Justin Visiting

So many of you know that my brother was in town for a full week! It was perfect timing too! I was really needing a touch of home and then he arrived. Immediately after getting off the plan we headed for Ioa Valley. It was so beautiful. The valley is surrounded by two big mountains. The mountains are covered in greenery and trees and then in the valley you can park and walk the trails. Of course the boys had to find the water and wade through it. It was neat that Justin came so soon after we had gotten here because we got to do many first things together. Ioa Valley being one of them.

Jeremy had to work from 6-2 while Justin was here so Bub and I had the morning and some of the afternoon to just be together! On Monday we went paddling boarding. It was quite a sight to see Justin carrying two 11 foot paddle boards by himself. Considering the paddle boards were more than double my size it was hopeless for me to even try and attempt to carry one. So he got the privilege of lugging them both over to the beach. Once, we got in the water it was so great! Justin had to work on his balance and truly perfected the "pancake" fall. (Because of the coral if you fall off your paddle board you have to fall flat like a "pancake"). Once, we got the hang of it we were paddling boarding everywhere.

Tuesday, we went on a Pacific Whale Foundation Snorkel Excursion. We left that morning at 8 and went to two different islands to snorkel. The first was Molokini and the second was Lanai. The boat ride was awesome and we got served  breakfast and lunch while looking at the surrounding islands and water. Snorkeling is such an adventure for me. You see so many different types of fish! It is truly unbelievable! After about 7 hours of snorkeling and being on the boat we headed back to Maui. On the way back we got to see dolphins! Justin and I were talking and then out of no where there were about 10 dolphins that put on a great show! The boat stopped and we watched them for about 20 minutes! Exhausted and sunburned we relaxed the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, Justin and our friend Jeff taught me and my new friend Stacey how to surf. I am proud to say that I stood up one time and then was destroyed by a wave. Justin is a pro though and showed us all how it's done! That evening when we picked up Jeremy we took him surfing. His surfing lessons didn't last quite so long. Shortly, after being in the water Justin stepped on a wana or sea urchin! They are extremely painful and we were told the only way to easy the pain was to pee on it. I'll  leave the rest of the story up to your imagination!

Thursday and Friday were lazy days. Justin and I were exhausted and extremely sunburned. I didn't know I could be so many shades of red! We went shopping in Lahaina on Front Street and ate at some really good restaurants! We went to bed early on Friday ready for a great weekend of camping! The weekend was incredible,but also turned out to be the scariest weekend of our lives! (More to come about this)

Our week with bub was so great! He left at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday and of course there were tears. I didn't cry in front of him because I knew he would make fun of me, but I cried all the way home! So many memories! He will back in January if not sooner. I think he was super bummed to leave Maui!