Hawaii Trip 2011 - Church & The Banyan Tree

Sunday we went to church in the town we were staying called Lahaina. We loved going church in Maui. Everyone was so welcoming. The church was right across the street from the ocean. It was really neat because the chapel doors led right out side and as I sat in Sacrament meeting they had the doors propped open and I could see the ocean as I listened to the speakers. The rest of day we just relaxed and explored the little town of Lahaina. One cool place we went was the Banyan Tree Park. The Banyan tree is this huge tree that was planted in 1873. When they planted it was only 8 feet tall. It now stands over 60 feet high and 12 major trunks. It stretches over 200 feet. The kids had fun pretending they were monkeys and climbing all over it.

Hawaii Trip 2011 - First Beach Day

Day 2 of our trip which was Saturday, we spent the day at the beach. The beach we went to was one of the best beaches on Maui. It was called Kannappoli Beach. The beach is very big, it has a TON of big resorts and hotels right on the beach. There is a paved walk way that you can walk the whole length of the beach and you pass all the resorts. It is a really fun place to visit. There is also lots of shopping areas. As we were walking along we saw that the Marriott has a really fun swimming area with several pools and a pirate ship. So, we stopped and let the kids swim for a few minutes. I don't think we were suppose to swim there if we weren't staying there but we didn't stay very long. That is one place we would love to stay next time we visit Maui. We also spent the rest of the day playing at the beach and in the sand. We had a great time.

Hawaii Trip 2011 - The Luau

This Summer we went to Hawaii. This was our biggest trip we have ever done with all the kids. In the past we have always just taken shorter vacations because it's hard to travel with little kids. But we decided that our kids are finally old enough that we wanted to start taking them on bigger trips. So for our first of many adventures we went to Muai for a week. One of our first nights there we went to a Luau. This was our first time ever going to a Luau so we didn't know what to expect. When we first arrived we were greeted with a shell lay. Then we were escorted to our table. While we were waiting for everyone to arrive they had music playing and they served us hawain fruit drinks. The Luau was right by the beach so there was a great view. The weather when we arrived was beautiful but later in the evening it rained a lot. I'm glad we got some good pictures before it rained. Once everyone arrived they greeted us and started the night with teaching the Hula. The girls got up on stage and had a lot of fun. Next they did the big production of showing the pig. The kids thought it was neat and was excited to try it. They had 2 big buffet lines. The food was pretty good. They had Kuala Pork, Chicken, beef, rice, fish, salad, fruit and desserts. They also had a small children's buffet with mac & cheese, chicken nuggets, french fries and pudding. After dinner they had a pretty good show. Here are some fun pictures of our first Luau.

All over the island they had these pretty flower trees, the girls and I loved to put them in our hair.

The girls on stage learning the Hula.

Beautiful rainbow when first arrived. Ethan was fascinated by the rainbow. So cute!

Took some good pictures before the rain.

They gave us ponchos right before it started raining. Thank goodness!

First Day Of School 2011

Haylee started Jr. High school this year. She had been looking forward to it all summer long. She is going to Mueller Park Jr. High. She has to leave for the bus 1 hour earlier than last year. She loves having 8 different classes. It was fun taking her to back to school night and meeting all of her teachers. She also loves having a locker. We are so proud of her and we know she will do great this year.

This is a picture of me dropping her off at her school. She was so nervous.

Megan started 5th grade this year. Her teacher's name is Mrs. Straight. She is so happy to finally be the oldest sibling in Foxboro elementary. She likes to take care of Abby by making sure she finds her class and making sure she gets on the right bus to come home. I can't believe she is one of the oldest kids in the school this year. She will have a fun year.

Abby started the 1st grade this year. She has also started the French Immersion program. She has 2 teachers. Mrs. Smith (English) and Mademoiselle Smith (French). She was so excited to go to school all day and also eat lunch at school. She loves both of her teachers and is very excited to learn French.