Pre-Teen Era Arrives

One of our major summer milestones is Addison's birthday.  Why can't we slow down time, these kids are growing up way too fast!!  This year, the kids decided that they wanted to go back to Elev8, so thankfully it was an indoor event as it is so miserably hot down here in the summer!

Addison (12), Elin (11), Devin (12), Erik (13)

With Addison's celiac, we decided on an ice cream cake from Brewsters!

All ice cream "cakes/cupcakes" except for Eric's chiffon cake (which was delicious and yummy!)

The activities were fun, the kids did laser tag, arcade, ropes course and "mini golf" (not such a hit).  For the birthday kids, we also had them do a round of the go-carts which they enjoyed very much.

Going as fast as she can!

Addi, Victoria and London - ready for laser tag!

Liam, Michael and Jackson

Ready to go into the laser tag area (group 1)

While the little kids were having their party, Kaleb, Kaylie and Kieran went and explored the mall.  Sadly the Sanford mall has largely died, so there wasn't a lot to interest them.

And when they came back, they played a little in the arcade.

Kayle got a flashing USA flag picture with her arcade winnings.  You can only imagine how this will be received in her Canadian home 😂

The three birthday moms - Kelli, Heather and Amy

Showing off their birthday shirts -- Addison wanted a sash and little crown as well!

Apparently she is a T Swift fan 😝

Happy Birthday sweet girl of ours - we pray that God blesses you with joy, kindness, integrity, perseverance and strength over the coming year.  We are so proud of you, and love you to the moon and back

Big Island

Our Hawaii vacation was drawing to a close, and what a vacation it had been!  It was beautiful, such fun moments and bonding time.  We had been thoughtful and deliberate on where we wanted to visit - learning about important American history, Polynesian culture, walk down the honeymoon memory lane, and now off to the Big Island to see the volcano and to experience the night-time Manta Ray snorkeling interaction.

Upon landing in Kona, we noticed right away that this island was not the lush, green island in Kauai but rather a moon-like landscape with black lava rock everywhere.  Incredible vistas stretching as far as the eye can see.    We stayed at the King's Landing Hilton, which was a lovely 2 bedroom on a golf course.  We were sad not to be able to stay longer to enjoy any of our three resorts - but we had too much to try and experience!

We were there really only a full day, with the fact that we were flying to LA mid-afternoon the following day, so we wanted to see as much as we could.  We started the day off by driving the perimeter of the island over to Hilo, where we had lunch with Azevedos, experienced a farmer's market before we headed over to the Volcano National Park.

Coconut and native Hawaiian fruits

The volcanos were not active, thus not flowing red lava was going to be in our viewing experience, but it was fun to go to see the Thurston lava tube (huge!) and to see the various craters from prior explosions, and the steam vents.

Thurston Lava Tube

The crater with the black hardened surface

One of the various steam vents

After the national park, we headed down to the Isaac Hale black sand beach - one of Addison's special requests. It was really interesting to walk along the sandy shore, which we are so used to in Florida, but so incredibly different to be on the black sand versus golden yellow sand.  

As we drove around the island, it was quite clear that we had pushed it hard over the week, with the sleepiness of Addison and Zachary.  Kaleb was fairly spritely, sitting up in the front seat with Karis engaging in interesting conversations as we went through the island. 

Our very last adventure was the Manta Ray night-time snorkel.  It was INCREDIBLE.  A must do if you are ever there.  We took a similar zodiac boat as our earlier boat trip just a few minutes out from the marina and we slid over the edges into the water where we then swam forward to the front where one of the vendor divers was there, using a long surf-board-like board that had bright lights underneath it, shining into the water.  This light attracts the plankton and ultimately therefore the manta rays.  they were 13 feet across, and would swim right up to the lights where we were floating - so close you could touch them (although you are not allowed to touch them, but they did brush by Karis and the kids!).  They were not dangerous (no spike on their tail like a sting ray), so this was a completely safe adventure and we would highly recommend it.  Super cool.  No pictures though sadly as we forgot our go-pro at home - BOO. 😢

As we wrap up the adventure of this amazing celebration trip, here are each person's favorite things:

Karis:

Scuba diving

Polynesian Cultural Center

Manta Ray

Tubing

Amy:

Na Pali Coast: Helicopter & Zodiac boat ride

Polynesian Cultural Center

Manta Ray

Zachary:

Scuba diving

Na Pali Coast Helicopter & Boat ride

ATV

Manta Rays

Kaleb:

Na Pali Coast Zodiac Boat Ride

Polynesian Cultural Center luau and the "Ha" evening show

Helicopter Ride

Addison: 

Na Pali Coast Zodiac Boat ride

Scuba Diving

Helicopter ride

Manta Rays

Kauai Part 2

The next morning in Kauai, we headed out to take an ATV ride around Kipu Ranch which provided lovely vistas along the ocean, down in ravines and through wide open plain areas. 

The land there is a red clay, and wow, it was dusty when we were driving around!  Everyone was soon coated in a red film as you'll see in the pictures!  Zachary had turned 18 in April, so he was allowed to drive one of the ATVs which added a layer of fun for him. 

The orange bandanas became very appreciated as we were able to keep the dust out of our noses a little bit as we drove, and the goggles - thank goodness!

Off we go!

Periodically we would stop to learn more about the ranch, the island's history, and to stretch our legs.  It was very interesting tour, and we'd recommend it for anyone visiting the island.

Lined up in a row listening to the tour guide

At this point, we're still fairly clean....

By the second stop, you will now see that we are covered in the red dust - turning our hair a ginger color! 😂

There was a soccer game going on while we were out that day, so whenever we stopped this is how you'd find the boys -- huddled around a phone watching the game!

While Addison explored to her heart's content - good for you girl!

Always a climber!

The four boys are friends here in Orlando, so it was a fun vacation that they got to hang out with people they enjoy.

That afternoon we had some downtime and then the Z family headed out to the beach to take family pictures with a photographer named Jonathan Moeller.  It was neat to be able to have pictures in a different locale - here are a few that Amy took with her camera, along with the video that he created of a few of the highlights.  The wind was blowing like crazy when we first got there, so you can see wild hair pictures in the video!

One of our favorite activities that we did on the island was to go on a navy seal style Zodiac boat ride along with Na Pali Coast.  Our driver was wild, very skilled thankfully, so did all kinds of crazy things along the morning.  We saw dolphins, turtles, went in and out of sea caves and went snorkeling.  Addison even had a chance to drive the boat for a bit, which was super fun for her as she did a big donut and soaked poor Kaleb sitting at the front of the boat!

Sitting at the back of the boat on chairs, 

While most of us were able to sit on the side of the boat, with our feet under ropes to anchor us and a rope along the edge to grip for additional stability.

The back seats were popular when you got tired on the edge

We came across a pod of spinner dolphins, which was super fun to watch them jumping out of the water and swimming near to us.

During the ride, we went through about 5 sea caves, some fairly open and others were tight, dark and narrow.  Lots of fun to zoom in and out!  The video below is of one of those caves going in and out.

At one point we stopped to swim around in the water and take pictures - the coast is so beautiful and rugged - it is something that you must experience from both the water and air if you have a chance to go!

We also stopped for a break to snorkel (lots of fish, although not super colorful ones) and to eat some snacks such as fresh pineapple (yum!)

1, 2, 3 Jump!

Addison thought it was the cat's meow to be able to drive the boat and do a donut!  She giggled about getting Kaleb wet for the rest of the day!

Afterwards, we took a quick drive into the Waimea Canyon area, which was neat to see the topography - in once place it looked like you were on Mars with all of the red barren land!

Earth, or Mars? 😂

Our time on Kauai was over too quickly - we'd love to go back some day!  Thankfully our vacation wasn't done, we were headed next to the Big Island!

And in a few random pictures:

Enjoying Tab 4 one night in our condo

Creativity at its finest!