Hawaii

Aloha!  Marcus and I were able to spend an amazing 8 days together on the Big Island of Hawaii!  What a wonderful adventure we were able to enjoy - just the 2 of us!!  A huge thank you to Oma & Opa for watching (& spoiling!) the kids while we were gone.

Can never get enough of the sunsets in Hawaii - absolutely breathtaking.

Pololu Valley - what a great little hike down to the black sand beach.  Gorgeous!  

Yep, another one!  WOW.

Makalawena - our favorite beach.  It takes about 10-15 minutes to drive to the "parking lot" because it's over a lava field and the road is not maintained!  And then it's about a good 30 minute hike to the beach - over a 'a'a (lava field trail).  But...it's totally worth the effort!  It's a very isolated beach - not many people go to it - and one of the best (in our opinion).  The first time we went we snorkeled with a sea turtle...very cool!  The next few times we went the waves were huge....so big that some of the locals were surfing!  That was fun to watch!  :)  This is the life...relaxing in the sand!

  

M getting ready to hike back to the car!

Zipling Adventure

 A selfie before the start of our adventure!  What a fun afternoon.  The day we ziplined it was record heat!  But that didn't stop us.  It was gorgeous & super fun!!

Yep - - we zip lined through that valley - they say we got up to speeds of 50 mph!

The climb up to the last zip line!  It was a 3000 ft zip line...the largest in the state.  Plus is was over a beautiful water fall.  What a cool experience!

Hibiscus flower - gorgeous!

Our guides were awesome - we were zipling through banana trees & sugar cane fields and other different Hawaiian food!  We got to eat along our trek - the yummy apple bananas (I REALLY wish they would export those buggers...WAY better than a regular banana!) & strawberry  guava.  The aloha sign was made out of the "bark" of sugar cane.  Marcus chomped on the sugar cane and he even tried the Hawaiian chili pepper....before he spit it out because it was so spicy.  The guides got a kick of him trying it!!  :)  What a fun day!

Chocolate!

Coffee is not our thing - - even though Kona coffee is a huge deal over there!  But when we heard about the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Tour, we had to do it!  It was actually a really cool tour - - glad we did it!  We learned a lot about chocolate making and had fun eating it as well!

The Cacao tree - cocoa beans are growing in those pods!

The pods can be green or red...

Pretty amazing how the pods grow off the stump of the tree!

Geckos enjoying the cocoa beans...yes, the beans start out white in color!

Oh so beautiful!

more hawaii love!

Can't get enough of this beauty!  It was record temps and high humidity while we were there.  The locals were complaining about the heat - - but we enjoyed it! 

Akaka Falls

Waipi'o valley

What a great get - away for Marcus & I.  It was a vacation to remember! 

Camano Island

Over Labor Day weekend we jetted up to Camano island to spend some time at Uncle Gale & Auntie Nancy's cabin.  It was a fun little get-away for us!

 Me & the girls - - love them!

Finding cool lookin' rocks - always a good time!

Our favorite Uncle Gale - - we look forward to all the shenanigans with him!!

  bare bums!

What special people Nancy & Gale are!  Our kids are SO lucky to have them in their lives.  What special, special people they are and a blessing to us all!!  Looking forward to spending more time up at their cabin!

Ben's turn for school

Off to Pre-K at Living Hope Lutheran this year.  He's pumped to be in Mrs. Heimbigner's class this year...and so am I!

Yup...it's your turn for school.  Glad that you are excited to go!  You are so stinkin' cute!

May this be a great year for you, buddy!  Praying for you to grow in big ways and small ways!!  We love you!

Off to 2nd grade!

Off to 2nd grade - how can it be?  We pray that this year will be filled with lots of learning and fun along the way!  We pray that you will meet some great friends and be a great friend to those in your class!

So ready for school to begin!

Got one without her knowing!!  :)