It was the Discovery Center after all.

Well, we chose to go to the Children's Discovery Center. I took them myself and boy, did I need a nap afterwards!

Some highlights: Dallen loved the mirror, dressing up and "performing" on stage; Austen loved working on the cars as a mechanic; Brennen absolutely LOVED the fire truck and sorting his recycleables; and Chyler spent a lot of time prepping for a Japanese meal.

But of course, the absolute best was the Bubble Well...again!

Last minute fun before the dreaded...SCHOOL

So, I've been feeling bad about not really doing anything fun or constructive for my kids this summer. We went on our trip which happened to take place right smack dab in the middle of summer so NO summer school, NO summer anything to enroll them in. So, we've been vegging out at home for most of our time...with the occasional trips to the park.

Last Wednesday, we went to the waterpark with friends. They enjoyed that! It was PACKED though - I've never seen a line wrap around to the vehicle entrance before...WOW! But it was fun nonetheless.

Today, I took them to Chuck E. Cheese - where a kid can be a kid and Mom's get headaches. On the way, we were listening to the radio and Apologize by One Republic came on. Dallen started humming, then singing some words. He sang the chorus, "It's too late to roll the dice, it's too late..." I laughed, he asked why. I told him that the words were slightly different. We both laughed.

Another antic on the way, Austen was looking at his Transformers book and it has pictures of other books that are available. He says, "look at all the videos they have". Dallen tells him, "Austen, those are books! B-U-K-S, books!" I start cracking up! I asked him "what did you just spell??"

While at Chuck E. Cheese, they had a blast as they always do. Their prizes this time? Austen and Brennen got 2 "butterfly' rings (you should have seen the guy behind the counter, he told me twice that "they are butterflies, you know..." while looking at my two boys. Yes, I know!) and Dallen got a sticky snake thing-a-majig, which he loves antagonizing Brennen with.

I'm thinking of doing either bowling or the Discovery Center on Wednesday. Hmmmm....

Our day...

Another L-O-N-G baseball day but Dallen had a great fielding experience! The elusive TRIPLE PLAY! Runners were at first and second with no outs. Dallen was playing first base. The batter hit a line drive towards first and both runners took off. Dallen caught the line drive (1 out). Then, he stepped on first base before the runner could get back to first base (2 outs) and then he threw to second base before that runner got back (3 outs). Yay for Dallen!

The Cardinal

Austen is a Cardinal...an Aiea Cardinal, that is! Austen is playing teeball for the very first time.

Not sure if you remember his first attempt at a team sport last year? Soccer was, at best, traumatic for Austen. He refused to put on the uniform, go on the field, run around and kick the ball, etc...he was a little bit overwhelmed at the "action" going on around him. We chalked it up to youth - after all, he had only turned 4 when we pushed him into soccer. So, we had our fingers crossed this year that if we signed him up for baseball, he would have more confidence and success.

We prepped him a lot - talked to him about it, threw the ball around at home, had him practice on a tee at home - he was also going to all of Dallen's games so he was around baseball games quite a bit. We hoped it would help.

Well, he's still a little bit apprehensive but he puts on his uniform, he goes to practice, and today was his very first game. Which he fully participated in!

I have to say that I am so proud of him. The day was almost set up for him to end up melting down...but he didn't!

Dallen is playing too SO, we have 2 boys playing baseball in one day. Dallen's game was at 8:30am and we all went to support him. (Here's Dallen with Uncle VJ, his 1st base coach as well as some pictures of post-game follies...)



At 9:45am, Austen's team had picture taking...then, at 11:00am, he had warm-ups. The previous game went a bit long so their teeball team didn't start until a little bit after 12:oo noon and took about 1 to 1-1/2 hours to play. (You can understand where I'm coming from..."set up for him to melt down"?? It was a LONG, HOT day!)

During the game, he stayed in the dugout with his team - he came by to hug me a few times for reassurance, I think. He took his at bats, he went out to field...WOW, I AM SO PROUD OF HIM!! What a trooper!

A funny anecdote - on his very first at bat, he took his place and hit the ball successfully off the tee. Yeah!! At that point, he just stood there. His coaches told him to RUN - so he did!! He ran, bat in hand, straight towards the pitcher!!

He said that he had fun and that really is the main thing. I just can't say it enough - I am so proud of him. I guess I was expecting him to be his shy self and not want to go out there with all eyes on him...but he did. He put his uniform on, stayed happy the whole day at the baseball park, and was a Cardinal today! Go Austen!

And we're off...

For our annual trip this year, we had the opportunity to go to Cancun Mexico and Las Vegas Nevada.

Our trip started on the evening of June 19th when we took the red-eye and flew into Las Vegas for a brief overnighter before our major trek to Cancun. We stayed at the new South Point Hotel which was a very nice hotel near the airport. Large rooms, big plasma TV, spacious bathroom, nice pool - we recommend this hotel!



The next (very early) morning, we headed for the airport to Phoenix Arizona (2 hours) and then finally to Cancun (4 hours). The kids did pretty well on the plane. Since they got up so early, they slept on the ride to Phoenix. But, to our dismay, they were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed all the way to Cancun! Chyler was the biggest plane monster!



We stayed at our timeshare, The Grand Mayan! The resort was really beautiful but when we arrived - it was SO HUMID! Yuck! However the rest of the week was really mild, even cool! Here we are at the airport, in the shuttle, and in the lobby - Dallen lounging playing his brother's Gameboy since his DS died and excuse the Sugar Baby teeth that Austen is sporting.



Here's our 2 bedroom unit complete with a kitchen and living area and our very own balcony dunk pool. The kids loved that!



The Cancun resort did not have the waterpark that Acapulco did (shucks!) but they did have 3 humongous pools. The pools had "underwater landscapes" - shallow areas, stages, little kiddie pools, etc - all within these HUGE pools. It was really neat - the kids could "walk on water" in the middle of the pool, they could jump from a ledge in the pool to a deeper area - you can kind of see what I'm talking about in one of the pictures. Since he could reach the bottom of the pool, Dallen helped his brothers out by taking them into the deeper areas - but I love the picture of Austen pseudo-drowning as Dallen smiles for the camera. Don't worry, Austen loved every minute of it!

Chyler, our resident vacation monster, refused to take naps in our plush unit - rather, she would wait until we went to the pool for a snooze. Never failed, everyday. Towards the middle of the week - we actually started to go to the pool so she could take a nap. It was pretty ridiculous!

Since we were in Book of Mormon country - we HAD to go and visit the Mayan pyramids. We shared a cramped taxi van with our friends and took a 3 hour ride to CHICHEN ITZA in the Yucatan area of Mexico. This is one of the more well known sites as it is now listed as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Our guide took us around and told us that the site was probably built there because of the cenote - the water hole. I guess so because it's really in the middle of nowhere. It was dusty and hot - there were a TON of vendors there (unfortunate) - but we were glad to be there. It's kind of strange to walk where you know Lamanites walked a very long time ago. It was a surreal experience.




Did I mention the iguanas? They are to Mexico as mynah birds/geckos are to Hawaii or squirrels are to the mainland. They can be found everywhere! All the kids were super excited whenever they saw one. We told them to not get too close - but curiosity always got them within a few feet. We also had to hold Chyler back because she's fearless and would probably pick one up or pet one, if given the chance.

We also went to the TULUM site which was closer to where we were staying. To me, this was such a beautiful place. It was built on the cliffs right next to the beach! The view was spectacular! If I was a Mayan, I would rather live at this site than at Chichen Itza. The informational signs noted that this site was built to support trading since it was accessible from the sea. It was one of the most beautiful places that I've ever seen!

We enjoyed our time in Cancun - the resort was relaxing, the beaches were beautiful, the people showed a lot of hospitality - but, our week was up and it was our time to leave. Note our tans, especially Austen??

So, we got back on the airplane and headed back to the USA. We trekked from Cancun to Charlotte North Carolina. Yes, I said North Carolina!! We were there for a very short time - man, we almost missed our connecting flight! Then, we flew back to Las Vegas Nevada.



We got to stay in a really plush hotel - another 2 bedroom suite - the Hilton Grand Vacations right on the Las Vegas Strip. It's kind of by itself, but it's surrounded by the Stratosphere, Sahara & Circus Circus.

Our main reason for always stopping in Las Vegas is to spend time with Lad's sister's family. We were able to visit with them for a number of days - our kids just loved spending time with their cousins! We miss them a lot since they moved to Vegas but it's always nice to see them. Here are a majority of the cousins - missing are Tim & Nyle.



On Wednesday, July 1st, we got to drive up to Utah to visit Zion National Park. Lad was adamant that it was beautiful...and it was! Lots to see and explore. Austen was truly in his element - he wanted to climb everything and everywhere, explore the streams - he wanted to stay longer and do more. He's really a nature boy. Brennen was so tickled by the squirrels, who would come very close to you. There are signs all over - "do not feed the animals, you will be fined" - but you know people feed them because the squirrels won't come a few inches from you if they weren't expecting a handout, right?! We didn't feed them, I promise! Dallen, not a nature boy, was hot and tired for most of the day - "how far do we have to walk?" He perked up a bit when we reached the stream. I let him take my small camera to take his own pictures - he loves doing that - unfortunately, he also accidentally dropped my camera and now it's broken. Yikes!



For the rest of the week, we pretty much vegged out - lots of pool. We took the boys to the Circus Circus Adventuredome and they loved it! Dallen rode the roller coaster several times. Our family took a "Old West" dress-up photo, which was fun too! I'll add a snap of that later or if you come by our house, it'll be on the wall!

On July 4th, we headed to the airport at 11:30pm - YES, I SAID 11:30pm - for our 2:30am flight. Yes, 2:30am! Lad insisted that this was the most cost-effective flight. I was skeptical (to put it lightly) because of our very young kids. Somehow, we made it - THEY made it - and we were back in Hawaii by 6:00am! So nice to be home! What a trip!!

Dallen and Austen are already asking when the next one is...