Happy Halloween!

This year for Halloween, Collin went as Transformer Optimus Prime and Ainsley was a kitty cat. We kept it pretty simple, only actually trick-or-treating at a few houses. We spent the rest of our time at a festival at the church where the kids attend MDO. It was just the right size, and they had a lot of fun!

Good times

Jeremy was off on Wednesday so we had fun putting the scarecrow together and going to the park with the kids. Then on Thursday the kids had their fall festival at MDO. Here are some pictures!

Like Mother, Like Daughter? Maybe not...

This afternoon I am outside with the kids while they play in the backyard. Just a little while ago, Collin discovered a green frog on his swingset, at the top of the slide. Well, if you know me well enough, you know that frogs and amphibians of any type are not my thing. In fact, they downright scare me to some degree. Collin wanted me to move the frog so that he could play on the slide. I didn't want to go near the thing, but he insisted that I make it go away so that he could play. I found one of his toy golf clubs to sort of poke at it and encourage it to go on its merry way. I must say, this particular frog was pretty stubborn, but it did eventually make its way into the playhouse part of the swingset. Ainsley was excited to see the frog, so I ran in to grab my camera...

And a cute one of Collin, just because I like it!

Our Weekend

On Saturday morning the kids and I went to a birthday party for two of their little friends. The weather was great and they had a lot of fun playing with their friends. I only snapped one picture.

Saturday afternoon we loaded up the car and headed down to visit my mother. This time Jeremy's family came too and we had a blast! It was my mother's birthday, and also the weekend that her church has their "Extreme Machine" Sunday. It's a lot of fun, and the kids absolutely love it! After the church service, they have a big festival on the church grounds. They have a car show, skydivers, fire trucks, motorcycle stunt show, mud bog, bounce houses for the kids, rock climbing wall, games, etc!!! And the best part? It's all FREE!

Collin helping Nana blow out the candles

Ainsley and Landon checking out one of the miniature horses

Collin waiting in line to go down the BIG inflatable slide

Having fun in the playground

Collin and Landon LOVED the firetrucks!Inspecting the inside of the truck

Cousins: Hope, Ainsley & Collin

And now for the big MAUI blog!

As you know, Jeremy and I took a trip to Maui over a week ago with a couple of our good friends, Nate and Leah. It was an amazing vacation! We had the trip planned for about a year, so when it finally got here it felt very surreal. We stayed at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea, on Maui's south shore. We had a villa with an ocean view, and the accommodations couldn't have been better! The weather was near-perfect every day, with the exception of lots of cloud cover, but the last two days of our trip were particularly nice. The temperature never got over 89 degrees and there was always a nice breeze. We did all kinds of things, from playing in the ocean, to golfing, to relaxing at the spa, to ziplining, to snorkeling! Here are some photos from our amazing trip!

The morning we left. Lookin' pretty good for 6am, if I must say so myself!

Our first First Class flight ever! Totally worth it for an 8-hour flight!

I never knew airplane food could be so good!

Leah and I smooshed into the back seat of our rental car, on the way to the hotel.

First day in Maui, on the lanai of our villaPictures of our villa (Leah, I stole yours!) This was a 2 bed, 2 bath 2-story villa with a full kitchen and laundry!

And we had our own private "plunge pool" too!

First dinner at Nick's Fishmarket

Day 2 - The guys golf, the girls go "spa-ing"!

The "Wailea Mermaid" by Maui artist Dale Zarrella, in the lobby of our hotel

Jeremy grilling chicken and steaks on our lanai. The only meal we cooked ourselves, and it was GOOD! (Even though the green beans were $2.49 a can. Talk about serious sticker shock!!)

Now THIS was an adventure of a lifetime. Jeremy and I went ziplining on Wednesday morning. Neither of us had ever been. I'm afraid of heights, so it was a leap of faith for me, for sure!

Geared up and ready to go! I think those helmets were more necessary for the ride up and down the mountain than for the actual ziplining. That was the bumpiest ride I've ever been on!

Our crazy tour guides instructing us before our first line

The first line

Jeremy's first ride down
Me!

This was the half-way point of our 4-hour tour. We ate a small breakfast of fresh fruit and danishes, and took pictures of the gorgeous views!

Here are videos of Jeremy, then me, ziplining

On Thursday the guys once again played golf in the morning, while Leah and I drove out to Lahaina to do some shopping.

View of Molokini Crater

Lunch at Cheeseburgers, Mai Tais and Rock N Roll

Polo Beach

After dinner at Seawatch Restaurant at the Wailea Golf Club

Artist/sculptor Dale Zarrella working on another statue at the Fairmont Kea Lani

Sunset at Polo Beach

The guys playing in the ocean

Dinner at Cafe O'Lei - YUM! The best lettuce wraps EVER!

A little crab

Jeremy boogie boarding. This was a blast!!!

My handsome husband!

We went snorkling on Friday. This was my very first time to snorkel, and I was a little nervous. But it was GREAT! We rented gear and went out for about an hour. We saw so much sea life, it was amazaing! I took a water camera with me, but as you can see, I'm very disasppointed in the pictures! We saw a few very large sea turtles and some very colorful fish. In the fist picture, there is a turtle laying at the bottom of the rocks. It's kind of hard to make out.

Jeremy's picture looks like what you would expect a person to look like with a snorkeling mask on...

Why does mine look like this?! I want a redo!

On Friday evening we went to the Old Lahaina Luau

The roasted pig being taken out of the "imu" or underground oven. I hate this part (it grosses me out) so I left the camera with Jeremy and headed to the bar for a drink :o)

I honestly was not trying to get a "hiney" picture, but that's what I got!

Guess he thought someone needed to pray over our meal! This praying mantis was crawling on Jeremy's leg at the luau and he couldn't figure out what it was until it ended up on the coffee creamer at our table.

There was a really fun water slide at the hotel. The water at the pool was freezing, but the slide was so much fun that we probably went down it a dozen times.

The day we left