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One of the priorities I have for the boys this Autumn is to be out in nature, nature, nature!  I am going to try to organize two hikes a month through Autumn, at least.

This was our second hike of the season, one we have done a few times before.  I wanted to try new trails, but when I found out that there were many moms that had not been on this trail, and it is such a terrific family trail, I had to share it with them.

The group pre-hike, minus one family who joined us on the trail later…

Boys town..

...more boys…

Raccoon?

Me and my bebes at Dead Man’s Creek…

We made it to the falls!

Awww, sad faces when we learned that we could not access the pools for swimming due to construction…

Plan B: playing in the creek above the falls…

Did you know that September 19th is the official ‘Talk Like a Pirate’ Day?

So, what’s a homeschool family to do?

It becomes also ‘Dress Like a Pirate’ Day!  The boys rummaged through their dress up bin and came up with some awesome outfits!

Krispy Kreme offered a free doughnut to anyone who came in and talked like a pirate.  They also gave one DOZEN doughnuts for anyone dressed like a pirate.  So, we walked away with TWO dozen free  doughnuts!  ( We did not eat them all :))

 

Art Class

The boys are enrolled in an art class.  For their first session, they learned about using the primary colors to create others.  Here is the finished project for day one: using only the red, blue and yellow, they made all the other colors (making some lighter with white)

Our homeschool group got together to enjoy the lake for an afternoon.  Our friend, Toni, brought her kayaks and the kids took turns with them.

Here’s ‘R’…

...and ‘A’…

Up…

…and OVER!

Let’s try that again…

Cute little frog…

 

He is happy and I am proud 🙂

 

Napa Day Trip

My aunt and her friend visited Napa for a few days.  We decided to meet up with them, along with my cousin and her little girl, for lunch.

We planned on meeting at noon.  I arrived about an hour and a half early, so the boys and I decided to walk downtown Napa.

Playing with a praying mantis…

The biggest hydrangea I have ever seen…

I love this color combo of flowers…

We circled back to the Oxbow Market for a delightful, leisurely lunch.  Here is a picture of my aunt and her granddaughter.

Woodfired pizza from DH’s favorite pizza place…

I decided to treat my little gourmet with something new…raw oysters.  I bought a mixture of six oysters, all from different regions.  He was in heaven!!

A fun side note:  on the day we were in Napa, it was “National Chocolate Milkshake Day”.  I decided to make our last stop to Gott’s Roadside, a diner that has been featured on TV, and numerous magazine articles.  The boys enjoyed an old fashioned chocolate shake treat before making the trip home!

 

 

The “cooler” (Low 90’s) weather means one thing….hiking!  My friend Kendra and I took our boys to Robie Point Firebreak Trail in Auburn.  Here’s a picture of ‘A’, ‘R’, and ‘J’…(‘M’ was camera shy…)

The start of a dam that was never completed…

check out that pineapple…um…pinecone…

This was supposed to be an easy hike, but we upped the ante by deciding to hike to the river.  Steep trail down meant steep trail up.
Interesting metal barrels attached to a cable…

Made it to the water!  A massive crawdad met us…

Heading back…

Manzanita tree bark peeling…

 

We divided our little family for “family date night”.  I took ‘R’ and DH took ‘A’.  After our church service, we went our separate ways.  DH took ‘A’ to ‘all you can eat shrimp’ at Red Lobster.

Here is what we did…

In the courtyard at church, they had a shaved ice stand.  The boys had asked for shaved ice while we were on Maui and we never got around to going.  ‘R’ asked if he could have some.  I told him that he could make it his dessert for the night and get it.  Root beer…

Went to Macaroni Grill.  I had not been there before.  ‘R’ loved the peasant bread and drawing on the tables.

He was more interested in drawing than eating…

After dinner, we went to Petroglyph Ceramic Studio and ‘R’ painted a skateboard.  It turned out fantastic.  I still need to upload the final result, so come back and visit.

Our homeschool honored ‘Neither Rain nor Snow Day’ by drawing pictures for our mailman.  We taped them to the mailbox for him to find.

They were thrilled to receive a thank you note that said:

‘Dear A— and R—,  thank your for the great drawings!!  They made my day! Glenn the mailman

MMMMaui 2012

2 weeks.

Key words: family. friends. snorkel.

Hula Grill with Sara, Esperanza, and Fabio.  We were blessed to have our family with us for the first week.  Fabio and Esperanza have a timeshare at the same place we have. We go to this restaurant at least once every time we are on the island.  We always eat in their ‘Barefoot Bar’, where your feet are in the sand!

Sunset view from our table…

Messing around with the pod of a signature tree…

Antee Sara and ‘R’…

Post dinner walk along Ka’anapali’s boardwalk…

First rainbow sighting at our place in Napili…

First gecko sighting…

Napili sunset..

Did you spot the monkeys?

DH got stuck by a jellyfish on his leg!  Ouch!!

The boys, (especially ‘R’), love to collect flowers for me.  My favorite flower is the one in the bottom bowl, the plumeria.

Dinner with the fam!  Where’s Sara?  Oh, there she is! 🙂

‘A’ and Antee

After dinner, we played a couple of games.  Here we are playing ‘Telephone’…

For some reason, ‘R’ had been challenged himself to find me an orange flower.  I don’t know why.  While on a walk, he came upon these.  Success!

OUR BANANAS!!

Napili Bay…

Found these cool anenomies? starfish? Dad….help?

Uncle Paul and Antee Sara picked up the boys at 3am and took them to see the sunrise on Haleakala.  Then, they explored an old sugar mill that closed and is being taken over by a banyan tree.  They had an amazing time.

Waiting for the sun to rise.  It’s freezing up there!!

Cowboy and Carol (Paul’s girlfriend’s parents), joined us for dinner.  We love them and try to visit with them every time we are on the island.  It was wonderful catching up…

Dessert: passion fruit malasadas.  YUMMO!

Tiny frog.

Huge snail.

This picture that Sara took reminds me of Peter Pan…

Solo walk along Kapalua…

Self-portrait…

We snorkeled with turtles quite a bit this year.  It never stops being a wonder.

Nature boy.

For our second week, we moved to our timeshare.  This was the view from our first room.  Unfortunately, we were moved because the air conditioning unit created a soggy mess on our carpet.  The other rooms view was not as nice, but it did face the waterside, so we were able to watch the boys from our balcony, instead of having to join them.

View fro our second lanai.

Dinner with our Washington state friends, the Jenks.  They hosted a dinner, we hosted a dinner, and we ate out once together at Leilani’s.  We love our time with them.  It is such a special treat to be with them on Maui.

The last night on the island, we went to Kihei to visit with Cowboy and Carol.  Cowboy built an incredible koi pond/waterfall in their backyard.  They let the boys feed the fish.

We went to a great little restaurant.  It down’t look fancy, but the food is incredible.  The place is called, ‘Cuatro’.

Crab cakes

I don’t remember what this was, but I guarantee you it was good!

Group dessert 🙂

Until we meet again Maui…

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