Hawaii- Part 1

So after a busy July that wore me out pretty completely, we rested for a week and then got ready to go to Hawaii!  Hawaii with 5 kids and Mark's sister Lisa.  I was a little worried I'd end up back at the hospital, but I just hoped for the best, planned really carefully (to save my strength) and off we went!

This is us packing light.  We planned to do laundry at the condo.  And we did, but it was a teeny tiny washer and dryer so we ended up having to do a couple loads most days just to get a few extra outfits for the end of the trip.  It worked out though (thanks to Mark!)

On the way to Hawaii, we spent a day near Oakland, CA.  We went to Sunnyvale, where my Dad grew up.  I remember going to visit there as a child (his parents lived there until I was about 13).  We loved going to the park by their home.  They had the neatest dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs are still there!  I think things have moved around a bit, but it was really neat to show my kids and reminisce. 

I remember these dinosaurs most.

Then the next day, it was off to Hawaii.  Daniel was worn out by the time we finally got there, but he was amazing the whole trip!

We were all pretty worn out by this point, but so happy to be there.  Hawaii has a lot of Covid restrictions and requirements and there was a lot of paperwork involved and I had heard horror stories about the lines to check your paperwork, but in the end it was really quick and smooth and that was such a blessing.

The condo was so nice, we had a bit of an ocean view from our lanai.  So nice.

We played a lot of games at the Condo, especially a Rock, Paper, Scissors game Mark had 3D printed. 

The plants there are amazing, these pictures don't do it justice.  One of my favorite things was just enjoying the beautiful plants there.

I think this was Sunset our 2nd day.  The pools at the condo were amazing, especially the lagoon pools, it was huge and winding and we found a spot we loved and were able to hang out there by ourselves every day.

Just the view from the pool.  Amazing.  

The three little kids especially loved the pool, but Grace often came too.  BethAnne sadly did not feel the first part of the trip, so she rested a lot at the condo.

This man deserves some rest.  He did all the heavy lifting on this trip, to spare my health.  He never complained though, always a happy helper.  I am so lucky.

Pretty Joy!

Me and my little buddy!

Andy and Daniel could not get enough of the pool!

We saw so many pretty sunsets there.  It was another favorite part of the trip.

Thank you Lisa Rogers for taking this picture.  We were there!  And we had a great time.

Mark's phone takes cool night pictures.  We went swimming on several of the nights because the days were pretty warm.  It was so beautiful.

It was so fun to see the kids play together, even though they're not very close in age.  Grace is great with younger kids.  These are our four youngest kids in the pool at night.

Stay tuned for Hawaii Party 2.