Muenich Sisters in LA

Steph and I spent the first weekend in June in Los Angeles. We started the trip off with some serious anxiety when Southwest Airlines called my house at 6:30 a.m. They cancelled my flight! On the phone with Steph in San Fran, we decided the Muenich sister Amazing Race to LA was on.

I rushed to the airport to fly standby and caught an earlier flight. I beat Steph to LA by 20 mins! At one point, Steph thought, "the heck with LA, meet me in Vegas!"

Once we arrived, it was good times picking out our rental car - the PT.


Then it was off to Speidi's favorite restaurant - Don Antonio's or Don Romero's, whichever you prefer.


After shopping on Montana, we checked out our hotel, recommended by the Protos. Hotel La Petit, a great hotel with a fantastic bar (Butterfly Bar) and rooftop pool. Both of which we logged serious time at.





We laughed with the Protos,


jammed at the Cat Club and Viper Room,


imbibed flaming margaritas (plural),


ran into cousin Scooter on the streets of LA,


and saw random things.


After margaritas, we went to buy lottery tickets. We were certain luck was on our side.

The weekend trip to LA was more than a success. No, we didn't win the lottery, but we had a blast. An annual visit is a must.

Summer is Here

With the sun in full effect, the Lihn pool is open for business. We took Emmy in the pool for the first time. She splashed around and swam with daddy's help.



When the weather gave a bit, we attended Starry Safari at the zoo. We rode the safari train.


Fed the ducks.


And rested when the sun went down.


Emerson likes when her friend Sedona comes over to play. They enjoy tea parties and opening new toys. But Emmy never tires of tea parties.


One evening, after Emmy was asleep, Caleb and I had dinner on the patio. The sunset was amazing. The picture doesn't do it much justice, but you get the idea.


And, of course, more swimming...





Emmy may turn into a mermaid by the end of summer.

Tutu Party!

Admittedly, we went overboard. We couldn't help ourselves. She's just too darn cute and you only turn 1 once. From her tutu dress to the cake, we splurged.


We decorated with chandeliers, flowers and tulle and sprinkled the party scene with photos of Emmy. All of Emmy's friends and family showed up! Some of which we hadn't seen in awhile.




Everyone enjoyed a puppet show with Desi (aka Grandpa) and Lucy (aka Grandma.)


After the puppets, cake was served. It hurt me a little to cut into that beautiful masterpiece! When Caleb and Paul went to pick up the cake from the bakery, people were impressed. One woman yelled, "Look, that cake is wearing a tutu!" and another patron busted out her blackberry for a photo. I'm glad it turned out so well!


The kids enjoyed the playroom which ultimately survived the rampage.




Guests wore fabulous tutus...


And even the boys wanted to join in on the fun. (Who could blame them?!)


Afterwards, Emmy opened all of her presents. I didn't think she'd enjoy it too much, since she's only 1, but she loved it. When all the presents were opened, she wanted more!


Aunt Steph and Uncl Paul helped Emmy break in her new tea set.


Then, it was time to let Emmy loose on her "smash" cake. Even though she started off slow, she eventually managed to cover herself in pink frosting.





Overall, Emerson's First Birthday was a success. God only knows what we'll come up with next year!

Wowie Maui

As many of you know, Caleb and I went to Hawaii to celebrate our 10th anniversary. While we relaxed on the beach and sipped pina coladas, Emmy vacationed at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Caleb and I stayed at the Four Seasons Wailea - an unbelievable resort on Maui - for the first 5 nights.

The view from our room was amazing.


and the views surrounding the resort were just as beautiful.


One of our favorite places to eat was Ferraro's. The restaurant abutted Wailea Bay and we always managed to get a great table (and great food.) Caleb still talks about the fruit smoothies they served.


One morning, after yoga on the beach, we went out for an outrigger canoe lesson. We managed to keep dry and get in a nice upper body workout.


We received lots of insider info from Steph and Paul on where to go/what to do. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Nick's and scheduled it perfectly with sundown.


During our third day in Maui, we drove the road to Hana. I was certain I would get car sick, but much to my surprise, I toughed it out. Thank goodness. We saw some amazing sites with the help of our "Maui Revealed" guidebook (which told us to ignore warning signs and to crawl over fences.) We successfully maneuvered through this fence and found some great waterfalls. Yes, the skull on top of the sign was a little intimidating...


We found the famous Black Sand Beach and enjoyed a picnic.



We also stopped for a self-guided tour of some Polynesian Botanical Gardens. We steered clear of the coconut trees, as the coconuts fell often.


When we arrived in Hana, we hiked to the Red Sand Beach. Imagine an oceanfront Sedona, Arizona. Beautiful!


While on Maui (even though the whole trip was to celebrate our anniversary), we planned our anniversary dinner at Capische?. Truly, the best risotto I've ever had! We had the best table and saw a perfect sun setting over the ocean.



Post-Maui, we headed to Lanai, an 18 mile long and 13 mile wide island. With the economy in the dumps, we were two of only a hundred or so visitors on Lanai. There are only three hotels on Lanai: the Four Seasons at Manele Bay, Four Seasons at Koehle and Hotel Lanai. We chose the first, which was nestled into Manele Bay.


Again, an outstanding view from our lanai. I caught the moon heading down in this pic.


During our stay on Lanai, we rented a jeep to explore the island. We stopped at the "Garden of the Gods" - an eerie location with eroded rock formations. We felt like we were on Mars.


Next on our jeep tour, we drove to a beach only accessible via 4-wheel drive. After 30 mins of fighting whiplash, we were happy to see we were the only ones around.


Here is a full view of the beach and our footprints. You can see the island of Molokai in the background.


We then headed to another beach, Shipwreck Beach. Just off the shore is a grounded WWII oil carrier. Apparently, the military tried to sink the ship but it got caught in coral, so they just left it in the Pacific Ocean. Makes for pretty cool pictures!


While on Lanai, we checked out the Koehle Lodge. This lush resort, surrounded by pine trees, was a 10 minute drive from the arid beach.


We ate lunch at the clubhouse. Caleb had the "best burger" on the island. It was a really good burger. I'm sure the scenery didn't hurt either.


We explored the resort and found a greenhouse full of orchids. Caleb snuck a kiss just after I set the camera timer. He's so sweet.


One morning we took a short hike off of Manele Bay. The trail led us to Sweetheart Rock. The sun was just coming up and the ocean breeze refreshing.


Caleb talked me into playing 9 holes of golf on a championship course. Luckily, we were a two-some and no one else was around. My golf game wasn't so great, but I felt like a kid on Easter, searching for eggs - but this time golf balls in the bushes. Caleb was impressed when I'd walk out of the brush with 6 new balls in hand.


Oh, and beer and golf mix well.


We relaxed the remaining days on Lanai and finished our books by the pool. We took some goodbye photos before heading to Oahu on a puddle jumper.



With four hours to kill before our flight home, we toured Oahu. I finally saw sea turtles - giant sea turtles!


And lastly, we toured filming sites of "Lost" (one of our favorite tv shows.)


We had an amazing time and are trying to figure out when we can go back!
Next time, we plan to take Emmy along. She had a great time while we were gone though.

Church with Grandma...


Playing in the fountains at Kierland with Grandpa...


Picking out flowers at the nursery...


Eating at Haus Murphy's with the Greats...



and getting her first tooth!



MORE VACATIONS PLEASE!