Weekend trip to Maui

It's hard to believe that you can pack in so much fun in four days. It helps that flying to Maui only takes 2 hours, including a layover on Oahu. We left here Thursday morning and were greeted with an armful of lei's by Steve at the airport. Holly and I got tuberose leis. Oh, they smell so good! Here is the layout of the weekend:

Thursday- Had breakfast with Steve at a local diner. Went to the Marriot Oceanclub resort in Lahaina, where we met up with Shawn (Rusty's boss) for the keys and inside scoop on the timeshare. Spent the rest of the afternoon in their amazing pool. That evening we went to downtown Lahaina and saw the 3rd largest banyon tree in the world. Mike and Kyleigh both started climbing immediately. Those two are peas in a pod. You can't keep them on the ground. Went to a few shops. Nothing too special. All shops in Hawaii seem the same after awhile.

Friday- Spent the day on Haleakala. A national park/inactive volcano. Elevation at top 10,023 ft. We were completely unprepared for the temperature. It was about 50 degrees with 40 mph gusts of wind. We didn't bring any warm clothes (we don't really have a lot of warm clothes). Steve brought enough sweatshirts for all of us, so we were O.K. We really needed pants, close toed shoes, winter coats, gloves, ear coverings, and thermal underwear. Yes, I've been in Hawaii too long. Idaho winters would kick my tail now. Kyleigh hunkered down in a ball to try to protect herself from the cold. The girls ran back to the car and warmed up in front of the heaters. We wanted to do some hiking but the clouds were really thick and you couldn't really see much so we went to Hosmer grove and had a picnic and just did a little nature hike. That evening we went up to Iao valley. Iao valley is where King Kamehameha brought his troops and slaughtered the warriors from Maui to unite Maui with the Big Island. It is a beautiful place. We then went back to Steve's house where his roommate Roger (a personal chef) prepared us an amazing fish dinner. I would tell you what it was, but the food words were beyond my current chefing level. All I know is that it was really good.

Saturday- Saturday morning we left the marriot to drive to Hana. That's right, we drove up the famous road to Hana which wasn't all that bad, in my opinion. Steve rented us a house in Hana. We checked in and went to the bottom side of Haleakala national park. We did a four mile hike to a 200 foot waterfall and enjoyed a plethera of fresh guava along the way. We went back to our rental and had a really great steak dinner.

Sunday- Sunday morning we hiked to a red sand beach. We snorkeled and played on the "water slide." The water slide was where the waves crashed over some rocks and the water rushed into the center of the naturally protected bay. The water would carry you with it. Adults and kids alike had fun doing this. We had the whole beach to ourselves until the very end. We then went to Wainapanapa state park and swam through the wet caves. When I say through I mean through. Steve had the inside scoop on the wet caves and knows the way through the holes. We had dive lights to see. You had to swim to the back of the cave, then pull yourself up on a rock and slide underneath it into another cave and on and on. My brave little five year old went through like the champ that she is. She complained only once when she told Russ that her jaw hurt from shaking so hard. The water was really cold and she was shivering.

On this trip we also saw our first pineapple truck. Growing up I wouldn't think twice about a potato truck driving down the road but it seemed strange to see a truck full of pineapples. Also, we were driving behind Mike and Holly and Kyleigh said, "Hey, Mike and Holly's car says Merb 002." Their license plate was MRB 002, so we spent the rest of the trip referring to their driver as Merb double 002. Maybe you had to be there to think that is funny but I am still laughing writing about it.

We are so glad we got to go to Maui and see Steve. I loved Maui. Having been to the four main islands now, I would have to say that if you were only going to hit one, Maui would have it all. Even with that soft spot in my heart for Kauai, Maui might have a one up with more options. I guess it would depend on what you really wanted out of your trip to Hawaii. Hopefully we can go again soon, and if not we hope Steve will come see us.

4th of July

Sorry, no pictures. Lame, I know. We had a great weekend. Here's how it went down...
Thursday night - fireworks show at Pacific Missile Range Facility. When it was over Katelyn said, "Dets wats da fiwe wooks adain."
Friday - great day at the beach, Hanalei bay. We took the kayaks, rented paddle boards, and played on an air mattress in the water. Our friends always bring a little boat that their son plays in. The boat popped a while back so they brought a queen sized air mattress. It was the hit of the day. We finished with a big bbq at our house. We all got sunburned.
Saturday - Layed around sunburned. Made and ate a whole batch of cinnamon rolls (hey, Mike and Holly were here too).In the afternoon we went for a short hike to secrets beach and walked along the coastline checking out the tidepools in the lava rock. We came across the most amazing freshwater waterfall that flows into the ocean. It is surrounded by lush tropical flowers and vegatation. Serious calender picture quality. Then we discovered that there is a trail the leads from the waterfall back up to the road. Best new picnic spot ever! 10 minutes from our Princeville house. In finding the right road to secrets beach we also came across a new adventure. A river that runs into a beach. There were tons of kayaks in the ocean and up the river. Rusty and Mike went pig hunting with some locals up the same river. They said there are tons of waterfalls up the river, but you can't get to them because it is private land. That's where the kayaks come in. The waterways aren't private. So that is our next big adventure.
Oh wait, that adventure will have to wait. We are on our way to Maui for a four day weekend this week. We can't wait to see Steve (Rusty's brother) who lives on Maui. Rusty's boss isn't using Thursday and Friday night at his timeshare and is generously letting us use it. Steve found us a house to rent Saturday night in Hana (a part of Maui) on Hana Bay. I promise I will do better and take some pictures this weekend.

Cook family in training

We are officially in training. Mike came up with this crazy plan to go on a 4 day, 30ish mile backpacking trip in New Mexico. He easily convinced Rusty to go along and between the two of them, with a little work, they convinced Holly and I. On August 2nd we are departing on our backpacking trip. Rusty is going to carry gear for all four of us (it's a good thing I'm married to superman), and I am going to carry Katelyn. Kyleigh is hiking packless on her own. We bought a new kidpack for Katelyn because the one we had was ridiculously heavy and uncomfortable. The new one is a sherpani rumba superlight. LOVE IT! Two weekends ago we went on a 6 mile hike and this weekend we stretched it out to a really intense 8.3 mile loop hike. I carried Katelyn all but about a mile at the beginning, which she hiked herself. Kyleigh is an amazing 5 year old. She hung in the whole way. She has learned to tell us as soon as her feet hurt so we can tape them and prevent any blistering. She lets us know when she needs a rest and is quick to jump back up and get going when it is time. Rusty and I woke up the next morning really really sore. We asked Kyleigh how she was feeling. She wasn't sure what we meant. We asked her if her legs were sore. She looked kind of confused and said, "No, why would they be?"

We are really looking forward to our trip. Are we crazy? Yea, probably. I'll let you know how it goes.

Fathers Day

We had a great Father's Day this year. We went to Kalaheo on Friday night, intending to go to our ward campout at Salt Pond Beach Park. However, it was a rainy night and 2/2 of our tents soak through. We had a tent lined up to borrow, but knowing that we were going back to Princeville the next day we didn't see how we could get it properly cleaned and dried by the time we left. We went to the potluck dinner then went home and "camped" in the living room. The next day Rusty and Mike went on an early morning mtn. bike ride. When they got home we went back to Salt Pond for the ward Father's Day BBQ. In the evening we went to Poipu beach for a farewell BBQ for Rick and Kashy Hubbell. They are leaving here to work on a job in Pinedale, WY. That evening we drove back to Princeville and Mike and Holly also came up. Rusty's Uncle Dan and his wife Norma are here this week. We spent Sunday afternoon with them. Dan was in the Navy and stationed on Oahu 40 years ago. He was so excited to talk story and go snorkeling with the boys. We took him up to Ke'e beach where they found all sorts of ocean life, except a shark. Uncle Dan really wanted to see a shark. We came back and had filet mignon, green salad, baked potatos, jello, rolls, strawberry lemonade and cheesecake for dinner. We gave Rusty play guitar deluxe version 2.0 and some new pictures for his Father's Day frame. Last year we gave him a picture frame with pictures of the girls holding up letters to spell DAD. My intent was to update the photos each year with the same letters. The pictures this year turned out really cute. I took one picture with all of the letters to post. A week or so before Father's Day I made a little menu and left it on Rusty's desk with options and a changes line so he could make changes to the menu if he wanted. Under the changes he wrote, " big kisses from my girls." So we made rice krispy treats the shaped them like Hershey's kisses, wrapped them in aluminum foil and put a little note coming out the top. We put them at the dinner places of all the dads (Rusty, Mike, and Uncle Dan). All of the fun Father's Day activities are great, but I am most thankful for the really, really great daddy my girls have. All the time and effort he puts into being a great Dad pay off. He has the absolute adoration of two beautiful daughters. I owe it to my own Dad that I knew how to pick a good one. If he hadn't been just as great of a Dad how would I have known a great future Dad when I saw one. Also, how would Rusty have known how to be the great Dad he is without an example to follow, so thanks to you too Merrill. Happy Father's Day!

New Niece!!!

Welcome to the world Alma Julius Graves-Funke! Alma (pronounced like... you are giving alms to the poor (alm) a. Not like Alma in the Book of Mormon). Alma was born on June 15th, at around 5:30 in the morning. She is the first baby of my sister Darci. She and Dan are super excited to finally get to have their sweet little honey here with them. Those chubby little cheeks are due to the 7 lbs. 13 oz. and only 19 inches of lenth. Don't you just want to squeeze them. Who wouldn't?

We can't wait to meet her in person!