Hawaii--part two: Maui

I've actually sat down to do this many times but something always came up. However, I want to finish this up so I can also post some of December as well. (I know, I'm waaaay behind).

Maui was amazing. Perfect!

This was the view from our balcony. I wish I had taken a picture of the view from our balcony in Waikiki, because it was the complete opposite. It was a view of another huge hotel that was probably 10 feet away. I didn't know places like this were real.

We mostly spent our days alternating between the pools

and the beach S and I both snorkled, but not usually together. We'd take turns watching the kids and would go out with S's brother and/or sister-in-law. We saw some great fish--I wanted to see a turtle, but no luck--B saw one, though.Some fun things we got to do were going to a luau (T and A learning to dance the hula)

and whale watching. We were able to see tons and learn tons about Humpback Whales. The captain of the boat knew soo much and talked almost the whole time we were out. It was very interesting.I didn't get any pictures of them jumping out of the water (grumble), but we saw it. Again, it seemed a little unreal to me.

Sunday we went to Church with S's cousin K and her family. Soo soo nice. Also, it was funny--there were probably over 50 visitors and that is quite common.They don't usually were lais to church--It was ward conference and her husband is the bishop. I could tell you all a funny story about S wearing a Hawaiian Shirt to church on our honeymoon and getting seriously chastized, but he might not want that on here:)

After church we took family pictures and drove around the island.

S also got to celebrate his birthday in Maui--Lucky! (Only he got no presents--The trip was his present). His cousin K and family joined us for swimming and also brought a yummy, homemade birthday cake (Daughter H was the chef). It was so sweet. They also brought a bag of gifts for each family. We were spoiled. For dinner S picked Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., had a tasty dinner, quoted many lines from the movie (Forrest Gump--in case you haven't seen the movie 23 times), and answered trivia from the menu.Also, this was not the only time Ms. A didn't make it through dinner--poor thing. We didn't stop to take naps and she would be exhausted by dinner and fall asleep. I wasn't being a super good mom, but I hated the thought of spending the afternoon inside (and actaully, she would have hated it as well.) Also, this resturant is right on the water and there was a big puffer fish my nephew was throwing french fries to--that's their normal diet, I think.

Our last day, after checking out, we went to the aquarium. Again--excellent. The kids (and adults) loved seeing all the marine life and the workers were full of interesting bits of information.

After the Aquarium we waved good-bye to the sun and warmth and flew home, happy and very tired. Taylor is the only one that didn't sleep on the plane ride. She was busy finishing her homework. (Again, I know I'm a slacker mom).
Good-bye Hawaii! We love you!

Hawaii--part one: Oahu

It has been so long since I blogged I'm not even sure where to start. I still have all of December to blog. So many lovely, fun things happened. However, I think I'll start with the now and work backwards.

On Jan 5th, when T should have been going back to school, we were boarding a plane for Honolulu. We were suppose to board at 9 am but our flight was delayed until 2 pm. Really! On the bright side, we got food vouchers. On the sad side, 5 hours we could have been enjoying the warm weather in Hawaii was GONE. (And you know every second counts.) This is T and A with their cousin A. S's brother and family came with us. They have three children also, so it gave my girls someone to play with. Plus, there was another fun family to do things with. It was lovely to have them.

We stayed in Oahu three nights, two and a half days (since we were robbed of Monday). Here's some quick highlights of our time there.

These first pictures are of a place called Turtle Beach. It's a safe area, free from sharks, so turtles hang out there. You can't get very close, as there are volunteers that make sure no one bothers the turtles, but you can snorkle there as well and swim with turtles. We did not, but you can:) The turtles are fun to see, plus there were crabs (which the kids loved) and starfish.We stopped at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint's Temple and visitor center in Laie. However, we passed on the Polonesian Cultural Center. I'm bitter and don't want to talk about it:) (We've been there before, but it's fabulous.)

We spent most of our time at the beach and pool,Ate lots of good food, and snorkled at Hanauma Bay and Waikiki.

Just a bit of trivia for you. Ms. A threw up in the car on our way to Hanauma Bay. T is an experienced thrower-uper and is very good at keeping all the contents in the throw-up bag. (We always grab extras from flights and stock the cars.) Clearly, A needs more practice. The throw-up bag was practically empty but the back seat was a mess. Hooray for rental cars.

We left Oahu on Thursday afternoon and flew over to Maui for 6 days, 5 nights. The girls were sad to leave and didn't quite get the concept that we were just going to another island. T, I hope, has finally figured out that Maui is part of Hawaii. She liked to tell people we went to Hawaii and Maui.

A wasn't sad to be leaving--She was just grumpy!