Hawaii Part 2!

The third day of our trip we went to the Sea Life Aquarium.  I didn't realize it's an outdoor aquarium and it was hot.  I did not do well, but the dolphins at the end almost made it worth it.  😊

First Daniel played at a park and then we saw a sea lion show, which was just okay.  Then I took the boys to an outdoor cafe, it was still hot there, but shaded and I tried to cool down.

During that time, Mark, Lisa and the girls got to see some cool birds.  They said it was very fun.  

This reminds me of that Pixar short.

BethAnne was feeling a bit better that day, she enjoyed the birds too.

Pretty Joy and a pretty bird

Lisa Rogers liked the birds too.

And Mark did too!

The best part of the day was seeing a dolphin show.  So cool!

I love dolphins and the show was amazing!

On our 4th day we drove over an hour to see the Laie Temple.  I didn't realize they have a visitors center there.  It is really neat and all of the missionaries were so kind.

Beautiful Christus Statue

Beautiful Temple!

After spending some time by the temple, we went to find a lookout point to have lunch.  We ate in the car for shade but it was beautiful.

There were lots of chickens and roosters crossing the road there.  We thought that was pretty funny (considering the joke about chickens crossing the road).

That night we walked over to the Marriott property next door for dinner and we watched the sunset on the beach.  So nice.

I love this picture that Mark took of us.  After this, he took the kids back to the condo to get them ready to swim while I relaxed on the beach (I had reached my quota of walking that day).  I know I'm super spoiled.

The moon that night was amazing after the sunset with Venus coming out right next to it.

Then we had a fun time swimming at the pool, but I don't have pictures of that night (see other night swimming pictures)

Our last day was a pretty quiet day.  We started with a fancy lunch at a Marriott restaurant.

Our view from the restaurant.

Then later that evening we went to play on the beach and watch the sunset and then swim in the pool.  It was a perfect ending for our vacation.

Grace, Lisa Rogers and BethAnne

Daniel and Andy loved the beach too!  They loved this trip!

Grace, Joy, Andy and Daniel playing in the lagoon.

The VIP of our trip. 

Beautiful Grace

So glad BethAnne was feeling well enough to join us at the beach.

A perfect last night!

Our last day started at 4am (3am for me because Daniel had a nightmare).  We thought ahead and bought an umbrella stroller there because we realized that he would be comatose and we had to get him to the airport (Daniel sleeps when he wants to and is very hard to wake up).  The stroller was a double blessing because even though we got to the airport two hours early, we had to wait forever to check the bags and go though security.  We didn't get to the boarding area until they were boarding the plane, and that was after a mad dash to get there (luckily BethAnne and I were in wheelchairs for that last part).

Headed to the airport in our hilarious junker 12-seater van.  (It had less than 12,000 miles on it but it was not in good shape, and it was a bumpy ride, but it fit us well!)

It's so interesting flying over Ocean because it looks like the sky under you goes on forever.

There was a rainbow out the window, it was easier to see in person.  A very fitting end to the trip.  A trip filled with amazing things and some hard things.  Life is like that too.

BethAnne has a travel pillow.  Daniel saw one at an airport store and he wanted one too.  I said "no" because I had a normal little pillow for him.  Later BethAnne went back to that store for a snack and she bought the pillow too.  I thought that was very sweet and Daniel absolutely loved it.  He slept the whole last leg from Oakland to Boise.

One last funny story.  When we pulled into our driveway after flying home, Daniel yelled "NOT THIS HOUSE!  WE LIVE AT HAWAII!!"  Poor kid was quite distressed.  He was upset for about a day and then he started feeling better (and I took this picture).  

I'm so grateful for our Hawaiian adventure and I hope we can go back someday!

 

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.