Hawaii

I am finally getting around to posting about our Hawaii trip.  Despite a few set backs (like a 5 hour delayed flight and two of the four days having inclement weather), we had a blast!

The first night there was no sunset because of bad weather so we were happy that by the second night we got to see one. That is Black Rock behind us and there was a lot of good snorkeling there. (This was our beach right in front of our hotel)

Every night there is a torch lighting ceremony which ends with him diving off Black Rock.

This was the sunset on our third night.  So beautiful!

We went on a pineapple tour which was fun because we got to learn about the history of Maui in that area.  We also got to pick our own pineapples!
It takes pineapples 18 months to two years to become ripe.  These ones were just about to be harvested.

Here we are with our loot!  We brought these back with us on the plane to eat at home.  (We also got to eat pineapple picked right out in the field... hmmmmmm.....yummy.)  They were so delicious and it was fun to share with the kids.


This is a view from our hotel room.  When we got there Jason whined about what a horrible day we'd had because of our flight being so delayed and they upgraded us to a partial ocean view. 

This is a blow hole we hiked down to see just north of Kapalua.

We went to the Old Lahaina Luau and it was really fun.  

We went on a snorkeling excursion and on the boat ride to our spot we saw some humpback whales.  One time they went under for a really long time and then when they came back up they were really close to the boat.  You could totally hear the blowing noises.


Jason and I on the boat before snorkeling.  It was so windy they couldn't go to Molokini but we still had fun here.

Jason diving deep.  When he dove down he could hear the whales singing.

Me snorkeling.

Two sea turtles.

We did snorkeling, snorkeling, and more snorkeling!  We saw sea turtles almost every time we went out.  They were even at Black Rock right on our beach.  We saw lots of puffer fish, trigger fish, unicorn fish, eels, and Jason even saw a shark!  He was so mad that he didn't have the camera with him.  Too many other fish to name but it was really fun.

This whole trip would not have been possible without Nana! Nana watched the kids while we were gone and we are so grateful.  We have never been away from them since Andrew was born, so that makes 8 1/2 years without a break.  Thanks Nana!!!!! 

Spring Break Finale

The last three days of Spring Break we went camping to Morro Bay.  I was worried about going because it can be really cold there, but it turned out to be perfect weekend to go.  We drove down Friday night and spent the night at Aunt Kiki's house ( a 4 hour drive).  We had Easter there the next morning (which I thought I had pictures of but I guess not). We headed out early to get to our camp spot to set up (she only lives 20 minutes from Morro Bay).  The kids were very anxious to see the beach.

Day 1 

We went to Morro Rock (which I don't have pictures of because I guess I've seen it so many times I didn't think of it). Right around there we saw these three sea otters. They were very playful and they were rolling around a lot.  They were really close to shore too which was great for the kids.
Right across the street from where we saw the sea otters is this beach. As you can tell from the fact that the kids have winter coats on, it was COLD.  This was what I was expecting though so we were prepared.  It was about 55 degrees with howling wind. The kids didn't care and had a blast playing at the beach.  They were dying to get their feet wet but since everyone had long pants on I didn't let them. (We were planning to go to a better beach for that anyway.)
Adam and Daddy building sand castles. Adam didn't like the water.

I just had to take a picture of this crazy person.  She lathered up and ended up sun bathing in a little bikini.  She must have been from Alaska or something because everyone else on the beach was totally bundled up!
Next we went hiking in Los Osos at a park called The Oaks. There were lots of these big oak trees for the kids to climb on.  Andrew saw a few lizards and he even saw a bunny!
Along the trail in The Oaks.

After that park we went to Montana de Oro to check out the tide pools.  We saw sea stars and sea anemone. The kids liked to touch the anemones and make them close (they also liked that they felt sticky).  You can see Morro Rock in the background.
At the tide pools were these HUGE sand dunes. They liked to climb up and roll down in the soft sand.  They all agreed that they wished they had a big sand dune in their back yard.

Day 2 
We drove up the coast past San Simeon to see the elephant seals.  This picture was taken on the board walk at the seal look out.
Only female and juvenile seals were on the beach - no males. There were a few seals swimming in the water too which the kids really liked.  The seals would scoop up sand and then throw it on their backs to keep cool.
The whole beach was covered with seals.

After the seals we went and had lunch at a park down the road.  The conditions were just perfect.  We sat at our picnic table and had lunch while hearing the waves pound below. We could also look up and see Hearst Castle up on the hill. 

After lunch we went to Avila Beach. This is where the kids had a blast.  I have never been there when it's actually been warm so I didn't even pack swim suits.  At the beach where we ate lunch it was 64 degrees (according to my car) and then at Avila it was 75 degrees!  I ended up having to buy the kids some suits right there because they were DYING to swim.  Good thing I did because they ended up swimming in the ocean for 3 hours! 

They liked running away from the waves.  I really can't believe they swam for that long because the water felt like ICE. Adam didn't like the water because it was too cold.  It hit his feet by accident once and he totally lost it.  Even looking at these pictures after we got home made him cry. Poor guy!


We didn't do too much hanging out at our campsite.  We were usually gone most of the day seeing all the sites.  
Jason and Preston around the the fire.  Kirsten and Nick came for one night and had smores with us, the kids loved that.

After Adam went to bed they loved to burn the ends of their sticks. The second night we made popcorn over the fire and they really liked that too.

Overall it was a very successful trip. In Natasha's words "Morro Bay is the best camping spot EVER!"

Spring Break

Yeah, it's Spring Break! The first few days have been awesome weather. The kids have been enjoying every minute of it! 

Adam likes to play catch with Daddy.

Preston LOVES to ride his bike.  He calls it his "street racer bike".

This morning they decided to have a pillow case race.  Ready, set,

GO!

Yeah Adam!

It's fun to have a more laid back time during Spring Break.

Happy Birthday Preston!

Yesterday was Preston's 4th birthday. We had a birthday party for him at the park. The weather didn't really cooperate (it was cold and windy) but the kids didn't seem to mind. I also surprised him with the fact that his cousins came. 

Here is the group of friends that were there. I think everyone had a good time.
Yeah for the birthday boy!

Preston and Sadie.
He got a lot of great presents.

Preston blowing out his candles. It was so windy it was a miracle that we got them lit!
Preston playing with the electric keyboard we gave him. I paid extra for this one because a headphone plug in was a MUST!

After a long and fun day he feel asleep on the couch.

Happy Birthday Preston!

Happy Birthday Jason

Today is Jason's 36th birthday.  Jason is a great husband and father.  The kids are always VERY excited for him to get home from work.  Now he gets to come home for lunch and Preston never understands why he has to go back and gets sad every time.

This is one of my favorite pictures.  It was taken last summer on Jackson Lake with the Grand Tetons in the background.  Jason definitely likes an adventure which helps out when you have four kids.  When we are camping he is always ready to explore.

He is also great at letting me do my girls night out stuff too. He never complains about watching the kids when I want to go shopping or go to the movies with friends. He's a great husband.

Happy Birthday Jason!!!

We are getting a vacation!!!!

Jason and I are finally getting a vacation with just each other. We are going to Hawaii and we can hardly wait.  It has been 10 years since our last vacation, just us, and I have never had a break from children since I had them.  So I've gone for 8 1/2 years without missing a full day of changing diapers, and dealing will all that other kid stuff.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my children but people do need breaks!

The kids were a little shocked at the announcement too.  Andrew had a look of disbelief. (He always talks about Hawaii and it's volcanoes.)  We are going to Maui so I reassured him that we weren't going to the island with the active volcano which made him feel better.  Natasha's first reaction was "Well, who is going to take of us????" Like I would leave them alone to fend for themselves. She was immediately comforted when I told her Nana was coming. I don't think the younger two really get it yet.

A few days later I had to go to AAA to pick up our packet of stuff from the travel agent. I had Preston and Adam with me and of course Preston was asking me all kinds of questions about Hawaii.  Where is it, is the ocean there, who is coming to take care of me, etc, etc.  Then when we parked in the AAA parking lot he said "Is this Hawaii?" If it were only that simple!

Having fun with Grandma

Grandma Behrmann came to visit last week and she was such a sport to play "haircut man" with Preston.  I couldn't resist getting a picture.