Annual Family Boating Trip

I'm finally posting some pictures of our annual family boating trip. It has been a tradition in our family for the past 9 years to rent a boat and spend the day fishing, swimming and eating! The kids look forward to it every summer and can't wait until the day arrives. The past two years we have rented a room at the lodge that has 6 beds and fits both families, plus dad comfortably. We stay up way too late and enjoy playing cards, laughing and spending time together. This year the adults were probably a little too loud and had to be reminded to quiet down. It has been fun to watch over the years as our families have changed. New babies have been born, nieces and nephews have gotten married, etc.


McKayla loves catching the fish, but is terrified once they are in the boat flopping all over the place. Her princess pole always brings her luck!

Morgan is ready to catch a big one with her Barbie pole but later gives up when she realizes you actually have to wait for them to bite.

Jordan, Kamryn, and Mykelin were determined to go swimming even though the water was freezing.





The true sign at the end of the day that this was another successful boating trip......everyone was exhausted!

It's a bird, It's a plane......no it's a bird - again!

It seems that when Angelo and I go out to eat there is usually a lot of excitement at our house. For the second time while we have gone out a bird has flown straight into one of our windows. This time the kids tried to nurse it back to health. I'm sure it was a rude awakening when it was just flying along and bam! it comes to an abrupt halt. Of course one of the first things I asked the kids when I found out they touched it, was "did you wash your hands really good?" I am so proud of my germ-conscious-kids we've raised, they even took it a step further and wore gloves!!!

1st day of school

So, today was the first day of school. I have bittersweet feelings about sending them back. On one hand it will be nice to be back on a schedule and learning again. On the other hand I will miss them so much!! I have enjoyed spending so much time with them this summer. We have all had such a great time together.

On a lighter note, Little miss Mo and I will get to spend a ton of time together! She is my little shadow and we will have a ton of fun together. Today, she went with me to the salon and they painted her nails while she waited. She loved it, especially the flowers they put on them.

McKayla's newfound skill

McKayla has been enjoying practicing her new skill of blowing bubbles. Who knew bubblegum could be so entertaining?

Morgan is trying to follow in her big sisters footsteps. Keep practicing baby.

Locks of Love

Kamryn wanted to cut her hair shorter before going back to school. We decided that if she was going to cut off years of growing it out we didn't want it to just be thrown away. So, we decided to donate it to the Locks of Love. Locks of Love is an organization who makes hair pieces for children who have lost their hair due to illness. The minimum requirement is 10". So we cut off a little more than that. Here are pictures of the process.

BEFORE


DURING (ooooohhhhh, that first cut made my heart sink)


AFTER


She really likes it, it turned out so cute! I am so proud of her for doing this. I am sure some child will be thrilled to get the hair she donated.

Dancing With Grandpa

My niece recently got married. At the reception the girls just adored dancing with their grandpa. I think he enjoyed it every bit as much as they did. These are precious moments I hope they remember always.

Jordan was quite the dance partner for Morgan also. He is such a good big brother.

Aloha!

Our family recently returned from our summer vacation to Maui. Angelo and I haven't been there since we were "Mauied" many moons ago. It holds a special place in my heart. There is no better word I can think of to describe it than 'paradise'. This time when we went we took the kids. We all had such a great time that no one wanted to come back home. Just wanted to share a few of our favorite photos of some of the things we saw and did.

One of our McKayla's favorite things to do was look for seashells. So, every morning we would walk the beach looking for seashells (she has quite the collection) and every night we would watch the sun set. The most beautiful sunsets ever!!

Jordan and Kamryn loved playing in the ocean, especially Jordan. The bigger the waves the better. He loved to body surf and boogie board. Went to the Black Sand beach, Hanoma Bay and Polo beach at our hotel. Morgan didn't like the waves but loved to make sand castles.

Morgan turned 3 while we were there. She has been looking forward to this for months and keeps talking about her 'Hawaii b-day'. She will be surprised on her b-day next year when she just has a regular birthday party. I think she thought the trip was planned just for her. What she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?She had a lot of fun.

Went deep-sea fishing. Jordan caught a couple of small fish, not the 'shark' he was hoping for.
Instead of snorkeling with the littlest ones we decided to take a submarine ride. At one point we were 135 ft. under water. We had a great time watching the fish. Some would come right up to the sub. and eat the algae from it. My pictures from that excursion didn't come out very good.

My pictures from the ocean aquarium turned out much better. I am fascinated with sharks and could watch them all day. Just don't want to swim with them. Well, maybe if I was well protected in a cage!

Had a great time at the luau. Don't know if the guys liked the food, entertainment or the pretty ladies best, hmmmmm.

Never know what McKayla is up to next. Morgan got a hula girl outfit with coconuts for her birthday. McKayla had more fun wearing it than Morgan did. She wanted to wear it everywhere. She loved all of the 'compliments' she got and even performed the hula a few times when asked.