15 Nov
Our next door neighbors had a beautiful baby boy, Matthew Thomas.. the new parents are feeling so cocky about being such good parents, they are now adaopting the other 6 existing kids in the cul-de-sac 
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| From Blog stuff |
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| From Blog stuff |
8 Nov
I covered snorkeling, and the road to hana, and the chopper ride, but how did we spend the rest of our trip?
Doing less.
We still did plenty, we went to Oahu and ended up having a great time with friends, who were also in Hawaii (the Fey’s), and we hit Pearl Harbor, but tried to let us all wind down with some more time in the pool and at the beach.. These pictures reflect that.
Mack went to surfing school! He did real well, totally fearless, paddled out with his instructor and had a bunch of good attempts to get up.. I think he swallowed a gallon of sea water, which is not fun, but kept trying and eventually made it!!
We went early, try and catch some good breaks off the reef..
The video is short, but that’s Mack on the surf board..
Before we left Maui, we went to “town” and saw this massive Banyan Tree - seriously large dude.
Big tree.. makes boys look very small
We then flew back to Oahu (Honolulu) with our boogie board in tow. Common practice in Hawaii is to get a boogie board, use it and enjoy it, and then give it to strangers as you depart… we enjoyed the custom.
current whereabouts unknown
In Honolulu, we decided to visit Pearl Harbor.. a) because it wasn’t a full day, like 2 hours, and b) it was free It was actually great to go, you see a film and it really hits home how crazy it must have been during this time and to have our backyard bombed like this.. as well as better understand the dynamics for why and how the Japanese did it. What I didn’t know, until now, was that the monument is sitting right above the USS Arizona, which remains at the bottom of the harbor, in plain sight! Some pics to show..
Stunning sight..
still underwater after all these years..
The Feys
Our hotel in Honolulu had a nice room, but a crappy pool that didn’t allow any toys in the pool - no floats or anything.. we knew we were in trouble. Thankfully our friends were up the coast at a really nie JW Marriott, with a great pool and private lagoon for fun in the ocean! Alan took me snorkleing, the kinds played, we enjoyed an amazing sunset, and checked out the hotels cool pond with massive sting-rays and hammerhead sharks.. check these puppies out!
28 Oct
For us, this meant 2 things:
1) A ride on a helicopter to tour Maui and quite a sight it was.. pineapple & sugar farms, volcanoes and waterfalls, amazing rocky cliffs and ocean views, and a few times when I wanted to beg the pilot to veer away from the mountain! We rode our friends at Mauiscape
The coastlines are stunning
The requisite group shot at the end..
Picture highlights:
Miles boarding the chopper
Mack digging the Bose headphones
Hawaii is full of amazing waterfalls, none accessible except by heli
#2 was the “road to hana” - a long, super-windy, many bridge affair through some of the most beautiful rainforest-like country you’ll see.. with elevated views of the coasts and waterfalls along the way.. this hawaii place has a patent on beauty..
Check out the ride.. this doesn’t begin to do justice to all the turns and one-way bridges
prison labor played a role here and after many hours pondering how I-70 was ever built, I know have a new road to marvel at.
To get to Hana, you need stylish wheels
We saw some amazing trees - check out the bark! Looks fake and pastel-like
We stopped at a black sand beach, it comes from lava, and sure enough, boys will throw rocks when given chance
The boys liked the open air Jeep.. never ever remove the top! I learned that the hard way
The end of Hana has an amazing black sand & rock beach.. it’s so cool, it looks like mud or dirt, but is just black sand.. very cool stuff with some amazing tide pools.
Looks like mud, but is just plain old beach sand
27 Oct
Working title: It hasn’t all been easy, but it’s been worth it..
Sunday was “get on time zone” day, which meant poolside and at beach, relaxing and enjoying amazing Hawaii weather - mid 80s, blue skies, and nice breeze. I took a few pics, but am letting the photog in me build up momentum..
Digging at the beach is one of their favorite things to do
They also have a mint pool!
Swimming with the fishes
At the pool you see interesting things.. like people at pool: Guy with a scorpion tattoo reading National Enquirer and couple sitting there, with woman reading “Men’s Fitness” while guy reads a book.. no explanation available at time of publish.
We just bummed around at the pool all day.. we took showers and drove down “into town” for dinner at “Cheeseburger in Paradise” which was solid.. but, in a commonplace episode, the kids are great, play and swim each day and then we get them to the room to shower for dinner and the melting down sets in with amazing speed.. Miles goes from nice fun-loving island boy to just so tired he can barely stand himself.. But let’s focus on the good stuff for now..
Monday was our big snorkeling day! Gemini Tours was the reco of the conceirge - which is affiliated with Expedia. Anyway, we had 2 choices - a real “local tour,” which required us to be up at 5:45AM and to drive 20 minutes or Gemini, which was supposed to be very nice and 11-3, and was a few hotels down the beach.. we chose 11-3, just so we didn’t need to ruin the vaca with such an early awakening.
Let’s just say it worked out better than could be hoped. It was an amazing catamaran, with a great crew, and just a fun & relaxing and perfect day… Notes:
The Gemini - a sweet ride
The boys trying on their flippers
Miles trying on his floating belt
Snorkely boy
Shark! Oh wait, Miles
Good side view of sea turtle
Umm.. I thought it was gonna poop on me
We sailed in- most of the way, until wind died, then we fired up engines..
Not a bad self-portrait after snorkeling and 2 beers..
14 Sep
Thanks to a great birthday present from Uncle Craig (Leshen, that is), we went to the Rockies/Dodgers game last night.. it was great.. perfect weather, the Dodgers played well, great seats - fun for all! Enjoy the pictures..
7 Sep
As of yesterday, soccer season is back in full swing! I took a couple of cute pics..
3 Sep
Bob, our cool neighbor, bought 2 - he has trucks to pull them and owns an airplane hangar out at the airport (in his line of work). Well, he bought 2 waverunners and the kids look cute on them! Miles & Patricia
