Summer Vacation

I'm attempting to keep this blog going.  I love to go back and see/read about our lives, but have been putting lots of posts off for A LONG TIME!  So, rewind to end-of-July-2015....

We flew to the Oregon coast and met up with Adam's family for a week.  Rosie rented a house on the beach and we had a wonderful week spent eating/cooking, playing in and around the water, watching movies from the hot tub, and exploring the area.  The kids adore their cousins and are now old enough that they mostly do their own thing.


KSU fans on the Oregon coast.


The cousins in age order (Owen, Raly, Reese, Miles, Graham, Brody, Jack, Beau).


The best family pic we could manage--Graham looks crazy!

 Ready for the plane ride.

 Threatening to throw Graham in the cold water.

Owen and Miles spent a ton of time in the water even though it was CHILLY!

Graham--buried alive!

The kids loved the hot tub (aka "pool") at the house.  I'm sure we clogged the drains with all the sand we brought in. When it wasn't too windy, Rhett set up a huge screen and the kids watched outdoor movies from the hot tub.

View during my morning runs.

Adam's favorite part of the trip was exploring the beach first thing in the morning and checking out the creatures that came in with the tide.

 Early morning along the coast.

Miles and Reese are best buddies.

And these three...

 Owen and Raly were old enough to make a blown glass decoration.  Very cool.

Preparing and eating meals together was one of the best parts of the trip.  Even though I passed on the shrimp :(

We went to the Oregon coast 10 years ago.  Raly and Owen were the only kids and only two years old. They humored us and recreated the same picture 10 years later.

We spent the last day of our trip hanging out in Portland.  Lots of "interesting" things to see in the downtown area.  Three kids "smoking" fit right in.

Hawaii, (the end)

Finally...this is the whole reason we trekked it to Hawaii in the first place, Casey and Liz's wedding.  The ceremony took place on Hamoa Beach (a black sand beach) right near Hana.  Adam was a best man in the wedding--you can see that he really had to dress up for the role :) 

Adam and Andy enjoying the wedding ceremony.

One of the beaches you can see from the Hana road.

Casey's sister, Aubrey (who was ordained online :) prepared a really great ceremony, both funny and serious at the same time.

Coastline on the east side of Maui.

We spent a little time (on the way to and from Hana) in a fun little town named Piea (or something like that).  Lots of fun shops and restaurants.

Lots of surfers on this beach, even some kids.  We were up quite a ways up on a ledge and could still see a pair of turtles the water was that clear.

The second tallest waterfall we saw on our trip.  The tallest was 400 feet!

And this is me getting beat around in the waves.  I actually did have some success with the bogey board!  Hard to believe it's been two weeks ago already.  Fun times, even if the whole island sells Coke products :(

Hawaii, Part 2 (Trees)

We spent the second part of our trip in a little village called Hana.  To get there you take a winding, narrow road with tons of one lane bridges--along with places to pull over and look around/hike.  It took us four hours to drive maybe 40 miles (including our stops).  I was amazed at all of the different varieties of trees.  Of course, you get used to the plush flowering plants, but I wasn't expecting some of these others.... 

Huge (bonsai?) tree we encountered on one of our hikes in Hana.  The kids would have been in tree-climbing heaven.

As expected, there were plenty of palm trees.  This view is from one of the hammocks at the resort in Hana.  FYI--we were informed that more people die each year from falling coconuts than shark bites. 

This was taken on one of my morning runs on the main drag through Hana.  Minus the palm trees, I think it looks more "North Carolina" than "Hawaii."

Bananas growing in huge clusters all over.  I hate fruit, but it fascinates me to see it growing.  Each day the hotel had a new bunch hanging in the lobby.  There was also passionfruit everywhere.  All of the restaurants included passionfruit, guava, and papaya as their fruit side dishes.  Too bad I'm not into fruit, I could have lived off of the land :)

Hawaii, Part 1

After a late night packing, cleaning, and organizing travel information, we left early Saturday morning for Maui.  We had not flown out of Manhattan before, but will definitely do so whenever we can in the future.  So easy!  And I'm sure we haven't even experienced the best part--a five-minute drive home. The only downside was paying for a heavy bag and somewhere between Manhattan and Maui, our suitcase met its match.  Oh well, an extra pocket.

We figured we may as well go for the fun car instead of the cheap car.  Who knows if we will ever come to Hawaii again.  It's been fun cruising around in the Mustang, but it does feel like I'm sitting on the ground.

We've had some good food since we've been here.  I'm not a seafood fan in the least, so my choices are more limited, but I feel like I went out on a limb and tried a salad with "hearts of palm."  Yes, from the palm tree.

But when it really comes down to it, I'm a simpleton and these Cheez-Its may have been the best $5 I've spent so far.

Our first hotel in Maui was the Four Seasons in Wailea.  It was amazing--the views, the amenities, the service!  We've never stayed in a hotel where it isn't even an option to park your own car, carry your own bag, or get your own ice, etc.  The workout facility was first rate and open air so you could watch the sunrise (yes, we've been up by 6:00 AM everyday, can't shake the habit).

Lots of beautiful scenery, fancy plants, and weird art :)

We left Wailea yesterday and headed to Hana via the scenic "Road to Hana."  Four hours to cover maybe 50 miles.... actually broke out the good camera so more pictures from that later.  In Hana, we met up with everyone to actually celebrate the wedding of Casey and Liz.  It's much more remote, with no TV's, air conditioning, or wi-fi in the rooms.  Now, on to the beach...

"Vacation"

I took the kids to Omaha for a few days (we'll call this their vacation).  It's always a little bittersweet to go back.  Although I love Manhattan, I still miss my Papio teachers.  As usual we stayed with the Boudreau's.  The kids had a blast with Olivia, Ben and Sam.  We swam, went to Orange Leaf, made friendship bracelets, had a French braiding tutorial for Lori, shopped/had a 3+ hour lunch with the girls (while one of my all-time favorite students/cheerleaders baby-sat), stalked the old house, played some intense kickball, lost a tooth, and trashed their house/ate all their food before heading home today.  I think I have three tired boys on my hands.

Nashville

We are back from a fabulous girls/running weekend in Nashville.   Lots of laughs, great food, shopping.... and of course, the run itself.  It wasn't my best half marathon, but still another one for the history books.  I didn't realize Nashville was so hilly.  Or hot.  Oh well, better than lightening and rain.  I stole these pictures from Crystal's Facebook since I didn't take any.  I haven't tracked down a photo of our shirt backs; they say, "Know when to walk away, know when to RUN."  Clever :)  When is the next race girls??

Chicago Trip

Owen returned on Monday (seven boxes of Legos heavier) from his trip to Chicago.  Definitely sad that it was over.  They all had a fabulous time.  Owen told us he'd like to live in Chicago when he's older.  Thank you Mike and Rosie for taking them on this FUN excursion.  We appreciate everything (even the million Lego-men arms, legs, helmets, swords, etc. that I have to keep away from Graham :)  The following are a few (of the 200) pictures that Owen took with the camera we sent.

Bridge over an interstate.  Hoping for truckers to honk. 

Mighty Mississippi River. 

Group picture--not sure where they are.  Iowa?

Great grandparents??  Just kidding.  This couple offered to take their pic,
so Owen and Raly took their pic (on their own cameras) too.  Funny.

White Sox game, driven to game in a town car.  Fancy.

View from Hancock Tower.

Also at the Hancock Tower.

Stocking up in case the Lego corporation goes under.

Navy Pier--no he didn't ride it :(

Dinner cruise aboard the Mystic Blue with Mike's cousin, Mary Pat.

Lego Land.  I think he photographed everything there.  This was my favorite.

Holy Batman!