the heat is back...

the heat is back, and we like it.  :)

we've had fun setting up the little pool and going to the beach. 

Jason wasn't there because he's in the Netherlands, 

but Lola came with us, which was a HUGE help for me. we had a great time!!!

the boys helping me clean the grime off the back of the house

swimming! (sort of, the pool isn't too deep) 

chase doesn't even put his face in, but if grant's got goggles, 

chase wants them too. :)

the beach! it was so fun to see both boys have a great time.

grant spent the entire day out trying to kneel on his boogie board 

he's gotten so good at catching waves, he's going to be surfing so soon!

chase had fun in the waves and bubbles, while throwing sand and shells. 

grant is trying to teach chase how to boogie board...

this was grant 90% of the day... 

here he is coming in after getting smacked good by a wave.

he's getting really good at learning how to manage the waves and the current

and to stay where we can see him. he's made a lot of progress since last year.

chase at home helping me clean out the car. we had a blast!!

hawaii - part three

day seven - everyone took the sailboat ride to molokini. molokini is a partially submerged volcanic crater. you have to take a boat to get there, but it's worth it. it's one of the top 10 dive sites in the world, home to 250 species of fish, and visibility up to 150 feet. the water is so blue and the snorkeling is just fantastic. even though we did it last year, i wanted to do it again. you do have to watch out for all the tourists - i think susan even got smacked in the head a few times! but if you can pull away from all the other boats and people, it's the best snorkeling in maui. we decided to take a boat that actually sailed out there. it was a really fun day.

one of the few pictures of susan and rich - poor sus got super sick on the boat ride. now i know why those black fish all congregate where the boats are anchored - to eat the barf!

rich just hanging out on the way there. 

the color of the water is incredible. and this picture isn't photo-shopped!

i hate this picture, but had to include it. hilarious. we laughed so hard when we saw how we looked getting our gear on. thanks jason!

i love this picture of my parents snorkeling holding hands. 

my mom was having a blast riding on the back of the boat on the way back - until she got totally soaked!!

day eight - our last day. everyone else was staying 10 days, but our miles didn't have a week over 8 days that we could stay. we went to chang's beach to enjoy it one last time. 

ken opening his coconut. every time we go, jason opens a coconut on the beach in hawaii with whatever we can find. it's become a tradition for us, and it was fun to see ken open one too.

jason in his favorite place - about to snorkel on a beach in hawaii. 

i love this picture. ken said he wanted to snorkel one day dressed like my dad. my dad likes to snorkel in long sleeves and jeans, and usually a backwards baseball hat, until he got his nifty dive cap. other tourists are always amazed and incredulous when they see him. he doesn't like sun screen but doesn't want to get burned, and also doesn't want to get scraped on the coral when he dives. he's awesome. i can't believe he's 71 and can pretty much out-swim and out-dive all of us in the water. he is seriously incredible. one of the best things about going with my parents is getting the opportunity to snorkel with my dad. he takes it to a whole new level.

i don't think i'll ever get tired of seeing the turtles. my favorite.

can you believe this guy? my dad is AMAZING. 

it was a great trip. considering that two hours before our flight, chase stuck an air-soft pellet in his ear and we spent precious packing time running from urgent care to an ENT, we were nervous for how the trip was going to go. but the pellet got removed, we made the flight, and i think everyone had a pretty awesome time. we were sad to leave, but happy to see our boys. until next time!

hawaii - part two

day four - we hit up the swap meet near the airport. we got a lot of awesome hawaiin baked goods and most everyone found souvenirs to bring home. by the time we were done, we were hot and ready to be at the beach.

we went snorkeling at chang's beach - one of my favorite. it's off the beaten path and a little hard to find, so there's hardly anyone there. and it's right in turtle town - so with a little easy snorkeling, you can see tons of turtles and fish in the clear blue water.  

ken's getting good at going down deep!

you can walk a little ways to a black rock beach, and we spent some time giving ourselves hot rock therapy....for free!

my dad was resting his foot while we went to chang's beach. we called him when we left to meet us at la perouse bay. the others wanted to do the same hike jason and i did a few days ago. i stayed back with my mom and dad. we walked around and looked at a piling that had washed up from japan, talked to a local ranger, and explored the tide pools (as my dad wasn't allowed to get his foot wet or sandy yet). we had a good time. la perouse bay has such beautiful scenery.  

the hikers (i can't believe jason did this hike again!)

day five - was a sunday. a few of us went to church, and others went swimming with jason with the "dolphin dude." jason's been following this guy's blog who swims every sunday in maui with whoever wants to join him. jason was excited to meet him and swim with him and his friends at makena beach. here's a picture the guy took with his nice professional camera! what a great underwater picture!

rich and jason decided to go back to a place jason saw that morning that looked like really great snorkeling. they snorked a huge rock outcropping from oneuli beach to little beach (the only nude beach in hawaii). they just stopped to rest at little beach and said they saw too much just doing that! then they swam back. i'd like to try that swim one day. it was hard, but they both said the clarity and fish they saw was amazing!

rich was such an awesome snorkeling buddy!

while the boys snorkeled, a few of us went to the hotel pool to practice with my mom and dad. dad taught us how to clear our noses and dive down, and i was able to go down and touch the 8 ft part of the pool and not have it bother my ears! my mom practiced with her gear to get ready for molokini. we then walked across the street and practiced at kam II beach. i don't have any pictures, but it was so clear and a beautiful sunny afternoon at kam II. later that night, we all bbq'd in our condo complex. it's so fun to have our family here in hawaii.

day six - jason and i love to walk on the beach at 6 am. the sand is cool, i love to see the sun come up, and it's so peaceful. plus you are already awake due to the time change. :)

honolua bay - one of my favorite snorkeling spots. the walk in is gorgeous, and the clarity in the bay is incredible. plus you see things you don't see anywhere else. it was raining, which was too bad, it would have been better if it was sunny.

it was awesome to see this barracuda getting a cleaning....

funny story about this eel - i was treading water while telling jason i was going in because i was cold, and this eel came out of his hole about 2 inches from my leg and opened his mouth at me! jason saw it underwater and yelled at me to move before he got even angrier! scary eels.

after honolua bay we drove around the west loop and hiked when we saw good spots. jason and ken got WAY too close to the edge (i thought - and kerri too!).

the blowhole!

we also hiked to the olivine pools - it was really cool to sit in these pools while the waves raged on the other side

ken sat on this ledge and got freezing seawater poured all over him! it was hilarious.

we stopped for the banana bread...

part of our car load at the waterfall lookout, mile marker 8

rich and jason decided to jump in!!!

dad took us all out to three's for a family dinner - awesome way to end the day!