This is Mike speeding...

For shame Michael...

For shame...

Tisk tisk...

The Luau that never happened.

Mike, Myself, Josh, Dad, Kerri, Deb and TJ waiting

for the Maui Prince shuttle to take us to the Luau,

that was at some other hotel, that I don't remember

the name of, because it is not worth remembering.

It was raining...

They were going to move the luau indoors...

They were screwing around and taking to long...

I was grouchy...

Back to the Maui Prince we went.

The first thing that comes to mind when viewing this picture is probably NOT "Maui in the month of June."

HALEAKALA SUNRISE AND BIKE TOUR

Haleakala: Pronounced “ha-lay-ah-kah-lah”House by the sun.

Wow Dad! You look so warm. ;-)

Here is a picture/diagram of the bike route down the crater.

TJ and Dad in their matching outfits. Awwwwww.



If the cloud cover hadn't screwed up the sunrise they may have
seen something like the two pictures below.

The Sunrise special leaves our store two hours before sunrise, arriving at Haleakala's 10,023' summit about an hour before sunrise. You watch the sun come up over the crater, a truly spectacular sight.

Mark Twain described sunrise at the summit of Haleakala, "...the sublimest spectacle I ever witnessed". Some call it the eighth wonder of the world, others call it a "power center". It is all that and more.

At once forbidding and compelling, Haleakala National Park is Maui's main natural attraction. Just going up the mountain is quite an experience, let alone biking down! No where else can you climb from sea level to 10,023' in less than an hour. At the summit, the 3,000' deep crater you peer down into is 7 miles long, 2 miles wide and 21 miles in circumference. Big enough to contain Manhattan!

http://bikemaui.com/tour.html#sunrise

TJ and Dad with their "Haleakala issued" bikes.

Mom even got to wear a matching outfit. You will notice, however, that she is not wearing a helmet. She is such a rebel.... j/k Helmets were only for those biking down... not riding down in the van.

Accidents occur every 2.5 days on Haleakala bike tours. These accidents can be anything from a bloody nose to broken bones to death.

Had I gone, would I have biked down? Who knows.
I sure am proud of my Dad and uncle TJ though. :-)

Mom, Dad, TJ and Debbie.

Looks like it's getting warmer as they make their way down.

And, just to recap... the bike route from 10,023 miles

above sea level down to sea level.

CONGRATULATIONS on your accomplishment!

Very, very impressive. :-)

CHEESEBURGER ISLAND STYLE

Shops at Wailea ~ 06/01/2007

http://www.shopsatwailea.com/Dining/CheeseburgerIslandStyle.htm

Debbie, Connie and the back of my head (sorry about that folks).

Is that waitress HOT, or what?

Mom, Debbie, Connie, Brandy, Myself and Evelyn.

Mmmmmm... I can still taste that burger.

Here we have some beautiful Hibiscus flowers.

Mike, Myself, Debbie, TJ, Mom and Dad.

I believe this one was taken on our last day in Maui :-( 06/07/2007

GIAN DON'S

06/01/2007 (Wedding day eve) ~

http://www.mauimenusonline.com/restaurants/GianDons/menu.html

Everyone got together for dinner the night before Chris and Brandy's wedding. It was VERY nice and I think a good time was had by all.

Josh and Kerri

Evelyn, Connie, Deb and TJ.

Craig, Evelyn and Connie.

Jenny, Gary and Brandy

Brandy's Mom and her BF.

:-) And, of course, the happy couple. :-)

Mom was lucky enough to get to celebrate her birthday while we were in Maui.

~ 06/06/2007 ~

Dad, Chris and Brandy

Dad, Chris, Brandy and the Birthday girl.

Mom, Aunt Debbie and Uncle TJ.

Dad.

And, I must say... those glasses are SO hot. :-)

What DOES Frank do during the summer?

Ok... before I finish up (hopefully some time in the near future) posting all the Hawaii pictures I am going to take a short break to tell you just how much I DETEST scorpions.

With my new, awesome flashlight I am going to do my best to completely erradicate all scorpions from my yard.

*Scorpion Facts *

Scorpions evolved about 450 million years ago, and they're still here.

Scorpion "hot spots" (like my neighborhood, aparently), can be traced to ancient waterways and native immigration canals that paved the first paths of scorpions in the Valley.

Scorpions like to make their way from yard to yard inside hollow cinderblock walls.

They won't cross the blacktop and that is why one side of a street may have scorpions while the other side may not.

More scorpions can be found inside neighborhoods than in the desert.
They can live inside walls and can go for more than a year without food or water.

Prehistoric scorpions grew to be 9-12 feet long .

Found this one in the laundry room.

Below is a picture of what scorpions look like under a black light (like my wonderful new flashlight).

They "light up" real nice, huh?

I LOVE my new flashlight.

Here are some statistics (since I got the flashlight):

7/16/2007 = 12

7/17/2007 = 4

7/18/2007 = 2

7/19/2007 = 1

7/20/2007 = 0

7/21/2007 = 5

7/22/2007 - 7/24/2007 = 0

7/25/2007 = 4 (babies)

7/26/2007 = 1 (baby)

7/27/2007 = 0

22 of the above scorp's were found on the cinderblock walls in the back yard.

1 scorp was found in the rocks in the front yard.

The 5 babies plus 1 regular scorp were found in the rocks in the back yard.

I highly, highly, highly, highly recommend the flashlight. It is one of the best investments I have ever made.

*Update* About 3:30 this morning I heard "a noise" so I got up to investigate.

With Frank leading the way (ok, he was really hiding behind me), we discovered the little box fan had fallen over and in to a metal garbage can. Ok, that explains that. What to do now?

You guessed it... Time to go scorpion hunting! Not having found one for several days, I am pleased to announce there is one less scorpion in the world. :-D

This one was actually running around IN the grass. It actually looked pretty cool. They are faster than I thought they would be as well.

08/01/2007 = 1

Running total = 16 days and 30 scorpions.

~ Snorkeling Trip to Molokini Crater 06/04/2007 ~

Located 2 ½ miles off Maui's south coast, Molokini is an extinct volcano that is now designated as a State Marine Life and Bird Conservation District. Its crescent shape acts as a fortress that provides protection from waves and powerful currents making this area one of the top ten dive sites in the world.

Molokini's back wall sharply drops off to depths of 300 feet. In the center is a lush reef area with excellent viewing up to 150 feet. The pristine waters are home to about 250 species of fish - some of which are found nowhere else on earth.

The frigate birds are known as Ewa (“thief”) in the Hawaiian language because of their practice of stealing food from other birds.

(They are the little black dots in the picture below).

The water was SOOOO cold.

It literally took my breath away when I jumped in.

It was a GREAT time though.

Oooooooh...... a spooky spotted eel. :-)