Pumpkins & Patches & Puddles Oh My

How did fall just sneak up on me? One day I am lounging on the beach in beautiful weather and the next it is raining and halloween is already behind me. Forgive me if I have adopted a little of the island mentality and am a few weeks behind on posting pictures.

We started off the season with a pumpkin picking party at Grandma's Garden. Trust my mom to throw a party for all 14 of her grandkids on her own birthday. She is pretty giving! Then the floodgates opened and we spent Isabella's fall trip to the pumpkin patch in the pouring, driving, freezing rain!

Where my butt got so wet and my pants so muddy from the kids shoes that they are actually stained!

We did find a pretty cute pumpkin though!

We headed over to our old standby Joe's place (favorite farmstand ever) for some bigger pumpkins, Savannah wasn't satisfied with the size of the one she got from Grandma and Ben's was a little green gourd so we got 2 more and some delicious homemade apple cider

Carving is serious business!

You can't see it well, but we got these really COOL looking pumpkins from Joe's place but they were impossible to carve, even with Dave's big hunting knife! So Savannah carved her pumpkin from grandma after all and Dave carved Isabella's grandma pumpkin for Ben since she got another at BI-Zi Farms.

Little chubby hands! He loves his punkin!

The Rest of Hawaii...photo overload!

The lagoons at Ko'Olina were so beautiful, we spent every day snorkeling and swimming for hours.

This was a canoe from the 1800's, first used for fishing, then for drug running.

Our favorite lagoon, we got to swim with 4 sea turtles that live there, they were so tame, swimming right up to us and letting the kids feed them sea grass from their hands.

The Pali overlook, we thought bella would blow away it was so windy. Can you believe when we moved from NC these kids were 5 & 3 & 1 day old!! It was interesting to see how the dynamics changed, when we lived in NC David & Carynn were best friends now it was the boys & girls who play together, no mixing!

Bella is wiped out from bodysurfing at Bellows beach

We caught some "narly waves"

Lynn watched the kids so Dave and I could go snorkeling in Hanauma bay, it was such a beautiful morning and we had a wonderful time. I can't believe how BIG all the fish are that I always pictured very small. Our new favorite word....humuhumunukunukuapua'a or Trigger Fish. They are SO CUTE!

My little wahinis, with their "coco boobies" as we call them.

Visiting the Laie temple

The polynesian cultural center was really fun, I wish we had gone 2 days instead of just 1!

Watching the boat parade

The girls learning to hula like good wahinis!

The boys didn't want to learn to hula!

Look who we ran into...The Larsens! We had trouble connecting the whole week, busy schedules relaxing by the pool you know. But there they were chucking spears. I love running into friends, it is like getting a warm hug!

Spear Chucking!

Saying goodbye to the Lamberts. We had such a wonderful time visiting them. The kids all got along so well and for us it was like no time had gone by since North Carolina.