Hawaii 5-0 Day 6

Bart and I were lucky to be able to wake up early attend a session at the Oahu temple while Matt and Ally watched our kids.   We came back and went on a walk with William while Matt and Ally slipped away and played some tennis.  Afterwards we all went out to eat at this fabulous place called Kuhuku Grill.  We then made our way back to Wahea Valley and hiked up through a Garden to a waterfall.  Amazingly the water was so warm so Bart and the girls jumped in for a swim. 

We couldn't leave the island without first checking to see if the turtles were out and lucky for us one was.  We took a few pictures and then the girls enjoyed one last swim in the ocean.

 

Goodbye Hawaii how lucky we were to visit you and enjoy so much time together as a family!!  I will always hold these memories close to my heart.

P.S.  I wouldn't change our family "trip" to Hawaii for anything but I am looking forward to the next time I "vacation" to a tropical place with only Bart and I.  It for sure will be a lot more relaxing without chasing 3 kids around

Hawaii 5-0 Day 5

At this point in our vacation the days start to smear together.   Joe and the boys wanted a beach with bigger waves so we made our way to sunset beach.  A local told us in the winter this beach can have 10-20 foot waves and it is where they have some world class surfing competitions.    For us in May the beach superb and the waves were a few feet high and breaking at the shore.  The kids had fun burying Bart and building a sand turtle.

Emily nicknamed Aaron Mr. Sandman because whenever he got the chance he happily ate the sand like it was candy

We then went to lunch. Came back to the condo and did some more swimming.  Bart and Aaron settled down for a nice nap while I and the girls along with Matt Ally and William rented some bikes and biked along the shore on a trail that took us to the coolest tree.

Later that night we had our last family dinner and said goodbye to everyone except Matt and Ally's family. 

Hawaii 5-0 Day 4

The family woke up early to make there way down to Pearl Harbor.  Bart and I had been there before so we stayed back and had a much needed R&R day.   My girls thought it was the best just being able to spend the whole day swimming at the pool and the beach. 

We may or may not have snuck into the Main Turtle Bay Resorts amazing pool.  And Bart may or may not have been surprised we lasted almost an hour before being questioned about if we were guests of the Hotel. 

Hawaii 5-0 Day 3

We started our day out at the beach where the turtles are known for coming ashore to bask in the sun.  Unfortunately the turtles weren't ashore but we enjoyed the sun and sand anyway.

We then spent the rest of the day at the Polynesian Culture Center.  I left the camera in the car so sorry no pictures but we made it to a few of the country's.   In Fiji they had all the May birthday's which included Bart stand and lead us in a dance using bamboo sticks.    The kids all got Tatoos at New Zealand.  Emily and Jane's represented a princess marking and Aaron became a warrior.     Around dinner time we were tuckered out and skipped the Luau (this wasn't the first time Bart and I had been there and we figured our picky eaters wouldn't eat enough to make it worth our time).    So we left the family and came back to the Condo and of course jumped in the pool.

Hawaii 5-0 Day 2

Originally Ally made an agenda that had us spending our 2nd day at the beach, but when the forecast showed rain we switched plans and took off for the pineapple factory and then down to Wikiki to hike Diamond Head.

Upon entering the Dole Pineapple Factory tour, Bart b-lined it to the ice cream counter to get himself a Dole whip.   Aaron, who has his dad's palate for ice cream was in love!! Bart's plan was to eat one while we looked around and then take another one for the road but the line was too long when we were ready to leave and at $5 for the small he passed up going back for seconds.

 We also enjoyed a train ride and watching a demonstration on how to cut up a pineapple.

Next we drove back down to the city and made our way to Diamond Head State Park.  We made our way up the hill and discovered an old time military look out.  The views at the top made the thousands of steps (or at least if felt like it to me) worth it!

Oh to be young again and take these steps on a dead run!

 

looking at  the view and some "wild" cats on a pit stop back to the north shore

Later that night once we all came back to the Condo Raquel threw a b-day party for Dayson!  My girls were so proud of there new shades and Emily showed her mean skills for pin the tail on the donkey.

Hawaii 5-0, Day 1

All 5 of us took off for a week and spent it with most of my family in beautiful Oahu Hawaii!  We were lucky to find some dirt cheap plane tickets out of Boise and in combination with sharing a couple of condos it ended up being so affordable we decided to take the kids along as well. 

After driving 5 hours to Boise and crashing for the night in a cheap airport hotel, we boarded the plane for a long 7 hour flight and arrived to a very rainy Oahu.  We loaded up the rental car and proceeded with a couple google maps we printed and the free Alamo rental car map of the island.     We were off in hopes of stopping by the flea market and Wal-mart before heading up to the North Shore to join the troops.    We jumped the gun a little early when we saw the stadium and ended up on the wrong freeway with the next exit 10 miles away.    Although we were going the wrong direction the scenery was sure beautiful!!   

We finally made it to the flea market in just the nick of time.  By this point poor Aaron was so tired and messy from a long day of traveling but like always he was a great trooper.

After stop to load up at Wal- mart we finally made it to our beautiful condo at the North Shore.    In a matter of minutes Bart and the girls took a cold and rainy dip in the complex's swimming pool.  

Is that your dad?

Emily came home with this sweet book she colored me in school for mothers day.  At the end of the book was this picture.

I asked Emily if this was she and I.  She said "Yeah but at school when I was coloring it everyone asked me why I was drawing my dad.  I told them it wasn't my dad it was my mom and they didn't believe me until Kinnley told them that she has seen my mom and she has really short hair".

I love first graders!  I needed a good laugh that day!