This big six year old is making snowmen without ANY help...
and she can't decide if she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up...
or the next Santa Claus (really!)
And my poor old Grandma's still waiting to fly up with the birds to her next life... Say a little prayer for her journey, won't you?
Annika asked me to make her a doll like Pedar's Sweet Pea, so here is Rosalinda.
All Annika wanted was a treasure box with a key, but she was delighted with the contents as well. Her favourite was a little tin with all the supplies for doing handsewing. She's been handsewing ever since...
We had pancakes for supper, the night of her big day.
Before we left for Maui, Annika had made a wish for it to snow the day we got back. It did! She wasted no time in getting out there to make snow angels... 
We had a wonderful time in Maui. We spent most of our time on the beaches, but lots of time spent in the pool too. Annika got so she could swim across the pool by herself. A big step for her.
We went to a luau, where Annika was SO excited to learn how to do the beautiful dance. She raced up onto the stage when invited.
Good food!
Annika lost her front tooth right before the luau
We loved the strong Goddess culture there.
We couldn't get over the beautiful sunsets
Mermaids on the beach
Big waves at Big Beach
Windsurfers on the North beaches
Fun rental car
Squeals of joy
Schools of fish through the submarine window
We went to 366 feet below sea level
Haleakala volcano thrilled us all
The very south end
Walking through the most recent lava flow
We ate as much fruit as we could hold. The hardest thing about our holiday was all the garbage. Everything is sold in plastic so we tried to stick to fruit from the farmer's markets. It's tough to be earth-friendly when you're not at home!
We rode the Sugar Cane Train, kids were thrilled!
Each evening one of the kids would blow the conch in each of the 4 directions as the sun went down. We loved this ritual!
Annika would take her post up in the plumeria tree to watch the sun dip below the horizon. She was hoping to see the green flash at the instant it set.
Our other favourite pastime was watching the turtles. There were often 6 right there below us, great big Green Sea Turtles, feeding, swimming and surfing. They'd come up for air and look us right in the eye. We were enchanted.
Isn't she beautiful?
It was a better holiday than we could've imagined... the best thing we've done for our family in a long time.
The last evening we ate out to celebrate our strong family bond and our time in paradise... 
And it was a full moon! We swam in the pool under the moon every night. Pure magic. 
