Land of Milk and Honey: trip to Utah

 So, we made a whirlwind trip to Utah to see The Searcys and The Shakespeares. I am very unenthusiastic about traveling when there is "weather", so this was our last trip before snowfall.
The trip was just perfect. The Searcys and Shakespeares were great about sharing us, so we got a good amount of time with all of our dear ones. Though we still would've loved to see our other Utah friends and family, too!
Zoe and Izzy got to go to a costume party our first night there. Goth girl and Katniss Everdeen.

 Playing Crossbows and Catapults.

 These two monkeys had hours of fun together. They were so silly, running around crazy, having fun.

 The weather was amazing so we spent some time outdoors. Look at that view!!!!

 Boys battling.

 We went to a Trunk or Treat with Shakespeares. I loved that it was during daylight so that kids were visible and you could really get a good look at costumes.
William Shakespeare dressed as William Shakespeare, Will Shakespeare dressed as Jimmy Buffett, Zoe: goth girl, Renz: traffic cone!, Liam: AAARRRRrg, Buzz Lightyear, Lydia as Merida from Brave, Ninja Sam, Henry Tenticles, Magic 8 Ball Jill

 Later that night the adults got to dress up to go to a super lame adult Halloween Party. As usual, dressing up was the best part. While I was planning on being a Female German Weightlifter (maybe next year) Amie convinced me to be a lounge singer (my lifelong asperation!). Travis as Beatnik and why didn't Mike get into any of these pictures?

 "Did you ever know that you're my hero?"

Here was a perk: baby Henry
We just ALWAYS have an amazing time with our friends and family. The kids got along so well. They travelled well. We were well fed. We got to see both families' new homes. Wonderful conversations and lots of laughs. Why don't we go down more often?

Hang Loose

 We waited all summer for a visit from our friends, The Cleveland's. They are so great to make the sacrifice of a long drive for a short weekend with us. But, as always, we had a lot of fun.
We went to Bounce (a warehouse full of bounce houses/obstacle courses) one morning. We all enjoyed ourselves tremendously. I beat Travis at the obstacle course. Felix rode down the slide a million times with Lydia. The boys got stinky. Travis and John were playing American Gladiators and Travis stepped wrong and rolled and popped his ankle. Poor fella. While it hurt really bad, his only comfort was that he and John had already played tennis that morning.

 We did make overs.

 Played dress-up. (Liam picked his nose).
Not pictured: 2 fabulously ridiculous movies. It always ends up being what the kids want to do. So we finished the Granny Picklebottom Trilogy (2 earlier installments). The kids direct and star in these movies and they always end up pretty funny.
Also, on the lazy Sunday afternoon, they got all the adults involved and we made another movie. If you know us well enough, you know it was silly and embarrassing.

 We were happy to have Misty come with John and the kids this time. Misty is John's fiance and we already know her from our Fresno ward. It was great to renew our friendship with her and watch this engaged couple be so happy together.

 Our goodbyes.

 These jokers.

Lydia and John get a kick out of each other. She was pretending to be grouchy but smiled at the last minute.
We are so grateful for our friendship with the Cleveland's!

Man among Men

Travis decided that he wanted a party this year. He had asked for a ping pong table for his birthday gift and thought a party was the perfect way to break it in.
He decided on a "Man Party" theme. He wrote what he wanted the invites to say. He included a invitation to join him in sporting a mustache.
The above picture is Travis spooning canned alligator meat (and gravy) into Dixie cups for gator shots to get the manliness started. I have to mention that Travis not only gagged on the meat but made the most un-manly gagging noises while trying to get it down. Sorry, babe.

Here is a picture of the pinata. We filled it with goodies: beef jerky, deodorant, athletes foot cream, anti-diarrhea medicine and some candy. The day I made it, it was sitting on the counter drying. The kids kept saying, "Mom, can you put a shirt on that pinata?" They were uncomfortable with so much manhood on display.

We did end up putting one of Felix's beaters on it (and added some armpit hair, you'll notice). The hanger is a gift from Steve and Shawna. A tiger head hanger! So fabulous! I liked the look of the tiger having that manly body.
Other than the alligator shots, Travis had lined up a bunch of manly games. They did archery and bowling on the wii. Then pinata, then weightlifting, darts, and finally ping pong.

There was a rumor going around that the slim jims helped you put up more reps. Oh, I forgot to mention, yes, Travis was in costume all night. And, no, that mustache is not fake. It is 100% Travis.

For a cake we decided a donut stack was appropriate. Maple bars and Bismarks (custard filled), plus a Homer donut on top.
Birthday sombrero.

 When the fellas were trying to break the pinata, they broke: a bat and a broom before they used a metal bat.

I love this picture because you can see the kids peeking out of the upstairs window trying to see all the action.

So grateful to our friends who came to help celebrate. It was a really fun time. I am glad they weren't too weirded out by our strange sense of humor. Everyone seemed to have a fun time. Especially Travis, who we were celebrating.

kick up your heels

Zoe was recently taking a bunch of pictures of the two little kiddos. Look at these expressions!

Also, recently I asked Lydia to wash her hands and told her she needed to take a bath. She got mad and responded, "Why does everyone keep telling me that?" I told her that we need to stay clean so that we don't smell funny. She snapped, "But I put on perfume, like, six times a day!"

Maui: Day seven, swimming in Lahaina, fish tacos, last day

Packed up the family and drove to Lahaina on this most beautiful day. Went to the Hyatt and swam in their awesome outdoor water park. Waterslide, pool, waterfalls. I wish I had taken pictures! It was really fabulous! I got 3 pictures of this lizard but failed to take any of the amazing pool. I guess I lost focus.

 We decided to go back for Fish Tacos.

 Then HAD to get some shaved ice. I got mango and coconut with a scoop of ice cream inside. It was so huge! Look at Kai'a trying to take down that rainbow one.

 This is the banyan tree on Front Street in Lahaina. Although it looks like a grove of trees it is just the way that this type of tree grows. This is only one tree. It sends down roots from the branches, making a new tree. Front street was really busy, because a cruise ship was in port.

 We ran some errands in Kahului. Bought pineapples and some chocolates to bring home for souvenirs, attended Kaia's Tae Kwon Do class. Long, wonderful day.

To finish it off, Kate took me to a nearby beach to watch as the turtles came up onto the sand to sleep. It is difficult to distinguish the turtles from the rocks in this picture, but there were about 15 large sea turtles climbing out of the sea. It was really cool. Fun to be so close to them. No one else was around.
I can't even begin to describe all the reasons this trip was so wonderful. Some of it is pretty obvious, and some reasons I have tried to explain. I feel like everything fell into place to make this a perfect trip. What a blessing to have that. I still find myself picturing the sights and feelings I had there, with so much gratitude.
Travis and the kids did great. They missed me and I missed them, but it was really good for both of us. I wasn't distracted by missing them.
Although this year is our 15 year anniversary and this probably should have been a couple visit, I am so grateful for Travis insisting I go. It was such a good thing for me. He assures me it was a good thing for him, too. It was invaluable discovering that I had a good friend (a sister, really) after all these years. So, everyone is happy!

Maui: Day Six, Bamboo forest, MASSAGE!, Shrimp Donuts

It was really rainy when I woke up. It was also warm. I went for a run in the rain. It was lovely. I have always loved being in the rain. As a full time Mom of 4 kids I rarely allow myself to cut loose and go play in the rain. It makes too much mess, sucks up too much time.

I think one of the things I loved most about this trip was the ability to get in touch with Melissa. I have been feeling for awhile that I have lost any personality I might once have had. That I am not fun anymore. That many interests get set aside. That I wouldn't know if I was interested in something because I dont' have time (or mental energy?) to find out what I like.

Being with Kate, who knew me as my personality was developing, was perfect because she knows Melissa and understands Melissa, and even LIKES Melissa!

 We went for another drive (love it! conversations and beautiful surroundings). We drove to the Bamboo Forest (I don't know if that is the proper name). While we were going to go for a hike, it was just raining too hard and was super muddy! So we just walked around for awhile.

 This big old metal shaft was in the middle of the forest. Weird.
I am kicking myself at this point for neglecting to take more pictures. I don't have very many for this day. Of course, there really wasn't a picture to take of our next outing. We went to Makawao for a massage. Makawao is upcountry, higher on the crater. The room where I got my massage was a second story corner room, so as I looked out I could see the ocean. The windows were open so I could hear the wind in the palm trees. Cedar wood Aromatherapy oils. Definitely one of my top five favorite memories of the trip.
Headed to Tiffany's for dinner. Kate had been telling me about the "shrimp donuts" on the menu. They were evil. Shrimp dipped in a heavy tempura and deep fat fried with some kind of syrup poured over the top with candied walnuts. I couldn't eat very many of them. Although delicious, they were filling. Actually the teryaki beef was really good too. I enjoyed getting to know Josh a little better, too.

Silly picture of me at Tiffany's, with Kaia's arm playing with my earring. Kate thought it looked so funny.
Speaking of funny. I may mention that despite my beginning paragraph about not feeling very fun as of late, that I do get very giggly when I am tired. A few people have witnessed this phenomenon. It is pretty embarrassing. I sometimes giggle until I cry. Let's just say that we all stayed up rather late this night. Josh was nice enough to agree not to post some ugly pictures of two 33+ year-old women making total fools of themselves. Also, top five favorite :)

Silly Utensil Dinner

 I saw this idea in Family Fun and thought it would be super fun! I put a bunch of unlikely utensils in a bag and made the kids pull one out and use it. There were an ice cream scoop, ladle, tongs, skewer, giant forks, etc.

 I made Travis use one, too.

 Tongs worked best!

When the utensils didn't work, they resorted to just sticking their faces in an eating like a dog.

Slime!

We made this slime for Zoe's Mad Scientist party and ever since have wanted to make it again. It is easy, cheap, and super fun. It is interesting the different consistencies you end up with.

I am talking hours and hours of fun. Liam had little army guys sinking into it like quicksand. Even more entertaining than the fun texture of the slime is the amazingly disgusting noises it makes if you put it in a cup and push down to release the air bubbles. The kids were laughing so hard about those noises. I was laughing so hard at their laughter.

3 little pigs