The Cochran Family: vacation

WARNING: This is a very image heavy post! :)

We had a nice little family getaway this summer to Lost Pines. We always, always have a great time when we go there. This makes our 3rd visit!

Here are some highlights from our trip:

Ainsley got her toenails painted at the Wild Hare Youth Spa.

Collin got some time to relax with Daddy.

We found a really neat-looking moth. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the wings looked similar to dog ears. Ainsley was in love with this thing!

We journeyed through the Butterfly Meadow and Hummingbird Garden and strolled all along the resort property, which are things we hadn't done until this visit.

We took a horse-drawn wagon ride around the resort, courtesy of two Percheron Draft Horses named Julius and Caesar. The couple that heads this operation up is so very interesting, full of information and as friendly as can be.

Collin snapped our picture while we waited for the ride.

We went to a little presentation called "Don't Mess With Texas Animals" that was really interesting. They had a few different live animals as well as many different pelts on display. Collin is smiling, but still looks a little unsure in this picture of him and the baby gator.

This was a first for us. The kids got to sit on T-Bone and RibEye, two Texas Longhorn steers that are actually saddle trained and ridden. They are cared for by the same couple that does the horse-drawn wagon rides.

Pony rides! This we had to pay extra for, but for the excitement it gave the kids, it was worth every penny!

Relaxing on Riversong Lawn, waiting for the nightly movie. So much fun. They provide popcorn and beach towels, and everyone just sprawls out and has a great time.

All throughout the day there are planned activities, some for the whole family and some designed more for the kiddos. The Camp Hyatt counselors are amazing. They have such energy and are great with the kids. This time they did one called "Worm Digging." They sprinkled plates with crushed oreos and gummy worms, and then sprayed whipped cream all over the top. They were to "dig" for the worms with only their mouths. I thought this would be Ainsley's kind of thing, but she had a full-blown dramatic crying session instead. To my total surprise, Collin was totally into it!!

Collin's favorite thing about Lost Pines is the water slide.

The lazy river! This has to be at the top of our list of favorite things to do there.

Making sand angels on the beach...

A little late night dancing by the pool...

And what better way to end any fun vacation, than to meet up with some wonderful friends!!!

The End :)

As you know, Jeremy and I took a trip to Maui over a week ago with a couple of our good friends, Nate and Leah. It was an amazing vacation! We had the trip planned for about a year, so when it finally got here it felt very surreal. We stayed at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea, on Maui's south shore. We had a villa with an ocean view, and the accommodations couldn't have been better! The weather was near-perfect every day, with the exception of lots of cloud cover, but the last two days of our trip were particularly nice. The temperature never got over 89 degrees and there was always a nice breeze. We did all kinds of things, from playing in the ocean, to golfing, to relaxing at the spa, to ziplining, to snorkeling! Here are some photos from our amazing trip!

The morning we left. Lookin' pretty good for 6am, if I must say so myself!

Our first First Class flight ever! Totally worth it for an 8-hour flight!

I never knew airplane food could be so good!

Leah and I smooshed into the back seat of our rental car, on the way to the hotel.

First day in Maui, on the lanai of our villa

Pictures of our villa (Leah, I stole yours!) This was a 2 bed, 2 bath 2-story villa with a full kitchen and laundry!

And we had our own private "plunge pool" too!

First dinner at Nick's Fishmarket

Day 2 - The guys golf, the girls go "spa-ing"!

The "Wailea Mermaid" by Maui artist Dale Zarrella, in the lobby of our hotel

Jeremy grilling chicken and steaks on our lanai. The only meal we cooked ourselves, and it was GOOD! (Even though the green beans were $2.49 a can. Talk about serious sticker shock!!)

Now THIS was an adventure of a lifetime. Jeremy and I went ziplining on Wednesday morning. Neither of us had ever been. I'm afraid of heights, so it was a leap of faith for me, for sure!

Geared up and ready to go! I think those helmets were more necessary for the ride up and down the mountain than for the actual ziplining. That was the bumpiest ride I've ever been on!

Our crazy tour guides instructing us before our first line

The first line

Jeremy's first ride down

Me!

This was the half-way point of our 4-hour tour. We ate a small breakfast of fresh fruit and danishes, and took pictures of the gorgeous views!

Here are videos of Jeremy, then me, ziplining

On Thursday the guys once again played golf in the morning, while Leah and I drove out to Lahaina to do some shopping.

View of Molokini Crater

Lunch at Cheeseburgers, Mai Tais and Rock N Roll

Polo Beach

After dinner at Seawatch Restaurant at the Wailea Golf Club

Artist/sculptor Dale Zarrella working on another statue at the Fairmont Kea Lani

Sunset at Polo Beach

The guys playing in the ocean

Dinner at Cafe O'Lei - YUM! The best lettuce wraps EVER!

A little crab

Jeremy boogie boarding. This was a blast!!!

My handsome husband!

We went snorkling on Friday. This was my very first time to snorkel, and I was a little nervous. But it was GREAT! We rented gear and went out for about an hour. We saw so much sea life, it was amazaing! I took a water camera with me, but as you can see, I'm very disasppointed in the pictures! We saw a few very large sea turtles and some very colorful fish. In the fist picture, there is a turtle laying at the bottom of the rocks. It's kind of hard to make out.

Jeremy's picture looks like what you would expect a person to look like with a snorkeling mask on...

Why does mine look like this?! I want a redo!

On Friday evening we went to the Old Lahaina Luau

The roasted pig being taken out of the "imu" or underground oven. I hate this part (it grosses me out) so I left the camera with Jeremy and headed to the bar for a drink :o)

I honestly was not trying to get a "hiney" picture, but that's what I got!

Guess he thought someone needed to pray over our meal! This praying mantis was crawling on Jeremy's leg at the luau and he couldn't figure out what it was until it ended up on the coffee creamer at our table.

There was a really fun water slide at the hotel. The water at the pool was freezing, but the slide was so much fun that we probably went down it a dozen times.