Sunday, September 23, 2012

Fun in empty classrooms

Our ward had a picnic recently, and when we took a break from the heat to go visit the potties in our empty church building, we decided to do some wandering. I managed to snap this picture where Zeke wrote his name on chalkboard before he erased it. His name always looks like this, and if you scrunch up your eyes you can see it really says Zeke. I think it's pretty clear, but maybe that's just because he's my boy.


We then found the only thing more attracting to Zeke than a bounce-house: a microphone. I have several videos from this series, but this is probably the best one. I tried to record the prayer, but Zeke would not allow phones to be active during prayer time. In this video, he starts chewing on the microphone toward the end but nearly all of it should be understandable.


Let him know what you think.

Going bump in the dark


Our boys have discovered the great joy that comes from wandering around the house with the lights off and a pair of flashlights. We purchased a set of small 9-LED lights to replace our previous set of now-broken mini flashlights. These new lights are a hit, and there isn't anything to be seen in our house that isn't more fun to look at in the dark with flashlights.


Also, blanket forts. 

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Hawaii!

We went to Maui a few weeks ago, and we went without children (thanks Grandma!). Because we went without children, we only went for a few days.  Actually, we went for the days that Google paid, since they paid for part of the trip (thanks Google!).

We stayed on Maui in Wailea at the Fairmont resort. We were greeted with leis and a delicious fruit beverage that started the 3-day binge. We were shown to our room which had a lovely view of the ocean.
Arrival at the resort
Here's another view from our room without us in the way (thanks porter!).
From our room. The pool to the left of this picture contains the entrance to a waterslide.
It would have been fun with children.
We went to see a luau that night in Lahaina. It was a fine time, although it seemed like the best part would have been the bottomless alcohol. We enjoyed some amazing Strawberry daiquiris. No, they didn't have any alcohol in them.

There was a pig roasting underground (well, under-sandbags).

Roasting pig

Then there was an appropriate amount of dancing by men and women of great physical beauty. They were also talented.
Men and women of talent and beauty.
 The next morning we returned to Lahaina and went para-sailing. It was amazing to fly so high. Also, Mike is afraid of heights and this confirmed the up-to-date status of his fear.
The building where we paid this angry woman to send us up attached to a big umbrella.
We don't have pictures from out on the water?
We don't have pictures from out on the water.
 We bought some souvenirs in town and looked around at some shops. We went to the Cool Cat 50's cafe for some burgers because everyone told us to go there. It was very good.
The front of their menu. We ate and left. 


We went to a small museum nearby and looked at old things with titles and descriptions. It was interesting to read some local history about the sugar plantations, the impact of the War, and life on the island.
Tina looking at old pictures with titles and descriptions.
That night we had a fancy dinner at the restaurant at the resort, mostly because we only rented a car for that first day, but also because it sounded like fun. It was. We have pictures of the other dishes, available upon request.
The bread tray at the fancy dinner. The green dip is soy bean hummus, the red dip is something spicy, and the white  stuff is jasmine butter. Those are fancy rice cakes sticking out of the bread slices.
We did some snorkeling, went down the water slide a few times, stuffed our bellies, and come home with a few pineapples. It was a very fun trip.
Some trees and clouds