Happy Halloween!

 It's that time of year again where we get to dress up in costume and celebrate my favorite holiday! Early in the month Max and I did our tradition of going to the Halloween store to check out the costumes. This is the first year Max didn't know what he wanted to dress up as so we went to get inspiration to see if he could figure it out. We had fun in the store, but left with Max more confused.

We went to the "pumpkin patch" to get our pumpkins. This is always an annual disappointment for me.

Max decided to paint one pumpkin with the Wicked logo.

Sammy enjoyed pumpkin carving and ate most of the pumpkin guts. Zoe had zero interst in eatin the pumpkin. 

The other pumpkin he carved with Andy to be the character from the movie Monsters Inc and it turned out pretty cool!

After a few nights of Googling, Max came to the conclusion that he would be LED man. We got him the LED mask that featured 50 different faces he could pick from, and the LED gloves. He then wore all black. This turned out to be a cool costume and he picked the scream face for the night.

We hung out at our friends house while the kids trick-or-treated. Andy reluctantly dressed up that night too. I was very happy he sucked it up and dressed up for my favorite holiday.

We had a great time that night and I look forward to doing it again next year!

Go Pack Go

 Grandpa T and Grandma S, along with Mackenzie, came to town to go to the Packers and Cardinals game with Andy and Max. But first, we went out for Mexican food.

The five of them headed to Glendale early to check out the stadium and walk around. This year Max wore his Packers' jersey and supported Green Bay instead of the Cardinals. 

Max ate his way through the game. 

 

They had a great time together and Max was super excited to spend the day with everyone at a Packers game in Arizona. 

Fall Break: Part IV

 One of the last days we were there, we walked to Black Rock to snorkel. This is supposed to be great snorkeling, but it was a sea of people. Apparently, everyone has heard that Black Rock is a great snorkel spot. There were so many people that we didn't stay long. It was way too congested and hard to snorkel. 

BUT, for the little time we were there, we were snorkeling with a turtle. The pics don't do it justice. It was pretty cool. The turtle was just swimming around doing his thing while we hovered above watching.

After snorkeling, we just chilled at the pool.

We spent our last day of vacation at the pool.

Max fed the Koi fish at the resort.

We washed up and had dinner before heading to the airport for the red-eye flight home. These flights are always tough because I cannot sleep on a plane. I spent most of the time working. Once we landed, we all headed home and straight to bed to get some sleep.

Another fall break in the books. We missed our framily on this vacation, but we had some good quality time together just the three of us.

Fall Break: Part III

One day we decided to show Max the Road to Hana. I love this drive, Andy not so much. That could be because he was driving all day while I played passenger princess. It's a windy road that takes you to the other side of the island. It's an all-day adventure, and it's a slow drive, think around 25ish MPH. We left the resort at 6am so a very early morning and we were gone all day. It's a very unique ride and nice to see the slower side of the island and where locals live. It's also a gorgeous view of the ocean the whole way, and you get to see many waterfalls. Andy and I did this on our honeymoon, and I was excited to take Max.

Our first stop was to get the world's best banana bread at Aunt Sandy's. I did not get to eat it, but Andy and Max both agreed that it is the best banana bread. We then stopped at a restroom down the road and took in the beauty.

We stopped to checkout a waterfall along the way and get some pictures.

The next stop was the black sand beach. This place is so cool to see. 

The lava tube was also pretty cool.

Once we got past Hana, we arrived at the state park to do the 3-mile (round-trip) hike to see the giant waterfall at the end. Andy and I did this many years ago, and I was now excited to show Max, BUT by the time we arrived at the state park, Max was melting down. He was tired and cranky. We only made it .5 miles up the hike before it was time to head back down. There was no way we were getting Max to finish it. We made it to the first waterfall, but due to drought, there was no waterfall. This made Max even more annoyed.

After we returned back down the mountain, Andy and I decided to walk the loop to see the seven pools. Max decided to stay behind. He was done!

I didn't get to show Max the bamboo forest or the giant waterfall at the end of the hike, but we did spend the day together looking at the scenic views of Maui. After the hike it was time to head back. We arrived back to Lahaina, where we swooped some shave ice for a treat before we headed back to the hotel. It was such a long day that nobody wanted to go out to eat so we just picked up food from the Fish Market.

Fall Break: Part II

 We got up early to head to the Farmer's Market because Max wanted some fresh fruit. He especially wanted some fresh star fruit, and we got that along with fruit smoothies and homemade gluten-free banana bread.

We dropped our goodies off at the resort and went to a local chocolate factory for a tour and tasting. The tour was interesting to learn how chocolate is made, but Max really went for the tasting. It was really good dark chocolate.

We spent the afternoon at the beach with a little snorkeling and relaxation.

Then the pool for some drinks.

Daily sunset watch.

The next morning was some really cool snorkeling because we followed a turtle around.