A Little Bit More

We have a few more pics that were either forgotten, didn't have a place in a collage, or had a story that I wanted to put with them so here's a little bit more of our vacation:

The cousins with their frogs from Gma and Gpa. Gpa told them they were having frogs with their dinner that night and had them all convinced they were going to eat frogs! Well, they didn't eat frogs but were given these cute wooden frogs (during dinner, so they had frogs with their dinner) and when you rub the little stick up their back they make a croaking sound just like a real frog. BIG HIT! Later, I was able to find some smaller ones for the girls to give their teachers (which was also a BIG HIT).

The kids were all excited to look for seashells with grandpa. What they didn't know (and still don't know) is that my mom and dad found some huge shells for less than dirt cheap (these things were being sold all over for over $30, I think they got them for a dollar each!). They managed to get the shells buried without the kids knowing and then each grandchild was able to find a huge shell. They had a blast digging up those monsters! It even started drawing a bit of a crowd having these little kids find these huge shells. The shells made quite a souvenir for each kid!

Eli had a loose tooth and I thought she'd have it out before we left for Hawaii. Well, she didn't and was bothered by it for quite a few days; she said it was pretty sore. Day 5 Sandy finally reached in and just pulled it out. Eliana was thrilled the tooth fairy was able to find her in Maui.

I don't muck around much with enhancing photos but when I saw the two girls sitting on the beach like this I knew this shot would have to have a minor adjustment in color. It's one of my favorite pictures of them on the trip!


This is a video of Livi doing the "hula" in the little grass skirt outfit grandma got her.

The Best Of

Back from Hawaii for a week now and some of us (mostly Shad) are still trying to get over that 4 hour jet lag. Others (mostly me) are having Maui withdraws and already want to go back! Now, for my sake, here's many of the "the best of" moments. Even after putting them in collages, though, I ended up with LOTS of "the best of" moments :)

First day at the beach-it was right across the road from the resort which was AWESOME being able to walk to it so fast. Shad didn't like the sand or the ocean and didn't change his mind the entire time there. The rest of us loved the sand and sea!!

Every time we got done playing at the beach we'd spend a few hours at the resort's pool.

The Sugar Cane Train. This cool steam engine took us on a tour of a portion of the island. I think this was one of Shad's favorite things we did~he absolutely LOVED the ride, and so did the rest of us!

More of the train ride

This is one of the largest Banyan Trees in the USA, found in Lahaina. It is the size of an entire city block and stands more than 60 feet high- the pictures don't do it any justice. The girls had fun climbing the giant tree.

What good is a trip to Hawaii without going to a Luau?! One of my girls favorite things we did was go to this Luau (I think their cousins would agree?). The kids got to learn how to spin Poi Balls, make their own leis, have a palm leaf headband woven for them, we all learned to hula (the highlight being the guys!) and have a delicious traditional meal.

The Luau entertainment-dancing with fire and the Haka, hula dancing, and Chief FiaFia (my girls are STILL laughing about him- pretty funny guy). We were also really impressed with the coconut tree climber.

This is the island of Maui; notice it's shaped like the head and torso of a man. We toured the entire "torso" one day, known as "The Hana Drive" or "Drive to Hana". Saw some pretty awesome sites that day- lots of gorgeous waterfalls, too!

Shad got a rock at one of the black sand beaches that he just LOVED! It was a sweet, silly moment.

This is Sandy's dive at Molokini, a partially sunken volcanic crater just off the coast of Maui. Don't touch the turtles! The fine is a small $15,000 (no, he didn't touch any)! He also got to see whales and dolphins-he said he could really hear the whales under the water and it was amazing!

Our last day in Maui we toured the Aquarium. Eli and Livi were grossed out by that pink fish in the picture; it's called a Frogfish. Sandy and I really enjoyed the shark and ray exhibit.

The girls each chose an oyster in one of the shops. The girl who opened the oysters got pretty excited when Livi's turned out to have a black pearl in it and even more excited when Eli's had a green/black pearl (she said it's one of the rarest to find). We had each of their pearls mounted on a necklace that they picked. Eli's is the sea turtle and Livi's is the heart (it has a secret message of "Aloha" in it).

Just some sweet sleepy time moments on the trip

More sleepy time

Aloha! Our family photo from the Luau

 I never really understood why everyone is always raving over Hawaii and always assumed it was just a "touristy" vacation. Now, having been there, I get it. I love it and can't wait til we can go back!! We all had SO MUCH FUN on this (much needed) vacation. We enjoyed spending so much time with family; the girls loved seeing so much of Brock and Troy!! The only thing missing was Ty and Laurie but, NEXT TIME you guys!...Mahalo, Dad and Mom, for taking the initiative and planning such a fun trip we'll all have fun memories of!!