My Real Life 2015 Best Nine and Happy 2016

According to 2015bestnine.com, my best nine Instagrams were the ones shown above. My real life best nines are the ones shown here on our holiday card (photos by Sarah Hebenstreit) and below.

Thanks for all the love and support this year. I'm so grateful to my family/friends and to all the friends I've made both online and offline this year. Happy new year!

1. Lucas turned 5 and had an epic Wild Kratts party

2. Theo turned 3 and jammed with his buddies

3. Lisa turned 40 and holy shit she's 40 (I went to Tulum, Mexico with my girlfriends from college on our annual trip)

4. Lucas started kindergarten and LOVES it

5. Family trip to Maui and Theo's first plane ride

6. Lisa and Nick celebrated their 10-year anniversary (photo by Sarah Hebenstreit)

7. Lucas had his first surgery (1/2" piece of wood in his foot)--also, not really a "best" nine but he did so well throughout the whole ordeal.

8. Nick ran a full marathon (3.49) and hasn't run since (but plans to get back into it in 2016), photo by Sarah Hebenstreit

9. Lisa went to Tulum and got a tan--Nick hiked the Trinity Alps and got pneumonia / I also conquered a very big fear of mine!

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Family Trip to Maui

Last week we went on our first family vacation to Maui since Lucas was nine months old and still crawling. We went with our good friends Brad and Nancy and their son Ben which made it extra fun. We even got to celebrate our 10-year anniversary with a nice dinner out just the two of us. I will say that that it was more of a trip rather than a vacation with the kids around. There were plenty of awesome moments -- the beautiful beaches and the pool with water slide, the delicious food (love the ahi poke!), hanging out in our condo, the Hawaiian shave ice, but I could have done without the whining about every little thing. :)

Here are some photos I took with my phone. This picture perfect beach was Napili Beach. It was gorgeous, but the waves and undertow were deceptively strong that day so we had to keep an extra eye out for the kiddos. I even had to "save" Lucas one time from a giant wave by grabbing the hook on his life jacket while holding Theo in my arm!

Scroll to the end to read about a few of my favorite spots.

Hawaiian shave ice and fish tacos! Yum!

We got to celebrate our 10-year anniversary with a nice dinner sans kids at the beautiful Merriman's. We look so tired but are so happy! We traded babysitting nights with Brad and Nancy :)

Happy Theo!

Mad Theo! Tantrums are no fun even in Maui! ;)

When in Hawaii, we had to do spam masubi and shave ice!

It rained on our last full day in Maui but we went out to the beach behind the condo when there was a break in the rain.

We had a bit of a nightmare flight home. After flying nearly two hours toward home, the pilot announces a problem with the hydraulic pump in the center of the plane and that we would have to fly back to the Honolulu airport where we hung out for an additional six hours. After a plane, crew, and pilot change, we were ready to board. We landed around 12:45 a.m. and with two half asleep kids, luggage and car seats, it was a challenge. Also, we had taken BART which closes at 12:30 a.m. so we took a cab back to the BART station. One more car seat change and we were finally headed back home and all in bed by 2:30 a.m. Phew!

Some of my favorite spots (thanks to our friend Tina and our friend John for the recommendations!):

Stayed at Honua Kai Resort and Spa in Maui - We made breakfast each day and lunch most days to save money and the hassle of getting the kids in and out of the car to go eat somewhere.

Ululanis for the best shave ice ever!

Star Noodle for delicious house made noodles and Asian food. We got take out there several times -- make sure to book a reservation if you want to eat at the restaurant.

Napili Beach - Really beautiful white sand beach that's family friendly though the day we went the waves were a bit bigger than usual. 

Kahekili Beach - We had the best time at this calmer beach located just behind the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas.

The Fish Market Maui - Delicious poke, fish tacos, crab cakes, and fresh fish

Merriman's - a beautiful beachside dining experience for a fancy night out

+ Family photo taken by Nancy Cho. All others taken by me with my iPhone 5.
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