*: July 15'

Happy 4th of July!
July 3rd was Jare and Meaghan's annual "3rd of July Barbeque". Erik and I both got off work early this year so we were able to make it for the first time in 4 years.

Kids getting ready for fireworks on top of the pool slide

On the 4th we got up early to do the Independence Day Run at Newhall Park. I ran the 10k at 7am and Erik and the kids ran the 5k at 8am (I ran/walked the 5k with Jadyn). It was the kids first official 5k and they both did GREAT! We are so proud of them.
Jadyn: 38:10
Ethan: 32.23
Erik: 26:12
Torey: (10k) 48:45 (2nd place in my division, Female 34-39)

This was after my 10k and before the 5k. I had 12 minutes between races :)

In the afternoon we headed to Dodger Stadium for the game and fireworks. Jean, Carl, Ken and Carol were all there too but I didn't get a good picture of everyone :( Jare, Meaghan, Tanner and Logan were in a different section but came up to visit for a while. The Dodgers won 4-3, we ate Dodger dogs, ice cream, cotton candy and enjoyed the fabulous fireworks!

Grandpa Texas, Kathy, Ethan, Erik, Jadyn and Torey

Logan, Ethan and Tanner

Grand Finale!

Grandpa Texas and Kathy
My dad and Kathy came out from Texas for a visit. They split time with us and Jare and Meaghan. Along with all our 3rd and 4th of July activities Grandpa Texas took Ethan for his first trip to the driving range, we took the kids shopping at Toys R Us, had dinner at Claim Jumper and Don Cuco's and of course had chili burgers at Tommy's :)

Ethan with his RoboRaptor and Jadyn with her snake, Ana (like Anaconda :)

Dinner at Claim Jumper

Grandpa Texas with all the grandkids

MAUI
It was truly an incredible trip and so great to hang out with family and have the kids experience Maui for the first time with their cousins. We only wish we could have stayed and didn't have to go back to work :) BIG thank you to Bill and Judy for allowing us to use the condo and Honey and Bubba for helping with the airfare!

Sunday, July 19th
We left the house just after 4am to pickup Grama Honey and Bubba. (Funny how time doesn't matter when you're headed to Hawaii!) We met up with Jare, Meaghan, Tanner and Logan after a quick breakfast in the airport. Tanner and Logan didn't know we were coming :)
Once we got a few groceries and checked out the condo we went up to Bill and Judy's for swimming and a fabulous tri tip dinner. Jadyn had a little fall and got scratched up pretty good but she's a trooper and it was a great first day.

LAX. Tanner and Logan didn't know we were coming to Maui :)

Everyone in the pool at Bill and Judy's

Monday, July 20th
Monday was a "Beach Day". After a walk along the beach we spent most of the day snorkeling (Erik and I saw a turtle!) and playing in the water. Ethan created a new game called "Driftwood" where he pretended to be a piece of driftwood in the surf. Unfortunately "driftwood" rubbed off the sunscreen we had sprayed on them (3 times) and the kids got sunburned :( We had Round Table Pizza out on the lanai for dinner and wandered a bit at Whaler's Village but the kids were beat so we didn't stay long.

Honua Kai Condo Conplex

Ethan and Bubba checking out the view board

Erik playing "Driftwood" with Ethan

Tuesday, July 21st
Tuesday was a "Pool/Cabana Day". We spend the whole day just hangin' out with everyone. It was so nice to just relax, catch up and of course the kids never stop having fun. In the evening we walked down to the Castaway Café for 2 for 1 pasta night with the whole gang. (Bill, Judy, Bubba, Honey, Jare, Meaghan, Tanner, Logan, Erik, Torey, Ethan and Jadyn)

Bubba doing magic tricks while the kids drink their chocolate shakes

Cozy time

Kids playing shuffle board before dinner

Wednesday, July 22nd
Wednesday morning we (the 4 of us, Grama Honey and Bubba) drove to Wailuku for zip lining. So much fun! Jadyn wanted to go "2 million more times!" We grabbed a quick lunch at Subway and headed to Iao State Park for a short hike to see the Iao Valley and Iao Needle. So beautiful!
We decided to take the scenic route along the Northern coast back to the condo. At one point we backed up 3 times to let cars pass on the narrow (sometimes 1 lane) roads. All in all it was a pretty drive and we stopped briefly to check out the blow hole on our way.
That night Honey and Bubba watched all the kids so Erik and I walked down to Whaler's Village for dinner at our favorite spot, Hula Grill. It was so relaxing, the food was good (Erik got fish tacos for the first time), and there's never a bad sunset in the Maui.

Ethan and Jadyn coming in for a landing!

Iao Valley

Hwy 30 along the north shore cliffs

Sunset from the Hula Grill

Thursday, July 23rd
Thursday morning Erik and I took a walk along the beach and then drove up to Honolu’a Bay for some snorkeling. The hike down to water was beautiful and the snorkeling was nice too :)
We spent the rest of the day with everyone at the cabana and pool just relaxing. In the evening we went back to Bill and Judy's for dinner and games. The kids (all but Ethan) conked out watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while the "adults" played Sequence. We let the men have the first 2 games but the ladies pulled through with 3 consecutive wins!

The hike down the Honolu'a Bay for snorkeling

Honolu’a Bay

Cozy with Grama Honey

Nice hat Bubba :)

Don't touch the domino's!

Everyone but Ethan is down for the count!

Playing Sequence. Hey Judy, Erik's Mai Tai looks a little dark :)

Friday, July 24th
Erik wasn't feeling too great after a few too many the night before but we headed to the Maui Ocean Center in the morning. The kids loved it! Ethan read several of the info signs and especially loved the sharks:) Jadyn liked the string rays and turtles. We got to see them feed the stingrays while were sitting the in the shark tunnel.
After the Ocean Center we took the kids back to Whaler's Village for lunch at the Hula Grill. We're always telling them about the restaurant where you can put your feet in the sand...
That evening we were invited back to Bill and Judy's for pizza. Such beautiful sunsets from their backyard.

The Hula Grill for lunch

Saturday, July 25th
Saturday morning Erik and I walked along the boardwalk, packed up and we wandered into Lahaina for souvenirs. We ended up bumping into Bill, Judy, Jare Meaghan & the boys so we had shave ice before finishing our shopping and having lunch at Koa's. Our flight left about 10pm, got into LAX about 6:15am and we arrived home about 8am. The kids and Erik slept a little on the plane but we were all ready for a nap before my 4pm softball game and Erik's 6:15 hockey game.