Hawaii/Houston Trip

We're back, in case you missed us, or were just tired of seeing the foot post at the top of the page (Clint). Scott and I spent 9 days in Maui with the Swendsen clan on an adults-only vacation courtesy of Scott's generous parents. And speaking of generosity, my parents watched Kate for that entire time. She missed us for less than a day and then embraced her new family without looking back. :) It wasn't quite so easy for me, but I was proud of myself for not letting missing my daughter get in the way of having fun. Still, the reunion with Kate was very sweet and luckily she doesn't seem to hold any grudges, although for awhile every time I walked out of the room she freaked out. ("Where are you going and how do I know I won't see you for nine days again?!")

Here are some pictures from our vacation. Some of the things we did included lots of snorkeling, a trip to Molokini crater to do more snorkeling and swim with sea turtles, deep-sea fishing (boys only), surfing/bodyboarding/bodysurfing, laying out at the beach and the pool, beach volleyball, a luau, and other stuff that I can't think of right now. Here we are, using someone else's sandcastle as a picture op.

Sorry this one is small - I stole it from Jessica's facebook. A lot of us bought swimsuits from Modbe Clothing and Jessica and I are wearing the ruffle style in this photo. We like them because they have some personality, and as Camille pointed out, are "very cover-y."

On a walk near the Grand Wailea, trying to look Hawaiian(?), succeeding in looking goofy.

One of Scott's postcard photos. I think he has a secret desire to be a professional nature photographer.

Here is almost the whole group (Brian and Jess are missing) after eating out at Roy's. Some of us are getting phased out in the back.

At the luau - we enjoyed good food and native island dances, which basically boiled down to a lot of impressive hip movement and jiggling flesh. The fire dancer was a highlight, as was Doug's selection from the crowd to come up and shake it with one of the dancers.
The boys at the luau. From left - Brian, Scott, Dad, Doug, Dan, and Ryan.

The girls, from left: Laura, Rachel, Heather, Mom, Jen, Jessica, Karen, and me.

Here we are on the set of "Lost." (Doesn't it look like it? Any Lost fans out there?) Actually this is Iao valley, where a bunch of battles were fought to unify the Hawaiian islands back in the day. (How's that for a specific historical account? "A bunch of battles," "back in the day.")

So the second part of our vacation was spent in Houston for a week while my parents went on a church history tour for their 30th anniversary - woohoo! 30 years! - and we stayed to "watch over" the teenagers back home. It was a sort of babysitting swap, although I think we got the best deal because we got to do a bunch of fun Houston stuff at the same time. Some of those highlights included the zoo, IMAX, pedicures for the girls, dry ice bombs and dirtbiking for the boys, eating out (including the Cheesecake Factory x2 - yum!), and the rodeo. The best part of getting pedicures was that Kate pointed to this one lady's foot and yelled, "Foot - yuck! YUCK!" over and over again. Clint, I guess she shares your feelings about podiatry. Everyone in the whole place was watching and cracking up. I was torn between embarrassment (I think the lady was embarrassed, and she kind of did have yucky feet) and amusement.

Check it out - the only picture of Kate on this whole post! This was at the neighborhood park and I like it because she looks like little Miss Priss with the way her hands are and the slightly disgusted look on her face (and her white ruffled capris, but that one isn't her fault).

Austin, Christine, and her friend Rachel in front of a Nascar display at the rodeo. There was so much to do and see there. One highlight was Mutton Bustin', but I'll let Scott post about that one. He has a few videos to post too, so stay tuned.

Face-painting.

Pigs and such.

The carnival had some pretty amazing rides, including a very high ferris wheel with this view.

Once we were done seeing the sights and riding the rides, we arrived in the actual rodeo arena just in time to see the bull riding and calf scramble, which are the best events anyway. Then we got to watch Pat Green perform. It was a great show.
It was such a fun vacation and we're having a tough time getting back to real life this week.