Aloha!

Thank you Jo and Phil for taking us to Hawaii. We had a blast and will have countless memories that we will treasure. We are greatful for all the love you give our children and can't wait for our next family adventure. ALOHA!

Polynesian Cultural Center

The Polynesian Cultural Center reminded me of the Epcott Center. It was really neat you can visit different islands and see how they live their life. Our favorite island that we visited was Somoa. The Cap was the presenter. He was hilarious! They had another guy climb the tree bare foot. It was the neatest thing. We went to a Luau and ate authentic Hawaiian food and later saw their show "The Ha", which means Breath of Life. Bronx was imitating the dancers. It was soo funny!

In the village of Somoa they were giving people different tattoos. Nana took Bronx over to get a tattoo and he cried because he thought it would give him an "ouwie". So, JoAnn would walk away and then Bronx would cry saying he wanted one. This repeated a few times until he finally put out his arm and got a tattoo. After he received it he thought he was hot stuff. It only lasted a day or two. He enjoyed it while it lasted.

Beaches

We did spend a couple of days at the beach. We went to Waikiki, North Shore and Sandy beach. Bronx was running up and down being chased by the waves. On Sandy beach we just put him in his camoflauge underwear. He looked soo cute. Bentley started to get more into the sand but I wouldn't let her eat any of it. We could really only spend so much time there before the kids got to hot and needed the shade. We loved the beach!!

Sea Life Park

We left Maui and headed to the main island. The first thing that we did was go to Sea Life Park. We saw a couple of shows including the dolphins, penguins and sea lions. Bronx could not keep his eyes off the dolphin show. During the sea lion show the sea lion painted a picture and they gave the picture to Bronx. He thought that was pretty cool. He even fed the sea turtles. It was a full day. My sister-in-law was going to go swim with the dolphins and they said that President Obama was there that morning and they used those dolphins for him and his entourage. That didn't make us any more of an Obama fan.

Whale Watching

One of the last activities we did in Maui was whale watching. Bronx's favorite whale is the Humpback Whale. It is really cute how he says it. We went out on the boat and within minutes we saw the first whale. Whales were going crazy for about 30 minutes and then we saw nothing for the rest of the trip. Bentley ended up falling asleep. It was really amazing seeing how these huge animals jump out of the water. I would recommend this to those that go. It is really cool to be that close to these huge mammels.

Road to Hana

The road to Hana is something that I will never forget. The road to Hana is this road that has 617 turns with a remarkable view of the coast and the jungle like landscape. I didn't get sick when we got to Hana but then we decided to keep going around instead of going back the same way we came. We ended up seeing the beautiful country side and I ended up seeing my lunch on the side of the jeep. Fun times, fun times.
The little town of Hana was very cute. We stopped for lunch in the Hana bay where the beach was black sand. Bronx got stripped down which was a good thing because as you can see in the pictures there was not an inch of Bronx's body that wasn't covered in sand. After we were done and decided to head back we decided to stop by the 7 pools. we hiked down and Bronx and Nana Jo sat by one of the pools with thier feet in watching people dive in. They were pretty cool.

First Maui Beach Day

First day at the beach in Maui. Bronx took off running as soon as his feet hit the sand. Bentley on the other hand she did not like the feeling of sand between her toes. JoAnn took Bronx walking by these rocks and they found tiny fish in the little pools the rocks created. Bronx wanted to catch the fish so Jo and Mitch spent some time trying to catch one for Bronx. They weren't successful. The sunset in Maui was unbelievable.

Maui Ocean Aquarium

Besides trains, there is nothing more that Bronx loves than ocean animal life. We took a visit to the Maui Ocean Aquarium. Bronx's favorite at the Aquarium was the Hammerhead Shark. Bentley had her first snow cone and would keep her mouth open so we could keep feeding her. Her clothes were drenched because she would spit half of the snowcone out because it was cold. It was pretty cute.

Sugar Cane Train

In Maui we wanted to go on the Sugar Cane Train for Bronx. He loves his choo choo trains. As we were on our journey we went through a golf course, residential streets but nothing that resemble sugar cane. I guess the sugar cane fields caught on fire and burned up so they took us through what once was sugar cane fields. Even though we all thought it was a stupid train ride, Bronx loved it because he was on the train. So, it was worth it after all.

Maui Day 1

We left for Maui the day after Christmas. We rented jeeps and took a drive around the island. We stopped at this turnoff and hiked down to this small cliff where the waves were hitting up against the rocks. Pretty spectacular view. Bronx and I were looking a some minature seashells on the rocks and all of a sudden there was a wave that splashed up and got us. Bronx was screaming. It scared him just a little bit. I was drenched on my right side. I dried off quick. This was a great stop for some family photos.

Christmas 2009

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning with my parents at their house. We were so excited to see how Bronx would react when he saw his coaster cars from Santa. Bronx ran straight past the coaster cars to these plastic animals that were in his stocking. He had to take each animal out one by one and wouldn't let anyone help. We had to beg Bronx to start opening his presents or else we would have been sitting there for the whole day. The kids were of course spoiled and they had a lot of fun with all the toys. Bentley enjoyed eating the Christmas paper most of all.
We spent Christmas morning eating pork pie with my family. I know it sounds disgusting but you have to try it before you knock it, especially with my Grandpa Honey's gravy, SOOOOOO GOOD!!
Christmas Day we spent with Jared's family and the kids had christmas part 2. Our trunk was full of "crap", that is what Jared called it anyway. Bronx played with this car and track that he got and of course rode the coaster cars around the kitchen. Even Nana and Papa Manning got a turn on the coaster cars. I should have taken pictures for blackmale purposes. I can't wait for the years to come when the kids will actually start remembering their Christmas experience. Each will get more fun as they get older. We love this time of year and the time we get to spend with our families. We are blest to have such love. Merry Christmas!