Deep Sea Fishing

Jake piloting the boat

The fishermen!

Ben took Jake on a half day deep sea fishing trip--they didn't catch the big one but they had a great time trying!

Moose's for Breakfast!

Amber and Ivy

Back of Jer and Addie and Me and Sage

Ben's huge breakfast!

Jake and his hot chocolate

Ella and her hot chocolate!

Okay so here is the deal--my favorite breakfast spot on Maui is the Gazebo--love, love it--but it is always just so difficult to get in as the wait is forever! If it's only adults you can wait forever but when you have the little kiddos the wait would be impossible. So the next favorite breakfast spot is Moose's in Lahaina and it's a family tradition since we go there everytime we're in Maui!

Maui Ocean Center

Sage Addie and Jer

Ella

Ivy Ben and Sage

Jake

Family

Frogs and Geckos

Proud of his catch!

Gecko Whisperer!

While we were in Maui Jake loved to catch frogs at night outside our lanai, and he is really good at it. He will bring them in show everybody and then he lets them go! We also nicknamed him the Gecko Whisperer cause he can really catch the geckos! In the late afternoon out by the pool the geckos really come out and Jake would just pick them up and they would attach onto his shirt, they would stay with him for a while and they off they would go. Frogs and Geckos kept him entertained for hours!

Maui Family Vacay!

A day at the beach!

Happy to take a swim on our 1st day!

Good grief how many bags are there?

Excited to be on our way!

The whole family, minus Dana flew out to Maui on July 22nd and returned home on August 12th. Ben stayed until the 5th returning early for work. There were moments when I thought that maybe 3 weeks was to long--but now that I'm home I think I could have actually stayed longer! I love beautiful Maui and our condo in Kapalua. We have vacationed there since 1983 and I never get tired of it. Amber and her family haven't been there for three years so they were really loving it. The girls and myself talked of all the wonderful memories of past vacations in Maui--there have been many changes on the island but in most ways it stays the same BEAUTIFUL!

Needless to say our travel days were the most challenging of the trip--departure 5 adults 2 children 1 toddler and 1 infant = 4 large suitcases 2 large duffle bags 2 carseat bags and 2 strollers plus carry ons--good grief we were a small army! I am reminding myself right now way way over packed--next trip pack very little and carry on only--hummm, we'll see! I think everyone had a good time, maybe wish they would have done a little more or seen a little more, but just relaxing at the condo or hanging out at the beach or pool was pretty dang fun!!

4th of July

Waiting for the fireworks to start!
Little Ivy floats in the pool!
Happy swimmers!
Am's and her girls!
Not ready to get out of the pool yet!

Wow this was a crazy week! Amber and Ivy came down on Friday and Ben came down with Jake and Ella on Saturday night, and a flu bug came with them, not a great start to our 4th of July family week. They all survived it and Ivy didn't get it at all. We managed to get lots of swimming and hanging out together as a family in.

Camping at the Beach!

The beach house (aka the trailer)
Sadie Faith Addie and Ella
Sage and Addie
Beach Bunny Ella

While Ella was down Sage, Jer, Addie and myself went beach camping. We really had a great time, our Hartman cousins were camping also a few spaces from us so Ella had so much fun playing with Faith and Sadie. I haven't camped at the beach in years and have forgotten how much fun it is. We had pretty good weather and Ella loved jumping the waves.

Busy Summer So Far!

Birthday Girl!
California Adventure
So Proud!

Our summer has been busy and full of fun family activities! I really love the summer because I really get to spend a lot of time with my grandkiddies. The week after Jake got out of school he came down and stayed with us for a week, we hung out, worked on leggos and he spent a night at Sage and Jer's and while there Jer helped him make his boxwood derby truck. We made a quick trip to Disneyland then met up with Amber to celebrate her birthday at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor---Wheww! Jake returned home to go to Scout Camp (he's now in Cub Scouts) and Ella came down for the next week and we went beach camping at the Silver Strand.