Hawaii 2011

WARNING: THIS IS A REALLY LONG POST WITH LOTS AND LOTS OF PICTURES!

We were blessed and lucky enough to join my family on a family reunion on my Dad's side in HAWAII! We had done this before as a married couple, but Brooke was only 10 weeks old. Yup... my daughter is spoiled, actually we're ALL spoiled! However, with a 3 year old and a 10 month old... I didn't want to spend my trip (trip with kids, vacation without) having anxiety attacks (they are recent development to me) about whether or not my kids are ok, who they were with and if they were going to drown. Yes, I'm paranoid like that. We had a combination of my amazing neighbor and friend Katie watch them the first couple days and then Dan's cousin watch them the rest. So, we went on our 12 day vacation! (yes, 12 days... 2 of which were "travel") We left June 8 and came home June 21. Looking back over it now, it was WONDERFUL. However, in the moment there were several... mishaps, that could have been an attitude adjuster... More on that later.

{My mom treated us girls to a manicure and pedicure the day before we left!}

So long story short, my brother left my Mom's bag at security. We were already running late and were happy to make it to the gate (before we realized the bag was left) before they had started boarding. So, my Mom left and RAN down to security (if you know DIA, then it's more run and ride the train and run again) and then RAN back. There are LOTS of details in between, but like I said long story short... she got back to the gate after they had closed the jetway door, NOT THE PLANE DOOR and they wouldn't let her on. The gate attendant and such were absolute snots and wouldn't let her on, even though the plane door was open and we were still there... So she missed her flight. She ended up getting in about 3 hours after us... My poor Dad was the chauffeur back and forth to the condo 3 times as he was on a different airline than us... This was attitude challenge #1...

{On the flight from PHX to MAUI, after calming down and getting excited}

{My Dad, surprised us with a greeting at the airport of lei's from a beautiful Hawaii native.}

{Pulling up to our condo and home, the Kaanapali Alii!}

{My brother had a goal for our family goals to "finally have that Hawaii 6-pack". He didn't make it, so we painted one on with my make-up...it was so funny.}

{First day in the ocean, we're so happy can't you tell!}

{Dan dug a hole... in honoro of my brother who didn't come bc he is serving a mission}

{Enjoying our picnic lunch by the pool}

Attitude Challenge #2: Our first night there, I got a call at 3:00am from Katie (who was watching our kids). Our kitchen had flooded. Yes, flooded bad, as into the basement and half-way across the living room bad. Again, long story short, the ice maker line literally fell out of the fridge and was a "drinking fountain stream" for hours. We luckily didn't put in the quarter round yet on our new flooring, so luckily the water had somewhere to drain...into the (unfinished) basement. We got a plumber and Zerorez out there to clean and fix it all. It was all good in about 5 days... yes, 5 DAYS. My amazing friend Heather, came and got our kids and the babysitter and let them hang out at their house all day. She was a lifesaver. That is until it happened again on that following Sunday, but not nearly as bad and the guy came out and fixed it for free this time. Nothing was permanently damaged. We were VERY blessed that someone was even at the house to catch it when they did... So blessed.

{These are Obama bobblehead dolls that Hawaii is trying to sell and capitalize on "a President from Hawaii". You can't tell what they are because every time I saw them... I turned them all around. ;D }

{One of the MANY beautiful sunsets with some beach writing of mine}

{One of my favorite things we did was CLIFF JUMPING!!! These are the cliffs we jumped off of...}

{Evaluating our jump... and nerves}

{We're doin this!!!}

{There I go! p.s. its a lot further down than the picture lets on}

{My cousin's husband Steve... I took this picture and just thought it was SOO cool!}

{There goes Dan!}

{Dan LOVES boogie boarding!}

{Especially with his "boys"}

{Jeff, Dan, Collin and Steve}

Attitude Challenge #3 and #4: Dan broke his toe on my cousins shin. We were playing a game in the ocean and again long story short, he fell back and kicked my cousin's shin. My cousin didn't even feel it either! I also rolled my ankle while walking to Whalers Village (an outdoor shopping plaza). To this day, my ankle/foot still bother me.

{One of my favorite things we do, eat dinner by the BBQ's which are right by the beach, together as a family}

{These BBQ's were amazing and its so fun to BBQ while watching the sunset across the beach!}

{So, funny story... We went to another hotel down the way to listen to some live Hawaiian music... there were some hula dancers. Normally when you think of hula dancers, you think of a young little thing doing it... nope we had the albino man. It was very amusing... So that led to the next picture of the "dare". My family said they would give me a combination of $30 to go up and do the hula on the stage (during a break) for 30 seconds!}

{So, you guessed it! I DID IT! I have video... but I don't think I'll post that... I stayed up for the full 30 seconds and got my $30! The audience yelled things like "get her a job application" "she won't have to buy drinks the rest of the night!" "she's better than the natives!" It was HILARIOUS and started the saying "how much will you give me if I..." for the rest of the week!}

{Betcha didn't know you could do pancakes on the BBQ?! WE CERTAINLY DID! My Dad concocted macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup! YUM!}

{Another favorite thing I loved was going to the blow-hole! You can kinda see it way in the background to the left...}

{see those tiny dots? Yah, those are people!}

{We found this cute little heart that was formed into the rock...not man-carved either}

{The awesome blow hole!}

{On our way back to the condo, we stopped at some look out points and we saw some turtles!}

{One of the look out points... Honoloa Bay. We went snorkeling here the next day.}

{This trip I read 2 WHOLE books! I haven't done that EVER! I loved just relaxing and lounging and READING!}

{All 16 of us watching the sunset!}

{More sand art by the sunset!}

{I love this picture}

{My Mom took this one of Dan and I watching the sunset}

{We had a glow-in-the-dark frisbee... the boys LOVED IT!}

{The girls loved the hot tub!}

{We had to walk a bit into where we wanted to snorkel and it was like walking through the Avatar jungle! These trees were huge and BEAUTIFUL!}

{Remember our flood... I had to stay close to my phone at about ALL TIMES and so I carried it in a plastic sandwich bag. So when it would ring I wouldn't even take it out... I'd just talk through it. It was much easier. My family laughed at me}

{The first snorkeling team... Kendyle, Paige, me, Jeff, Dan and Steve. We got to see some fun fish and 2 turtles. It was fun and if anyone asks.. we're on the purple boat! ;) }

{Fun with my camera settings}

{Jeff gave Paige a hot stone massage!}

{Watch out... or I'll sneak up and scare you!}

{Lunch after snorkeling... with of course our favorites Pina Colada's and Lava Flows (a strawberry pina coloada) }

{We had to squish into 2 cars to go into Lahaina for our Luau, this was my seat...}

{We of course, got lei's when we came to the Old Lahaina Luau!}

{It was an all inclusive dinner, so all drinks were unlimited... we just went down the menu and tried one of each... virgin ones of course! ;) }

{Pulling the Pua' (pig) out of the sand.. doesn't it look yum?!}

{Going through the buffet line}

{Enjoying the *cough* proper *cough* hula dancers, not like the other place! ;) }

{Pictures with the performers}

{The Luau master}

{more...}

{This is generally where we were most of the time... just in various seating orders}

{Doing a little bit of exploring...}

{and body surfing! I had a t-shirt on most of the time because I fried my back our first day there... grr 2 applications of 50 spf sunscreen in 4 hours is still NOT ENOUGH!}

{My cute fam...}

{Dan was acting like a beached whale and was totally hit with a wave... haha}

{This trip was so much better than last time because we didn't have a baby to worry about and Dan had my cousin's husbands to play with this time!}

{The boys dug another hole... and my Dad joined in...}

{While they were digging, they found 2 little crabs! }

{Soon, everyone was in on the action! Even Grandma!}

{Then, what do you do after you've dug a big hole? You bury the boys in it!}

{Another beautiful sunset!}

{My uncle came up with an idea that each of the family members had to accomplish 1 physical and 1 spiritual goal and if you accomplished both he would pay for us to go on a helicopter tour of Maui! Most of us (minus 5) only made our spiritual goal. So he asked us to do some service to make up for it. Needless to say, WE ALL WENT! YAH! It was SOOO cool!}

{Dan an I on the helicopter!}

{Collin and I}

{Look at all those controls! Our guide was really good and very cool! When we took off they played the theme to Indiana Jones over our headphones. It was so fun.}

{Looking down into Kahului}

{Most of Maui is inaccessible to humans because of the foliage and steep cliffs}

{The cliffs we jumped off of!}

{The blowhole from above!}

{My Grandma getting on the helicopter!}

{My aunt and uncle and cousins coming back! They were so pumped on how fun it was! It was a 40 min ride total.}

{We all took some Dramamine to make sure we didn't get airsick on the helicopter. It knocks me out.}

{It was the ride of a lifetime!}

{Everyone who got to go!}

{After we came back, (we all took Dramamine) we all conked out! We were all so tired the rest of the day... we even took the less-drowsy formula!}

{The day after the helicopter tour, my Mom, Dad, brother Collin and Dan went on the Road to Hana! 52 miles, 614 curves, 3 hours (non-stop). The road literally had to be carved out of the side of the island. That curvy line down the side is the highway. You generally can only go 20-25 mph}

{Starting our hike through the bamboo forest!}

{Swinging around the bamboo!}

{One of the falls we found!}

{How did I not know it was here?! Someone should spread this news around!}

{We went over like 50+ one lane bridges... so cool!}

{Another beautiful view along the Road to Hana!}

{Cheese!}

{Stopping for some fresh banana bread and hot dogs along the way! Good ol' Auntie Sandy's!}

{We got to go some of the most amazing places that most people only get to see on postcards and books!}

{Dad trying to command the sea's! They didn't follow...}

{My favorite part of Hana, was Ching's Pond. It was so fun and SOOO FREEZING!}

{Trying to encourage each other to jump in...}

{Testing the water...}

{Ready.. GO!}

{Some locals came and jumped off the side support of the bridge... it was at least 35 feet high... and into a tiny circle of water that was way deep. It was soo cool!}

{So Dan did some jumping too! Just not nearly has high as the locals... however the locals still did cheer him on!}

{On the bridge looking down at us in the water!}

{It was so amazing... especially once you went numb!}

{The 3 bears waterfall!}

{We hiked down to the bottom to swim, but the falls were so strong we couldn't get to the pool, but we still had some fun!}

{I found a rock and of course that led to my Little Mermaid impersonation!}

{Don't mind my "Monica Bahama" hair... (any FRIENDS fans, will understand what I mean...)}

{We stopped for lunch and made roast beef and cream cheese bagel sandwiches! Yum!}

{This is my family... they were being smart-alic's and wouldn't take a good picture... this is after several shots!}

{The BLACK sands beach!}

{So beautiful!!!}

{Inside the lava tube!}

{The beach had these really smooth pebbles that would make the coolest noise when the waves hit them just right. It also had your typical smaller sand pieces of sand... but BLACK!}

{Just a view of the pool and condos where we stayed}

{Our last sunset... we left the next evening...}

{We always do a secret gift exchange. We each receive $10 and go buy something for that person and then at the end of the trip we give it to each other!}

{My Mom had me and gave me a fun turtle spreading knife since I got to see some turtles!}

{Uncle Blake had Dan and he got a crab paper weight since he found the 2 crabs while digging his holes!}

{We all went out for the wonderful and legendary Hula pie!}

{My aunt and my mom would wake up early and come save our spot under the little hut everyday. The employees and guards affectionately called it "Camp Kaanapali" and "Camp Willardsen". It was the BEST spot. Easy access to the condos, pools and direct access to the beach! WONDERFUL!}

{My cousin is afraid of birds and my Grandma had made us "plane survival" kits that came with little squirt guns. So we started out shooting the birds away from us and then it escalated to a water fight... enemy lines were drawn.}

{Kendyle at the ready for any bird that comes her way...}

{Dan being funny, trying to catch a Frisbee...}

{Now she's just being funny...}

{Dan and I got to go on a date... We went and ate at a local Mexican restaurant "Cilantro's" and then walked Main Street in Lahaina.

{Oh phew! I was worrying... now I can sleep easy}

{The legendary banyan tree! I think it's the biggest tree in the world. All the separate trees around the big one are shoot ups of it... They're all connected and it's HUGE!}

{We then got Hawaiian shaved ice with Pina Colada, Coconut and Tiger's Blood mixed in it. It was soo smooth and yummy! We sat and ate it on the street listening to live jazz music!}

{They had a Bubba Gump, and a place to sit on "the bench"... so we decided to do our best impersonations of Forest!}

{"That's my boat."}

{We got awesome shirts and wore them home on the plane... we got a lot of fun comments. We sure love them!}

{Our last lava flows!}

{A lava flow in one hand and a Diet coke in the other.. pretty much all I need in life!}

{Our Hawaiian mouth censors!}

{The free and last Hula pie! YUM!}

Attitude Challenge #5: My kids. Oh my heac, did I EVER miss my little kiddies! We would call and talk to Brooke, but that would make her "homesick" for us and make her throw a fit so we had to stop calling. I wanted to hold my Tanner so bad, my arms actually ached for him. I almost went up to some strangers to ask if I could just hug their kids. Dan told me that would be weird though. lol...

Attitude Challenge #6: My kids. It was hard to have my kids home. Between the flood and those who were watching them calling with questions, it kept bringing me out of the "vacation mindset". I had to overcome these things to make myself get back into the vacation and have fun. It's not like I had to force myself to have fun though. Looking back now. It was a trip of a lifetime! We had so much fun and when I do look back, I only remember the good and not the challenges.

{We got home, and saw the kids. We all went out to dinner and then to YogurtLand to use the last of our gift cards. There was a YogurtLand near us (within walking distance) and our family gave us each a $25 gift card there so we could go and get some as we wanted. Tanner got so mad at us when we wouldn't share with him. It was so funny.}

{We usually just get sample cups for Brooke to eat. It's the perfect size for her and she can have several. Plus, THEY'RE FREE!}

Like I said... the trip of a lifetime... Sorry this post was so long. I had to weed it down to these pictures from 2,000!!! YES, WE TOOK 2,000 PICTURES! Don't judge...