Spring Break 2011

We hit Maui and Kauai this Spring Break.  The kids had a good time in between teasing each other.  They loved to bodyboard and snorkel and explore at the beach.  We were able to snorkel with turtles and see tons of great fish. Kauai's North shore was so beautiful. The kids explored a cave and Parker braved some crazy big waves.     On Kauai's South shore Camden almost got swept away by the waves but recovered by building sand castles.  On the way to the south shore we hit Jo Jo's shaved ice.  This by far best shaved ice we have found on any of the 3 islands we have been to. We have left our hearts in Kauai and hope to return soon!  :)

Ella first Meet

Here are a few pictures from Ella's first meet.  She ended up with 32.55 points out of 40. Yeah for Ella!
She ended up being in the 9 and under age group.  (even though she is only 7) She placed 4th place for that age group.   We are really proud of her. 

Anchorage, Alaska

A great view of the glacier

A moose on the side of the road

I guess this is as good as it gets when you travel with kids

Beautiful

Here are a few photos from our recent trip to Alaska.  We spent one night and loved the area north of Anchorage.  Anchorage I found to be a little depressing.  Maybe the gray skies?  The kids had a blast swimming in the pool!  Camden and Ella were doing front tucks, and diving into the deep end. I think Parker even joined in on  few of those.

Future Project Runway winner

Mariners game

Family Reunion

Pool Party- this sums up our summer!

Ella is my fashion DIVA!  She made these gloves and socks and hairpiece out of an old pair of tights. She's very creative.  Here's a picture of Camden watching a Mariners game the boys ended up with great seats.  We had our Family reunion with Ben's family at the Beach and had a lot of fun.  I debated over getting a pool but I am so glad we did! 

Road To Heaven?

For Mother's Day I went back to MAui with my friend Rachel.  We have enjoyed the friendship of the Hudgins and getting to know them better this past year.  I appreciate how Jason spent countless hours teaching Ben how to change his brakes. (which means Rachel spent countless hours watching her kids by herself)  He has also come to help with our furnace and helped us fix our car when it was leaking.  All of these things would have cost us hundreds..... and the Hudgins are so quick to serve.  So I wanted to say thank you! Even though Rachel got sick the first day and then burnt the second and on the third I was puking my guts out I hoped she had as much fun as I did.  A quick shout out was that she went snorkeling!  Even though there were some  fish with teeth swimming towards us and we could see an eel slithering on the bottom of the ocean floor  she toughed it out.  Thanks for going with me and enduring the crazy road to Hana or h- e- double hockey sticks!

A look at our Lives

Camden with his friend Noah.  Camden helped lead Blue Lightning (our previous scoreless team) to a 5 win victory.  3 of those goals were Camden's.  He played hard and even celebrated each goal with a victory dance. Parker is wrapping up his Lacrosse season.  His team beat a Bainbridge undefeated team Saturday.  Parker played hard and took a few shots and even got to play most of the fourth quarter.  Here's a look at what's been keeping us busy this past month.

Maui via the Whale route

We went to Maui via Alaska this spring break.  We debated on going to Disneyland, but Maui was cheaper.  We went with some friends and their kids and we had fun.  The kids played with each other and had a blast body boarding and snorkeling.  We went body boarding at  Kam. beach.  The kids figured out how to catch the waves.   Ella and Camden learned  to snorkel in the pool at the hotel and the next day we went into the ocean at Mile marker 14.  I was a little nervous because it is open ocean but they did great.  Ella saw a starfish and lots of fish.  Camden was excited that he saw the starfish and was proud because he peed right above the starfish.  We saw a lot of fish and I saw a HUGE tropical fish.  WE ended up going on a whale watching tour and saw about 20 whales.  It was amazing and even worth roughing the high and rolling seas.  Our plane ended up with mechanical difficulties so we got to stay an extra night in paradise.  WE flew home through California.   We had so much fun and I found some great tanning oil and after sun lotion. WE flew home with zero sunburns this time!