More From Wed. March 26th

So, lets see ... Wed. was the first day we had internet connection problems. I was able to post about M. and Papa's horse back ride Wed. morning, but then never got a connection again. A good friend of mine from elementary school and high school lives on Oahu, I posted about dinner at her house while we were in Oahu, but she and one of her sons decided to come spen 24 hours with us on Maui. They got in on Tues. night and we had a great time down at the pool and the beach with them on Wed. Here are some of the great pictures she took while down on the beach:















And here are a few from my camera:











And check out M's crazy beach hair after Wed. at the beach:

On Tues March 25th Papa rode UP the volcano

Papa rented a bicycle here on Maui ... can't ever go too long with out a bike ride, yah know. But the ride he took on Tues. was not your average bike ride.

He rode from the town of Kula(3500 ft elevation) up hill 22 miles, to the top of a volcano. The summit of Haleakala is at 10,032 ft. elevation. This ride is a big tourist attraction, but the bikes are usually rented and hauled to the top and the cyclists spend the day biking down the volcano. Not my dad ... he rode up! Grandma, Am., B., and R. and J. drove up to meet him and do a little hiking. A. & R. and the twins drove up, too.

Check out these link on Haleakala and the bike ride:

http://www.nps.gov/hale/
(info from the National Park Service)

http://www.haleakala.national-park.com/info.htm
(more about the volcano)


http://www.bikemaui.com/
(but keep in mind Papa biked UP, not down)

Wednesday was M's day to go horseback riding!

Our daughter M. is in love with horses, and that is putting it mildly. So her and Papa signed up for a 2 hour horse ride. She can't stop talking about it. It was just her and Papa and this really nice guide, who by the way homeschooled her boys. Papa said Mikayla and the guide chatted about almost everything under the sun for the whole two hours :-)

Maui Ocean Center

After a few hours at the beach at Grand Wailea, we headed into town and spent a couple hours at Maui Ocean Center (click here to visit their website)


Trust me G. got happier ... he just looks pretty miffed in this picture. Z. fell sound asleep as soon as we arrived at the Ocean center.



If you click on this picture and see it bigger you might be able to find the red Coral Fish





We were glad Z. woke up to see the turtle pool

The Beach and Boogie Boards at the Grand Wailea

Lots happening over here on this Tues. morning. Aunti Am. and Uncle B. went out on a half day fishing excursion that left at 5:45 am. The rest of us woke up around 6 or 7 or 8. Papa was going to do a bike ride up a volcanoe. Grandma, Auntie Al. Uncle R. the twins, and 2 od Am & B,'s kids were going to drice up the volcano and see papa at some point but also enjoy a nice hike. Am. and B. were going to catch up with them after fishing. My family plus one of Am & B's kids left for the beach around 8:45, hoping it would not be as crwoded as the other day. There was a lot of people already out for 9am, but we found a spot with 6 chairs by the kiddie pool and the kids had great fun there. They enjoyed the lazy river and several water slides. Then we walked a little ways farther and enjoyed the beach for 30 minutes. Kids have boogie boards ... that was really fun. After 30 minutes there, though, they were ready for the pool life again and we went back to our spot by the kiddie pool. We headed back to our condo around nooon and are resting a bit while we have lunch, then we are going to check out the Maui Ocean Center, Hawaii's largest aquarium.

Lazy Monday ...

The bigger kids and Daddy and Papa, and one aunt and two uncles went out on a kayak/snorkeling excursion. O. was going to go with them and he got in a kayak for a little bit, but then decided that he did not like being out in such deep water and so far from shore, so Papa brought him back to stay with the rest of us. Papa is going to buy a cd of photos from their kayaking/snorkeling guide ... he had a digital cmaera with him. I'll upload those photos whenever we get that cd (should be later today)

Grandma, Auntie Am. and I hung out at the condos with the 2 babies, the 1 year old the 2 year old, the 4 year old and then O., the 6 year old. We were just finishing lunch and getting ready to goto the condo pool when all the kayakres returned so we waited till they got lunch and then most of us headed down to the pool ... spent 3 1/2 hours down there. The kids were swimming and playing most of the time, but I spent most of the time on a lounge chair. Z. even ended up falling asleep down there ... such a cute little guy!