As you can tell the kids were in heaven!
I love our resort. Having it's own beach is pretty awesome!
The sun would set around 7:30 every night.
The next day we drove to the end of the island on the West side. Once the road ended we took a little walk. It was beautiful and hot!
On our walk we saw dolphins, a sea turtle and a seal that let us get pretty close to him.
We named him Sammy the Seal!
Payton got a little hitchhiker.
After our hike we found a beautiful beach! Perfect for swimming... except the kids were the only ones in swimsuits.
So we just walked through it and ran from the waves.
Of course we had to finish off the night with a swim!
And watch the sunset in our private cove!
Sunday morning we were awaken around 5 a.m by a Japanese lady. The alarm in the hotel went off and started yelling gibberish (Japanese) at us until it spoke in English, "Warning, warning, this is an emergency please proceed to the nearest emergency exit." Turns out some old lady burnt her breakfast and set off the alarm in her room, and opened the door to let smoke out which then set off the alarm in the hallway causing a 2 alarm fire and a mandatory evacuation.
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Poor Payton, this scared her because when we first got to the hotel she was worried about a fire and then to have this happen frightened her quite a bit.
We all got ready and went to church. Funny story. So Nic and everyone makes fun of me because it seems like wherever we go I run into people I know. Well church in Hawaii was no different. A guy that I went to high school with is working there for the summer for Vivint and we happened to go to their ward. Kinda crazy!
After church we went to Pearl Harbor. It wasn't as neat as the first time we went because earlier in the week a tugboat hit the dock of the memorial of the USS Arizona so we weren't able to go out and view the sunken ship.
It had a beautiful view of Honolulu
Then off to the King's palace..
I love the trees of Hawaii, especially this one.
Now you can get a feel for how big it was.
Monday Maddie, Nic and I went on a shark cage excursion. It was pretty awesome while I was in with the sharks. There were about 5-6 foot waves so the boat was rocking quite a bit. I along with Maddie and about 8 others chummed the water for the sharks.
Looking down, they just kept coming up from below. There were too many to even count!
They associate the sound of boats for food because this is where crabbers have there pods and dump what they don't use making it easy food for the sharks.
Totally worth it, I'd do it again in a heartbeat... just maybe earlier in the morning when the waters are a bit more calm.
After lunch the next stop was Turtle Bay for a bit of snorkeling. Payton got the hang of it and loved it! She would get so excited and point out every fish she saw!
Sea Cucumber..
We saw tons of Sea Urchins..
Connor wasn't a fan of snorkeling but he was perfectly content playing in the waves.
A beached mama, she had a hard time getting out of the water with her fins on.
Chewing on fresh sugar cane.
The next morning I figured I should finally tell my family what we were having. The kids had known for about 4 weeks and kept it a secret. I am very impressed with them for keeping it a secret!
The flowers let you know we are having a girl, and the Hawaiian translation is Aubrey!
Mom trying to figure it out..
In the mean time, I walk into the bathroom where Maddie was and frantically let her know that the tub is full. Good thing I walked in when I did, she had no idea it would fill up that fast!
After that we went on a hike that we went on last time. But this time it was a lot more busy, but the waterfall was actually a waterfall and not just a trickle.
The flowers let you know we are having a girl, and the Hawaiian translation is Aubrey!
Parts of this area is where Lost was filmed... I can totally picture it!
Hiding from Maddie.
I love this view!
She said she wanted to swing from a vine... I'm not too sure she enjoyed it.
After our hike we went snorkeling at Sharks Cove. We were so happy to see a sea turtle while snorkeling. Payton loved it too!
We put Connor on a tube that way we could all be out at once.
That night we had our first luau at our hotel.
I love when they accommodate to kids.
Quick shout out to Wyatt on his birthday.
The next day we drove to look out over Honolulu but the sky was cloudy and misty. So instead we found ourselves our favorite beach. It wasn't busy at all and you could walk out quite far in the powder sand.
A must do in Hawaii is eat shaved ice. We went to the famous Matsumotos, mmm I want some more!
Another to do is eat at the shrimp trucks... This is the best shrimp ever!!!
Ever had something envisioned in your mind and in reality it turns out far from what you had envisioned? Well that's how us announcing what we were having kind of went.
Ever had something envisioned in your mind and in reality it turns out far from what you had envisioned? Well that's how us announcing what we were having kind of went.
Too dark..
Blurry and Nic looks awkward..
Really blurry...
Not what I imagined... but I guess it will do.
Cute sleeping buddies!
Tide pooling at our hotel..
Our final full day was spent at the PCC, but before going in we found ourselves a yummy cafe!
The kids enjoyed the little activities they had at each village.
Are you akin' for some bacon...
Is that a thumb?..
The beautiful Laie Temple.
The next morning after packing up and checking out we spent a couple of hours playing in the pools of the hotel
We kept racing down the slide... Sadly Maddie took first place.
Payton is a little fish!
This is paradise...
Someone really did not want to leave Hawaii..
I guess none of us did..
Watching the sunset on our way to San Jose..
We stayed in a hotel in San Jose so the kids got to swim before we left in the afternoon.
These kids have got to be the best travelers ever! They both got along so well and traveled perfectly!
Can we please go back! I really enjoyed our vacation and the great memories we made with my family! Thank you mom and dad for taking us on such a wonderful trip!
