Surgery

This is Kyce's second Build A Bear, Bear.

Our first casualty happened because Charlee chewed the eyes off.The other day I heard Kyce talking so I thought he was up, but then we was quiet for a long time, so I thought he went back to sleep. Then I heard him say, "uh oh." I went in and found out that he had performed surgery on his bear.
He figured out that by pulling on the strings on the back that he could open it. He took the stuffing and heart out.

Maybe he is practicing to be a cardiac surgeon someday. I guess we will be making a trip to Build A Bear to have his Brown Bear repaired.
It was so hard to tell him, "No," when he was so proud of himself!

It's so Hard to See You Go...

We have been mending some broken hearts, lately.

On their last night in Minnesota we were able to have a giant sleepover and in the morning we had to face the inevitable, our friends were moving to Nebraska.
We are so happy for them, but we are so selfishly sad.

Kyce and Mason have grown up together. Well as grown up as 15 and 17 month olds can be.
Charlee will be missing his beloved Hannah! They are such good buddies. Although I don't know if he can see her at this point. That is a sign that he needs a good grooming! I got the kids to the dentist this week, I better put Charlee on my "to do list," for next week.
I know that moving can be very stressful. I think that they pulled it off with ease. Although I believe Shantel can be quoted, "We are never moving again, well at least not until all the kids are grown up." I know that they were just itching to finally get on the road and I watched Mike check and re-check to make sure things were strapped down, the tires looked okay and that the hitch to the trailer was secure. I could see Shantel and Ashley, patiently waiting in their cars to leave and then I saw Mike come back to Shantel for the most important part of their move, to say a prayer. That is when I lost it! I had been fighting back the tears in order to be strong for the kiddos, but seeing them bow their heads in family prayer, right before they left, made me realize what an example they have been for my family. We have had so many great times with them. They have been gone for a week now and all of our hearts are still aching.. but we look forward to seeing them again, very soon!

Boys Will Be Boys...

Watch what happens to Danny when he tries to push Benjy over!

Snorkeling

Shalayne
Danny and Shalayne.
Me

Benjy and Danny went snorkeling almost everyday. Shalayne and I ventured out one day at Black Rock. It took me a couple of times just putting my face in the water to get use to it. In the video you can see Benjy helping me and then he walks away and I reach out, but what you can't hear is me trying to yell through the snorkel gear, "Come back, hold my hand." I was standing in waist deep water but breathing through my mouth made me kind of panicky. By the time we were done, I was having a blast. We swam out to that big rock in the background. The coolest part, you can hear the whales under water like they are right next to you

The Much Anticipated Fresh Coconut

on the Road to Hana. Benjy completed his goal to eat a fresh coconut.His coconut only needed one straw, I love the smell but not the taste.

It was neat watching her cut it open and dig out the meat.
Danny showed off his coconut tossing skills.

Yesterday at our gym they were giving out coconut water. If Benjy likes it, we will keep him well stocked in order to remind him of his fresh coconut in Hawaii!

Hanna Treasures

I walked through a huge spider web but what creeped me out was that a little further up the path, we saw this guy. Those of you that know, Benjy, is deathly scared of spiders. This almost ruined his whole trip.

Then we found this huge slug/snail on the ground.

The trees are so neat.

Benjy had to stop and proclaim that he now knows where the inspiration for the movie Avatar came from.

The Road to Hana.

The road to Hana gave us a," ha ha ha," moment.

We also had to trust in our companions to get us there safely.
This is what we had to hike up and down.

The hike was worth it. It was unbelievably beautiful!The second waterfall was a little further up the hill. According to the guys it was way too far
and it did require some trucking through some water and piggybacks.
The guys couldn't deny that it was worth it, though.

You Have to

go whale watching if you are ever on the Island of Maui during Whale Watching Season!

What a gorgeous lady and oh, what's that? An amazing camera! I actually got to borrow it at times, too! Yay.. Benjy got his fill of my hair in his face.Do you know why this goes down as my favorite day of the entire vacation?