A morning at Makena and fun times with Mark

Well, I did pretty good for a few days and now I'm behind again. Sorry! Here are a few more photos I've been meaning to post for several weeks now and am just now getting around to...

My good friend Mark, who I used to work with at Healthsouth in Oklahoma City - back when I was fresh out of PT school - came to visit the first week of January. This was his 3rd trip out to see us since we moved here and we always have a good time! He's a pretty good guest too and he's been here enough that we don't feel the need to constantly entertain him with tourist activities! We did spend a beautiful Sunday morning at Big Beach in Makena, which we haven't done in awhile. We don't take Dean to Big Beach that often - mostly because there are no showers there and we end up taking TRUCKLOADS of sand home with us in his toys, diaper, hair, ears, etc everytime we go there!! But it is one of the most beautiful beaches on Maui and growing up when we would vacation here every year, this is the area we spent the most time. The weather was perfect for our Big Beach outing! Not too hot and not too cold. Unfortunately, the waves were too big for Dean to be able to go swimming, but Joel and Mark had fun trying to break their necks body surfing! Dean and I just relaxed and took a walk looking for shells and sea glass. Dean LOVES to find sea glass...his favorite are the green pieces. We don't really have much sea glass here, so finding a piece or two in one outing is really raking it in! Dean filled his pocket with his favorite bits of shell and coral and a few pieces of green sea glass. He was very happy with his finds!! We also discovered that if we put a towel or something over Dean's requested "big puka" (puka is Hawaiian for hole), he is VERY excited and thinks it is the coolest house EVER!!! On Mark's last day here Dean and I went with him to Wailea and did the Wailea Beach Walk. Normally this is a pretty good way for me to get some exercise - it's a beautiful stretch of about 2 miles of sidewalk right through some of Wailea's most exclusive resorts and right on the ocean. However, this time Dean refused to get in his stroller and insisted on walking himself, which means we have to stop and read every single sign, touch all the lights, look at all the big rocks, etc etc etc - he now says "kapu", which roughly translates from Hawaiian to mean "keep out" when he sees any type of Danger or Warning sign! (he also says "TuTu's closet Kapu", which means my Mom's closet is off limits - he's so cute!). But after our walk, we played on Wailea Beach for a few minutes before heading home and Dean was sufficiently worn out for a good long nap!!