*Warning- Super long post with tons of pictures!*
We had been looking forward to our big trip to Hawaii for a long time. Since Lance's parents have a place on the Big Island we have had an amazing opportunity to travel there periodically. Our last trip was a little over 3 years ago when Kai and Rori were right around the ages of Rori and Zuri now. That was also just a little before we had some major life changes happen resulting in us moving to Las Vegas. Needless to say a lot has changed since then, and these last few years have been pretty busy. We were really looking forward to a little break and some much needed relaxation and that is just what we got.
Lance had made a trip back to SLC the weekend before his Mom passed away. We had all just been there a few weeks earlier so he debated if he should go or not, but his maternal grandma was going through the Temple for the first time and he really wanted to be there. That short trip gave him a few more moments with his Mom that we are of course even more grateful for now- tender mercies. While there Colleen was really encouraging Lance to make a trip to HI happen for our family. They looked at flights together and really came up with a plan for this trip which included she and Brice joining us. When Lance got back to Vegas he booked our flights and then a the next weekend his Mom passed away.
So, this trip felt even a little extra special for us. We knew Colleen would be very happy that we were there and soaking in every moment. So, we did just that and tried to do all the adventures and favorite things that she would have had on the list for us. It really was a great trip and I'm sure she loved every moment of watching our kids and us enjoy it all in from up in Heaven. There were some tears here and there and a good cry or two from some of us grown ups because it seems so wrong that she wasn't there in person with us, but there were also very happy memories. She would have been laughing right along side of us when Zuri insisted on wearing shoes in the sand because she didn't like her feet getting dirty, or been thrilled when Rori jumped in the pool and swam across it for the first time all by herself (just like Kai did in the same pool for the first time on the last trip), or applauding Kai as he mastered diving while snorkeling. Mostly she would have loved snuggling them just like we were as their little eyes took it all in and fell in love with this special place that she loved so much too.
It was a much needed getaway for us and we feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to go. It was great getting to spend time with Grandpa Utah there and we are so grateful to him. The kids had the best time getting to spend fun time with him and were so sad to be separated from him again when it was time for him to go. We're also SO grateful to the Pugh family that let us stay in their BEAUTIFUL place so we could all spread out a bit. Lance and I enjoyed sitting out on the lanai every night after the kids were in bed listening to the waves, palm trees blowing in the breeze, and music drifting in from one of the resorts in the distance. Just what our souls needed.
Our flights there took us to SLC for a layover long enough to get some Cafe Rio in the airport. Best airport food ever. Yes, we do have a Cafe Rio here and we eat at it just about every week, but still. I had been a little nervous about the long flights with 3 kids. We've flown a good amount with kids over the years, but it is still a bit nerve wracking to think about being trapped in a small space. I hit up the Target and Michales $1 sections (stickers, coloring books, etc,) prior to the trip and felt that between a few of those activities, some books, snacks, and the iPad Kai and Rori would probably be just fine and they were. In fact, I don't think we even went though 1/2 of the supply. The wild card was Zuri. At 21 months she was just about as old as you can be to not have your own seat. She's also at an age where you can only explain or reason so much . She might watch some of a movie, but she isn't a huge screen kid yet so that wasn't a given. Plus she still needs a good nap, but might not be super inclined to give in to it in a strange and uncomfortable environment. Thankfully though, she did super and we never really had an issue with her. She finally fell asleep on the long flight over and had a nice lone nap which was a huge plus. On the way back we were on the red eye and all the kids slept great. What a relief!
And now on with the pictures from our many adventures.
This is the first picture I sent to my Mom while we were waiting for our bags where I wrote: "We made it- as you can tell by our hair." Seriously the girls and my hair is so crazy there. Both girls hair was so super curly. I told Lance that if we ever lived there I'd probably have to cut off all my hair or just invest in a lot of curl product.
Our first adventure was over to the Hilton for some exploring and swimming before heading in to town that night for a Costco, Target, grocery store run to stock up on supplies:
The next day was Sunday so we headed to Waimea for Church, lunch, and a big drive to the black sand beach. That night we grilled some fish and enjoyed the sunset on the lanai.:
Grandpa Utah has a deal going with all the grand kids. For their 8th birthday gift he is giving each of them an opportunity to do the swim with the dolphins program at the Hilton. So, on the next day Kai was so excited for his turn. It was awesome and he had a great time. They do a class with the kids first and then they get to get in the water with the dolphins. Kai loves anything science/ ocean/ animal related so he was soaking it all in. We had fun watching him and I had fun trying to take pictures with my super zoom lens. For the first few swims of the trip Zuri was a little hesitant to get in the water. We think we finally figured out that she might have been concerned about dolphins being in the pool since we had been talking about "swimming with dolphins" forever leading up to this trip:
One of our favorite things to do is just swim in the pool at Grandpa's. We swam at several different pools this trip, but if given the choice we always seem to pick this pool. I think we all like it so much because it is nice and clean, never crowded, a nice temperature, and there are 2 hot tubs that the kids are allowed to use without issue. So the first visit to this pool on this trip we took Rori's puddle jumper off and worked with her some on her swimming. We never really used floaties with Kai, but with 3 kids to monitor around water and discovering these super cool puddle jumpers Rori had a different experience. So, after some help without it that day she got in the hot tub to warm up for a bit. I had gone away for a minute while the kids were with Dad and Grandpa and when I came back they were laughing about what had happened. I guess after a minute Rori got out of the hot tub, walked 2 steps over to the pool, and then jumped in and swam all the way across the width of the pool all by herself. She never looked back and by the end of the trip she was jumping in and swimming all over the place like she'd been doing it forever. She might look a little like she is drowning at times, but she just keeps going and when she gets to the side she's all ready to go again. And that is the story of how Rori learned to swim at age 4 in the HI pool. So, I guess when Zuri is 4 we better make sure we go back so she can keep up the tradition and also learn to swim there just like her brother and sister. This trip Zuri was happy to spend the majority of her time in the hot tub or in a chair with a snack:
One of our adventures was out to Turtle Bay. It is a little bit of a hike to get in including some rocky terrain so we were a little nervous about how the girls would do, but once again they did well. We all made it in to the main part and then Grandpa and Dad helped Kai and Rori swim over to the island for more turtle sightings. The water was beautiful against the black rock terrain and the kids had fun spotting the huge turtles, gathering coconuts and other treasures along the way, exploring the rocks, swimming in the water, and having a little picnic lunch on the small bit of beach.
The 3 boys went on another big hike one morning without the girls. This was Kai's first time doing this hike, but it is another tradition that both Lance and I have done before with Grandpa. They walked along the coast from where we were staying for about 2 hours to the Mauna Lani Resort along the old fishermen's trail. Along the way they saw whales, collected sea shells and golf balls, and learned about nature. Keeping up tradition the girls and I drove to the Mauni Lani and met them for the breakfast buffet and exploring there.
Another of our favorite activities is going over to the Hilton to ride the boat and the train. The boat is especially fun and we love it in the day and at night. At night I always feel a bit like we are on some sort of Disneyland ride. We tend to ride this boat all around from one end of the resort to the other with people coming on and off. One day a Mom and an 8 year old son came on a stop or two after us and sat next to us. Lance quickly noticed that the boy was wearing hearing aids. We struck up a conversation with them and they rode along with us for quite some time like long lost friends. They lived in Missouri, but had previously lived in California. The little boy had gone to a DHH preschool and is now in a typical 2nd grade classroom. It was nice to get to talk to them and hear about their path and decisions which sounded very similar to things we are hoping for for Rori. Our experience has been that we haven't met many older children that have loss similar to Rori's so this was pretty neat. There are no coincidences I tell you:
Another thing we love to do at the Hilton is watch them light the torches and blow the conch before the sun dips in to the ocean. We did these this a few times and it is really a neat experience. One night we decided to take the long walk there and go along the coast from the Marriott to the Hilton.
Grandma Utah had her favorite cabana at the Hilton right on the edge of the water near the end of the torch route. It is a beautiful spot right at the edge of the ocean and thus the Cabana is regularly in high demand. After a few tries we were finally able to claim it and check out Uncle Tyler's handiwork from a past trip. One night while we were waiting for the sunset we had a little impromptu silly with Daddy photo shoot:
It was a lot of fun to get to spend Easter in HI this year. We found out they were having a big Easter egg hunt and festivities at the Queens Marketplace the day before Easter so decided to check that out. It ended up being quite the event and lots of fun for the kids. The first thing was the Easter Egg Hunt. Each of the kids got a wrist band based on their age and we had one kid in each group. Zuri was actually in the 2 and 3 year old group- we though she was close enough to give it a try. This was a fun group to watch as most of them were pretty unsure about it all and the rule was that no adults could go in the main area. Zuri was a little hesitant at first, but she quickly figured it out and would run and gather an egg and then promptly run it all the way back to Lance. Fortunately most of the other kids had the same idea. After a bit she figured out that she could gather more than 1 egg at a time and she happily ended up with a bag full. Rori was next in the 4, 5, & 6 years old group. Despite being a 4 year old when they blew that whistle she was off and running and immediately got to business capturing eggs. Some eggs had a ticket in them that you could turn in later for a bigger prize. Zuri had 1 ticket, Kai ended up with about 4 and Rori must have hit the mother load because she ended up with about 12. She's a fast little competitor. Kai was also the youngest in his group as it was 7 and up. We realized later when looking at the pictures that Mr. Cool was the only kid that had his glasses on the whole time. He still has the most sensitive light eyes (just like me). He also ended up with a bag full of eggs and lots of smiles. Lance later posted a picture on Facebook with a caption that read something like "Nothing says Easter like fierce competition". Looks like we have some good competitors on our hands. :) After the hunt we turned in our tickets for prizes like little beach balls, bubbles, etc. Rori was thrilled to come away with her very own stuffed little girl puppy- as she's still on a bit of a Pound Puppies and puppies in general kick. After that they had free popcorn, cotton candy, face painting, and a picture spot with the Easter Bunny. The lines were long and slow moving and it was hot, so we let the kids experience cotton candy for the first time and then visited the Bunny before calling it a success for the day. Some people were more happy than others to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap.
On Easter Sunday the kids were excited to get up and search for eggs and other treasures. They found them in all sorts of fun places and after the hunt the day before they were all experts. We drove up to Havi for Church afterward. The Ward in Havi is much smaller than the Ward in Waimea and they are so super friendly. Everyone was so happy to have us and we all got lots of hugs and greetings. At the end they ask all the visitors to come to the front and they give you yarn lei's and sing to you. There were a handful of other visitors that day for us to stand with. The kids thought this was so fun and so did we. Afterwards we did another drive through the amazing landscapes of the Big Island. Most people could visit the island and only ever see the black volcanic rock areas, but just a short drive away things turn so quickly in to beautiful green lush areas. It is such a dramatic contrast. Our drive ended up at the Kona Temple where we enjoyed wandering around its beautiful grounds and taking some photos. Even the kids took some photos. That night we all gathered in our bed to talk about why we celebrate Easter and watch a few short videos on the iPad about Jesus. Then we just talked and laughed and cuddled. Our kids are at such sweet ages. It was a really wonderful day and way to celebrate Easter:
Probably our most favorite meal was at Sensei Sushi. Everything was so yummy. Even our most picky eaters ate great- even with chopsticks:
Our sometimes sweet and sometimes sassy, but always cute girls:
They really do love those hot tubs:
We had lots of fun playing in the sand, building sandcastles and moats, and burying brother at the beach:
Kai thought it was neat to see his name in lots of different places:
We made it out to the Beach Club one morning. The boys got in some snorkeling. It really is a great little spot with the grass, sand , and beautiful beach:
This really was an amazing trip for our little family. We are acutely aware of how blessed we are to have had the opportunity to go on such a trip and make these amazing memories as a family of 5. Aloha and Mahalo!
