Thermonica

Today Carter went to the dentist for a teeth cleaning and checkup. He did great and so he got to pick a prize out of the big prize basket (the only reason any kid is willing to go to the dentist). Usually this is a long process examining every item and mulling it over but today he quickly found a harmonica and that was it. He carried it around and played it all day. The thing we loved is he calls it a Thermonica, "Mom where is my Thermonica" and "I shared my Thermonica with Logan". Brady and I thought this was hilarious and realize he'll probably get it right soon, so for now we are enjoying the Thermonica entertainment.

Fun on the beach

Okay, here is our last hawaii post. I promise. It is just so beautiful and we had so much fun that it is hard not to post all our pics. We had such a great time at the beach playing in the sand, swimming, jumping around in the surf and boogie boarding.

Logan's entire face is covered in sand, I'm not sure how that happened but he was having so much fun he didn't even notice.

We had a great time boogie boarding. It took Carter a few times to get the hang of it but he hung in there and had a great time cruising on the waves.

Logan loved when we jumped up when the waves. He would yell splash with us each time and them giggle.

Wailea

After a few days we moved to Wailea on the South West shore of Maui. It definitely has a different pace, slower and a really calm surf which we enjoyed.

Here is the view from our hotel room.

The grounds are beautiful and we enjoyed just walking around and exploring.

Banana trees around the hotel...there is just something I love about banana trees. As many bananas as my kids eat I could use one of these in my backyard.

We kept having these beautiful cardinals land on our lanai and Carter was so excited he was able to snatch a picture of one.

We got to spend a day with Uncle Mike who lives in Kihei. Against his better judgement we were able to get him off the golf course and into the ocean. Carter was really into hanging out with Uncle Mike, he wanted to swim with him and eat his sandwich with him, whatever he could thing of to do. Logan called him Papa the whole time which we all thought was hilarious.

The sand at Makena beach is crushed shells and coral and it is beautiful set against the aqua colored water.

We explored the lava flows to the south of our hotel. It was amazing to see how expansive they were and how picturesque the beach is along these flows.

The boys loved watching this blow hole and of course they couldn't resist throwing rocks in.

You can get a sense for how far this lava flowed looking up towards the volcano.

Carter looking at the pumice - we didn't realize pumice came from volcanic eruptions and the other cool thing we learned is it floats in water.

We took some family pictures on our hotel beach, you can expect to see these again in your Christmas card this year. :)

Daddy's in heaven when his little boy holds his hand.

~ Sisters ~

This picture is from the board walk that runs along the hotels.

We also spotted a sea turtle on our walk.

Another picture by Carter.

Snorkeling

Snorkeling is my favorite activity in Hawaii. It was so much fun taking Carter and watching him experience it for the first time. He was nervous at first but once he saw a few fish he was hooked. We were also fortunate to see several sea turtles both times we snorkeled, they are so amazing to watch.

The first time we went snorkeling we took the boys out on a kayak so Carter wouldn't have to swim too far. Logan really enjoyed riding in the kayak and he say a turtle and some fish from where he was.

Brady taught Carter to snorkel in the hotel pool. Here is a cute video of him swimming around.

Sunset sail

My romantic husband planned for us to go on a sunset sail one night. It was a beautiful new boat and we enjoyed just relaxing and having some time alone. It was amusing as they kept changing direction to catch the wind we basically just went in one big circle. But when you aren't chasing kids and you are drinking a Mai Tai you don't really care.

Brady talking with the Captain.

Lahaina

We spent an afternoon in Lahaina which we love. And we ate at our favorite place Bubba Gumps, based on the movie Forrest Gump. Carter loved it because we could see tropical fish swimming right below our window. Logan was taking a nap, so he missed it.

Carter's meal came in a paper boat.

Carter trying on Forrest's shoes. We tried to take a picture of Logan in the shoes but he wasn't too found of trying on someone else's giant shoes and was screaming in his picture. :)

Some things have definitely changed in the last ten years. This sunken boat was not in the harbor last time we visited. Apparently it washed up in a storm and before they could figure out how to remove it the reef grew around it so they are just leaving it there.

One of my favorite things when I visited Maui as a kid was the massive banyan tree at the courthouse. The tree spreads over 200 feet and has 12 major trunks, it is really amazing and offers lots of shade. The boys had a great time exploring and climbing in the tree.

We wore Logan out, he found a great place to rest.

Brady and I ate here on our honeymoon and have a picture under this sign so Carter wanted his taken here.

The boys being silly on the way to the hotel. I love that Carter plays on Logan's level...Logan loves to play with his big brother.