Too much fun with Mimi and Grandad

Our 10th anniversary was this weekend so James' parents came to town for a visit. Since we were busy preparing for a party and celebrating our anniversary, they basically took the kids for 4 days and from the pictures it looks like they had a blast!

Fairytale Town!

Funderland!

Sleeping and swimming at the hotel

Trip to the movies

Trips to the parks

Bounceopolis and SO much more!

Thanks Mimi and GrandDad!!!

4th of July fun

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. We have gone to the rodeo the past 3 years in a row and now it just feels like tradition so of course we had to go this year too. They added some motorcross in the show before the fireworks which the boys loved. We saw the rodeo show on the 3rd and then had friends and neighbors over for pool and bbq action on the 4th followed by $300 worth of fireworks display in the cul-de-sac.

The parachuter bringing down the flag at the rodeo

James and JR watching the rodeo

Me and Tristan watching the rodeo

The fireworks at the rodeo

Fun by the pool on the 4th

Enjoying a bbq dinner on the deck

Cul-de-sac fireworks

Cul-de-sac firework spectators

Some sparkler action

Outdoor fun and sun

We've been enjoying our backyard quite a bit so far with the pool, the garden, our great new deck, and family and friends.

Amanda, Jessica, Emilly, and Cassie

Tristan and Amanda

Dad and Flor

Sonia, Amanda, et al.

Tabitha, Tristan, and JR

Tabitha and JR

A great sunset on a great evening!

Things are growing

And it's not just the kids. We might actually get something out of our garden this year. So far we have eaten several tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, and basil.

My little garden

In my little garden I have peppers, basil, three kinds of sage, stevia, asparagus, artichokes, lavender, chives, cilantro, mint, oregano, rosemary and thyme. In the back we have green beans growing and off to the right we have a couple tomato plants.

We're getting some artichokes!

Our blueberries

The tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes

We have lots of grapes. Hopefully they will make it all the way this year.

I'm hoping the grapes make it. Last year we didn't get any. They didn't even make it to this point, I think it was a fungal infection. The year we moved in one of the grape vines gave us some grapes, the other grape vine gave us raisins.

It also looks like we won't get much from our apricot tree. We have a few apricots and I think they are finally ripening (it's been an odd late season). We also have plums growing on our apricot tree. It's the oddest thing because we have another tree growing out of the trunk of our apricot tree with different leaves and fruits. They look and taste like small plums. We didn't get a lot though.

I have a little bit more hope for our peaches this year although it's not going to be a good year for them. They had peach leaf curl and scabs and it rained so late we didn't have time to spray before the fruits came. I sprayed some but the fruits keep falling off so we definitely won't get as many as we did the first year. I'm just hoping I can keep it alive and we will still continue to get some peaches each year if not more.

The Kitchen

We got in our new counter tops. We are replacing everything in the kitchen except the cabinets. We already did the cabinet knobs, the lighting, paint, curtains, new appliances (mostly - one to go), and now the counter tops. All we have left is the backsplash and the floors. Here's the before and after (and some in between).

Before

The demolition

No counter tops

Counter tops are in

The after (for now)

Maui Photo Book

I created a photo book of all our Maui pictures. They were such gorgeous pictures and it was a such a wonderful vacation (and I have fun making photo books) that I thought this would be a great treasure to have.

Click here to view this photo book larger

The first BBQ of the season

Our deck is almost complete and we had the first barbecue of the season. It was really the first barbecue we've had in years, but that's because we didn't have a deck before.

Hanging out on our new deck

And the pool was open for the season too.

James started the deck last summer and has built the whole thing pretty much by himself. It looks great and I'm loving being able to relax in our new outdoor space. Here's the building of the deck:

Last summer James and Nick tore out the rock garden and bushes and leveled the dirt for the deck

Building the frame

The planks are on and cutting the edges

The planter boxes for the benches. Yep, I did a little work too.

Patio furniture

The deck

Hawaii details

We had a wonderful vacation in Maui, and as promised I am adding more pictures and info here. We arrived Friday night and just enjoyed dinner at the hotel restaurant after getting settled. It's a gorgeous resort at the southwest part of Maui in Makena, Makena Beach and Golf resort.

Saturday we did a little shopping, playing in the waves and then went to a luau at the nearby Mariott. The luau had a special performance of the finals of the first annual Maui fire knife competition. That was a really nice treat for the boys. Tristan fell asleep during the luau, but woke up and really enjoyed the fire knife dancing. We also saw a spectacular performance by an 11 year old fire knife dancer who started when he was 10 months old. Amazing.

Playing in the waves

The only time Tristan was happy playing in the water

Dinner at the luau

The show

JR and the torches

On Sunday we went snorkling so we headed out early to pick up our snorkling gear which got complicated because they didn't have all the equipment at one store. We wanted to get a boogie board with a window so Tristan could come out with us and look through the window and see the fish, but they only carry that at their Kehie store so we had to make a longer trek. By the time we got to the beach there was no parking so we had a longer trek walking down the beach to the snorkling spot. We finally found it and it also had some great tide pools where we found lots of coral, shells, little fish, and other creatures. This turned out to be a life saver. We got our snorkle stuff on and tried to get Tristan out in the water but he slipped off the boogie board into the water. He had a life vest on, but it freaked him out and he refused to go near the water after that. So I went out snorkling with JR for a while and James stayed with Tristan playing in the sand. It was nice holding JR's hand and swimming around looking at the fish. Then I took Tristan over to the tide pools while JR and James played in the waves. After going out for lunch and going back to the hotel, James took JR out snorkling and saw some huge turtles while Tristan and I hit the pool.

Heading off to the pool

Have the pool all to ourselves

Monday through Thursday James had the conference so it was just me and the boys. On Monday I took the boys to the Maui Ocean center and then out to lunch. We got to see the feeding of the turtles and the feeding of the sharks. It was a good day.

It's a pineapple plant

Petting the sea star

Taking pictures of the turtles

Tuesday James had a half day so I just took the boys down south to see the lava rocks and check out some tide pools. JR really wanted to play in the waves some more so we headed to a nearby beach for a little bit. After lunch Tristan and I did some more hanging out at the pool and James took JR boogie boarding.







On Wednesday we headed out to a really nice restaurant by the beach for breakfast before driving up to Iao Valley. It was cold, windy, and rainy up at Iao Valley, but we managed. It was a really nice walking trail with bridges and creeks and guava plants and gorgeous scenery. We also headed to the nearby Japanese gardens and nature center. Tristan was sick and had a little fever. We stopped for a little bite for lunch and to the store for children's tylenol and headed back to the hotel. Even with Tristan sick, it was a nice day which ended with a surf and turf dinner provided by the conference.

Breakfast by the beach

Iao Valley

A map of the walking paths at Iao Valley

Bamboo at Japanese garden

Nature center at Iao Valley

On Thursday I wanted to take the boys to the great tide pool area I remembered taking JR to 5 years ago. It was a great area with two huge tide pools where the boys would be able to play in water that was only a foot or so deep and had fish and such. I was able to find the place, but it was really crowded because of a second grade field trip and it was so windy we kept getting sand blown in our face. We were able to get a break in the wind for a bit after the second graders moved on and saw some sea urchins, crabs, hermit crabs with beautiful shells, and lots of little fish. We also found a coconut on the beach. But then the wind picked up and the kids wouldn't have anymore. That's when Tristan swore off both the ocean and the sand. Luckily it was our last day because he was not going back to the beach. James had a short day on Thursday too so he took JR to play at the beach while Tristan and I again hung out at the pool. He took a nap waiting for it to stop raining and I had a drink. It was a nice relaxing afternoon and a great way to end the vacation.