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 :(

Happy Halloween

This is as festive as it gets at our house.  Nobody wanted to go trick-or-treating; they only wanted to hand out candy.  Miles did put together this "costume" and went over to the neighbors' house for a few Kit-Kats.  Adam has never been into Halloween--the kids obviously inherited this gene from him.  Don't worry, they still took in their fair share of candy between school parties and the stash at home.  I caught Graham (naked) opening Starbursts and chowing down.  When we busted him and asked what he was doing, he replied very clearly and seriously, "I am going to eat this right now."  It was so cute that we had to let him have it.  Something about Starbursts and these boys!  They've been known to leave piles of wrappers (of candy they snuck) behind chairs and couches at other peoples' houses.

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 :)

Football Finale

Both boys finished up their flag football seasons tonight.  They each had a fabulous time playing and were lucky to end up with great coaches and teammates they enjoyed--both the new friends and the old faithfuls (for Owen).  Their teams ended up winning all of their games; they thought that was pretty cool.  I was just happy that there weren't any really cold nights--in fact it was still in the 80's when we showed up tonight.  

Acting like weirdos--terrible picture quality, bad iPhone!  Hopefully someone with a better picture will share.

This Titan ended up with a black eye tonight.  COUNTLESS questions regarding WHEN it will turn black, HOW black, HOW big, HOW long?  Go talk to your dad...

Junior Dolphins--I'm pretty sure we'll still be sitting at the football field well into the future.

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...

Blue & Silver

Miles has been dying to have a colored mohawk (because Jimmy from school has one).  I managed to talk him out of going to Target with me, but promised I'd call him and let him know what color hair spray they had in the Halloween section.  He chose silver and Owen chose blue.  They both wanted to keep it blue for the field trip on Monday, but Mom and Dad decided it was a weekend thing.  We did make a Dick's run with three blue-mohawked kids in mismatched clothes (and two parents who looked just as bad).  Luckily we didn't see anyone we knew.

Apple to Capital

Catching up.... a couple of weeks ago a few of us girls completed the 73.8 mile relay run from Manhattan to Topeka via Linear Trail, Highway 24, plenty of small towns, and tons of backroads.  It was a lot of fun hanging out between exchange zones and navigating the "car" path to Topeka which included some roads labeled "low maintenance" road.  We ended up 6th out of 21 teams, first for the all-girl teams--even won some stocking hats :)  Now I need to get a fall race picked out... 

View from some from one of the backroads.  Thankfully it wasn't muddy or some of the roads may have been off limits.  Kind of felt like we were in "The Amazing Race."

Out with the Old...

and in with the new...iPhone 5.  Adam has been stalking this phone since it was in the idea stage.  Fortunately he was at AT&T early enough on Friday morning to get one.  Side note--he did get up in the middle of the night to pre-order last week from Apple, but the time he wasted looking up our plan bumped him into the "you'll get your phone next week" group.  So now he has one in hand and one on the way.  Go figure.

KSU

Football seasons (KSU, MHS, and the boys' flag football teams) are in full swing and we are trying to take in as much as we can.  Adam and the big boys went to the KSU vs. North Texas game with cousin Ryan last night and had a great time.  

Graham on his way to the first tailgate of the season.  He spent most of his time pushing around a toy lawn mower that some neighboring tailgaters weren't using.

 The kids and friends enjoying the taco bar.

 Getting ready to head out to the Bill.  Yes, Miles picked out his all purple outfit :)

And this shot is more indicative of their normal behavior.  Ready for a K-State victory!

Pinterest #30

Tasty.  Salty (which is probably why I liked it and the kids thought it was so-so).  Definitely fast and easy.  Threw the meat/mix/sauce together in less than three minutes before running out the door to school.

Crock Pot Sliders

Pinterest #29

Two thumbs up for each of these--fast, easy, tasty.  I'm not a big "make-your-own-granola" kind of person, but this was too easy to pass up (no weird powders or odd organic ingredients).  The kids and Adam loved it!

PB Granola

Taco Casserole

Pinterest #28

Very tasty!  And they actually looked like this too.  Graham asked for seconds.  Try these!

Roasted Mustard Potatoes

1st and 4th

These two freaks started school on Tuesday this week... both were really happy with their teachers (and friends that ended up in same class).  This is as cute as I could get them to dress for the first day--they about gagged when I suggested khaki shorts.  "But Mom, we aren't going to church today!"  

For Graham a backpack = school (the bigs got fancy Under Armour bags, he got the free with purchase bag from Old Navy).  He's back to full days at KSU but always asking if he can get out with Owen and Miles instead.

CBE = Hit

We decided to take the kids on a day trip to KC before I head back to school next week.  It's been a long time since the five of us did something together without having a schedule/having to meet someone/having extra kids or minus a kid.  None of us had ever been to the "College Basketball Experience" so we decided to check it out.  Total hit with the boys!  Since there was hardly anyone there they were able to spend a lot of time shooting, dunking, passing, announcing, etc.  The $9 kid's ticket easily paid for itself with the Pop-A-Shot alone.  

Even Graham had fun.  Since it wasn't crowded we didn't have to keep him glued to our hip; he enjoyed the freedom to pick up balls and throw them, line them up, put them away, repeat.

Poor photo quality, but had to include one of the many dunks.  He and Adam worked a long time trying to get the ally-oop (sp).

I hope Owen's feet stop growing at some point--I don't know if I want a Shaq in the house :)

Pinterest #27

I could live on sandwiches and salads, so I like finding good variations on each.  If you follow the link for the wraps, she has a whole list of possible fillings.  Some sound awful, but most sound really good.  I chose the chicken and avocado...yum...wasn't sure about the sweet chili sauce since I found it in the Asian cooking section (not a fan of Chinese, Thai, etc. food), but it added just the right flavor mixed with the other things.  

 CHICKEN AND AVOCADO

Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad

Great salad--fresh and light with a great flavor! Owen had three bowls!  I used the prepared grilled chicken, but would be even better with real grilled chicken.  The dressing was made with Greek yogurt which I had never bought.  It worked well in the dressing, although I'm not sure I'd eat it plain.  The kids even liked the dressing as a dip for vegetables/crackers.  

Red Eyes

Miles has been having all kinds of sleep issues lately:  bad/weird dreams (Newman biting him mainly), sleepwalking (which means he has to go to the bathroom), and trouble getting back to sleep (which means he wants to sleep with us).  The funny part is that he worries about getting red eyes if he doesn't fall asleep right away.  And he's very serious.  He came in at 4:00 AM the other night and asked, "If I sleep for half the night and am awake for half the night, will I have red eyes?"  Oh Miles, you are such a silly boy!

Pinterest #26

Hit and miss.... finally tried this crock pot pizza casserole.  It had similar ingredients as another pizza casserole we all really liked, so I was hoping that it would be as good.  Then we could replace the other casserole with this one since this is made without cooking the noodles first (red flag) and cooks in the crockpot.  Very dry, some crusty noodles mixed with a gummy mix of noodles/meat/sauce/cheese, not exactly the kind of leftovers you look forward to the next night.

 Crock Pot Pizza Casserole

On the other hand, this taco pizza was fabulous.  I'm always leery about crescent rolls for crusts since I've had experiences where it doesn't cook through and we end up eating dough.  I left the onions and olives off one half so I didn't have to hear, "Gross, what's that?"  Served it with lettuce and taco sauce, very good.

Taco Pizza