Thursday, January 31, 2008

Memories Part 2

My Mom was the camp photographer in Maui and I just got all of her photos! So... memories part 2 from Hawaii!
Pool Time! This is what Abby did every day in the pool with Papa. She counted to cinco (Grandma taught her) and jumped in. She did this over and over again until she totally wore out her Papa! It was really cute!

The Hansen family in the pool.

I loved this part! After she went swimming with Papa, she would curl up in a towel in my lap until she got warm. She is to active these days to really cuddle with me so I treasured this time! How sweet she is!

Because of a small cold front, it was a few degrees colder than normal the first few days we were there. This weather also produced HUGE waves. The waves would just crash one right after the other. My mom took this picture right before the lady in the chair got soaked by a wave that crashed all the way up the beach and almost to the sidewalk! Although it put a little damper on the ocean swimming time the first few days, it was really neat to watch.

Sand Castles! How do you go to the beach without building a sand castle! Ours was more like a sand pit, but Jason was building the same thing my Dad built with me when I was little. How cute!

After our castle building, we went for a swim in the ocean. Well... it was Abby's first and last time for the ocean on this trip! She really didn't like it!

Don't you just love her chubby cheeks and cute pink bow!

A cute picture of Daddy and Katie.

The humid climate did wonders for Abby's hair! Her whole head of hair fell into beautiful ringlets! I loved it! I should have taken a picture of just the back of her head to remember it. But these are some cute pictures of her nonetheless!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Memories, Memories, Memories!

As I sit and reflect, there are so many memories from our trip to Hawaii that I would love to share. So, I thought that I would do one long post with lots of little snapshots.
We had a great room with a great view. It sat up on a cliff and looked out into the ocean. It was beautiful! I loved sitting out there in the quiet of the morning, watching the waves roll in, and reflecting on the amazing creativity of our great God!
The view from our patio.


Our room was up on this cliff. But it was only about a 2 minute walk down to the beach.

Since the girls are still so little, we spent a lot of time in the swimming pool. It was perfect because there was a pool area with a snack bar right on the beach. Papa quickly got designated as Abby's swim partner and swam with her practically every morning! It was so cute! Abby was a bundle of energy that would not stop and she wore her Papa out!
A cute picture of Daddy and Abby swimming!

The grassy area around this beachside pool was quite the hotspot for us. We spent many hours laying out, reading books, and chasing Abby. A couple of times, Abby would curl up in a lawn chair next to me and read her books. Have I mentioned yet how cute she is! Poor Katie, she was always sleeping during these times!



Grandma bought Abby this adorable hula skirt and flower headband.


Snorkeling! Jason and I rented snorkeling gear to snorkel in the bay. We both love to snorkel and had so much fun! We saw lots of beautiful corral and reef life, lots of tropical fish, an octopus, and a sea turtle!


Sunsets in Maui are extraordinarily beautiful! This was just one more time that I would sit and think about God's beautiful creation! One night, Jason, the girls, and I took a walk around the resort and went down to the beach for the sunset. Just before sunset, a guy dressed in island attire ( I don't know how else to put it), runs along the beach and lights a line of torches. The lit torches on the beach are so beautiful!





Front Street in Lahaina is one of my favorite places on Maui. It is a little shopping and restaurant strip that runs along the coast. Of course, I love it because Kimo's is there along with Hula Pie, but I also love the character and ambience of it.
Here is the whole gang taking a day to shop and eat on Front Street.

There is a famous tree on Front Street called the Banyan Tree. It looks like a little park, but it is in fact one giant tree that has sprouted to form all these other "trees."

When Katie was on the beach or at the pool, she was quite cute! I love all of her chubby rolls! Especially in a swimsuit!


Uncle Dee and Aunt Sharon, and some friends of theirs, happened to be on Maui at the same time as us. This is my Grandmother's sister and her husband. So we got a chance to meet them for dinner one night. It was great to see them and to catch up. And of course, it was great to eat at Kimo's again!

The Plantation House! So I have mentioned Kimo's a lot, but, The Plantation House is a fantastic restaurant and one of our favorites! It is kind of the big treat for the week and we ate their for my parent's anniversary. It is seated up high on the golf course and all in one view you get the beautiful hills, the golf course, and the ocean. It is breathtaking! And the food, oh my the food! I'll just say, it is really good! Jason took a walk with Katie while we waited for the food. He got some good pictures!



I am missing some pictures that my mom took. Pictures of sand castles, pool time, and other fun stuff. I hope to post them soon. But all this to say, we had a great time and made some great memories! Thank you love for working hard to give this to me! I am so thankful for you and so glad I got to share my favorite place with you!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Playing on the beach!

A family picture minus one. Katie missed a lot of beach time with all of her naps. Poor thing.

A cute picture of Papa and Katie.

We walked down the beach to Napili Sunset. i wanted to show Jason where we used to stay.

Abby didn't like the water at first, but Grandma slowly coaxed her in.


Tuesday, January 15, 2008

First Stop: Kimo's!

One of my absolute favorite restaurants is Kimo's located in Lahaina on a little beachside shopping strip called Front Street. It has great seafood! I don't even really like fish and I love their parmesan crusted Mahi Mahi. Kimo's was also the first place that I was introduced to Hula Pie! As they say, it is the dessert that the "sailors swam to shore for!" If you like ice cream, you would love this! It is a great big piece of ice cream pie with fudge, cookie crust, whip cream, and nuts. Mmmm, I am glad it is also at Hula Grill and Lelaine's! Kimo's is right on the water. The side facing the water is all open and the deck projects out over the water! If you time dinner right, you catch the most gorgeous sunset over the neighboring island! Great food, great view, great place!

Abby liked the umbrella's in our drinks.

Abby shared her umbrella's with Papa!

Beautiful sunset!

Katie missed out on Hula Pie by two months, poor kid! But she liked her veggies!

Hula Pie! What the sailors swam to shore for!

We Are Here!

Oooooh smell the flowers, taste the pineapple, feel the soft smooth sand, hear the waves crash on the beach, and just stare at the amazing blue of the ocean! I just love this place! Saturday morning, January 12th, we boarded an airplane for a long 6 hour and 40 minute flight. And... Katie and Abby did great! The red eye flight coming home might be a different story, but we are counting our blessings for flight #1! The first 24 hours was adjusting and letting fussy tired kids readjust to a new time zone. Now that they have had a good night's sleep, we are having a great time! The resort is beautiful! We have two rooms, a kitchen, and a balcony that overlooks the ocean. A short little path around the neighboring unit drops you off on the beautiful sandy beach. They have a great restaurant down on the water that we have already frequented. They have several beautiful pools, grassy play areas, and an enormous hot tub! Plus, my parents are loving having the grandkids around to play with, which leaves us with time to read, sunbathe, body surf, and go snorkeling. Thanks again to my husband for a fabulous Christmas present!

They have complimentary drinks and fruit under this beachside cabana every morning at 10am.

The view from the beach to the resort.

The view from the cabana to the beach.

The girls playing in the grass looking out at the ocean. So cute!