Maui Revealed!!!

***Note To Reader***
I am finally getting around to blogging about our trip to Maui, and YES it will be long, and it will include a lot of pictures! This is my journaling and I do not want to forget anything about this trip.

Maui was absolutely amazing, something I will remember forever. I loved being able to be with Kenny and have time to spend with each other. Plus, going with my sister Carmin and her husband Matt made it even more fun. Carmin and I spent hours on the phone everyday talking about and planning this trip. We had all of our activities booked in advance and an agenda of things to do and places to go. So here it goes, a day by day account, of all of our adventures!

Day 1:
Kenny and I woke up at 4am, kissed our sleeping children goodbye, wished Aunt Carol good luck, and drove to LAX. We calmly boarded our plane. Usually we have 4 kids to fly with and it is anything but calm. We then enjoyed our 5hr plane ride to Maui! We arrived in Maui, met up with Carmin and Matt, and ventured to the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean resort. When we arrived to our resort, the whole place was lined with burning tiki torches and palm trees. The resort was completely open, so as we walked in you could see all the way out to the ocean. The view was breathtaking. After ooohing and awwwwing over our rooms, we walked along the beach, and then headed to bed early, so we would be ready for our first adventure....

Day 2:
We woke up really early for our first full day of our vacation, 2:30am to be exact! We wanted to start our vacation atop Haleakala, a massive volcano that rises 10,023 feet above Maui's coast. We were fitted in an unattractive, but warm outfit, and were driven up to the top of the volcano. We then sat in the chilly darkness and waited for the sunrise.

The first sun's rays

Since we were up there, we had to come down, so we decided to do it on bike. We rode 38 miles down a scenic, twisting, two-lane highway. Unfortunately a couple of old Japanese women in our group rode their brakes the whole time, but we still loved the rush.

My sister Carmin and I in our "fancy" bike gear.

So as our guide, a very hip, greasy, long haired, Hawaiian dude, was fitting me for my bike, he said to me, "We are going to have to put some rocks in your pockets to weigh you down!" I looked at him jokingly and said, "I have some lava rocks in the van I can use!" (Which I really did, because Carmin and I gathered them for souvenirs for our kids). He looked at me shocked and said, "You're kidding right?" Nervously I responded, "No, why?" He then brought over his Hawaiian buddy and they both told me how taking lava rocks from the volcano will bring me bad luck and that I will make the Hawaiian Gods very angry. He even told me that people who take them, mail the rocks back to them all the time, requesting their rocks be returned to the volcano. That was enough, bad luck talk for me, so I quickly grabbed my rocks and returned them to the volcano. Carmin on the other hand, well lets just say, I'm waiting for a call saying she broke her leg as she stumbled across a rock her daughters were playing with :0)

Kenny and I riding down the volcano...in style!

Day 3:

After our long bike ride, we were ready to spend the day on the ocean. We set off to sail to the island Lana'i with Trilogy Excursions. On the boat, we were served food all day long. What a great way to start the day...with homemade cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, and Hawaiian juices.

Carmin and I soaking up the sun.

As we were sailing to Lana'i we were surrounded by a group of dolphins. There were at least fifteen swimming all around our boat! One little dolphin even put on a little show for us as he jumped up doing flips outside of the water. Three dolphins swam right in front of us. They looked as if they were pulling our boat. We had the closest view of dolphins as we leaned right over the edge. We could almost touch them they were swimming so close to us.

Unfortunately we didn't get close up photos of the dolphins because our cameras were below deck and we didn't want to miss the show. We finally grabbed a camera, and got a few picks of the dolphins in the distance.

Once we docked on Lana'i, Kenny and I prepared to go Snuba diving.

For snuba diving, you are attached to oxygen which is floating above you on a little raft. There is enough oxygen to allow you to stay underwater for 30 minutes. Weights are placed around you tummy to hold you down. We could literally walk across the ocean floor!

Kenny loves to snorkel, so this was his favorite part about the trip. We are going to get scuba certified before we go on our next vacation.

Throwing out one of many Shaka's!

Day 4:

Next we were off to go zip lining. It was quite a rush to be soaring over gulches and through the trees along the slopes of the volcano, Haleakala.

Kenny & I stopped for a little lovin on the "Indiana Jones" swinging bridge!

Later in the evening we went to the Warren & Annabelle's Magic show. We were greeted into the club, by Annabelle, who is a 150 year old ghost, and who is also a great piano player. No you can't see her, but she takes random requests from guests and as she plays, the keys move, and the pedals pump! We were then entertained by two stand up comedians and their sleight-of-hand, close up magic tricks.

Newspaper torn into pieces.....

Magically put into one piece again!

Day 5:

The Road to Hanna....

This was by far my favorite part of the trip! The road to Hana is a long, arduous drive on a route (not for the faint of heart) that zigzags over 56 one lane bridges and snakes around more than 617 hairpin curves. As you drive the view and beauty is indescribable. Below the road, is the crystal blue ocean water and above is a rugged mountain wilderness with rushing waterfalls and streams. We spent the whole entire day driving to Hana and pulling off the highway to explore the island.

This book, "Maui Revealed," was like our bible for the trip. It told us exactly how many miles to drive and what mile markers to stop at. Everyone who was on the drive to Hana was carrying this book!

Venturing off the beaten path and discovering our own way through the bamboo forest!


After a treacherous hike through the bamboo forest, we found our first waterfall!

We played in a pool of water off of mile marker 23! The water was cold but quite refreshing.

Next we stopped to explore a lava tube (cave). Luckily a tourist left their flashlight hanging at the entrance, so we used that to find our way through the maze. It was pitch black, and water was dripping down on us from the rocks above. Matt, I thought, was going to crap a pink twinkie, especially when Kenny joked about an earthquake! Kenny led the way, with each of us holding hands and following single file behind him. I felt like I was in the movie Goonies! What a Rush!!!!!

We stopped for a picnic lunch here after exploring the cave:

Matt at the black sand (rock) beach

We found another great pool of water to swim in.

Getting pelted in the head by the waterfall HURT!

How amazing of a view is this???

Carmin and Armin taking off powered hang gliding!





All of our fun adventures made for the most unforgettable vacation ever. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, Maui and cannot wait to go back again someday.

This trip would not have even been possible without the help of Aunt Carol & Grandma Summers holding down the fort back in CA. I will forever be grateful for their willingness to come and take care of our kids, so Kenny and I could spend some time together.

The Great Pumpkin Date

Drew has been asking me all week to take him on a date too, so we set a time to go on Saturday. I kept it a surprise from him as to where we were going just to add to the excitement. Drew is very festive and loves to celebrate holidays, especially Halloween, so I decide that would be our focus for our date.

We pulled up to the pumpkin patch & he was so happy.
We hunted for the perfect pumpkin's to take home....


Posed with Frankenstein.... Drew's heart was racing as we did this, uneasy about whether or not to trust him.

Made good friends with a monkey....

Got lost in a corn maze.....

Zipped down the tiger slide.....


Held a dragon....
& Fell in LOVE with a snake....

We spent 40 minutes admiring the snakes. Drew requested we take one home with us every minute! He keeps reminding me that for his birthday he wanted a pet in a cage. Now he knows he definitely wants a snake. We will see......

After Drew and I played at the pumpkin patch we headed to Barnes & Noble where Drew read to me Halloween books and picked out 2 books, to buy and take home.

Then it was off to Target to buy some Halloween decorations for our house. Drew has insisted that we try and make our house look haunted, so he chose ghosts to hang from our trees, a lit up pumpkin, and a skull.

Drew and I had a fantastic date! I love the one-on-one time we spent together. Drew is such a loving child, who makes me so proud. I can't wait for our next date.

Date Night

I feel like every child needs some one-on-one time with mom every once and awhile, so I asked Ian out on a date and he eagerly accepted! I told him it was a surprise and he tried guessing where I was taking him the whole drive down to Moreno Valley. He kept asking if we were going for ice cream at McDonald's or for a new toy at Walmart. Little did he know, I was going all out for our special mother/son date!

We ate all you can eat pizza and ice cream and attempted to hang our spoons from our noses.

We rode the "Twister," which almost made me puke. I am getting old!

We hit into each other on the bumper cars, played video games, won candy, tried to win a toy with the big claw (total waste of $$$), went home with a whoopie cushion (every 5 year old boys favorite toy), and created memories that I will cherish forever!

I love this picture we had taken! I hope he always remembers our fun date when he looks at this. I love and adore this little guy so much and I feel so blessed to have him as my son.

It was so nice to talk with Ian and give him my undivided attention. I learned on our date, that all the girls during recess like to chase him! I'm not surprised, he is quite the catch! I look forward to many more fun dates in the future with this boy!

As I tucked Owen into bed tonight & gave him our ritual nightly back rub, he pulled my face down to his and said, "Mommy we go on a date tomorrow?" How can I resist that sweet request? I guess I'll be getting 2 dates in one week, which is unheard of since I got married! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having boys!

Preschool Days

Owen was invited to join a preschool group this year and he loves it! There are only 6 kids and the moms trade off every 6 weeks teaching. There is a structured schedule to follow, lessons, and field trips planned. I love that he gets to go and play with friends two mornings out of the week, giving me a little time to myself, since Mya is still napping in the mornings. Plus, he is learning his letters and how to follow classroom directions. He is eager to go and asks me every morning as the boys are preparing to leave for school, "Mommy, me go to school today too?" I'm told that at school, he is super shy and doesn't talk much, which is really hard for me to believe because he is never quiet at home!

We went on our first field trip to the Fire Station and he thought it was pretty much the coolest thing ever!
Here is the preschool group with the local Fire Fighters.

Owen got to "drive" the firetruck!

The Fire Fighters were so great with the kids. They showed them were they slept, where they watched movies, and even let the kids look in their freezer to see what kind of ice cream they liked to eat.

This is just a dummy on the decorative pole, that totally threw all the kids for a loop! They all just kept staring at it asking when the guy was going to come down. We tried explaining it to them, but they all just looked so confused! Owen still asks me, "Where is the Fire Fighters head?"

Owen loved his first field trip and said as we left, "That was so much fun mommy!" I'm grateful for the cool learning experience and the fun memories created on his first field trip.

Rain, Rain, PLEASE Stay!

Besides my family, the thing I miss most about Kansas are the storms. We had the best storms in Kansas! I love a good hard rain, with loud thunder and lightning that lights up the whole sky. Rarely in California do we get a good rain. I am always hoping for a little to come our way. Well this last Saturday, the thunder clouds rolled in and the down pour began. I opened up the windows so I could hear the thunder and smell the rain. It was almost like being home again.

I forgot my boys haven't grown up with storms and I was a little surprised with all their squeals when they saw the lightning. It only lasted for a minute though, and then they were out playing in the streets!


The minute the rain started, Ian was outside with his friend Tristan. He didn't stay under the umbrella for very long!
I LOVE Ian! He is my child with Lots of Energy and Spunk! He gets it from my side...I'm proud, and wouldn't want him anyother way.

He said he was in the waterfall!

Drew and Owen joined in on the fun too, but chose to stay under the umbrella.



What a wonderful way to end an afternoon playing in the rain, with a sky filled with two rainbows! The boys were in awe of the rainbows. I'm hoping for more rain to come our way, however, not like the East Coast.

Soccer MOM is Back!

Drew's Team

I didn't grow up playing or watching soccer, but since my boys started last year, I have to admit that I love the game! I'm excited for another season & pleased that both Drew and Ian are eager to play again. Last year the boys were on the same team, which made for one night of practice and one game on Saturday. This year Drew went up a division, so he has practice on Tues. and Thur. nights and games around noon on Sat. Ian has practice on Wed. nights and games Sat. morning. I feel like we are living and breathing soccer right now! On top of the boys being busy with soccer, Kenny volunteered to coach both teams!

Drew (#9) kicked this ball into the goal, unfortunately it was stopped by the goalie. Last year his division didn't have goalies, so he scored several points every game. Not winning by a lot has taken some getting used to this year.

Drew with teammates Chandler & Erik

Proud Daddy, who came from work, hence the non soccer attire!

Drew continues to be Fast, Aggressive, & Super Competitive. During his first game, he kept yelling at other players, both on his team and the opposing team, to quit kicking the ball out of bounds! His favorite position is full back. Ian's soccer playing is another story & another blog!