Hawaii!

Hawaii, how I love looking back at these photos.  They have been the thing motivating me to actually attempt to catch this blog up.  We are lucky, that is all there is to it.  To experience this place with our boys, to soak up the sun, to enjoy quality time with the grandparents was just a dream.   I think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves so instead of going into too much detail, I will give my top ten highlights. 

10.   Seeing my boys enjoy the ocean.  Grady loves swimming in the ocean and hopping waves on the shore.  His floaties allowed him to venture out with dad well beyond were he could touch and I think he loved every minute of it.  He would have swam off into the sunset if we let him.  Graham similarly loved the ocean.  He'd get knocked over and tossed by the waves and always come up smiling.   A small crowd would often gather around him because he was just such a crack up how much he loved getting pummeled by the waves.   I have vowed that my landlocked boys will see the ocean every year. 

9.  Donuts on a stick.   It is family tradition to travel up to a mountain town to get donuts on a stick.  The biggest fan may just have been little Graham man who ate his entire stick and nailed the "get your hands of my donuts stick" face better than anyone.  Best donuts ever. 

8. Tidepooling and Sea Creature Lookout.   Grady enjoyed seeing and searching for fish and hermit crabs in the tide pools.  We spent an afternoon trying to net the little suckers and I felt so proud when I finally got a fish and found a hermit crab.   Mama earned her keep that day.   We also had a friendly little turtle that we spotted several times right off our beach.   Grady even got to see him while swimming in the ocean.  We had several whale sightings and a starfish pick up too.   Not too shabby for this former marine biologist wanna be.  We also had quite a bit of fun chasing Geckos in the gardens.  Mama did not earn her keep there, those suckers are fast!

7. Date night.  Chris and I enjoyed a delicious seafood dinner out thanks to Grandma and Papa.   Always so nice to get a night out with Chris, but even better to share the night in such a magical place.

6.  Soaking up the sun.   Every single day we were out there on the beach.  Nothing beats the beach in Maui, nothing.

5. Family meals and tropical drinks.  We enjoyed family meals out on the balcony of Grandma and papa's room which had 180 degree views of the ocean.  

4.  Amazing Lightening Storm.  On our last night, the biggest lightening storm came.  The beach cleared completely and there was the most amazing show of lightening and thunder.  It felt like the storm was right on top of us.  In speaking with some of the locals they said that they'd only seen a storm like that once in 25 years.  

3. Aquarium Date.  We had a really fun day exploring the Maui Aquarium.  Graham enjoyed his independence and loved roaming through the various exhibits until I couldn't chase him anymore. Grady was mesmerized by every exhibit especially the sharks.   As a girl who wanted to be a marine biologist for the better portion of my childhood, I similarly enjoyed every minute.  Grady got to top it off by holding a star fish, a sea cucumber, and a conch shell.  

2. Amazing sunsets and all around beauty.  Hawaii is just beautiful.  It's beauty is breathtaking and gives me such peace.  

1. Time with my Family and Making Memories.  The best part of the trip for me was uninterrupted time with my family and making memories of a lifetime.  We are so lucky to be able to spend time together in such an amazing place. Waking up to the sound of the waves, feeling the velvety sand in my toes,  eating Popsicle with the the boys, digging out more sand then I ever thought possible from the boys in the bath, chasing geckos, watching Grady play his ukulele, seeing Graham get absolutely slammed by a wave and come up laughing hysterically, watching Papa and the grand-kids join hands to take on huge waves, hearing the conch shell horn at sunset, every minute of every day I watched my family and thought, these are the times.  This is what dreams are made of.  This is what heaven feels like.  I love Maui and the memories we made there. 

Grand Targhee!

Chris and I met up with our good friends the Kachmariks for a ski getaway this year.  We decided that the guys would have a a ski day and the girls would have one too.  I think it was the first time I had a girls ski day maybe ever in my life and I was actually nervous about keeping up with Lish!  Despite super foggy conditions, we had a great time on a great mountain.  We tackled the mountain and ended the day with a nice beverage, some girl talk and a fun band.  It was the perfect mama day.  I am dying to go back next year and try to catch a glimpse of the Tetons. Dan (who we have always called Extreme Dan) and Chris also had a good day skiing but for maybe the first time in their lives, they cut the day short due to high wind conditions and shut down lifts. While weather may not have been on our side, it really didn't matter.  It was so so fun to be together.  Just like the olden days, well except now with the addition of 5 crazy kids. We certainly all look different, but I'd say with 5 kids ages 1,2, 3, 4 and 6 we are just about as crazy as we were in college - good, chaotic, fun times were had by all! A sled, a big pile of snow, hot chocolate, lots of treats, fun movies and a morning on the mountain made for 5 mostly happy campers.  If I could only figure out how to bottle their energy, I could be a millionaire. 

Look at our frosty hair! Maybe we are the extreme ones!

Looks like someone may have eyes for Graham!

Kate got a sweet deal as the boys fought over who got to pull her, I guess it pays to be the only girl!

These boys must have mom's with really good taste!

I spy one ham!

Grady tried out three mountains this year.  I think I was 15 before I'd skied three mountains.  

As the Kachmarik boys were bombing down the hill, Grady adamantly insisted on taking snow eating breaks.

 All the Kachmariks were so sweet to our little Graham. Drew may have been the sweetest of all.

Thanks for the awesome times Kachmariks.  Up next, I have actually caught up to the right season and can document our trip to Hawaii, the post that has been motivating me to catch up for a long time!