Halloween Maui Style

The weekend before Halloween, we went to a Halloween/birthday party for one of Emma's friends. Emma is dressed as a spider (not a witch, we try not to wear too scary of costumes), Julia was a pirate and Olivia was a princess (and she added one of her famous headbands). Their house was completely decked out with all the crazy/scary Halloween stuff.
For Halloween, the girls had parties at their school. Emma had a party in her classroom with pin the nose on the pumpkin, guess the ghost under the sheet and tons of yummy food.
Julia had a 4th and 5th grade dance in the cafeteria (scary is a good word for that). This is a picture of Julia with a boy in her grade (our neighbor) dressed as a girl. Too funny. Check out the body language (that's good, relish it while it lasts).

Later that night we dressed up a little bit more and hit the town. Flatbread for dinner
then trick -or-treating in Spreckelsville and Skill Village in Paia. Olivia saw a house that was having a dance party out in their driveway and decided that she wanted to go there and dance. She told me that I could go play with daddy while she went and danced (she is so hilarious).... I love it. She was so stoked to get candy at every house. We went to maybe two houses and she was already impressed with the amount of candy she had in her basket. Then she just started running from one house to the other. Brian and I dressed up too (at least the girls made us).. They picked out our costumes at the store. I was a bat and Brian was a pirate. I kind of look like my mom in her days of jet black hair.

Julia's 9th Birthday

Yep, we actually braved it and had 10 girls here for a slumber party. We set up two huge tents in the yard and the girls had a great time camping. We had sundaes, fake tattoos and made cool rocker girl bracelets. I was up until about 12:30 trying to keep the girls quiet, getting water for the girls to drink, and bringing girls in the house to sleep because they were scared (only one ended up staying in the house, not bad)..... The girls kept scaring each other in the tents and then we had 10 girls screaming at 11:30 at night. Wow, was I tired the next day. We told Julia that may be her one and only slumber party (at least we say that now, our senses may dull over time and oh how easily we forget). Fun times!!! The girls had a great time, that is all that matters.

Grandma and Grandpa Diller Came to Visit

Grandma and Grandpa and Girls

My parents came to visit us here for 2 weeks. We had such an enjoyable time. The girls were so excited to see them- they hadn't seen them since March. My parents were very excited as well to see their 3 little granddaughters. We had wonderful weather and a great time hiking, beach going, and going to the Westin Villas Resort. Brian and I were able to take a little weekend away while my parents stayed with the kiddos. And
boy did they spoil them (new clothes, dinner
at Rubies, ice cream.....).

Here is my Dad and the kids playing a
little coconut game much like marbles
we used to play as kids. Only in the tropics.
Watch out for
falling coconuts!!
We had a little picnic dinner down
in this gully by the ocean. We
watched a beautiful sunset, saw
a rare hawaiian monk seal, and
saw little sharks swimming out
in the water. Now that is a great
picnic....

Here is a classic waterfall picture of my parents with the girls at the Westin.


My parents even got a little guitar hero in.

Here is a video clip of our after dinner entertainment out in our front yard (happens quite often), they are also available for a nominal fee, plus airfare. The croquet stick microphones are for an extra fee.

Camping on Maui

I have to say, camping right on the beach is an amazing experience. We stayed for two nights and 3 days and had a blast. We even made ice cream with the ice cream sphere that Brian's mom gave us for camping.

There was a nice south swell when we went camping, so Brian and his friends even got some waves right out in front of our campsite (I was still recovering from my torn hamstring, but was able to do a little stand up paddle). The girls loved camping and had a great time frolicking in the ocean, playing in their tents and eating smores.

Jon, Angie and Baby Jaylon's Visit

Jon and Angie and baby Jaylon came to visit us for 10 days here in Maui. What a blast we had. Jaylon was so cute with the girls. He just loved all the attention and excitement. Jon had a blast kitesurfing and surfing. Brian was able to take a couple days off to go and enjoy kitesurfing with Jon (Char was out of commission with a torn hamstring). The picture is of Brian, Jon and Ian enjoying chasing each other around kiting.
We had some wonderful nights eating out under the stars enjoying seared ahi and tiger prawns, hanging out at the beach together, sailing on a catamaran in Lahaina on the evening of 4th of July with some of our friends who captain the boat, barbecuing and lighting off fireworks with the kids the next night, kitesurfing, swimming in our pool, jumping on the trampoline, lot's and lot's of guitar hero stand offs, going to sushi while a babysitter stayed home with the kids, etc.. FUN, FUN, FUN..... Jaylon loved the warm ocean and was all about crawling down straight into the waves without fear. He'll be surfing in no time. On their way out, we stopped again at Flatbread to celebrate Uncle Jon's birthday. What a way to end a super fun trip. It was hard having to say goodbye not knowing if we will see them again in the next year. We hope so.

OLIVIA TURNS 3 and visited by Jon, Angie, and Jaylon

Wow, our little girl has turned 3. Where does the time go. She has gotten so so big. She is so happy, sweet, loving, cuddly, sensitive, sweet natured, smart, creative, curious, and smiley. She loves to make others smile and laugh. Children are amazing blessings. I just wish time would slow down a little. I did not realize that time was so speedy (just like my Mom always used to say, "you just wait until you have children of your own some day, time just flies by''), until we had our own three beautiful little time reminders. We had a birthday party for Olivia when Papa and Grandma Eiseman were here, and then we had a birthday party on her real birthday with Jon, Angie, and Jaylon at Flatbread. We started off with chocolate chip pancakes the morning of her birthday, and she opened up her presents. She got a brand new bicycle. She was so thankful for all her presents. She kept telling Uncle Jon and Aunt Angie thank you for her shoes and shirt every time she wore them. So cute. We went to the beach on her birthday, and unfortunately I (Olivia's mommy) ended up in urgent care with a torn hamstring from kitesurfing. Oh well, a shot, pain medicine, and crutches later and it didn't slow me down too much. Olivia had a great birthday anyway. Julia and Emma decorated the whole house for Olivia's birthday. It was so wonderful to have Jon, Angie and Jaylon here for her birthday. We were missing the rest of our family and friends.

May Day Celebrations

Julia and Emma both had a big production at their school for May Day or otherwise known as Lei Day. Besides dancing and festivities, they had a lei making contest. (A little tidbit: the Hawaiian lei was introduced to the islands by early Polynesian voyagers from Tahiti). May 1st has become a special day designated to celebrate and recognize the custom of giving and receiving leis in Hawaii. It was first presented by the poet Don Blanding in 1927. It is a huge event here in Hawaii, and all the schools have a special presentation to honor this day.
Here are some pictures of the girls performing their dances.