Here Today, Gone to Maui: Wrap up

It's high time to wrap up the Maui highlights. I appreciate you sticking with me through all of these pictures....  here are some of my favorites from our last few days. On those days we ate, and ate, and beached, and ate some more.

 

Playing in the waves... or maybe forcing her in the waves? ;)

L&D play time!

STUD

Hope they're always this close.

Two men to admire.

Papa Wade's mad photog skills.

They got Ava in the ocean!

Maui No Ka Oi (Maui is the best).

Snorkeling!

 

Last Day snorkel adventure with the early risers!

Snow Cones @ 8:30 am

Dax's specialties. Mahi, Filets, and Caprese salad. mmmmmmmmmmm

Snorkel boat!

Love of my life

Fun in the sand!

Two Studs. Owen thinks Carson is the coolest person on the planet.

She thinks beaches are for eating junk food. Hopefully this memory will fade by the next time we're at the ocean ;) Hard to believe how long her hair is now compared to then!

Dax and I let our high-er maintenance daughters sleep in on the last day instead of snorkel. We treated them to smoothies and some sights.

She didn't seem to miss out on anything!

Deliciousness.

Said on the side of a shrimp truck.

 

Get.in.my.belly. From the shrimp truck!

Happy little Hawaiian darling.

 

Not happy little Hawaiian darlings.

We couldn't get a decent picture of the 4 of us to save our lives this day!

The Nieders did a great job, though!

Love these 3!

 Christmas Card picture #1...

 

Christmas card picture #2!

 

The red eye home really did leave us with red eyes. This one had a hard time falling asleep. She wasn't the loudest baby on the flight, but there were times she competed. I'm sure it felt sooo good for her to snuggle in to our bed when we got home.

 

Owen was a true champ....but he just couldn't hold out any.more. This was dinner the night we got home. I'm sure this will be the only time we ever see him fall asleep at the table!

 

As you can gather, we are so fortunate to have spent so much fun time in paradise. Thanks to Mima and Papa Wade for teaching us all how to vacation. Thanks for extending the invite to the Mimas and Papas on the other side, as well. It was joy in its purest form.

 

Until next time... which Owen hopes is very soon!

Here Today, Gone to Maui, Day 6: Iao Needle

On Friday of our Maui week, we opted for a little time out of the sun,

and we headed to the 'rainy'  part of Maui.

 

The west Maui mountains are full of a rich history of war & love, and the beautiful Iao needle.  

 

You can see the dense fog that keeps this area so lush & green.

Made it to the lookout!  

This little one demanded to walk like the big kids, even though we brought the carrier.

She's got a lot of grandparents wrapped around her little finger. 

  

Exploring puddles.

Their big girls. 

 

The whole Gang at the lookout! It was a great little hike for many generations =)

A river runs through it.

Best buds.

Hawaiian flowers. Can anybody name this one?

 

After our hike we went to lunch at an amazing pizza place where our children were tired, off schedules, and difficult. They did a great job plugging along for the majority of the week but by Friday at lunch time, we had all (all 4 of our immediate family) hit our limit. So we went back for good naps and a relaxing picnic dinner, and the Mimas and Papas went to a pineapple farm!

Isn't God creative?

Had to include the awesome pics to show how pineapples grow! 

(Pics courtesy of Papa Wade!)

Here today, gone to Maui. Day 5. Luau!

I must say that no trip to Maui is complete without a Luau. Papa Wade really encouraged the luau. I was a little nervous that my kids running around would distract the rest of our party from the festivities. Millie did run around quite a bit, but the 2-3 Mai Tais I had before dinner really helped me relax about that behavior! I thoroughly enjoyed the luau...

think it was my favorite part of the whole trip!

The day of the Luau, Mima and Aunt Lindsey went out and found matching outfits for all 5 grandkids. They were as cute as could be. O got a thrill out of matching Carson, and these two littles are as precious as precious gets.

The best family shot we got the whole trip. Amelia likes portraits as much as her daddy.

But she'll be sweetsie when she doesn't know she's being photographed!

 

Love this shot of the Nieders. At this time, Carson was 9, Livi 7, and Ava 2.

 

We had another attempt at a pic of the 5 kids. This one was pretty decent.

 

Beauty!

Mai Tai Mike!

Awwww!!

The luau we attended was at the Wailea Marriott. This was by far the best setting for a luau I've attended (my 3rd luau). Does it get any better than the scene behind us? Chelsea, you would have had a ball taking pics.

Maui is for lovers? Oh wait, that's Virginia.

My dress had quite the 'lift'.

Maui Dave and his sidekick. Love these two.

Beyond grateful they've inherited the travel bug and are willing to share it.  

A Polynesian native about to crack open a coconut.

Sweet coconut milk.

Shredding the coconut.

Side note... Becky really likes Polynesians.....

Stud.

Dinner time music.

And then the real fun begins. Love the native dance, dress, song, culture. All.of.it. Some day I'd really like to get to the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu.

Hula, hula!

Sweet Ava was enthralled!

 

This one is for Becky.

Great shot by Maui Dave!

Watching the dancers.

Abs of steel!

Love the colors.

There was a moment in the show when kids could come up and learn to hula.

Love this shot of C & O!

itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow polka dot bikini.

i.have.made.fire.

Wish I could articulate the 'warrior' call they are making right about now, but you'll just have to imagine that in your head.

This guy kind of freaked me out!

 

Yep, reliving the pics.. my favorite part about Maui!!!