Vernon's came to visit!

March 2018

My sister, Peggy and her family came to visit for their Spring Break.

Liz and Brett came in February, then Grandee came right after that for Emery's baptism. We had back to back visitors for a little while, but to me it was such a treat to have my family come visit.

We took them to a few of the same places that are our favorites, but what I loved most was that we got to get to know Peg's boys on a more personal level. We have never lived by them and only see them through social media other than maybe once a year; once every two years since moving to Hawaii. 

We had such a great time and wished they could have stayed longer. 

Our adventures below are in no particular order.

Charley Young

This is Peg and I. When we were younger, we got asked if we were twins often.

We played a little 400. 

Buried each other in the sand.

Built sand castles.

Snorkeled.

and spear fished.

         

After Charley Young, we went over to Peggy Sue's Diner. 

I have been wanting to go here for a while, but was saving it for when Peggy came. It was so fun and so Ono!

I know this might be silly and gross to some, but I kind of love that my kids take their shoes off everywhere.

        

Just look at those shakes....So ONO!!

So, I can't remember exactly, but I'm guessing after Charley Young, we went home got cleaned up, changed our clothes and went back down to Keihi for dinner at Peggy Sue's and then rollerblading.

There is a rollerblading rink right on the beach at Kalama Park in Keihi. One of our favorite things to do it go down and skate as the sun is setting over the water.

Koa found his cool shell while he was spear fishing. And below is the manini he speared. He is getting so good at diving down and spearing.

Surfing at the Cove in Keihi.

So these pictures are bit out of order. 

Poor Vernon's got fried!!! 

This was after that first day at Charley Young. They borrowed rash guards the rest of the time.

You can see where Ben could reach to put sun screen on and where he couldn't.

Just chillin at the house, playing games.

Playing some SCUM!

We went out to the West side one day to see the sights. This cruise ship was in the Harbor down in Kahalui. 

Nakalele Blowhole

Black Rock Beach

Koa was teaching Ben and Issac how to boogie board.

Afton is showing Ben how to body surf. She's pointing out at the small wave to show Ben how to look for waves forming to catch. It is fun for me to watch my kids teach their cousins.

One of Koa's favorite things to do is run and jump into the big waves. He just throws his body into them. It's so much fun to watch. 

As I think about the life that I live, I admire Koa and the way that he just throws himself into life. Just like with these waves, he is so trusting that that wave is going to catch him and roll him and he'll come up on the other side standing on both feet. 

I can try to apply that to my life, that I can jump into life and roll with the waves and come out standing on both feet at the end. Having had a great time along the way. Sometimes, we will have our feet in the air and be upside down for a bit, but we have to trust the Lord the way we trust the wave and we will be alright in the end.

Banyan tree in Lahiana

Lahiana is one of those places that we don't go to that often. We love it over there, but it's a little less than an hour away and we are spoiled with beaches closer, so we just love it when we have visitors because it gets us over to that side of the island.

Everyone wanted their picture taken with Aunt Peggy.

I love this picture of these two!

Don't ya just love my kids photo bombs?

And I can rarely get a good picture of these three turds.

We stayed in Lahiana until dark and hit up this yummy Pizza joint.

Tavareze Bay

This is one of our favorite spots to watch the turtles come in for the night and to do beach campfires.

Haleakala 

It's a must to bring all visitors up the mountain. It has become one of my very favorite spots on the island. There is so much beauty and it feels like you are in another world up there.

Brinlee is such a goof ball! I just adore her.

Do you see what I mean?.... such a different kind of beautiful!

I'm showing Peggy how big the Park is on the map. The Park goes from up at the top of the crater all the way down the back side to the ocean.

We were so fortunate to be there during a Cultural Practice. I'm not exactly sure what "Practice" it was, but the young girl was learning and performing a dance. 

The Hawaiians go their to worship their Gods.

I found this quote on greenglobaltravel.com.

As noted historian Herb Kawainui Kane stated in the PBS series, The Hawaiians, island natives believed that, “The entire universe was an orderly, fixed whole in which all the parts were integral to the whole, including man himself. Man was descended from the Gods, but so were the rocks, so were the animals, so were the fish. Thus man had to regard the rocks, the fish and the birds as his relatives.”

I asked my friend, who is Hawaiian what this dance could be and she said that it's hard to know without seeing what Hula dance she was doing. Different Hula dances have different meanings. All the island's Gods are sisters and brothers and their are several worship Hula dances, chants, songs, prayers, etc. that the people can do to worship any particular God. 

It was pretty cool to witness.

Hoky Poky Emery was getting tired...

Em and I found a little spot to hang out while the others hiked down further in. 

Emery has such a nice sister to give her a piggyback for a while as we hiked back up out of the crater.

Pulehu Chapel

This is the first place that the church was established on the Hawaiian islands by George Q. Cannon and James Keeler.

It is always such a treat for me to host anyone that wants to come visit. 

I joke that I'm Tour Guide Barbie. 

But, anyone who wants to come visit this beautiful island is welcome at my small plantation style home. We tend to get busy with life and don't take the time to enjoy this enchanted island until we have visitors that remind us of how truly blessed we are.

A hui ho to the Vernon's. 

We truly enjoyed the time that we got to spend getting to know your family better!

Love,

Nancy