black rock and snorkeling

On new years eve we went to black rock at kaanapali beach - it was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky -

quincy is so comfortable in the ocean and does pretty well at keeping his head above the water. he lets the waves push him in and out while he floats on his tummy, but i wanted him to have a life jacket on so i didnt have to keep such a close watch on him, but he absolutely didnt like the life jacket. looks relaxing to me....

quincy is getting sleepy

besides the rock to jump off of, there is a coral reef around the rock to go snorkeling, which is what i did as i was not going to jump off the rock

here is caleb and miles jumping off the rock

my snorkeling experience was complete because i finally saw a turtle!!! they are the coolest looking animals...and huge too...

here is the bay that i went snorkeling in

our water proof camera became not so water proof right after i took this picture :( but i got the picture of the turtle!!

Sugar Cane Train - that had nothing to do with sugar canes

Today we went on the sugar cane train. we thought we would see sugar cain feilds, learn about sugar canes and see the fields they grow in and maybe get a sugar cane to taste....our expectations were a little too high.......

here is everyone waiting for the train to arrive
here it comes...........

all aboard

and were off..

quincy is very observant and always seems to have such a serious expression when he is checking things out. here he is looking out the window on the train

jackson, mollie and sophia checking out the awesome veiw of the road :/

daddy and jackson

quincy had to make a quick phone call

this was the neatest part. the train had to slow down, even slower than it was already going and went over this wooden bridge. as it was doing so it blew steam out of the engine

silly time for quincy

the train made a 20 min stop in lahaina, enough time for the kiddos to get a quick lunch. this is a hawaiin hotdog that was red, kids thought it was cool, i thought it looked gross

our 'tour guide' serenaded us with music

beautiful view from the train

so the only time sugar cain was mentioned was here - this is the OLD sugar cane feild......yep that was all the info on sugar canes............

here is quincy getting crabby, he wanted to know more about sugar canes too..

and the boys falling asleep, that is how exciting this train ride was....not so much

but i will say that even though the train ride was dissapointing and a lot of money - we are still in maui and having a blast!!!!! and in the end the kids still think its cool they got to ride on the train that we pass every time we drive into town.

a drive on highway 30

Maui is know for this red dirt...the pictures dont do it justice, it is pretty cool seeing it in person, amazing how red it is

this is the view from highway 30 we were traveling on(well, the only highway on maui) the picture is of fleming bay, where the guys like to boogie board and the condo we are staying in is over there too

while we were driving, we past this little turnout and i thought these were the most beautiful trees - it reminded me of a miniature rain forest. we only stayed for a few minutes to take pictures but i still ended up getting bit by some bug about 10 times (misquito?) oh and jackson was sleeping in the car and miles was, um..taking care of business in the outhouse- ewww, so their pictures werent taken :)

mollie doing her new pose - she says "possie" and then does this, with her hands on her hips.....

such a beautiful tree

so i just loved this view - if you look towards the bottom of the picture there is a little hut type house nestled in the forest and valley

after our little drive, it was time to cool off in the ocean back at our condo

jackson taking another little snooze on the beach

grandpa and jackson, who is well rested from his nap

quincy had such a fun and busy day that he couldnt stay awake to eat dinner

we ended our day going on a date, shopping in lahaina and eating at my favorite restuarant in Maui, Bubba Gump!

Fun in Maui

i was trying to get the kids' picture in front of the banyan tree but all they could do is play with the rocks...really??? can my kids just keep their hands out of dirt and rocks for a few seconds....(sigh)

kevin and i waiting to have lunch at cheesburgers in paradise - notice the cruise ship in the background..

kiddos waiting to have lunch at cheesburgers in paradise, they waited so patiently

special...????

kevin and i trying to perfect the 'self picture taking'....

mollie and sophia are having the best time together, i just finished painting their fingers and toes

jackson is doing very well with the boogy board, he has even caught a few waves into shore

here is everyone playing, one of the reasons i love this place is that its like our own private beach...

daddy digging jacksons hole in the sand..

kevin buried all the kids, looks like we are growing little children out of the sand :)

I love this picture of TJ and Kevin

Aloha!!!!

we arrived at the airport at 4:30 am - the kids were so excited that it wasnt hard getting them up out of bed

we arrived in maui and here is quincy waiting curbside

kenton waiting curbside in maui

quincy looks a little concerned :) they had lots of energy to get out since we had 8 hours on the plane

averie waiting curbside in maui

quincys first breakfast in maui

first rainbow we saw in maui, if you look close there are two - just beautiful

Miles has always been a 'little fish' and was right at home here in the pool

The kids took to the pool right away, which we knew they would. we were glad we gave them swim lessons before our trip as i'm sure it helped them feel more confident in the pool - here is mollie and jackson, about to jump in !

mollie and jackson having a blast in the pool playing with aunt kathy, jason, hailey and alyssa

quincy is warming up - (our room is to the right of the red bow in the background. our bedroom deck is the top floor and our living room deck is the same level as that bow)

how many kids can dad carry in the pool :) at one point he had all 4

quincy watching his brothers and sister, uncles and dad play in the ocean - he was content just hanging out on the beach and digging in the sand

kenton having a little snack ...of sand... he sure enjoyed it :)

everyone playin in the ocean - I just love the blue color of the oceanmiles and jackson this year - see photo below

this is miles and jackson in 2008

brothers playing in the sand

quincy....

baby kenton(my nephew) and quincy playing together after dinner

ending our day with a sweet kiss from quincy....

Mahalo! check back soon for more Maui adventures...