Gavin's preschool celebration

Gavin is officially moving up from his three year-old class... *tear*. There is something about those three year-olds that is so stinking adorable. I love it. I guess he did turn four though, so he is more than ready to be in the next class. Thankfully, most of his four year-old friends are moving up with him!

The theme of the celebration was Noah's Ark, so each child picked an animal and decorated a paper plate mask. There were lions, tigers, a bird, a dog, a hippo... and our little monkey!


When asked why Gavin wanted to make a monkey, he said, "I want to make ears and eyes and a mouth and legs and a tummy for my monkey... and let's make a banana too."

When asked what he would do if he were a monkey, he said, "I would take my banana to my tree so I can eat it. I don't want to wear shirts and pants when I'm a monkey."

His teachers also said that Gavin likes books best about preschool, he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up, and they have especially enjoyed his peaceful nature.

Then they recited a verse and sang a few songs.

Two little monkeys swinging from a tree,
teasing Mr. Alligator, "You can't catch me!"
Along comes Mr. Alligator, quiet as can be...
and SNAPS that monkey right out of that tree!
Our God is an awesome God,

He reigns from heaven above... with wisdom, power, and love,
Our God is an awesome God!

It's been such a fun year and I can't believe how much Gavin has grown since his first day back in September!

Arriving in Maui

Let me start by warning you about the overload of pictures that is to come. :) I mostly just want to document this trip and the memories our family made together in Maui. We were a little nervous about bringing all three of our boys (and let me tell you... the five and a half hour airplane ride was rough :), but the minute I saw my boys running on the beach with huge smiles... I knew it would all be worth it.

They really got a kick out of the fact that Eskimo Joe had a lei. :)
Casey ran to the deck as soon as we arrived. Within a few minutes, we were headed down to the beach.
Wait for me!

This is my Grandpa's beach!

I think I have sand in my belly button!Jacob wanted to make a sand angel Gavin was having a blast just throwing sand into the water.
Which Casey thought was pretty funny. :)

Wailea

The next morning, we discovered the downfall of our vacation in a different time zone. The boys were bright eyed and bushy tailed at 4:30 in the morning! UGH. So I agreed to get up with them that first morning and headed to Wailea, one of my favorite beaches.

We found little climbing trees that were perfect for little boys.



He couldn't make it very far up the palm tree though. :)They were actually filming a movie on the beach that morning! Maybe we'll be extras in it someday. :)
Jacob and Gavin discovered the fun game of walking into the water and running away as soon as the wave comes!
I love this picture!


The one thing about the beach though is you always end up with dirty boys!

Later on that day, we rented some snorkeling gear for Jacob. We started out by showing him how to use it in the pool.
Casey was all over throwing the snorkel in the water and having his daddy get it for him.


Thanks for playing with me daddy!

Kaanipali

Jacob really wanted to see the lava rocks so we headed to the southern part of the island the next morning... but not before snuggling with our boys in their jammies. :)

This is the only time you will see Casey with a hat... because he takes it off seconds later EVERY time. :)
Jacob collected several lava rocks for his favorite cousins and friends, but daddy heard that taking them off the island brings bad luck. Their grammy later confirmed that theory. :) So we left them on the island... just to be safe.

We stopped at a little area where dolphins were supposed to be playing, but no dolphins for us that morning.

Then we found a shallow, calm spot that was perfect for Jacob to try his first REAL snorkeling. He did so good!
Gavin and Casey were his biggest fans as they shared some goldfish. :)

Later that day, we headed to Kaanipali. I decided that this is my favorite place in the whole world... not that I have been to many places. ;)

There was a really fun pool to play in...




...and we caught some really fun sunset pictures!