Easter Gecko

April 4/10

Today the Easter Gecko visited us in Hawaii. Braden decided it couldn't be the Easter Bunny because the treats were not in plastic easter eggs and he didn't get a normal Easter Basket. Inside his Easter bag, was a chocolate Gecko, not a bunny. He did complain that the Easter Gecko doesn't put as much stuff in the basket as the Easter Bunny. Gavin, Janice and Danielle appeared here yesterday so we spent the afternoon at the pool, after the morning at Big Beach. 21 of us went for Easter dinner, okay Mexican dinner at Freds. Awesome margeritas, so I didn't even miss the turkey!

April 3

April 3

Spent the day with the Bevan's today. Beach day in the morning and then off to the lava fields for a hike on the south shore of Maui. It was an excellent hike, even though we left the water in the van. It is neat to see all this volcanic rock every where you go. Awesome scenery. Brad lost his wedding ring yesterday in the ocean, and today the metal detector guy found a needle in the haystack! A miracle I believe. He was so upset that it went missing, but today he got it back!

April Fool's Day

April 1st we went on our kayaking and snorkeling trip in the morning. We saw a few turtles, but not as many as 2 yrs ago when we went. In the afternoon we went over to the beach again and Aaron showed us how he has mastered the skim board. On Thurs afternoon, Kevin and Braden decided to have a fist-a-cuff and ended up not being allowed to go to the beach. So Aaron went with the Krafts and practiced up. In the evening we had a great BBQ with the big group down in the court yard. The boys showed the Bevans and Letkemen's how to catch toads. The security guard then pointed out to them, that in big doses the toads can actually be poisonous, which took some of the thrill out of the hunt.
Friday, April 2nd we spent the morning at the beach and then took Oma to Lahaina for some shopping. The boys hate it when we do "family" activities and they are separated from their friends! We did visit the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. which the boys enjoyed. As I write this the boys have gone across the street to go "crab-huntin" in the dark with everyone.

Fri April 2nd

Haleakala

Today we went up to Haleakala and it was a beautiful sunny day. We could see for miles (as compared to the last time we were here and couldn't see anything because of the fog). We then stopped at Costco to get some groceries and Braden got a bug catching kit with some of his birthday money. They then spent the evening catching toads (about 25) and then releasing them!

Beach Fun

Hawaii Version 2

Who knew that we would get to do it again. This time no soccer, but lots of friends. The Bevans (Carmen, Brad, Kyle and Chelsea), the Krafts (Betty-Ann, Dave, Justin and Ryan), new friends the Letkemans (Linda, Phil, Chantell, and Nathan). We also know a couple of guys from Randy's soccer team, Sol and his family, and Conrad and Kelly. Most importantly Oma is here with us, after Opa's passing a week ago. It is great to have her.

Day 1 of the trip: travel day! Calgary to Vancouver, then Vancouver Maui. It was a long day with us getting into Maui at 11:30 Calgary time (12 hours after we got the the Calgary Airport). It was a bit of a turbulent ride and Braden managed to throw up! We also got the extra special treatment by customs and they "randomly" pulled us aside and got our bags and X-rayed them. Kevin was really upset by this.