Round 1: Hawaii

I apologize family. I didn't take near enough photos!  It was really hard to have the camera out.  We were on the beach and in the water so much that getting the camera out was usually not an option unless we were dried off or before we even got in the water.  I did get some though, and I'll be doing rounds of blog posts about our amazing trip.  

We first have to thank Jarid and Susie for putting up with us for a week and allowing us to stay in their home.  That was a huge blessing and made this trip possible for us. 

We arrived in Maui on November 3rd in the afternoon.  Getting to Hawaii is quite the trek, it was about 10-11 hrs of travel time.  But it was beautiful!  That afternoon we just caught up with Jarid and Susie, walked to the beach, and ate homemade pizza, and went to bed super early (Hawaii is four hours behind Denver time, so at 8 their time, we were crashing!)  The next day marked our first adventure to the beach!

Michael and Jarid and Susie's daughter, Elizabeth, setting up the umbrella

A beach in Lahaina, Maui

Red headed beach bum

Getting some water time

 Snorkeling was probably my favorite activity, and we did a lot of it!  We usually would go to the beach in for the morning, or in the afternoon, spending a good 4 hours there usually. Michael was always looking for a good tan, I was always worried my swimsuit was going to come off in the waves.

Playing with little sand crabs

 One of the Hawaiian delicacies Jarid and Susie introduced us to was Hawaiian shaved ice. It is in no way like a normal snow cone, it really is so much better!!  Especially when you get some coconut ice cream in the bottom.  Michael and I fell in love with some coconut ice cream I have only seen in Hawaii, we probably finished off close to a half of a quart container in three days. So, if you ever go to lahaina in Maui, go to Ululani's! They have the best shaved ice!

Shaved ice, a delicious dessert!

Jarid had to work a little while we were there, so we would meet up with him for lunch sometimes.  we all had a great time listening to Michael try to pronounce all the Hawaiian names of beaches, roads, etc.  He got really good at pronouncing by the time we left.

I mean, how would you pronounce "Honoa Pi'ilani" or "Humahumanukanukaapuua"