Hawaii: Lava & Snorkeling

Since the Big Island is the most recent, and still active volcano there is lava everywhere. It is fascinating! We saw lava tubes, fields, etc. all over the island, then went to the active volcano and saw other, freakier, looking things like this lava vent:
Another amazing experience we had there was snorkeling - not just because of the beautiful fish, but we actually got to swim with dolphins! In the wild! In this picture below you can see my mom's blue fins, and Ryan's green snorkel, and the dolphins right beyond where they are. I can't really describe just how much fun/how amazing this was!
Sean and I watching the others snorkel
We rented a boogie board with a window in it and both kids enjoyed seeing some of the beautiful tropical fish. And they looked pretty cute on the board :)

Hawaii: Beaches

We just got back from a week long vacation with my parents to the Big Island of Hawaii. It was GREAT! The kids had a blast, especially on the beaches. Here are a few photos of our beach excursions throughout the week:

We seriously had about 1,000 pictures of Sean doing this:
All in all the beaches on the Big Island treated us royally. Stay tuned for some pics of lava and snorkeling!

Fall

A few photos from this fall!

8 on 10 aka a blog post finally

I only managed to get 8 photos today, but the important part is that I will (hopefully) be posting pictures on a regular basis again (sorry family). Here is our day:

Grocery store & "Worlds Biggest Pumpkins"

apparel delivery at local high school - I LOVE fall in the NW

Playdate at a local nursery. . . .

. . . . that has a hay maze . . .

. . . . and a cool blue rocking chair . . . .

. . . . and lots of pumpkins and gourds.

Uh, Molly, there is a spider on your head.

Waiting for dad to get home & watching the rain.

Fish Tales

There is a great fishing creek here at the ranch - Ryan, the kids and I packed dinner the other day and set out to catch us some trout.

Molly was super excited about throwing rocks in the water - and almost falling in the water.

Sean and Ryan, focused

Sean, pretty proud of his catch - but not going to touch it.

Molly, trying to focus

Can you see her little face here? It is awesome.Molly's tiny catch. She was also proud. She touched it without hesitation. And yes, she does have a fat lip and scuffed up chin in this picture - that is how she rolls.