Wrapping up Hawaii 2016

Variety - Hawaii 2016

This vacation was great for many, many reasons - and one of the best was that it was shared by family and friends.  These photos of our last few days will remind us of these times:

Ted played a lot of tennis, which he loves.  He was on the 'on call' list at the Mauna Kea tennis resort, Mauna Lani hotel, and the Fairmont Orchid so when they had a guest that wanted to play they would call him up to come and play. It was a sweet deal for Ted because he played for no or minimal cost.

Ted on Centre Court at the Fairmont Orchid

We also spent time with Ken and Shirley at their condo, lots of laughs and good times there playing a dice game called 'Nusht' (spelling?)

Ruby is becoming quite the chef, and did a great job making pancakes and smoothies for us on sleepovers.

Kaidence and Ruby had a treasure hunt out in the back of our place and found shells, coconuts, and some beautiful flowers - which they happily modeled Hawaiian style!

At Bennett's favourite beach there's a lot of trees for climbing that go right down almost to the beach.

Bennett got buried in the sand, but not before a crab had climbed out of the same spot...

A not-so-happy clam that did his best to hop out of the bucket!

We spent our last day all together at A Bay renting the paddle boards, kayaks, hydro-bikes, and also heading out on the glass bottom boat.

Lady of leisure!

And of course for the little ones playing in the sand never gets old!

So after a great month on the Big Island of Hawaii Ted and I are now back home, it'll be a bit of an adjustment getting back into our normal routines...

2016 Hawaiian Tennis Tournament - Hali’i Kai

Tennis Tournament 

Once Ted found out that Ken and Shirley were staying right across the street from the tennis courts at their resort he started thinking about having a fun tournament for everyone.  Once game day came he got the kids involved as well with poster making, first aid set ups, and giving direction on being a 'ball kid'.

There were lotions, potions and braces for almost anything

Group photo of us  (except for baby Blakely and Makinly)

Matt was definitely the star on our team, lots of natural talent there!

'Return that one Papa'  :)

Rest area

Another great thing about the day was the participation of all the kids, they played and were good sports....

Tennis etiquette was observed

The job as 'ball kid' was a serious one....

And we even had a Peanut gallery just outside the court to cheer everyone on...

And when there's a fountain and you're hot, they know what to do to cool off!

The final game was between 'The Warriors' (Gina and Ken), and the 'High Tide Mai Tais' (Kristi and Ted) with Gary as the scorekeeper on the far left.

- with the win going to the High Tide Mai Tais!  After a long but fun afternoon it was time to head back across the street for BBQ burgers, and presentation of some high quality prizes!!  There's talk of it being an annual event, just not sure if it'll always be in Hawaii though........

Special Spot

We decided to all meet up mid-afternoon at one of our favourite places in Waikoloa Beach Resort.  It's often tough to get prime real estate here - a beach table on the sand - but great timing by Gina and Gary made it happen.

Casual seating lets the kids come and go

Next generation of friendships

Nearby grassy area great for gymnastics

Two Gpa's are better than one!

In Hawaii together!

Looking for turtles as the sun goes down

One of the best places to watch the sunset

Ending the day together at a little piece of paradise - perfect!

Mau'u Mae Beach

Running Races

Years ago when our kids were growing up there were many running races that took place on the street in front of our house, they were fun times.  At the beach Gpa and Ruby decided they would see who really was the faster runner as there's been some discussion about that lately.  So Jen was the starter and Rick was judging the finish line. (iPad and Mac users won't be able to see video below)

There was a lot of playing in the water, building pools in the sand, and all the stuff that goes along with a day at the beach.  These photos pretty much capture our day at Mau'u Mae beach...

And at the end of it it's time to head home for the showers and wash all that sand away!

Fire Show 2016 - The Shops at Mauna Lani

In spite of the gusty winds we decided to go see the Fire Show over at the little mall by where Ted and I are staying.  We've gone in years past and it's always been enjoyable and just the right amount of Island Spirit to take in.

A special 'Aloha Family' watching the show

First the beautiful Hawaiian girls came out shakin' and a shimmying to the familiar drum beat...

Then the Hawaiian warriors came out with their weapons and strong facial gestures, followed by the actual fire show which was very entertaining, and included some comedic aspects which the crowd loved.  

The fire came pretty close to the grass skirts of these guys but all turned out well.  The youngest in our family couldn't watch though, too scary for him!  :)

After the show Bennett and Ruby came for a sleepover and by the time they watched a movie on our laptop (TV and cable at our rental is lame) and went to bed it only took them all of about one minute to fall asleep.  

It was a day full of fun at the pool for most of the afternoon, and then a great family evening out.