Pumpkin Patch

We were excited to find a pumpkin patch in Maui.

So it didn't have corn mazes, bounce houses, slides, hay rides, or any of the hoopla that we are used to a pumpkin patch having,......

But it was cute and fun and warm!

Crew thought this goat was hilarious.

The tiny pumpkin in Crew's hand looked more like an orange than a pumpkin. Try as we might to convince him to get another pumpkin, this was the one he loved and HAD to get. The lady charging us at the end asked him where he found it and said she couldn't even charge him for it! He has walked around with his little pumpkin for the last 2 days. He loves it!

They had perfect pumpkins, great shaped pumpkins, red and green pumpkins, ... a great selection.

Monster Mash!

Tonight we had a little pre-Halloween party to get us pumped about the holidays. It is hard to feel in the spirit of things without the change of seasons but we are adjusting to new and fun traditions.

We had a Monster Mash dinner with monster mamwiches, pumpkin muffins, and Halloween leis. The kids had a great time dancing on our balcony to Halloween music. I kept thinking that all the vacationers staying here must think we are crazy (they don't know we live here year round). They LOVED our new Halloween plates and cups. The littlest things are so exciting to kids - I just love watching their enthusiasm.



Crew fell asleep while I was making dinner so he was a little graugy at first, but he loved playing with his lei and had it all torn apart by the end of the night.

Zipline Adventure

Today, Geoff and I took Chase Ziplineing and it was incredible. It was a perfect day and it was just gorgeous at the ranch. We took a five Zipline tour which ended with a half mile line. I love how adventurous and fun Chase is. We just had a great day with our big boy! (You have to be at least 10 years old and at least 80 pounds to go. Poor Caden might be 12 before he gets to go!)

The first line was a practice line over a field. All the rest went over a huge, beautiful gulch with ocean views. I couldn't get a lot of pictures because you really weren't supposed to take pictures while riding. But I did sneak a few and even got one on video, if I can figure out how to upload it!

It was fun (and a good work out) just to get to the platforms!

Geoff hates it when I take pictures of him! But I think he's cute!



Hopefully these two videos work! Its my first time trying to blog video.

Double Digits!

My Baby Boy is 10 years old! How in the world did it happen so fast? Chase is growing into such a fun, mature, athletic, handsome, kind-hearted young man. I truly am proud to be his mom.

He just wanted a mellow birthday party day with his family (themed birthdays with all your friends is SO for single-digit kids ;) ). Geoff took Chase and Caden to Ride Da Wave for a couple hours while Crew and I set up a scavenger hunt for him. I set up balloons with clues all over the town and Chase and Caden scootered around collecting them all to figure out where the party room was. When they finally got to the party room (it was at the clubhouse by the pool at the Beach Villas) we had cake and presents followed with swimming in the pool. That night we played Chase's new game, LIFE. We had so much fun playing and can't wait to play again tonight!

All in all, it was just a perfect day together as a family, celebrating Chase!

Potty Trained!

We all know I'm not one to brag about my kids ;) but I think my baby is pretty much a genius. On Sunday, he would take his diaper off every time he would pee and throw it away. So I thought maybe he was ready to be potty trained. Monday we went to Walmart and I let him pick out some underpants and stickers and we came home to try potty training! It was SO easy! He just peed and pooped withour a problem. I never even have to ask him if he needs to go. He just takes himself! Yesterday we were gone from the house for 9 hours and he didn't have any accidents. I just have to close my eyes when he pees in public restrooms and then wash his hands REALLY well! He doesn't care what he touches - BOYS! I am just so proud of him!

Soccer and Football

We have been so busy lately with soccer and football and loving every minute of it! Caden had his first game on Saturday and played so well. He played the entire game. He had several saves and several great shots (but to his dismay, no goals). 

I didn't get that many shots of the game. (Let's just say that Crew was not on his best behavior!) I posted this shot cause you can see how close we are to the ocean. Seriously right on the ocean - the coolest setting for games ever!

I have no pictures of Chase's game cause I get way too excited to think about taking pictures. This is Chase's first year playing tackle football. He is playing with the older kids (11 and 12 yrs). He has learned so much and improved so much in just a few weeks. He is working so hard and we are so proud of him. Today he played on both offense and defense (2nd string). He had a GREAT tackle at the end of the game. He plays on the defensive line and he broke through the line and pursued the running back from behind and tackled him for a loss.  He was SO excited! What was even better than the tackle was the reaction of his team. They all cheered for him! They are such a good group of boys and have been so accepting and nice to Chase. It has made ALL the difference to him feeling comfortable with moving here.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Chase wanted to buzz all of his long, blond, surfer hair off cause it kept pulling in his football helmet. Here is his new buzz and my attempt to give it some style!