually turned out to be awesome, because we got to go over to two other islands instead.

We got to see Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. Of course each island was beautiful, but they all had their highlights. Molokai has the highest sea cliffs and a fringing reef that were both beyond beautiful. The majority of Molokai is untouched and only able to be seen via helicopter, so it was amazing to go through the valleys and see so many waterfalls. Our pilot was incredibly knowledgeable and I was very interested to hear everything he said. Molokai also has a famous peninsula, called Lepers Peninsula. It is where they used to send the lepers to live in seclusion. There are still six lepers living on it today.

We mostly just saw the edge of Lanai. It is known for its shipwrecks because of the current the other islands push towards it and the way the sand juts out. We flew above a WWII ship that was wrecked on the shore and there were a number of other local boats stranded on the beach. After seeing Lanai, we went back to Maui and flew over everything there. It's just so neat to see how Hawaii has pretty much everything...rainforests, waterfalls, dessert, etc. I highly recommend a helicopter ride if you can!

When we got back to the resort, we found that Henley had made some awesome friends! She played with two littler girls, 7 and 11 for the majority of the morning and they had a great time. They definitely wore her out, because when we sat down to lunch, Henley fell asleep eating her pickle and Ben had to take her upstairs for her nap!

The rest of the day was spent at the pool before we got showered and ready for dinner. We ate at Leilani's on the Beach and it did not disappoint. It's in Whaler's Village which is a neat place to walk around and shop. While we waited for our table, Henley walked around and listened to music and made friends with another baby her age. She did great at dinner and we all enjoyed our meals! The fish tacos were amazing! This was one of my favorite days in Hawaii!

Day 8

Day eight was a pretty relaxing, chill day. The guys had a round of golf scheduled, but it wasn't until later in the morning, so we all headed down to the pool until they had to leave. Once they left, Katie and I played at the pool with Henley all morning. We ate lunch at the pool and right as I was about to take Henley up for a nap, her friends from the day before showed up. I just didn't have it in me to take her away, so she pushed through and stayed up for about another two hours. She had a blast!

After I put Henley down for a nap, I headed back down to the pool, but it didn't last long. The majority of the morning we got sprinkled on while the sun was still out, but that afternoon it poured. I laid under a towel for about 5 minutes trying to keep the monitor safe before I decided it wasn't worth it and would rather enjoy our balcony in my comfy robe. It was a good decision. It rained all afternoon, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading on the balcony and getting in a quick workout before getting ready for dinner.

Ben left it up to me to choose dinner, so I looked up a few places on my phone and settled on one pretty quickly. Since we were eating seafood pretty much every other night, I thought a Mexican meal on the beach would be pretty fun. We went to Frida's and absolutely loved it! It is right on the beach. The guy who brought our car around at the hotel suggested that we get the ahi chorizo there it did not disappoint. We had a great time talking and enjoying each other's company in such a beautiful place!

Day 9

This was probably my second favorite day in Hawaii! We were up bright and early for breakfast and to get ready for the Hula Girl,  a huge catamaran that was taking us around the island. They picked us up on the beach where our friends were staying, so we headed over there around 9. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little nervous about Henley being on the boat all day, but she was such a trooper! 

We spent the day enjoying the sun and each other's company, scuba diving or snorkeling and eating wonderful food! We sat up front for a little bit, but Ben found a better spot up with the captain where there was more shade and we stayed there until they talked to us about scuba diving. Henley fell asleep during the presentation! 

We found a comfy spot for her with Ben's mom and Ben and I headed down to get ready for our dive. The dive was really neat! We saw a lot of large sea turtles and other things like sea urchins and of course, colorful fish! I'm not a huge fan of diving, but I usually go because Ben loves doing it together. This dive was different than the others I've been on because, well...sharks. No, we didn't see any, but I'm very aware that Hawaii has them and I didn't love being in the open water. The other dives I've done have been in Grand Cayman and it's crystal clear with zero sharks! 

After the dive, we just enjoyed our friends and family on our way back to the hotel. Coincidentally, the place they dropped us off was where Ben wanted to go cliff jumping. The original plan was for him and I to do it together, but once I saw the rocks you had to climb to get there I was out. I had no intention of cutting up my feet along the way! Ben did it though and had a blast! He even managed a pretty awesome front flip on his dismount! 

We stuck around the beach for a little while because the waves were pretty awesome. Ben and his sister decided to try to body surf in and got a little beat up. After once of the waves flipped Katie, we thought it was probably a good idea to wash off in the pool and get Miss Henley back to the hotel for another shot at a nap. 

We were all pretty beat from the sun and fun, but we managed to get ready for dinner and go to the Banyan Tree. It was at our hotel and right by the pool, so it was the perfect spot for a night that we all didn't want to go too far. The food was delicious! I literally ate and ran because Henley was pretty restless and tired. Once she was done, we headed up to the room, watched an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and hit the hay. We were beat from a fabulous day!