Hawaii: Part 1

Michael and I planned long ago to take a trip for our ten year anniversary.

We didn't really have a honeymoon when we were first married, so we wanted to do something fun.

It was a hard decision to make, but we finally decided to go to Hawaii.

Making all the preparations to leave was a ton of work, but all worth it of course.

Since Kathryn was in school still, my darling niece came to watch our kids.

I think she got a little more than she bargained for (Maxwell in particular)...but they all had a great time. 

Driving to the airport

We saw our first rainbow in the "Rainbow State" from our hotel balcony. Beautiful view!

Yummy treats waiting for us in our room.

Michael could not resist renting this car (they drive the same one on Hawaii Five-0).

It was fun for awhile, but a little too short for his 6'3" frame. 

Normally, the valet would bring the car to the front of the hotel for us,

but one day, he took us to the parking garage and said it was parked in our spot.

We were a little confused by everything, until we saw the sign. Cute! We got a good laugh about. 

Our first night we walked around Waikiki. It kind of reminded me of a "clean" Las Vegas.

Tons of shops, restaurants and street performers.

We loved hearing all the live Hawaiian music coming from the hotels and restaurants.

We also loved watching the concert under this awesome tree next to the beach.

The next day, we debated on stopping by the Dole Plantation, but decided to go in the end.

We ended up just walking around the gardens while eating a delicious pineapple whip.

We loved all the beautiful plants and trees, and Michael tried to catch a gecko about 50 times. 

They were too darn fast for him though!

One of our favorite parts of the day was just driving around the island and looking at the scenery.

 We stopped to watch the sea turtles for a while. 

One of the volunteers told me that they start coming to shore once they reach maturity...

Because they are getting older and need naps:)

We enjoyed all the fun little food trucks and and food stands along the Kamehameha Highway.

I was a little more adventurous in what I ate.

This one spot had about six or seven different food trucks...mainly shrimp.

I'm not a huge seafood fan, so I just went to the one with the most people in the line. Pretty tasty.

The waves were just incredible! I took hundreds of pictures trying to capture the beauty.

Unfortunately, my pictures don't do them justice.

The different shades of blue were so amazing and the waves were so powerful.

We also went on a hike through Waimea Valley. 

There were beautiful botanical gardens and a replica tribal village.

The hike ended at Waimea Falls, where both Michael and I went swimming.

It was the perfect way too cool off after the short, but sweaty hike.  

Roosters and chickens aka Jungle Fowl ran wild all over the island.

We ended our day by watching the Hilton firework show. 

April Wrap-up

1. Sam spent a great deal of the month sick with various things. Poor little guy was pretty miserable.

2. Our town holds a bike parade and Easter egg hunt every year. It's a tradition for our kids.

3. Michael's brother's family was visiting, so we spent some time playing with them. I brought stuff to dye Easter eggs, and the weather was perfect so we did it outside. The kids had so much fun, I was wishing I had boiled more eggs.

4. Easter morning loot.

5. On the way home from church the Sunday before Easter, Maxwell told me the story of Jesus Christ's resurrection. My heart melted as he recounted what he had learned in primary that day.

6. Funny faces!

7. Max and Sam can hold hands in the car now.

8. Kathryn begged me to bring home her class pet, a hamster named Fuzzy Turbo Racer. I was not too thrilled about the idea, but wanted to let her have the opportunity. It ended up being so much fun. The kids always wanted to check on it, feed it and play with it. Fuzzy definitely entertained them. 

9. Michael took the kids over to the school field to fly kites.

10. Kathryn is reading so well! It's amazing to see how much she has grown over the year. I love to find her reading books to Max and Sam.

11. This little guy stole my Windex one afternoon and washed most of the windows and mirrors in the house. I have a pretty young chore training program in my house:)

12. Spring soccer started. Go hot pink!!!

March Wrap-up

1. A visit with Grandma Jones. The kids were very well behaved, and Sammy even gave a her a great big smooch. Grandma love it!

2. A horseback ride at Grandma and Grandpa Woodland's house. 

3. My sister gave me back the puppet theater my dad made me when I was a girl. My kids have had a lot of fun putting on puppet shows. 

4. A trip to the State Basketball Championship game. Sadly, our team had a hard loss this year.

5. An overnight trip to Boise during Kathryn's spring break. 

Chuck E. Cheese's

A walk around the old state penitentiary

6. I loved finding Maxwell like this during his nap. I'm completely the opposite, my feet must always be covered in order to get a good nap.

7. I came home to find Sammy dressed like this and playing on the scooter. It took me back a couple of years when Maxwell wore these same clothes...(although, he can still wear the rain boots).

8. A beautiful bouquet of flowers Kathryn picked for me. 

9. Sam is looking more and more like Michael.

10. The kids had fun dressing up in daddy's clothes.

11. Painting on the deck.