Good Mom or Crazy Mom?

Kameron (neighbor) and Sam playing Wall Ball

Boys! Boys! Boys!, because I have two boys, my house always seems to be full of boys. My boys are also VERY active, so they have started playing wall ball against our sliding glass doors. We have constant wall ball tournaments going on in our Family Room. At first, I thought it was a crazy idea, but they LOVE it! Its hard for them to get outside when it is pouring rain out, so they have thought of a way to get their energy out inside! They have an intricate set of rules and they all know where the "in" and "out" lines are (even though I can't see them).

So . . . I let them do it. What do you think good mom or crazy mom?

Sam G. (friend from school) & Max playing Wii

Oh, I just thought of another crazy mom thing. Our garage is full of junk. No...I mean full!

Sam G and Max have spent the whole morning digging trails through the junk in our garage and they made themselves a fort way out in the middle somewhere. I can't take a picture of this because I am too embarrassed by the state of our garage. I guess its like turning a negative (messy garage) into a positive (hours of entertainment) though right? I wonder why the kids always want to play at our house? Could it be because of the crazy mom?

Max's Braces are GONE!!!

BEFORE ...

...and AFTER!

Max got his braces off today! He has had them on for a little over a year. I guess all of that $$$ paid off because his teeth really do look a lot better than they did before braces. Dr. White told us that there is still a chance that Max may have to have braces again as a teenager (I don't get it either). Hopefully, this was it though, so now we will just have to focus on not losing his new retainer!

Oh yes, and by the way. . . Sam gets his on next week! Here we go again!

Home Again . . .

From this . . .

. . .to this.


I can't believe that we are back home! The week went by so fast, but we have so many wonderful memories to hold on to now. This was such a fun vacation. The kids all did a great job travelling, they are at a really fun and easy age to travel with now. It was such a fun thing for Pancho and I to be able to see all of these cool experiences through their eyes. I still cant believe everything we saw and did while we were in Maui . . . snorkeling, boogie boarding, swimming, train ride, luau, building sand castles, hula dancing, looking at underwater sea life, whale watching, shopping, eating, and spending time with family! It makes you realize that vacations like this are priceless. I am already trying to plan another one . . . (just not sure how to pay for it). Now its back to reality . . . making lunches, doing the HUGE pile of laundry in front of me, 5am walk/runs, rainy cold drizzle etc. It just makes me more thankful for this wonderful family experience and the memories we take away from it!

Last Day in Hawaii

Lucy doing the Hula!

She thought that the REAL Hula dancers that we saw were so pretty, so she has been trying to be like them ever since.

She also bought a ukelele in Hawaii and she plays it all of the time and sings her own made up songs about Hawaii.

This is the best food in Maui . . .REALLY. It is in the little town of Paia and they have the best fish tacos anywhere!


All of the cousins finishing off some of those Mahi Mahi tacos . . .YUM!

This picture speaks for itself.

More swimming in the pool . . .they LIVED in this pool for a week!

Yes, that is Max snorkeling and diving down to the bottom . . .I can't even do that!

My brother Kevin and Sam snorkeling together.

They're Gonna Kill Me . . .

. . . but I think they are so cute!!!

My sister in law Kate (6 1/2 months)

and My cousin Heather (7 1/2 months)

gotta love pregnant bathing suit pictures!

Snorkeling Cruise

Shaka Lucy and Shaka Pancho at lunch today.
Shaka Mama and Shaka Max

We took the boys on a snorkeling tour today. Lucy stayed home with Grammy and Papa. The boys have fallen in love with snorkeling. We have found quite a few places to snorkel at while we have been here, but the snorkel cruise today was the highlight. We went to a beautiful place with tons of tropical fish to look at. It was a blast. I really like snorkeling too! Most of our pictures were taken with a waterproof camera that I still have to get developed, but I thought these pictures were cute.

Shaka Bros

This is the cruise boat that we went on complete with yummy Mai Tai's!

Whale Watching Cruise

We went on an awesome whale watching tour today! We saw tons of whales. They were spouting, rolling over and jumping out of the water. It was soooo cool and a once in a lifetime experience for the kids. It was also fun to just cruise on the boat in the sunshine and drink hawaiian drinks!
Pancho, Lucy and Kyla

Sam, Casey and Max

Mama Whale and Baby Whale

This was so cool to see. . .

Our Romantic Dinner!

Mom and Dad watched our kids so that Pancho and I could go out to dinner. We went to the Grand Wailea and had dinner as the sun was setting. It was sooooo nice and relaxing. We decided that we need to come back here and do this same vacation every year! It has been a dream come true for our family. Now we just have to win the lottery!!!

This was our view as we were sipping fruity drinks and eating a delicious dinner (talking about car washes -just kidding!)

The Yellow Submarine

We took the kids on this cool boat that we called "The Yellow Submarine". It was really fun.

The kids got to see tons of tropical fish out the windows.

Sitting in the bottom part of the boat looking for fish, turtles and octopus. . .

The divers brought an octopus up to the window for the kids to see up close.

Snack time on top of the boat . . . we also got to see a few sea turtles floating by.

The divers brought up shells for each of the kids.

We have done so many fun things here, I can't decide what pictures to put on my Blog.

These pictures are all of the Luau that we went to on Tuesday night. It was at the Royal Lahaina Resort. It was so great because it was really geared toward kids.

I love this picture of Lulu and I, I think her flower is supposed to be on the other side, she got mad when the boys teased her that she was married. (Left side is taken, right side is single)

Family photo opportunity at the Luau!
This is a good candidate for the Christmas card next year. . .

I got Lei'd by Pancho in Hawaii !!!!

(I am sure that you can imagine the Pancho comments that we all endured all night)

I had to give him a HUGE kiss when he surprised me with a Lei.

The one thing Lucy wanted to do in Hawaii was drink out of a coconut. Her dream came true at the Luau when the kids all got coconut shell cups with their drinks in them!

What fun!!! Mai Tai's, Cousins and Sunsets!

Max, Sam, Will and Uncle Sean actually got up on stage to do the Hula. . .

The Hula Dancers . . .

Max and Sam with one of the cool dudes that were in the Hula show.

Lucy wanted her picture with the "Beautiful Hula Girl" as she called her. Surprisingly the boys jumped in the picture too.

The Plantation and Snorkeling

We went to this cool plantation. We took a train ride through the whole place and they showed us tons of different fruits, flowers and nuts that grow in Hawaii. They also demonstrated how to open a coconut. We ate delicious icecream in flavors like coconut, macadamia nut, guava, mango etc. We also got to see monkeys and many tropical birds. It was a fun place to take the kids to learn a lot about Hawaii.

The family on the train ride . . . yes we are tourists!

Lulu and Pancho with the coconut husk.

Max got to hold the coconut.


Later in the day, we went snorkeling. The boys loved snorkeling. They were so natural at it. We couldn't get them out of the water. I really enjoyed it too. The boys were so excited to take me out and show me all of the fish and coral they had already discovered. What a fun day, we can't wait for tomorrow. . . we are goingto a Luau!!!

Our huge group at the snorkeling beach

Papa helping Sam get set up to snorkel.

Gotta love the picture of yourself after snorkeling

Kate (sister-in-law), Heather (cousin), Allison (cousin), Me

Family photo at the plantation . . .