Jungle adventures

Another Maui tradition is driving the road to Hana.  Driving the 620 curves over 68 miles with a 5 year old prone to motion sickness and a 3 year old did not sound like a fun time, so we drove a couple of miles down the road to Twin Falls and hiked up a short trail and called that our road to Hana experience.

This is the classic Emily picture. She filled 4 very large memory cards on the trip.

More attempts at the elusive family portrait.

Austin and Calvin hiking down the road

Zach with his gap toothed grin.  He lost a tooth while we were watching a Hula show at the mall.  Butch and Emily had slipped out to do a little shopping when Austin bumped Zach's mouth and the tooth fell out. He could hardly wait until his parents came back to tell them and he was richly rewarded with amazement and hugs.  I hope he appreciates how much love he is loved. And what great parents he has.

After we left the jungle we went to Ho'okipa beach to watch the surfers, but the surfers weren't nearly as interesting to Zach and Austin as running through mud puddles in the rain.

Lahaina 2013

 There are certain traditions that you must observe when visiting Maui.  One is a visit to the banyan tree in Lahaina for family photos. So we spent a fun evening in Lahaina admiring ourselves with cameras.

 Ignoring the signs about not climbing on the banyan, Zach and Austin hopped right up for a picture.

It was a little rainy while we were there so we saw some spectacular rainbows.

We found another tree that didn't have signs about climbing.  That made everybody happy.

 And no trip to Maui would complete without whale watching.  It was high season for whales, so we saw spouts and splashes all the time.  Past experience tells me that taking a picture of a whale is usually not successful, but taking a picture of people watching whales is another story.

 Another traditions is eating a traditional Hawaiian meal.  After our very first "authentic" meal many years ago we are a little more selective so we opted for a traditional plate lunch with macaroni salad and rice instead of lomo lomi and poi.

With tropical drinks of course.

Maui 2013 Beach and pool time

We just got back from a two week vacation in Maui.  We had a wonderful time and yet it is really great to be home again.  Butch and his family were there for the first 10 days and that made it twice as fun.  Zach and Austin have non-stop enthusiasm for life and Butch and Emily encourage and nurture them with non-stop love. What a treat to get to spend time with them.

We all spent a lot of time digging giant holes and creating complex sand castles on the beach.  Zach's specialty is creation and Austin's specialty is destruction.

Beach time was usually followed with pool time to wash away some of the sand.

Even the big kids saw a little water slide action.

 This is Austin's signature move going down the slide backwards.  Both boys are pretty fearless in the water.

We stayed to watch the sunset one evening and they were still going strong.

Hawaii is really a kid's paradise.