Gibcon Maui

 For the past 20 years or so, David has been attending an Analytical Chemistry Conference called PittCon.  Yes it's nerd central.  So soon after we started having our biennial family vacation we started calling it Gibcon.  Yes, it's also nerd central.  

So every good conference has to start out with some good conference s.w.a.g. (stuff we all get). T-shirts and water bottles for everyone with the logo that our family graphic artist, Ben, created for us.

Then it's off to the beach.  Austin and Kadence had to have a pail and shovel for playing in the sand.

Ethan is really getting the hang of boogie boarding.

And this trip, Edward is finally old enough to do it, too.

Jane is sporting the latest in infant beach wear (with Dad Nathan).

Apparently 2 year olds can boogie board, too.  Austin proved that.  I was skeptical, but Dad put him on the boggie board, pushed him off into the waves, and away he went.  He is one determined little guy.

We made a quick stop at another beach for some snorkling.  You can see Bryson's fins in the picture below as he dives down for a closer look.

Just after the snorklers came in, some sea turtles were spotted right near shore.  Everyone in our group knew better than to touch a sea turtle, but just after the below picture was taken a turtle swept in on a wave and ran into Edward almost knocking him over.  Both turtle and boy were unharmed.

Then back to the house for some grilled chicken, pineapple, and peaches.  Yum! (Dorothy's step son John pictured)

 Dining on the Lanai

And after the kids were in bed, the adults made extreme s'mores with all different kinds of candy bars for the chocolate layer.  I have to admit, the mounds s'more (in honor of being in Hawaii) wasn't too bad, but I still prefer the peanut butter cup version.

More to come...