Vacation - Day 7 (June 6)

This morning we sent off our acceptance to sell our house! It seems a little surreal, but we're really excited. Now we have to make sure everything goes through, and decide on one to buy in Arizona! We'll always remember that we sold our house while we were in Hawaii.

Surf's up! Today was surfing day. Some of the kids had surfing lessons, but the younger ones came along to watch (and play Ring-Around-The-Rosies). We started the day at the Royal Hawaiian Surf Company. We got rash-guard shirts and shoes before walking over to where they keep the surf boards.


We carried our boards out to the beach for a quick lesson, then it was surfing time!





Tonight the menu was BBQ. The boys cooked up a whole bunch of burgers, hot dogs, bratwursts, and italian sausages. Most days it gets windy by dinner time, so we decided to eat a little earlier tonight. The trade off today was that it was hotter, and the sun was still high on the horizon. I let Katelyn use my sunglasses so she would eat her dinner.



The after-dinner activity included the white-envelope game at Grandma-ma's room. Everyone in my family loves this game, because it always means we get some money. Cassi and I came out great, with $100. Thanks, Grandma-ma!

Vacation - Day 6 (June 5)

Today's schedule: Horseback riding and free time. The horseback riding was for the boys (me, Ryan, Brett, and Dad) and Grandma-ma. They messed up the reservations yesterday and Grandma-ma couldn't go, so we welcomed her with us.


The ride was good, although I've learned that the Lahaina side of Maui stays pretty dry during the spring/summer, and the grass is more yellow. Maui's still one of the most beautiful places on the planet, but the view from our last trip (around a Christmas time) was a lot greener.


We rode along a trail near the West Maui Mountains and above where a lot of luxury homes are being built. They told us about one we could see that is Oprah's. Apparently, she has 5 houses on Maui (and others on other islands). The turn-around point of our trip was a snack at this "hale" (hut). We took a quick picture of the whole group, and then rode back to the stables.


It was a good ride, though I think most of us enjoyed the ride last time better. Cassi and the girls did some laundry and then went to the pool. I joined them after I got back and lunch.

We also progressed today in talks about our house. The family who offered counter-offered our counter-offer. We're going to sleep on our decision and send our response tomorrow morning. All-in-all, it's pretty exciting to be at this phase of selling our house. We really need to start getting more serious about deciding on one in Arizona now.

I took the girls and Bradley and Bryson up to our room for quiet time. The boys watched "Return to Neverland" for the first time, and Katelyn was thrilled to have them with her.

Vacation - Day 5 (June 4)

Today we just relaxed at the pool in the morning. At lunch time, I brought Megan up to the room while Katelyn and Cassi went to the beach for a little while. About halfway through her peanut butter open-faced sandwich, I saw she was starting to daze a little. I watched her another minute and saw her sway as her eyes were drooping and closing. She fell asleep sitting up! I didn't grab the camera because I didn't want her to fall off the stool, but it was a priceless moment.

** Housing update: We're waiting until tomorrow for our buyers to meet with the realtor and discuss the offer.

The highlight for the day was dinner. We went to a Luau at the Sheraton at Black Rock, just down the beach from The Whaler where we're at. After quiet time, Cassi and the girls went down to the shopping area and found a new hawaiian dress for Katelyn.


On the way over, we saw a cool rainbow.


We let the kids run around a little before finding our table.




During the evening, there were some really cool sunset shots.



The show at the luau was really fun. Katelyn said the dancing was awesome. I think my vote goes to the fire dancer. Katelyn and some cousins went up and did the hula on stage for a little while. I'll try to post some video from it. Katelyn picked this dancer as her favorite.

Vacation - Day 4 (June 3)

Today started early with some exciting news - we got an offer on the house! We spent quite a bit of the morning working through it with our realtor, especially considering the time difference between Hawaii and Utah is 4 hours. We've had the house on the market since Feb. 11, so this was very welcome news. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope things work out well for us.

Later this morning, we got to go parasailing. It was awesome! Cassi and I went out with Amy and Scott and the two older boys - Bradley and Bryson. For weight-balancing purposes, I went with Bryson, Scott went with Bradley, and Cassi went with Amy. It was so amazing up in the sky. It almost feels like you're just floating still up in the air, while the boat drives around below. The boys had a lot of fun with it too.


The quote of the day came from Bryson when we got back to the beach. "That was awesome! I'd pay fifty dollars to do that again!" (He didn't know that doesn't quite get him onto the boat. :)



Tonight saw another trip to Haagen-Dazs. Megan enjoyed her Chocolate-Chocolate Chip ice cream, and Katelyn had Vanilla on a Chocolate-dipped with sprinkles cone.


It seems the sugar may have affected Megan a little, and all the kids. They were pretty wild afterwards!

Vacation - Day 3 (June 2)

We started out the week with early-morning workouts. One group went out at 6am, and the next at 7am. It was amazing to run along the sandy beach just where the surf keeps the sand wet - and the water felt great. I'm sure I'll be sore later today or tomorrow, but it was fun anyway.

Today was our first pool/beach day, and the girls were VERY excited. The pool didn't open until 8am, so our girls were ready to go down at about 7. They were almost too excited to eat their breakfast.


We went to the pool for a little while, but being in the pool before the sun hits means the water hasn't warmed up yet. The girls learned this pretty quickly, but they didn't really care that much. We met up with some cousins at the pool, and later went to the beach. I found it a little funny that Katelyn was kind of scared of the ocean, and Megan didn't like the sand. That's ok, because Katelyn got to make sand castles, and "pretend cakes." Megan chose to use a little toy watering can to keep the towels nice and cool (and wet!), until she petered out and took a nap.



Cassi got to lay out with my sisters, and the guys hung out in the water and kept an eye on the kids who have entirely too little fear of the tide carrying them off to Tahiti.




This afternoon, Cassi went back out to lay out some more and work on that tan, while I helped the girls do quiet time. Then we went to the Sugar Cane Train (aka The Lahina Kaanapali & Pacific Railroad).


It's always popular for the kids. This year we got a month pass, so we can go all we want over the next couple weeks and get our money's worth (a single trip is pretty pricey).


A favorite part of the trip is when the train shoots off steam over a bridge.


Tonight was family night. Ryan and Jennifer were in charge of the lesson, and Amy was in charge of dinner. We got there a little early, so we went over to Grandma-ma's room and the girls colored until dinner was ready: enchiladas ... mmmm!


Ryan and Jennifer taught the kids about the creation and the beauties of the earth, and then we went out with magnifying glasses to find 3 things that are beautiful on the earth. Katelyn picked flowers, the sunset, and the ocean.


After FHE, we took a walk over to the Whaler Village, and visited one of our favorite places: Haagen-Dazs, and enjoyed an amazing sunset along the way.