Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Postcards from Maui....

There are so many pictures to choose from!


Day 3 we drove into Lahaina - this is one of the first things we saw as we came into town!

Love it!



In Lahaina they have this enormous Banyan tree; it has an amazing story about it's start as a seedling with the celebration of missionary work being done in Lahaina; you can read more about this amazing tree (this picture does not EVEN come close to doing this tree justice) here.



That evening we had a family dinner outside!


My wonderful husband and me!!!!



The beautiful sunset!


One of Syrah's favorite things to do here is swim and that she has done a lot of!!

Day 4 we went on a road trip on the Road to Hana
This road is very twisty and turny so needless to say I took some Dramamine because I have a tendency to get car sick on a "normal" road. There was NO WAY to capture the amount of twists and turns. In addition there were many (close to 50) one lane bridges.



Sadie checking out the view (Syrah slept!)



This is a road to Wai'anapanapa State park which is wear you will find Black Sand!



This is my brother taking in the view; the water had a jelly fish warning so he was the only one brave enough to put his feet in. I had never seen black sand before and I was quite amazed. The sand is VERY hot!!!



At this same spot there are a few lava caves; this is one that we entered and Sadie was taking in the view from the shoreline within the cave.



One of the many views from above the black sand beach.


Later we drove to Pi'ilanihale Heiau and Kahanu Gardens which is the largest sacrificial heiau in Hawaii.

These grounds were on a botanical garden; here is the family in the midst of the sugar cane.



I have several pictures, but this one of Syrah gives you a small indication of how HUGE this heiau is. The original heiau was built in the thirteenth century and was extended by the High Chief Pi'ilani, who came from the western side of Maui in 1570 and conquered the chiefs of the fertile Hana region. You can read a bit more about the Pi'ilanihale Heiau by clicking here.



On the grounds of Kahanu Garden's Sadie found this huge coconut! It's bigger then her head!!



Just a great picture of my guy on the grounds!



On the road back from Hana we stopped to take in some of the sights and to snap a few photos! Here is one of the beautiful waterfalls we saw along the way.



This is just ONE of many, many, many beautiful views along the way.



It is very hard to tell, but this is a one lane bridge; I just love it! I love the flowers cascading from the trees over the bridge!

Day 5 - I hardly took any pictures on this day. We spent the morning snorkeling; this was the second attempt, but the first was not successful. This day however we spent HOURS checking out all kinds of fish and both Sadie and Syrah LOVED IT!


After a long day of snorkeling we came back and had some down time reading and then went out and got a quick treat... Syrah's first shaved ice.



The girls and I enjoying a cool treat!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Day of new sites and lots of water time...


These snails were right out our lanai this morning... the picture does not EVEN come close to telling the actual size; one fit into Syrah's entire hand. It made me think of our dear friends Samuel & Micah!



Both Billy and I woke very early (according to Hawaii time) and this was him taking a walk back from the beach before any other people were seen this morning!



One of the many visitors out our lanai this morning.






Sadie found this little gecko; he is shedding his skin! The girls spotted a few others today too! This little guy was released as he was found.


Lauren & Eric before breakfast.



LOVE this picture... seriously... I am SO blessed!



Can you see it? Beautiful!



We spent HOURS at the pool today! Most of which was time without any other people there!



My dear Grandma... right where she wants to be!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Taking a trip... full of surprises

For many, many months my Grandma has been planning a family trip to Maui for all of us. At times we wondered if the trip was going to happen, but Grandma was insistent that this trip was very important to her and that she wanted to be on the beach!!! So, after many uncertainties, today we left for Maui. The fact we were even going was HUGE to us... what a great experience for our family as a unit and for all of our family together (my Grandma, Mom, Brother and Sister-in-Law). So, to find out that my grandma was flying us ALL first class was a HUGE surprise! I have never (and can't imagine again) flow in first class. Seriously, talk about feeling spoiled.

Another surprise... once we got off the plane there was a beautiful women waiting to give the girls leis - what a treat it was for them, she even knew their names!!

Here are the girls getting their leis.


The girls with Grandma Connie (I was NOT very ready with my camera so not the greatest shots).



Waiting for the luggage we got a shot with the girls and Grandma Valerie.



When we arrived at the resort Sadie went to take in the incredible view.



The girls found a good place for the leis overnight!


This is the view from our patio (All I keep thinking is... really? seriously? is this real? and then I go too "and he saw all and it was good"

To top the night off Billy and I had a super romantic dinner... it will blow your mind. So hold on...



yep, Captain Crunch!!!

It was a long day... up by 4am, 5+hr flight, long drive to resort, hours in the ocean... all lead to the girls in bed VERY early according to Hawaii time, but VERY late according to home time. Which lead us to having this romantic dinner once they were tucked in.

I honestly hope we are basking at the beach and don't have any further time to post updates, but should we have an early night in... I will try to post a pic or two.

ALOHA!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

First Day of School

Yesterday the girl started another season of life... the start of another school year.


Syrah started 1st Grade

Sadie started 6th (I think that backpacked weighed as much as her sister!).
I am glad to report the first day went well!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Where did August go???

I don't know how I can have a calendar that looks like this:

yet have so few pictures to share. I missed so many photo's and events this month: family gatherings (both sides of our families), my Mom's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM), a garage sale with some awesomely fun friends and with all that written on the calendar there is more I am sure I missed too!

This summer was a summer that taught the lesson in the saying "the best laid plans..." (which the meaning of the phrase itself it quite interesting - you can read it here), but we adapted to lots of change and most of all enjoyed all of the moments we shared with each-other and others.

One big event missed this summer was the visit we had with Grandpa Bill & Grandma Cindy who stayed with us for a few days and took the girls one day on quite the adventure. The girls painted pottery (well, Grandpa and Syrah did Sadie made some amazing art out of glass). Then they went fishing for the very first time. At the start of summer the girls made a list of things they wanted to do this summer and "fishing with Grandpa Bill" was on this list... well, now they get to check that one off:


Here they are before the fishing fun started (thanks to Grandpa for taking this picture with his phone).


Syrah snagged a BIG fish; so much so that Grandpa had to take over cause the fish was pulling on her so hard. Unfortunately the line eventually got stuck on a log, so they never got to see how big it was, but Syrah is still pretty excited about it!!

We had plans to go to the Aquasox (minor league baseball and a ton of fun) this summer, but it never happened (even with tickets in hand). However, we didn't have plans to go to the Mariner's Game and that did happen:


It's been a long time since the girls have gone and they were both excited, not to mention the seats we were given (Thanks to Uncle Daren) were awesome!!


Serious HOT DOG! wow!


With the end of summer come fall soccer; practices started a few weeks ago:

Team meeting with the coach!


All kids are ready for drills!

Syrah taking a break after a long practice.
I had a goal to get our Disneyland scrapbooks done (each girl is making her own) before summer was over...

yes, that says 2007! We made it about half way through, so this goal won't be met, but we will get them done in due time (whatever that means).

So as we turn the page to September this week, we say goodbye to summer!