The Miskin Family

Saturday was another early wake-up! This was the day of our snorkeling excursion. We had to be at the dock by 7:45am. Good thing we were used to waking up early!

On our way to the boat dock, we noticed a lot of smoke in the sky. As we drove a long we soon saw the reason. Apparently every year the farmers burn down the sugar cane fields, and we happened to be there for the burning of one of them. I wish I would of had my camera out, but at one point we drove right past the field, with the flames just inches from the road! The heat was amazingly hot, even form the car, but is was a cool thing to see. While we were on the boat ash started to fall from the sky onto the boat and everyone sitting on it. The captain said they call it “Maui snow”.

Our excursion included a light breakfast, lunch, and all you can drink sodas and juice. The food was actually quite good, included breads, fruits, enormous sandwiches and pasta salad. On a side note: I was extremely disappointed in my soda options on the island. Everyone mostly had coke, diet coke or root beer. I am not a coke person… and if I do have coke I want cherry or something in it! Even in the grocery store the variety was limited. I am not an every day soda drinker, but I I was on vacation and I wanted to indulge… too bad.

Our excursion took us to the tiny island of Molokini, population: 0. It is used as a bird and animal habitat, so no one is even aloud to step onto the island. The snorkeling here was pretty cool, I wouldn’t know though because of the baby and Nadia (who obviously cannot snorkel). Trent and I tried to take turns, but between him helping Tanner and Natalya and going out and coming back, there was about 3 minutes for me to get into the water, then come back out! But I was able to get some cool pictures, see some fish from the side of the boat, and watch Nadia make friends with another nice old lady.

After every one came in we headed to the next destination: Turtle town! This time I went out first with Tanner and Natalya. Tanner lasted about 3 minute. Tanner said a giant sea turtle started chasing him, and followed him back to the boat! He was too scared to go back after that. I luckily was able to see a turtle down on the ocean floor, it was pretty cool.

After turtle town we headed back to the dock. This is a great example of what it was like to bring 4 kids to Hawaii… okay, maybe it wasn’t like the the whole time, but the kids were pretty tired by day 4! And poor Alexandra, the majority of her naps were taken on Trent’s lap. I do not know how she survived the trip! She was the least grumpy of the kids, and was pretty hang loose the entire time!

When we returned to the condo Tanner and Trent took off to a good boogie boarding beach, while the girls and I stayed behind and did laundry, took a nap, and swam in the pool. After the boys returned Trent told me to go take off on my own for a bit ( he did this A LOT during our trip, so it really was a vacation for me too). I went to the beach in front of our condo and just swam for an hour. I love swimming in the ocean! For dinner that night Trent and Tanner picked up food from a awesome Fish and Chips place and we ate outside on the Lanai. Seriously, all of the seafood we had while in Maui was amazing, and this place was pretty good! After the kids were in bed that night I went out to my favorite destination: Foodland. Okay, not really my favorite destination… but my favorite grocery store in Maui! Everything there was  reasonably priced (plus we got a discount with our condo key). This is the place I bought my reusable cold storage grocery bag. It was a lifesaver on the trip. It kept our drinks and food cold that we would take to the beach, and it zippered closed so it would also save our electronics from getting sand in them on the beach. Oh, and they had a redbox:) My purchase that night was several single serve slices of bakery fresh cake. They were like 2 dollars each and soo good and my favorite was the passion fruit cake. What was the most expensive food item in Hawaii? Oreos. Over 5 dollars for a pack of Oreos… who knew!

Friday was another early wake-up, but this time it was on purpose! Trent, Tanner and Natalya were going on a helicopter tour and had to be dropped off around 7:30am. Trent was super excited about the tour and I am glad they were able to go. I am a little sad I didn’t go, but my fear of small aircraft overtook my desire to go, plus someone had to stay back with the baby right?

After I dropped them off Nadia, Alexandra and I went to the best souvineer shop on the island: walmart. No really, walmart had a entire souvineer section, and had the best prices by far! The food section was pretty fun to wander through also. The strangest part was when we went to check out, they didn’t have plastic grocery bags! Apparently in Maui (and all of Hawaii) they discourage the use of plastic grocery bags and encourage you to use reusable bags. Walmart took it to the next level and don’t even give you a choice. Needless to say it was a bit awkward carrying all my stuff out by hand. We ended up spending the entire time there, and as soon as we got in the car, Trent called saying they were ready to be picked up!

Trent loved the helicopter tour, but the kids did not seem to impressed. In fact they seemed more excited about their posters they got rather then the tour itself! On a somewhat side note.: Trent is not one to be talked into buying stuff EVER, especially unneeded things. However on this trip he was talked into buying all sorts of things: posters, helicopter tour video, the aforementioned snorkeling trip… Just had to throw that in there, because I think it is funny. I do have to say the dvd of the tour was pretty cool, it was fun to see all the things they got to see, without actually getting in the helicopter.

From there we kind of wandered around a bit. We ended up at a mall with a giant farmers market going on. It was pretty cool, but the kids were all being grumpy so we didn’t look around too much. From there we headed to a beach on the north side of the island that is a great spot to watch surfers. It was pretty cool to see all the surfers, and there was even a little girl about Natalya’s age catching some waves! Again, we would have stayed longer, but the kids were getting pretty grumpy at this point, so we left right as the waves were getting good and the wind surfers were coming out.

Another side note: On the plane from LA to Maui Trent sat next to a guy from Morocco. He and Trent talked the entire way. Apparently the guy is a huge wind surfer, and goes to Hawaii several times a year. Later Trent googled his name and found out he was ranked 20th in the world in wind surfing! He was the one who told us about the place to watch the surfers.

For lunch that day we ate a taco place right across from our condo. I had fish tacos and they were not the best, but the fish was so good and fresh tasting. Trent had a chimichanga and it was so good! You probably are wondering why we chose a taco place, well Trent researched every place we ate at, so all the restaurants were highly rated either on urbanspoon.com or yelp.com. We also hit up a gelato place after lunch that was pretty good.

When we returned back to the condo we spent the rest of the day on the beach and in the pools. That night the condo place had a big birthday party for one of the long time residents. It was fun because they had hula dances, a singer, and a fire dancer! The girls loved it, which made me even more excited for the Luau later in our trip! For dinner that night we had coconut shrimp and enjoyed another night of Disney channel shows.

When you go to bed early, you tend to wake up early too. Go figure.

We all started waking up around 5:30am Thursday morning. If any of you REALLY know me, you know waking up before 8am is a huge sacrifice. So 5:30 is kind of a big deal. Once nice thing about waking up early is you get an early start to the day!

Our first excursion consisted of a “Triple D” stop called the Kihei Cafe. We were able to get there right before 7am to beat the crowd. It was a fun little place with huge menu! You basically walk into a little shack thing and order your food, and then all the tables are outside. One thing about Hawaii is you can eat outside for every meal, which is seriously my ideal lifestyle. And do not worry, of course I am going to tell you what we ordered!

Trent ordered a chorizo breakfast burrito, I ordered Bagels and Lox, Tanner ordered biscuits and gravy (which I was super excited about because  I wanted to try it) Natalya had a cinnamon roll and Nadia had french toast. Little fact about Hawaii (or maybe just Maui) they are HUGE on cinnamon rolls and banana bread. They are as popular there as cupcakes are here. I tried everything and everything was sooo good. The lox for my bagels was so fresh tasting, it was divine.

After breakfast we headed to the nearest “ocean gear” rental place and got out snorkel gear and boogie boards for the week. This is also when Trent was talked into going on a snorkeling excursion on Saturday. Ok, the final decision to go WAS my choice, but Trent made a compelling argument. We then headed back to the condo for a little rest, and so we could gather things together to head to a snorkeling beach. The pictures of Sasha are of her sleeping on her make shift bed. It was basically a blanket on the floor with some pillows to contain her. She loved looking at herself in the mirror while she fell asleep though! I believe while Sasha was napping, Trent took the kids to the our beach for a bit, and gave me some nice quiet time. And my fears from the previous day of wind and clouds? Well, the weather on Thursday (and very single day after) was PERFECT. No wind, no rain, and very few clouds.

So, next was the snorkeling beach in the next town over called Wailea.  The beach was really nice and had small waves and a great coral reef spot for snorkeling. This was Sasha’s first exposure to the sand, and she loved it. She would take fist fulls of sand and try to shove it in her mouth. Eventually she would tire of that and would just face plant into instead. She was a mess, but it was pretty funny. Sasha was not a fan of the water though, which made it interesting to clean her off.  During the entire trip Nadia had a knack for making friends with older ladies. I do not know what draws them to her, but she basically made friends with every older lady we came in contact with. So, if you see pictures of Nadia with random older women that is why. We had a lot of fun snorkeling and boogie boarding. I love snorkeling and so Trent and I took turns going out, usually with a child or two in tow. On this specific trip Natalya’s favorite thing to do was to have Trent or I pull her around on one of the boogie boards, Nadia’s favorite was playing in the sand, and Tanner’s favorite was snorkeling.  Also, every day in the afternoon the clouds would build up around the volcano, and it would look like it was going to storm, but it never did. It was pretty to watch though.

After we tired out at the beach, we drove around Wailea for a bit (so the kids maybe would nap). We found an awesome outdoor shopping mall and Trent dropped me off for about 30 minutes so I could do some shopping! Trent and the kids drove around some more and found a local vendor on the side of the road and bought some icee treats. Later that evening we headed back to the condo and after a swim in the pool, we had a delicious dinner of Tri-tip sandwiches with white cheddar cheese and dipping sauce, along with fresh pineapple. I joked with Trent that my favorite meals we ate were the ones we made ourselves. Trent cooked every meal while we were there, and they were all gourmet. After dinner the kids watched TV and conked out almost immediately.

One of my fears of this trip was the flights from San Fransisco to Los Angeles, and then Los Angeles to Maui.

We had an early wake up, 3:30am, but it was surprisingly easy. Trent and I awoke first and got everything ready, then we woke up the kids and basically just carried them to the van. My awesome dad was kind enough to drive us the the airport so we wouldn’t have to pay for parking.

We arrived in time to check our bags, get the whole “lap child” thing figured out (which was annoyingly and surprisingly difficult), go through security with four kids, a stroller, and 7 carry-ons, and make it to our gate a few minutes before pre-boarding! The flight from San Fransisco to Los Angeles was nice. Our seats were not all together, so I sat with Nadia and Alexandra, while Trent sat with Natalya’ and Tanner sat across from them on his own. It was nice and quick and we had zero problems! Once we landed we had time to use the bathroom and get right onto our flight to Maui.

The flight was also surprisingly uneventful. Nadia, Natalya and I sat right in front of Trent, Tanner and Alexandra. The long 5 hour flight was spent getting several snacks and drinks, watching Mr Poppers Penguins, and 3 bathroom trips (for the kids who don’t wear diapers). Our only issue was getting the girls to NOT kick the seats in front of them. We even had a little of this:

And then we arrived! Oh the luscious humid warmth! It was wonderful. We then had the task getting our luggage and car seats, along with our children and carry-ons situated while Trent left to get the rental van. This meant the kids and I hanging out at the airport Starbucks for about 30 minutes (the kids are still in the PJ’s mind you, and starving) I got a lot of “pitty” glances from the millions of people without children (which honestly is the majority in Maui). However, everyone was surprisingly good! I ordered two sandwiches and a bottle of water from Starbucks for the kids to eat and received my first “Shock” of Hawaiian prices. It was an even $20 for two sandwiches and a large bottle of water. Eek!

Trent arrived with the rental car, and we began loading up the van with our luggage and car seats. This was the time where we got the old lady judgmental comments, such as “maybe you should put your children in the car first”. Sorry lady, I have been up since 3am, and traveling for 6 hours… if my children want to run around on the sidewalk while we load the luggage and put in car seats it is fine by me!

Next on the agenda was Costco! Yes, there is even a Costco in paradise. Even better was they had awesome local foods: fruits, meats, dips, which made shopping so much fun! I brought a whole suitcase full of non-perishable foods with us, so we just had to buy the rest food we needed for the week. Best purchase: a locally made crab dip. Worst purchase: giant container of all purpose seasoning that we never even opened. (I fully intend on writing a post of tips and tricks when I am done posting about the trip, because I want to share the knowledge I gained from this trip!)

With our van literally full of food, bags and people, we headed to our “home” for the next 4 days: Hale Pau Hana in Kihei, Maui. Trent did a lot of planning and research for this trip, and it really paid off. For this part of our stay we were on the nicest beach I have ever been to, in a nice (though outdated) two bedroom condo. Here are a few pictures from our Lanai:

After we settled in Alexandra had a nap (and so did Dad) and the kids and I headed to the beach. It was a little later in the afternoon, cloudy and a bit windy. To be honest I was a little disappointed. I was worried that it would be like this the duration of our stay, and as much as I love the beach, I did not want clouds and sand blowing in my face. We enjoyed some time on the beach, and then some time in the pool before heading back to the condo.

We then had our costco pizza (yes we had costco pizza in Hawaii). The kids ate like this every meal we were there. Heaven I tell ya!

After dinner we took a walk on the beach while we watched the sunset

I believe the kids were asleep by 7, Trent by 7:30, and I joined in at 8:30.

We recently came home from an awesome family vacation. Trent spoiled us (meaning the kids and I) and took us to Hawaii. It was quite the adventure, and a lot of fun. Bear with me as I go from day to day so I can document our fun trip!

As we were planning out the trip, we really wanted to manage our time as best as we could, and make sure the kids didn’t miss too much school, and that Trent didn’t miss too much work. Also, one reason we were able to go to Hawaii was because of an awesome airline deal Trent found, but the flight took of from San Fransisco. Because of this we decided to leave Monday night, drive through the night, arrive at my parents house Tuesday morning, rest, and catch the plane to Hawaii very early Wednesday morning.

Our drive through the night was pretty uneventful, thank goodness. I spent the day packing and getting ready, Trent came home from work and slept a few hours, and then we took off around 11:30pm. Thanks to our newly installed car dvd player the kids were able to watch a movie until they fell asleep, which took longer than I would have liked. The plan was for Trent to drive as long as he could while I slept, and then I would take over. However, Trent drove the entire way! We only took two stops to fill up with gas and also get some breakfast. We made it in 10 hours, it was awesome. Even more awesome, Alexandra who hates her car seat slept the entire way!

After we arrived at my parents house, Trent immediately went up to the bed and crashed. The kids of course had to play with EVERYTHING, and I took a nice little nap and shower. Later in the afternoon the girls all went and got pedicures. The place my mom goes has a little pink chair just for little girls. It was perfect. Nadia was not a fan at first, but after she saw Natalya having so much fun, she had to join in too.

After pedicures we headed back to the house for dinner. My brother Josh and his daughter Ariana, and his mother-in-law Veera plus my Grandpa Fulkerson also joined us for dinner. Irina, Josh’s wife, was almost a week over due with their second daughter Anabel and wasn’t feeling well so she did not come. (Anabel was born the next day!). We had a nice time eating a delicious dinner made by my Mom and Dad, and had fun watching the girls play with their cousin Ariana. I also had to get some pictures of the kids and I with grandpa Fulkerson. He looks older and more weak every time we see him, so I want to be sure to document every time we do get to see him. Natalya really loves her great grandpa, and is really cute with him. This time she said some funny things to him. One was “Grandpa, I think you are going to die soon”. Natalya is very matter of fact when it comes to death, so it was more funny than morbid. She also said “Grandpa, you need to fold your arms during the prayer. I opened my eyes and you were not folding your arms!”

It was also grandpa’s first time meeting Alexandra, and at the time she was his newest great granddaughter!

After dinner we were able to get the kids to bed right away, and prepare for our 3:30am wake up call to catch our 6am flight to Maui, Hawaii!

Last Saturday Trent and Tanner went to the BYU game with our friends Holly and Trent Phippen. It was a late game, so they were going to be gone late into the night. Since the girls and I would be stuck at home, we decided to have a girls night!

First we hit up the grocery store and bought all kinds of junk food (candy, chocolate, ice cream) and then on the way home we hit up McDonalds for the kids, Wendy’s for me. We then parked ourselves in front of the TV and watched “From Prada to Nada” and ate our dinner and dug into the junk! After eating WAY too much, I let the girls go crazy with my make up. The girls love doing makeovers so this was so  much fun for them. The idea was for me to put them amke up on them, but they insisted on doing their own, and mine. I attempted to get a picture of all of us but it kept coming out blurry. However, you can enjoy the pictures of the girls.

Every fall we like to drive the Alpine Loop (runs from American Fork Canyon to Provo Canyon, or vise versa)

In the past we have gone later in the month of October, but we are going to be bust during the month of October and so we went a bit early this year. It was just as beautiful! The colors of the leaves were changing, but it was intermixed with all the green. Although it was cold and threatening to rain, we got out to walk around a bit. I love that we live in such a beautiful place and can enjoy it whenever we can.

Trent turned the big 3-1 on September 29th. Trent is not huge on birthdays, so we try to make a big deal for him. In fact the kids talked about his birthday ALL week, and they were so excited!

When we woke up we had a yummy breakfast of store bought pastries and blueberry muffins. We had Trent open his presents. The kids got him some fun BYU gear, along with several of his favorite treats. So, like I mentioned Trent does not make a big deal out of his birthday. So, I was surprised at the shirt he made to wear on his birthday. It was during the previously mentioned Lendio t-shirt contest, so he made a Lendio shirt with a big 31 on it for his age.

Later in the evening we all went out to Tucanos for dinner, and then came home and had some cake! It was a busy day at work for Trent, so luckily we planned to celebrate more over the weekend. Friday night and into Saturday some friends of ours watched the kids for us so we could go to the BYU v Utah State football game (BYU had a come from behind win), go out for late night dinner, sleep in until 9am undisturbed, watch general conference without interruption, and do some shopping and another lunch date. It was great! Happy birthday to the best husband and dad around!

When Alexandra was born, one of the first things we noticed about her is that her tongue did not quite fit into her mouth. Until recently she has not been able to have her mouth closed without a bit of her tongue sticking out. I think it is adorable, and will be sad when the rest of her body catches up!

Sometimes when she is in a silly mood she will just stick her tongue all the way out, and it is seriously goes past her chin. I happened to catch this epic event one day. Excuse the pictures, they are a bit blurry.

The other day Tanner said that when Jesus made her he gave her a grown up tongue on accident!

Trent’s company had a month long t-shirt contest during the month of September. If any of you know Trent, you know him and his funny t-shirts. So instead of just wearing the ones he had, he also had to buy several new ones so he would have a different funny t-shirt to wear each day of the month.

Everyday at work they took a picture of each contestant wearing their funny shirts. I got my hands on some of the pictures so I thought I would share some of Trent’s funny shirts.

This is not all of them, but most of them. Trent did not win however, a girl won that wore the same exact shirt everyday the whole month. And besides Trent’s shirts, this one was my favorite