a little welcome home surprise

coming off a 10 day adventure on maui left us all feeling quite 'blah' about coming home.
it was BEAUTIFUL there
we were having fun
and ...
really ...
how exciting can minnesota be ...

WELL ...
today we found out.

when we arrived home from the airport we were greeted by this ...
(i borrowed this picture from the startrib)



and this ...

the entrance into our neighborhood was completely blocked off.
there was a massive hunt underway for a police chase suspect.
it started down in south minneapolis and made it's way up here -
ending with the guy ditching his car
and entering the woods right across the street from our house.
the police chased him and then sent a K9 in.
apparently it came back out with multiple stab wounds.

for the rest of the day
we watched SWAT members come and go,
we saw massive police barricades on the main road we use,
and
we watched a helicopter flying overhead.

sadly ...
the TEN separate police departments
AND
the U S marshalls
that they had on the chase failed to find him -
yet
(i'm hoping)

on a positive note -
they seem certain that he left the area
but are continuing heavy police coverage.

on the flip side -
that doesn't make me feel much safer.

just another crazy day around here.

oh ... and mom ...
this is all just a story that we made up.
i swear.

perfection

the PERFECT way to kick off a morning ...



and

the ONLY way to follow it up in the afternoon ...

i'm missing it already.

quick question

hey drew ....

did you spend any time at the pool this week???

our last full day on maui

we woke up and went for an early morning walk along the beachwalk -

we stopped at the hyatt
to see their fun birds along the way.



we played at the pool ...

we entered the bocce ball tournament.
team rockstar
that would be me and ben
creamed the wolves
that would be drew and stacey
in the first round
but then went on to seriously lose in the 2nd round.
for the record ... i didn't throw the competition because i was really ready for lunch
but it did cross my mind ;)

we ate lunch
and then went down to the beach to play.

we jumped some waves ...



and then went back to the pool
just ONE MORE TIME.

we ended with a dinner on the beach
at hula grill.
live hawaiian music
and
a sunset.

i'm gonna miss this.

a day full of promises

** disclaimer **
the following pictures do NOT
i repeat DO NOT
even come close to portraying the amazingness that we saw today

as is very common -
the rain sat up in the mountains and didn't touch us.
as is also common -
we saw a rainbow.
HOWEVER ...
today we saw rainbows out over the ocean ...
a double one.
a double one that i missed getting a picture of actually ...
grrrr.
we saw rainbows coming out of the mountains ...
AND
we saw something we've never seen before.

we saw where the rainbow actually hits the ground.

never before have i seen a rainbow in front of something
as it was with the mountains.

it was BEAUTIFUL!

to look at the mountains and see a rainbow arching over the top of them
and touching ground on both sides.

it was simply amazing!

the ONLY thing that could've possibly made it better
was a pot of gold for us to find at the end ;)

road to adventure

no ...
we did not take another 9 hour tour
and do a repeat of the road to hana.

today we took the highway
up past kapalua to maui's northernmost coast.

we didn't go all the way around because going 8 miles on
windy roads bordering a cliff
was MORE than enough.

we got in just the few things we wanted and it was perfect.

for starters we headed to the nakalele blowhole.

we didn't realize QUITE the trek that it was going to be ...
through the lava fields ...

and up/down loose rocky hills ...

BUT ...
in the end it was TOTALLY worth it!

and we found it!
an actual blowhole that sucks water in from the ocean
and then spouts it out with serious energy.
the boys LOVED it!

and then ...
we even got the bonus of finding this fun little rock!

after playing in the spray for a while
and when the boys started to get just a little too comfortable with being up on a cliff
we headed back

we stopped off at honolua bay

and ended up with today's strange animal sighting.

a chicken.
on the beach ????
enough said,
i think.

a fun day!!
and DEFINITELY an adventure we'll take again.

only next time ...
no flip flops ;)

capturing paradise

this is just one attempt ...

friday recap

started the day saying goodbye to grandpa
(alex still is mad at the people next door for moving in and taking his room)


then played and swam ...

until they crashed ...
can i just say what a GREAT outdoor mall shopper
alex is in the afternoon ;)

AND ..
then of course had another crazy animal encounter


before ending the day saying goodbye to tyler and matthew's family ...

we've had such a fun week so far!!
it's going to seem SO much different now that everyone is gone!!

catching up - thursday

we've had a busy few days ...
so i'm going to play catch up with a few posts.

post a few fun pictures ...



a few pictures of the cutest couple ever ...
(ok i know ... barf ... puke ...ya ya
get over it.
it's my blog)

and ...
because i seem to be posting one strange animal sighting a day ...
here's todays ...
a pod of about 50 dolphins swam by while we were sitting at the pool.
they were SO cool to watch.
the way they just glide over the water in what seems to be perfect synchronization
is beautiful!

finally ... a picture of my dad and sharon ...
because it turned out nice ...
and it's their last full day in paradise with us.
luv u.

splish splash

a whale tale

as you might remember ...

when we came to hawaii 2 years ago we had an incredible time whale watching

we got VERY lucky and got a lot of fun shots.

SO ... when we decided to go again this trip
i was a bit nervous.
i figured it was going to be hard to top what we already experienced.
WELL ...
today did not disappoint.

we saw something COMPLETELY different than we did 2 years ago.

this time-
rather than a mom and calf -
we experienced a 'competition pod'.
what that means is there were 8-10 whales together ...

all fighting over 1 female.

this meant we saw a TON of activity

we even saw them rise out of the water and 'chest bump'

as part of their fight.

it was amazing!!

of course i still found the mom and baby SO fun-
but what we saw today was so different.
and the boys (especially drew) LOVED it.

an interesting side note -
while we were on our watch -
the pod that we were following was also being followed by a filming crew for BBC for a show being produced called 'ocean giants'.

because it is a 'research' boat, they could approach the whales and did not have to wait for the whales to approach them.
it was crazy to watch how close they got to each other!

those whales are HUGE and i have to say that if one popped up next to me and was bigger than my boat -
i don't know that i would stay quite as chilled as they were ;)

our day in pictures