Do you have a map?

Heaven help me! The phone calls and the pick-up lines from boys has already begun. Madison came home the other day and told me what one little gentleman had said to her....for those looking for some tips to pick up chicks, here is a great one for you -

Young gentleman: "Madison do you have a map?"

Madison: "No?????" (Afterall how many 11 year olds carry a map around?)

Young gentleman: "Oh because I am lost in your beautiful eyes."

Taylor and Madison assure me that boys are still gross. I hope they aren't just feeding me a line, but in the meantime I am going to get each of them a map so that these young men can safely find their way home.

Fun with Nate, Adalia, and family!

It is always fun when family comes to visit! We just spent a week with Nate, Adalia, and their family. We had a good time and as always we packed it all in. We hope you guys had fun, thanks for visiting!

The kids swinging on the beach....cute!

The whole crew at the Laie templeHavyn and Ledger in their own little paradise...this was their favorite spotThe kids showing off their Polynesian tattoosPracticing their skills

Um, Cole

Celebrating Adalia's birthday....happy birthday!

Who said she could grow up?

Havyn just went to her first day of preschool. She was very excited to be one of the big kids. She had to wear her backpack (even though it was empty) because that is what the big kids do. I am happy for her, she has been asking to go to school for 6 months...but as the mom I'm a bit sad because my baby is growing up.

Before school

Time to go home

The Big Island

We just returned from a whirl wind trip to the big island of Hawaii. We packed it all in....we left the hotel at about 8 am each morning and didn't return until 10 or 11 pm. We had a great time and now we need a vacation to recuperate from our vacation.

WARNING: This is a very long post, there were so many pictures that I wanted to add. This is just a small fraction of the pictures we took and believe it or not I tried to be picky and choosy about the ones I added.

AKAKA FALLS


POLOLU BEACH - BLACK SAND BEACH

Black sand is formed when lava hits the sea and shatters into tiny pieces.


HAWAI'I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK

Kilauea

There were steam vents everywhere, you could feel the warmth they put off.

Crystals formed by volcanic gases seeping from the ground.

THURSTON LAVA TUBE

Lava tubes are formed when an active low lava flow develops a continuous and hard crust, which thickens and forms a roof above the still-flowing lava stream. Tubes form in one of two ways: by the crusting over of lava channels, and from pahoehoe flows where the lava is moving under the surface.

Entrance of the Lava tube.

Just a little lovin' before we go inside :)Inside tube

HOLEI SEA ARCH

Arch is 90 ft. tall

LAVA FLOW

In 1983 lava flow covered a 10-mile stretch of road (this was one of the coolest areas in my opinion).

Road closed.....ya think?

PU'U LOA PETROGLYPHS

Our book said that when the Hawaiians had a baby they would come here and carve out a hole, they would put the umbilical cord in the hole for good luck. Never thought about trying that???

At this point, we had been hiking all day...Havyn and Cole taking a break while Steve and I looked at petroglyphs.

SOUTH POINT

These pictures were taken on the southern most tip of the United States.

KALAPANA LAVA FLOW

Steve and I both wanted to get close to a lava flow. There are some hikes that you can do that will get you close, but they would have been too much for the kids....perhaps another time. We did make it to an area that opens up in the evening to watch the lava flow into the ocean as it gets dark. It was a pretty spectacular sight!

You can see this plume of smoke all day

These pictures show the glow of the lava and the lava flow as it progressively gets darker.

The hillside where the lava was flowing from

MAUNA KEA

Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in Hawaii at the summit it is 13,796 feet. It is above the tree line, quite cold, and very desolate (looks like mars). During the winter months there is snow here.

This is the marker at the summit

Steve hiked over to the summit, I stayed with the kids. That is his little tiny body at the top of the mountain. He came back huffing and puffing from the high altitude.

RAINBOW FALLS