Road to Hana

Yesterday we took the road to Hana. All was well on the way there (I was driving) on the way back Emma got sick (Glen was driving). Enough said on who the better driver is :) We saw so many beautiful things it made the long drive well worth it. We stopped at a black sand beach which was one of the highlights. Couldn't go in the water because on that side of the island the waves are huge. But the scenery here is breathtaking. We also encounted some waterfalls which were beautiful. So much to see on the road to Hana that we could go back a few more times and probably still not see everything.

Beach and Lahina

On Saturday we decided to hit the beach early since we have now learned that you do not go to the beach in the afternoon in Maui. The wind is too strong if you have little ones playing in the sand. The girls had fun playing in the sand and Glen and Ben went snorkling. After the beach we decided to drive to Kaanapali Beach. While Ben and Glen were snorkling the girls, Arlene and I went Shopping!! All of us ended up getting new dresses. We then headed to Lahina which is a small town where most of the cruise ships dock. We ate a cheeseburger in paradise. I did not last long because it is an open air place and there are birds all over. I shoved my food down and quickly left. I did find out that Hawaii does not have many birds though because of some disease that wiped most of them out....I guess this is why I LOVE Maui :)

Luau

Last night we went to a Luau at the Mariott in Wailea. Ben and I thought this Luau was much better than the Old Lahina Luau we went to 3 years ago. The girls liked the Imu the best which is the pig cooking in the ground. For some reason they were fascinated with this. All of the food was excellent! The dances were really good too, we saw traditional hula dancing and some fire dancing.

Molokini

Yesterday we took a snorkel cruise to Molokini. Which is a crater/extinct volcano that is by Maui. On the way to Molokini we came up to a group of dolphins playing. The tour person said you only see this about 2 times a month. When we got to Molokini Ben took Emma on a little boat so she could see through the bottom and look at the fish below. I also took Bella, but she cried the whole time and it only lasted about 5 min. That was o.k. with me because I am not a big fan of swimming with fish anyway. After being out with Emma for a while Ben then dropped her off and went snorkling by hiself for a while. On the way back the boat went through turtle town and we saw some big turtles swimming in the ocean.

Maui

On Wednesday we headed to Maui, HI. We thought we were going to go from Des Moines to Minneapolis to Maui, but as we boarded the plane in MN we were told we had another stop in Los Angeles. Ok so just a short stop to pick up some people we can handle that right??? Wrong we had to get off the plane bags and all then we were told we had plane problems. All in all we stayed in L.A. for 5 hours!!! Our plane to Maui did not land until about 2 a.m. Maui time! So in this process we had to plead with Alamo to stay open so we could get our rental car when we got in and we also had to call the hotel so we could check in that late. Delta did end up giving us $100 vouchers so we can start planning our next trip!

Bella's Mock Party

Since we were going to Hawaii this year around Bella's birthday we decided to have a little family party for her before we left. We also included Lilly's birthday with her party. We had a pool cake and opened some presents. Bella got some new horses for her doll house, a new dress, lunch box, and Woody and Jesse from Toy Story. We had a fun time as usual. Since it was for Lilly's 1st birthday we had to let her dig into a cupcake on her own. I made sure to pick the one with the blue frosting!

Twin Cities

In mid August we traveled to Minneapolis to attend a wedding reception and spend time with family. On that Saturday we took a trip to the Mall of America. Of course we had to make a stop in the American Girl Store. Bella got a Lanie Doll and Emma got some accessories for her doll Kit. The weekend ended up being really fun and the girls got to meet their cousin Aaron for the first time and reunite with Adam and Isaac which we had not seen in 2 years.

Our Great State Fair!

Wow! It's been a while since I posted anything so here it goes trying to play catch up. The girls and I went to the Iowa State Fair on the first day. Big mistake the temp was around 110 degrees that day so we lasted from about 8am to 2pm. I did not get to see everthing I wanted to, but maybe next year. The girls did go on a pony ride and we did little hands on the farm as we do every year and we had some good eats. We of course had to ride the Ye old mill which is a tradition that I always rode that ride with my grandma and now I am trying to start riding it every year with my kids. The girls also liked playing in the fountains at Pella Plaza since it was so hot.

Adventureland with the Dehmers

Monday the kids and I went to Adventureland with the Dehmers, Angie's mom, and Justin's mom. The girls rode many more rides than I thought they would. Thank goodness for the people I was with since I get sick if I go in a circle too much they rode with the girls on most of the rides. Emma's favorite ride was the log ride and I am not quite sure what Bella liked the best. She claims it was the log ride, but when we were riding it did not seem like she was having fun especially when we went down the big hill and got wet! Congrats again to Justin Dehmer for taking the MstM Blue Devils to a 43-0 baseball season and winning the state 1A title!

Warren County Fair

Last week the girls and I stayed with my sister's family at the Warren County Fair for a couple days. My niece Haley had a horse that she was showing so we thought it would be fun to just stay in our camper with the 5 of them. I now realize that my camper was only made for 1 family. It was a little cramped, but we still had a good time. The kids got to ride a real pony ride, which they loved and a train ride. Haley did a great job showing her horse for it only being her first year.

Summer Fun

We have had so much fun this summer using our new boat. Almost all the kids love being pulled on the tube....except of course Emma and Bella :) Both of them have come a long way with their swimming though. We just wish summer was a little bit longer!