Maui (first day)

I finally got through the summer posts, now on to Hawaii. We were in Maui for 17 days, and it didn’t seem long enough. Tom and Cindy joined us for part of our trip which was lots of fun! Having Grandpa and Grandma there made it extra-special for Ada and Ruby.

We spent a lot of time at the beach. We tried a few and found our favorites for snorkeling. My highlight of the trip was swimming super close to a large turtle while it munched on algae in the reef. It didn’t seem to mind my presence so I stayed awhile, could have stayed all day watching it.

Ada loved swimming, snorkeling, boogie boarding, and surfing (anything in the water). Ruby enjoyed swimming and playing with her sand toys. We all enjoyed trying new foods and with so many good restaurants and food trucks in the area we found our favorites. We ate lots of poke (raw fish), fish tacos, kalua pork, and acai smoothie bowls :)

Not that many pics from the first day, just getting our bearings. I also took a mix of iPhone and dslr photos throughout the entire trip.

Silver Lake

Another fun (and close) adventure with the family. We rented a paddle boat for an hour then let the kids ride their bikes and play on the playground before heading home.

Ruby

A few pictures of Ruby over the summer. Glad we got more use out of Ada’s peachy gingham outfit, I loved it then and it’s still pretty cute on Ruby now :)

Here is Ada’s post from 4 years ago, sniff sniff

Locust Beach

Another weekend summer adventure exploring our area. This is a fun beach near downtown Bellingham when the tide is out. You have to walk through some pretty thick mud before it becomes firm enough to walk on. Reminds me of “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” children’s book when the family has to cross through the mud.

Reptile Zoo

Back in August the girls and our good friends visited the Reptile Zoo. The kids had a blast looking at all the unique reptiles and amphibians. They got to pet turtles and hold a snake (me too). Ruby even got the alligator to try to eat her through the glass after trying to give him kisses :)