~Kauai~ Day 2~

Jerry and Darinda had planned a catamaran boat ride up the Napoli Coast the next morning.  Darinda opted to stay back at the hotel with Garrett, Zoee, and Andrew.  Boat rides make her sick.  I feel bad, cause she missed out on a really fun day.  We saw dolphins (lots of dolphins), turtles, were able to go snorkeling, and had a fun boat ride on the way back.  We were even fed an amazing breakfast and lunch.  This was all of our favorite things we did on this trip.  It was a lot of fun!

This is where the kids rode most of the boat ride.  The boat had 2 trampolines up front.  This was the perfect spot to see all the dolphins and turtles.  We even spotted a shark, but it quickly went away.

The Napoli coastline is beautiful!  There were waterfalls everywhere, caves, arches, green everywhere, beautiful beaches.  Definitely worth seeing!

Lexi's nickname on the boat ride was Hollywood, because she looked like a movie star with her pink glasses on :)

The snorkeling was great.  There were fish everywhere.  We even saw some turtles.  Mckell got  a little freaked out because she got water in her nose, so she went back to the boat.  Lexi was a little freaked out too, I think because we were out in the open water.  She toughed it out though.

The ride back was a lot of fun!  If you were on the front of the boat, you got drenched!  The kids laid on the trampolines and flew though the air as we went over big waves.  They had a blast!  There were times the whole front of the boat was under a wave.  The boat guides even brought out goggles for the people on the front of the boat to wear, because the waves were so big.  It was like we were tubing behind a boat, except we were on the front of the boat.  This was the kids favorite part of the whole trip, and I think the adults favorite part too.

While we were gone on the boat ride, Darinda took the babies to see the birds.

When we got back to the hotel, or I should say the resort, we all went swimming at the pool and then the beach.  We spent the rest of the day there.

~Ropelato Family Vacation~ Day 1~

Jerry & Darinda were so sweet to take the family all to Kauai for a family vacation.  We were all so excited!  Well, Mckell was a little apprehensive about going to Hawaii.  A few months ago, we watched the movie Impossible, which terrified Mckell.  Since watching that show, she did not want to go to Hawaii for the fear that there would be a tsunami, just like in the movie.  After several months of talking and reassuring her, she did in the end get excited to go. :)  Jerry & Darinda had everything planned out to a T.  It was so fun getting together and playing as a family.

The kids were even excited about the plane ride.  Lexi was more than ready for her vacation.

I'm not going to lie.  I was DREADING the plane ride with Garrett.  And rightfully so, it was the longest plane ride of my life.  I guess looking back, he wasn't terrible, but he wasn't good either.  But we all made it in one piece, and I guess that is really all that matters.

I LOVE this picture of Hunter and Mckell, especially because lately they will not even get close to each other.  They really are great friends, even though they will not admit it lately.

We left our house about 8:30 in the morning and arrived in Kauai about 6:30. It was a long day, but was all worth it when we got there.  It was beautiful! We stayed at the Grand Hyatt, which was amazing.  As we pulled up, they came out and gave us all leis.  The kids thought this was so cool.

After checking in, we decided to go swim in the pool.  It was amazing.  Their were waterfalls, a lazy river, hot tubs, waterslides, a tide pool with a beach.  You name it this resort had it.  We truly were spoiled to get to stay at the Grand Hyatt.

~A Princess Party~

For Lexi's friend birthday party, she wanted a princess party.  She invited all of her little friends over to meet some real life princesses.

They made princess wands

Played games

and visited with some real princesses.  We had Rapunzel and Jasmin come to wish Lexi a very Happy Birthday!

Lexi and Ella

Lexi, Lily, and Melyn

Lexi and Lauren

Lexi with Preslee

Dallas and Lexi

Lucy Brown and Lexi

Lucy Holtry and Lexi

The whole group. Lexi had a really fun birthday!

~Weber High Cheer Camp~

The girls participated in the Weber High Cheer Camp this year, and had so much fun!  They had lots of their neighbor friends participate with them, which made it that much more fun.  they did such a good job, and looked so cute!

The girls had a lot of fun!  I wish I got a picture of our whole group. We had 8 little neighborhood girls participate together.  They were all so cute!

Lexi with Ashton, our good friend who is a Weber High Cheerleader.  Lexi loves Ashton!

~5 Years Old~

Happy Birthday Lexi Lou!  I can't believe my baby girl is 5 years old!  Lexi is such a sweet girl.  She is such a big helper with Garrett.  He absolutely adores her.  She is constantly making us laugh at the funny little things she says.  She is so spunky.  She is nice to everyone and is constantly making new friends.  She LOVES school and loves dance.  She is so smart, everyday she tells me that she needs to do her homework.  Then she'll sit down and write her letters and numbers.  She loves playing with her friends.  Her favorite color is purple. Her favorite thing to eat is cheese.  And she LOVES to ride her bike.  Lexi is so much fun, and we are glad she is in our family.

Lexi sporting her Hawaiian lei that she made at school.

Lexi chose to go to Pizzeria for her birthday, then to Kirts for Ice cream cones.  He were going to go to GET Air as a family, but with Hunter's shoulder hurt we didn't want him to be left out.  We promised her we'd go when we get back from Hawaii because, hopefully Hunter's arm will be better then.  She is such a good sport and was totally fine with it.

Lexi got a laptop that she has been asking for for quite some time.  She can practice her numbers and letters on it, which she loves to do.  She was thrilled!