Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Fall 2012 Dodgers

Hudson's last tee-ball game was October 22nd.  They don't do pictures in the Fall, so his team met early so the parents could snag a picture.  Sadly, his head coach (Coach Gary) couldn't be there, so he is missing from the picture.  
~~~Fall 2012 Dodgers~~~
 Coach Danny, Coach Ryan, Coach Kelly (aka Daddy!)
Cooper P, Nicky, Cooper M, Jacob, Landon
Ethan, Aiden, John, Hudson, Andrew
 It was starting to get dark, but I was able to get a few pics of Hudson actually playing!  Above he is at second base and below he is actually throwing the ball home.  :)
He says he wants to play again in the Spring, so it looks like he and Daddy will be practicing over the next few months and then we'll be busy with tee-ball again!  

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

School Fun!

I am room mom again this year for Hudson's class, which means I get to go up to school and help with all of the fun stuff!  I absolutely love that I get to help his teacher and be involved in his day every once in a while.  The smile I get from him when I walk in is priceless!  :)  On October 16th, I was asked to come take pictures of the fireman visit.  Miss Amber was the lucky teacher that got to dress up in the fireman uniform.  So, of course we had to get a group pic of her all dressed up!
(His class is definitely girl heavy!) 
 After the firemen talked to the kids, they got to go see the firetruck...definitely their favorite part!
 That same week, I got to go take pictures of Green Eggs & Ham day.  First, I got the table ready while Miss Amber read the book to the kids.

 Then, they all got ready to help Miss Amber make the eggs.  Aren't they cute in their chef hats??  :)
 First, all of the kids got to take a turn stirring the eggs.
 Then, they all got to go back up to cook.

 Finally, it was time to EAT!  
 Most of them gobbled up their green eggs!
Such fun!!  :)

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Hawaii

About a year ago, my Aunt Fern came to my sister, brother, and I and told us that she wanted to take us and our spouses on vacation.  Her stipulations were that it had to be a cruise and that she wanted us to eat dinner with her in the evenings.  She didn't even care where we cruised to, she just wanted to spend time with each of us.  Yes, I have hands down the most amazing aunt that has ever existed.  After a lot of thought, Kelly and I decided to go on the Hawaiian cruise. So, EARLY Saturday morning, October 6th, we boarded a plane to head to Honolulu with Aunt Fern and her darling friend Gene.  To say we had an amazing time is an understatement.  We relaxed, rejuvenated, visited some of the most amazing place I've ever seen, and more importantly, got to spend an entire week with Aunt Fern.  I used to do that every summer growing up, and I can say that I love it now just as much as I did then.  :)
I took a crazy number of pictures, so this is just a taste of our week:
This is the route that our ship took:
 Our first picture when we landed:
 A view of the ship...HUGE!!!
 The first morning, we were in Maui.  Kelly and I did a rain forest and waterfall hike and it was amazing.  It was one of my absolute favorite excursions of the trip.

 Some of nature's beauties!

 Kelly even jumped off a 25 foot waterfall that day...nut!

The second day in Maui we rented a car and drove to Paia, which is one of the cutest towns EVER!  First we went to Baldwin Beach to soak up some sun.  It was just beautiful!




 All of the locals said we had to eat at the Flatbread Company...oh my goodness...amazing!!  
 After lunch we shopped in the town and then drove down the coast.  This is a picture from right off the road we were driving on.
 That night after a yummy dinner, we had a few photos taken with Aunt Fern.  Love them!


 The following day, we were on the big island and went to Hilo.  First we went to Rainbow Falls.
 See why it is called Rainbow Falls??  Just beautiful!

 Then we went to the Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory.  It was a little taste of heaven...I'm sad that all of our chocolate covered ones are gone.  :(
 After that, we went to the Land of Frozen Fire.  This used to be the ocean prior to the 1992 volcano.  Crazy!!


 Kelly and I above the black sand beach.

 Then, we were off to Volcano National Park.  This is what happened to the trees after the lava got to them:
 This would be the inside of the tree:
 While we were out hiking, Aunt Fern and Gene were back on the ship learning how to make leis that day...
 Sadly, these two pictures are the only picture I have on here from our second day on the big island, in Kona.  We took a catamaran sail and snorkel that day and our underwater camera wasn't working.  So, we bought a disposable one on the boat and it took horrible pictures.  :(  Very sad our pictures of that day didn't turn out.  Oh well, we had a great time that day and it was gorgeous as well!
 This is what Kona looked like from the ship:
 The fifth day we were in absolute PARADISE...also known as Kaua'i.  We rented a Jeep and drove up the coast.
 See???  PARADISE!!!

 It just doesn't get any prettier than this.



 You know in the song, Puff the Magic Dragon where it says he frolicked in the Autumn mist in a land called Hanalei?  Well, we went to Hanalei and had lunch!  SUCH a fun little town!!
 That night we all went to the Kalamaku Lu'au.  First we took a train ride through the plantation and then had dinner before the show began.  It was much different than what I expected.  It told a really neat story and the dancers were amazing.


 The background from the train ride.


 Aunt Fern and Gene were so cute...after the show they just HAD to have their picture taken with the star of the show.  :)

 Our final day in Kaua'i was spent walking around the town and we found this at the Marriott...hilarious!
 Our ship left Kaua'i at 2:00 and drove by the Napali Coast before heading back to Honolulu.  Gorgeous doesn't even describe it...it was breathtaking.


 Our last  morning was also the morning of the OU/TX game...this was Kelly trying to get in a few minutes of the game before we headed to Pearl Harbor.
 Honolulu
 Pearl Harbor was very surreal.  It was such a quiet place with so much history and emotion.  I'd love to go back and spend more time one day.

 The white rectangle that you see below is the memorial that was built over the USS Arizona.


 These were taken in the actual memorial over the ship.  
After seeing Pearl Harbor, we headed to the airport and arrived home the next day.  It was a trip that we will never forgot because it was fabulous in so many ways!!!