Hawaii 2016 - Thursday

We all woke up early because we were on Utah time...4 hours ahead. This was a constant our whole trip, but I loved it because everything is quiet, slow, and empty in the mornings. Thats when the locals are up surfing, diving, and snorkeling...they know the drill. Also, attractions on the North Shore close down pretty early...like 5 pm, and since the beaches are too dark for us to go soon after that it wasn't a problem that we were exhausted and wanted to be home watching the Food and DIY networks by 8.

We had a hard time finding breakfast, ended up stopping at the Kahuku Superette, which Miriam and I had read about having great spam sushi and poke bowls..... that didn't seem appetizing for breakfast so we grabbed some granola bars, Nagaraya cracker nuts and Sky Flakes from the Philippines, and then the kids spied Choco Tacos.  Choco Tacos are a favorite memory from our first night in California last year. I had run to a gas station for a few things and brought them back.  The kids declared them a "vacation must".  So the kids had ice cream for breakfast.  

Soon after we arrived in Laie, and there were way more breakfast options including a Foodland.  So we stopped and bought these super cheap egg, rice, spam, and sausage plates.  Soooo good, and just for the record the spam sushi is fantastic. 

We were early for our appointments at Kualoa Ranch so we pulled over at a random beach along the road to explore and kill some time.

We were amazed to walk through the park onto this beautiful and completely empty beach!

We told the kids just to get their feet in, but of course that's a ridiculous request at a beach, when the weather and water are warm. This was my first lesson in Hawaii....wear you swimming suit every day, because the beach is right there all the time!

We saw these little purple things all over. Later in the week my niece got stung by a Portugese Man-of-War I wondered if these were babies, or pieces of them?  I touched them, but only the balloon part so I didn't really think about them being dangerous.

I ran back to to Foodland to buy beach towels (another part of that lesson, always have beach towels in your car), and then we dried off on the rest of the way to the ranch. 

We started off with a Catamaran Tour to get great views of Chinaman's Hat.

The captain and his fat weiner-dog were great to give us a bumpy splashy ride in the front of the boat, and we saw a sea turtle!

Chinaman's Hat.

  I have never in person seen anything like it.

 

There are lots of TV shows and movies filmed at the ranch so I have seen these views on a screen but didn't know where it was. Our kids haven't seen any of the movies they mentioned, it will be fun to go watch Jurassic World with them to see if we recognize the scenery.

The boys had a little conversation to try out their Chinese with the Chinese guide. He is a BYU-H student, and turns out he might be moving to Bountiful in a few months! How random is that? 

Then my birthday gift! A zip line tour in the Hawaiian jungle.  We had about a 30 min. bus tour in the mountains where our driver pointed out all the remains of past movies...huge dinosaur heads, Godzilla's foot prints, as well as things from the past like pill boxes and other military structures left over from WWII.

7 zip lines through the ranch and 3 little hikes. It was exactly how I wanted to celebrate turning 40; seeing and experiencing something new. It was especially fun to be with Miriam and have a mother/daughter adventure together.  She had earned her own money to go and I couldn't be more proud of her hard work and determination. She was the youngest and the smallest zip liner of our tour so sometimes she needed a good shove to make sure she made it all the way on the longest zips.  

We got to zip side by side every time. Well...we always started side by side but then I usually smoked her to the landing.  Weight helps in these types of activities.

We were gone for 3 hours, so Darin and the boys had ample time to explore the ranch.  The boys had pony rides, they visited the "lazy pets" in the petting zoo, had (according to Darin) the best burgers ever (the ranch has their own cattle and they were famished), and did some souvenir shopping.

They laughed at just how lazy the "lazy pets" were, and enjoyed the little goat they saw in a tree, but the boys favorite part was watching two gecko's fight. Byron found about 28 geckos on the trip (including in our condo)...he kept a count.

By the time our zip line tour was finished the restaurant had closed, and the ranch was shutting down. Miriam and I had missed lunch and dinner, but didn't really notice because of the anticipation and fun until it was all over.  Since the boys were still quite full from their lunch, but M and I were famished we decided to stop by Angels in Laie for ice cream.  I had read about it in a tour book and it is right next to Foodland where we were stopping to get breakfast stuff and snacks for the condo.  M and the boys had dole whip floats and I had a huge Acai bowl with ice cream instead of yogurt.  So, so so good, and probably made better because we were in Hawaii, and hungry from fun.

Driving around from the North Shore side of the island was so much more enjoyable than the traffic of Honolulu/Waikiki.  There are beautiful and interesting things to see all along the highway, and the fastest you go is 45 mph so we could all look around and exclaim at the view. 

Hawaii 2016 - Flight Day

We were at the airport by 6:30 am, everyone hauling a backpack full of their stuff so we wouldn't need to check luggage.  The kids were so determined to carry their own stuff and were helpful hauling the booster and other things. The first flight was only about 1.2 hours....a warm up flight if you will.

Feeling happy in the Phoenix airport.

The one hiccup there was that they changed our boarding area from when we landed and checked, to a different leg of the airport 20 min before we boarded.  We didn't hear announcements so we were lucky Darin checked the status on his phone, or I don't even know what would have happened.  We had time to get there and all was well, but those rushy moments are hard on us novice travelers.

Then we took off on the Hawaii flight.

My first time ever flying over an ocean!
Flying is still such a thrill for me. 

The kids were good as gold! They entertained themselves with stained glass coloring books, a tanagram game, and sharing head phones to watch America Ninja Warrior on the plane's screen. Just as Soren was getting grumpy he took a long nap. 

The hard part was getting our rental car.  1/2 wait for the shuttle, another 1/2 hour or so wait for the car after traveling all day long....and then driving through Honolulu rush hour traffic. Awful. 

We had to dig deep for that patience.

When we finally arrived I was delighted with our adorable condo!!! It was in a beautiful area off a golf course, 3 min walk to the beach, decorated bright and beachey. It was full of helpful stuff like tennis rackets, balls, beach toys, boogie boards, towels, even things like bug spray and sunscreen.
I loved the easy going nature and slowness of the North Shore, within a day Darin and I had the area figured out enough to feel comfortable driving around.  

We were exhausted, and hungry for real food so I looked up the closet restaurant I could find, one we could walk to so I didn't have to get back into the car. Lei Lei's grill needed reservations but they had a cancellation for a time in 15 min, and was a 1 min walk away.  That made for an expensive dinner at the golf course....but man it was delicious, and so beautiful.
We watched the sun set as we ate fresh fish (Darin and I ate fresh fish I think the kids had hot dogs).

We were all in awe of the views, the foliage, the birds and animals.

It was a fantastic welcome to Hawaii after a long and sometimes stressful travel day.

A week or so behind...

We just got back from vacation. I am not ready to fully deal with life, I would much rather gaze at photos all day long. That activity reminded me that I never posted a few of these random shots of life from a week or so ago.

I did take Darin to Adams Canyon. We did a double date with friends and then had a BBQ. It was fun! Glad we got to fit that in.  

This photo was from one of my solo jaunts up in the hills above my house.  I thought this tree would make a good family photo site so I wanted to document.  I grew up next to hills where I would wander and explore. I feel like a kid again when I have time to run up there.  

Darin picked up his old silversmithing hobby and I couldn't be happier!!

He made this beauty a while ago while practicing. It's a bit big for my ring finger so I should put it away as a gift for someone else but I love it so much!

He helped Miriam make some silver stacking rings for a friend's birthday.

Remember that deer that we chased out of our yard multiple times?? 

I looked out the window after the kids had left for school and saw her again.  Happy and content as can be in our yard.  If she wouldn't freak out every time we go out back, AND stop ruining our plants I would adopt her. But she can't, and won't so I chased her out again.

I saved the best for last.

Meet my new niece Hazel!

She is adorable, and so sweet.  Oh man...those huge black eyes and dimples!! I wish she liked me more, I would hold her all day long, but she usually prefers her dad...I will win her over, just you wait.

Just the Week

Ladies Hike to Adams Canyon for those who missed our summer trek. 

I have plans to take Darin on this hike before Fall is over. 

Friday I worked for my friend Kelly. She puts on huge mega events for corporations, and once and awhile she lets me help.   If the Mouse Trap truck is ever around...do stop.

Very fun to be with friends and earn a little sweet moolah.

I also met James The Mormon. 

Saturday was fix it day for Darin and I.  We spent the entire day gettin' stuff done. Miriam has come down with a cold, but the boys and I got in that promised Lagoon trip.

Spider is the new favorite ride!

It seems so much faster when it's dark.
I really thought the park would be less busy with the BYU Utah game going on...but no.... pretty dang busy.  Luckily it always thins out around 8 pm and the lines go waaay down.

We are going to need jackets next time we go which means Fall is officially here!

Labor Day Weekend

We were rewarded with Labor Day weekend after the first full week of school.  We needed it. We needed to have time to clean rooms, go over the budget, talk, and do some general "adulting" (Darin and I). Miriam needed to decompress with friends and books from the newness of jr. high, B needed alone time in his room with his stuff, and Soren needed to gear up for another week.  S is struggling the most with school at the moment, lots of tears over here.  

So mostly we just hung around the house.  We played some 5 crowns, B and D played speed chess, M had time to get organized and had a late night with a group of friends.  We cleaned, we did laundry.

We gathered up enough energy for Lagoon one evening and miracle of miracles Soren is now 45 inches tall!!  After being measured with a flat card (and having his shoes checked...so he wasn't tip toeing it) by an OCD worker at the Boomerang Bumper Cars we were so thrilled he could go! This worker had just sent some sad kids to the exit so we were sweeting bullets.

We did the Screamer and Colossus together as a whole family! Soren has been aching to go on Screamer all summer.  His lack of inches has been his heart ache, and cross to bear, so this does feel like a back to school miracle. A "tender mercy" if you will.  I told him after he powers through another week of being brave at school we can reward ourselves with Spider and Wicked so thats on the docket for this coming weekend.

Miriam made cream puffs...they get better and better each time she makes them.

Monday Darin and I made a Bagels by Bike run to Einstein Bagel for their $6 Monday deal.

Bagels for breakfast, lunch, and again for lunch today. So fun to get out on our bikes again, Fall is my favorite time to ride.

We got the kids through a few "must-do's" which wasn't a fun part of the day...especially when I lost my cool but everyone finished with ample time to play the rest of the day.

Miriam went on a hike with a friend's family while the boys had a friend over all afternoon. 

Monday night Soren got his regularly scheduled worries about school the next day.  We took a bike ride/Pokemon walk to the park to take our minds off of "impending doom" - (Soren's words not mine). It was the perfect momentary panacea.

I get pretty permissive when I feel bad for my kids having to face hard things.

Soren told us his "one joy" at school is Byron. Heartbreakingly sad, and heartbreakingly beautiful at the same time...to have a big brother with you, looking out for you, during the hard times.  My boys fight and disagree but man I think we lucked out in the brother temperament/personality mix.  I know phases come and go but so far we haven't had a phase where these boys weren't best of friends. They don't even know how lucky they are.

Home for a warm bath, cream puffs, and a chapter of Charolette's Web.
Thats how we do this life, one hard thing and then one comforting moment one after another all day long till its time for bed.