Great Wolf Lodge

For Matt's 29th birthday, we decided to take a little trip to the Great Wolf Lodge!Matt and I had both taken the week off of work, but decided to stay around home to save money. Our 1 night stay at the Great Wolf Lodge turned out to be a great idea, and an easy and relaxing way to get away during our stay-cation! Mallorie was not particulalry fond of the water park- I think she didn't like the noise. Charlotte loved it! She didn't love the wind storm that just happen to tear through western washington that night though- which knocked out power even at the hotel. Crazy experience! The lights went out at about 9pm, and I think Charlotte thought Matt and I were doing it on purpose to get her to go to sleep- she was really mad! The power didn't come back on until I think about 4am. Overall we had a GREAT time! Aaah-ooooooooh!

Videos from Great Wolf Lodge

Seaside Family Vacation

The Kohler family decided to take a trip to the beach in late September (what were we thinking??? Oregon coast late September). Luckily we had the best weather you could ever ask for. Since school was in session, and not a typical vacation time of year, we had the beach and town all to ourselves. We could not have asked for anything more!

Bellingham Visit

It has been a few years since we have walked across the WWU campus! We stopped there when we visited Bellingham this August. While in Bellingham, we also got to visit Boundary Bay Brewery and best of all... The Mauss Family!

Momma's Little Baby Loves Schnitzel!

We spent the week camping in Leavenworth and guess who loves Weiner Schnitzel?? Charlotte! That's my girl! This was Charlotte's very first camping trip, and I had to just give up trying to keep her clean. I went through a lot of wipes at first, wiping dirt of her hands and face, but eventually... ya just have to let it go! My dad (Grandpa Coury) came too and treated us to new bikes and a bike trailer (chariot) for Charlotte! I am totally out of shape, so the bike rides were killer on my thighs and lungs, but I look forward to many more bike adventures around home. We stayed at the KOA campground, which has a pool, and very nice bathrooms! That's my kind of camping! But our favorite part of Leavenworth is the food- the schnitzel and the Cheesemonger Shoppe! YUM!

Here are more photos from the trip and a little yodeling... you know you can't help but smile when you hear yodeling!!!

Leavenworth

Weiner Schnitzel, lederhosen, gouda- alles sehr gut! … A few of my favorite things that is! Matt and I had our first little trip away since having Charlotte. It was a little like old times. We kamped (KOA spells kamping with a “k”) in Leavenworth for two nights this past weekend. We sat by a pool, ate food, sat by our campfire, explored the town, ate more food, and snuggled in our tent! We had a wonderfully relaxing time! . "OH NO you didn't just eat my perfected roasted marshmellow!"

To Maui...

Over the Ocean and through the Palm trees to Grammy & Grampy's condo we go...

And we arrived in Maui on Wednesday, March 12th.

Disney Sing-a-longs in Hawaii

Thanks Frank and Alyssa for letting us borrow a portable DVD player. Charlotte can't live without her Disney Sing-a-longs!

Charlie in the Sky with Diamonds!

Day 2 in Honolulu was spent at the beach in the morning (of course). Then we took a drive and ended up at Diamond Head Park, and before we knew it we were hiking to the top. We didn't even know that a hike was involved in this visit, but luckily we arrived fairly prepared! The views were spectacular and well worth the work!

After the long hike and the never ending stairs ("173 steps to be exact," says Matt), we had a little picnic. Charlotte must have been tired of being carried because she was quick to practice her standing and walking on the blanket!

Visiting Pearl Harbor

On our first full day in Hawaii we went to Pearl Harbor. As cliche as it sounds, it was an experience we will never forget. Back in 1999 when our High School group of friends went to Honolulu I chose not to visit this site and I had regretted that decision. I was not going to miss it this time.

This was particularly amazing to me... as the boat pulled out to the sunken USS Arizona I was shocked by the oil in the water. At first, I thought that I was seeing a glare off my sun glasses, but in fact, there is still oil seeping into the water from the old battle ship!

It was an emotional day... and to top it off... when we left the memorial we had a mini crisis of our own! Daddy thought he would get the air conditioning started as Mommy put Charlotte in the car... unfortunately as I shut Charlotte's door (in what seemed like slow motion) I screamed and lunged to stop Matt from shutting the back door of the Jeep... but I missed him. Charlotte was then locked in a running car. Ironically, Guy did the same thing to Matt when he was only about 9- 10 months old as well! Thank goodness for AAA! They had her out within 5 minutes of making the phone call. Whew, mommy almost had a heart attack!

Aloha! We made it to Hawaii!

As we prepared for take-off from Seattle we had only lost one sock on the way in and the dreaded upcoming 6 hours went surprisingly well! The flight flew by and we arrived in Paradise in Honolulu, Hawaii! The weather was beautiful and the beach at Waikiki just sparkled. It may be crowded, but there is no doubt that this is one of the most amazing beaches in the world! We explored a little this first day and tried to nap a little after the long morning and afternoon of traveling. By Monday we were ready for real Hawaiian adventures!