Our Last day in Hawaii - Sept. 16th

Pauli Look Out & Kailua Beach

I finally made it to our last day in Hawaii. I can't believe it! Sorry again for all of the pictures, but we really did have such a great trip. For our last day we headed to the Pauli Look Out, or the really windy place. I was really excited to go here because I think it's the coolest place. The trade winds fly through this canyon making it super windy and a fun spot for pictures and trying to lay in the wind. Afton had a fun time with Kya, but Dax and Logan weren't big fans of the wind. Dax would try to run and hide from the wind and Logan just cried every time I tried to put him down. I had fun though.

Love the hair!

These pics are from our last trip in 2006. This is Brook and I with our hair flying everywhere.

Jason lost his shoe here. He picked up his foot and off went his sandal over the railing.

After the look out, we went to Kailua Beach. This beach is also great for wind activities. There's a lot of people who do wind surfing and kite surfing there. We just hung out at the beach. There was more sand castle building and playing in the ocean. After playing at the beach, we headed back to the condo to pack and then to the airport. Our flight left around 10 p.m. So we were on a red eye flight, and it was nice that the kids got to sleep during the flight. I, on the other hand, got no sleep. Trying to hold a sleeping baby and sitting in an airplane seat, makes for a hard night's sleep. We again flew to SLC and then to Oakland. The kids did great and we were glad to make it safely back home. Thanks again Rex and Sharon for such an awesome trip. We had tons of fun!

Playing at the beach. All of the kids fell asleep on the way back to the condo. Doesn't Dax look comfortable?

Pictures of the flight from SLC to Oakland. I love all of the silly pictures of the kids. They love making silly faces.

more Hawaii - Sept. 15th

A day without kids

On Monday, Sept. 15th, we actually had a day to ourselves. Rex and Sharon said that they wanted to take all of the kids so we could go do something on our own. Seriously, I have the best in-laws! Thanks Rex and Sharon! Jason and I wanted to do some snorkeling, so we headed out with Ben and Kari. We first stopped at Turtle Bay, but the snorkeling there wasn't very good, so we headed over to Shark's Cove. Don't worry. No sharks today. The snorkeling here was really awesome. We went here on our last trip, but this time we went to a different area. This new area was a lot shallower and we saw tons of cool fish. There was one area that was deeper but the waves were pretty rough over there so we stayed in the shallow area. Jason and I had lots of fun exploring the reefs. There were some really cool fish. Lots of colorful ones, big ugly ones, schools of fish, and sea urchins. It was really fun even though I got sun burned really bad. My whole back side, bum cheeks and all. After snorkeling, we grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to Hukelau Beach again. The waves weren't as good as the first day we went there, but we head fun playing in the water. We had contests standing on the guys shoulders, seeing who could stay up the longest. It was really hard! And we even saw a turtle. Kari spotted it. I think that was the first time I've seen a turtle swimming in the ocean.

Afton has such a fun aunt. Kari did their hair like this before we left. Every day Afton wanted her hair to be just like Kya's.

Kari and Ben at Shark's Cove

Jason got this lovely wound from jumping into a couple inches of water. Yes, he's very smart.

Hawaii cont' - Sept. 14th

Sunday morning, Waimanolo Beach, & snow cones

I know you're all probably sick of Hawaii, but I've still got like three more days of stuff to post. Sorry I took way too many pictures, so you'll just have to suffer through more of our fun trip. On Sunday morning we actually did an unusual thing. We went to church while we were on vacation! I know that's so weird. Who goes to church while they're on vacation? Well, we did and we took all of the kids with us. We went to sacrament meeting and then took the kids to nursery and primary. They had a great time!

After church, we headed to the beach. We went to Wiamanolo Beach. Usually they have pretty good waves for body surfing/boogie boarding, but no such luck today. The waves were really non-existent and it decided to rain on us. And I don't mean a little drizzle. It poured rain for about an hour. The kids didn't mind the rain, but we took shelter under the lifeguard tower. When the rain finally let up and the sun was out again, the kids and I took a stroll down the beach. We had to go check out a very scary sign. We heard the lifeguards talking and they said that a 15-foot tiger shark had been spotted in the ocean about 400 yards down the beach from us. I guess a few people had seen it just off the beach. AHHH! Yeah, I freaked out. I hate sharks and I'm terrified of them. So we didn't get to far into the ocean today. Afton and I played right on the beach where the small waves were breaking, but that's as far as I would venture or allow my child to venture.

After the beach, we stopped in Kialua for some snow cones. We love the snow cones in Hawaii. They're so yummy. Although I was very surprised when Logan spit it out. We gave him a couple of bites, but each time he'd spit them out. I guess he didn't like the cold or the texture. I don't know but I can't believe he refused food. He'll usually eat about anything.

This was probably the highlight of the day. Ben buried all of the kids in the sand. He started with Kya and then Afton wanted to be buried and then Dax couldn't decide. He finally said he wanted to, but he only lasted for about 1 minute in the sand. As you can tell from some of the pictures he didn't like being covered in sand. I think he's a little claustrophobic.

Here's the scary sign we took our walk to.

Logan taking a good nap. I think he slept in Jason's arms for a couple of hours.

Dax taking a stroll down the beach.

I love feet print in the sand so I had to take a picture. These are Afton and Daxon's feet print.

more Hawaii - Sept. 13th

Shopping & Waikiki

On Friday, we did a little shopping. When I say "we" I mean the girls did some shopping. The guys stayed back at the condo and watched the BYU football game and were supposedly watching the kids, but I don't know how much watching they really did. Apparently not enough because the kids were getting into all of my things, they found my make-up bag and were going through that. Thank goodness no one actually got into the make up, but Dax found something he thought was interesting. So he took it out to the living room to ask Jason what it was. He handed him a bright orange package and Jason grabbed it from him. He found one of our condoms! I wish I could've been there to see it or maybe not. I probably would have been embarrassed. Anyway, back to the shopping. Sharon, Kari and I went to the flea market. They have it at the college football stadium so we stopped to check it out and then went to a few other other places and met up with the rest of the family in Waikiki.

Waikiki is not one of our favorite places because it's so dang busy. It's definitely where all of the tourist hang out. But they have a perfect beach for the kids. There's a rock wall about 50 yards out from the beach where the waves crash so it's quite a bit calmer on the beach. Once again Afton loved it. She loved swimming in the water, chasing her grandma, and playing volleyball with Ben and Kari. Dax and Kya still weren't fond of the water, so they built another sand castle and had fun playing with the big beach ball. They also had fun stealing crackers and making the people around us laugh. They were just being silly saying "hi" and then running away. Logan actually liked the water this time. We put him in one of those floaty things and he almost fell asleep. He was very relaxed with the rhythm and sound of the waves. He also loved walking up and down the beach. That kid loves to wander!

Logan wandering with Jason

The sun was just setting so it made for some beautiful pictures.

Hawaii cont' - Sept. 12th

Surf Lessons

This was probably one of the funnest days on our trip to Hawaii. Kari, Ben, and I took surf lessons. Jason was suppose to but he opted out due to the sunburn. Sharon and Rex hooked us up once again with these sweet lessons. Thanks so much! It was through a place called Hawaiian Fire and it's taught by firemen and women who know how to surf. The lessons were on a more secluded beach on the west side of the island so it was perfect for learning how to surf. They gave us some safety lessons followed by some quick surf lessons and then put us in the water. I have to admit I was nervous at first. I didn't know how well I would do or if I might hurt myself. But it was all good. I got up on the second try and loved it. It was so much fun! We learned on long boards and I've heard they're a lot easier than short ones, so I'm glad that we had the long boards. We'd paddle out to the instructors and turn our boards around and then they'd get us a good wave, give us a push and off we'd go. It was seriously one of the funnest things I've ever done. Although the paddling part was super hard. I'd paddle a few strokes and then I'd have to rest because my arms were so tired. I don't know how those surfers can do the whole paddling thing and make it look so easy. There were a few times they pulled me out to the waves because I wasn't paddling fast enough. Man I'm a wimp! They would actually tow two of us at the same time. They'd put a foot at the top of our surfboards and then start to paddle, towing us behind them. They were so strong! I guess you'd have to be to be a fireman. I really wanted to catch a wave myself, but it was super hard. The hard part was telling which wave was surfable. So I tried a few times, but was unsuccessful. Maybe next time. Thanks again Rex and Sharon. It was so much fun! There will be more pictures of the actual surfing. I'll post them when I get them.

Kari and I getting ready to surf.

Learning the technique

We're ready to be professional surfers!

Dole Plantation
After surf lessons we headed to the dole plantation for some yummy pineapple ice cream. I love this stuff! The kids loved it too. They had fun eating their ice cream, running through the gardens and feeding the fish. They thought it was really cool to see the actual pineapple's growing on the plants.

Jason and I in front of the Dole plantation in 2006 during our last Hawaii trip

Wiamea Beach

We headed to the beach next. I love Wiamea beach. It's a really beautiful beach and there's this awesome cliff for jumping. The waves weren't the best this day, so Afton had fun playing in the water. She was such a little fish on this trip. We couldn't get her out of the water. She loved it! We played in the water for a little bit, built some sand castles, and went cliff jumping. I think Daxon's favorite part of the trip was building sand castles with Ben. He had fun building them and then knocking them down. And I don't have any pictures of the cliff jumping. Sorry! But it was really cool because you could see this huge school of fish in the ocean right where you jump in. So we jumped into a school of fish. Don't worry, they weren't big fish. I do have some pictures of the cliff jumping from our last trip so I'll post some of those.

Jason and I getting ready to jump

Jumping! I love Jason's jump pose.

Hawaii cont' - Sept. 11th

Kaena Point
Jason and I and Kari and Ben went on a hike this day. We did the Kaena Point hike. You start on the west side of the island and hike around the point to the east side of the island. It's actually the only way to get around this part of the island. We started where the road stopped and continued on foot to the other side. We were expecting lush green hills and beautiful landscape where we started, but it wasn't what we imagined. Hawaii is actually in a drought. I know that's weird, but they haven't gotten as much rain as they usually do, so where we started the hike was really dry and reminded me of Utah. But as we made our way around the point the scenery changed. It was a lot greener. The hike itself wasn't very difficult. I think it was like 6 miles. And it rained on us a few times, which was nice because it was hot when we started. The weather in Hawaii is so funny. It's like pouring rain one minute and the next minute it's all sunny and nice. Rex and Sharon and the kids met us on the other side of the island. Also, where we started they do some filming of the tv show Lost. We didn't get to see any filming, but we drove by the yellow homes where the "other's" live. At least that's what Jason thought they were. I wasn't too sure. They just seemed so small. But I guess tv makes everything look bigger.

On the way we stopped in Haleiwa at Mastumoto's for snow cones. They have the best snow cones in Hawaii. You can get a scoop of ice cream in the bottom and it's really good.

When we started the hike and got really hot we headed over to the coast to cool down. There wasn't a nice beach just a very nice breeze.


This was the other side of the island where it started to get a little greener. And I loved the view of the coast in the back ground. Hawaii is so beautiful and so are those two people making out in the picture. We're so awesome!

A sweet car we found on the way.

Towards the end of the hike there was this cool arch right on the coast. Right by this awesome blow hole. At first we thought it was a sea lion making noises. Nope, just the waves crashing into the rocks.

Swimming at the Marriott

After our hike we headed to the Marriott hotel. Jason and I and Kari and Ben wanted to do something nice for Rex and Sharon for taking us all to Hawaii. So to thank them we got them a room for a night at the Marriott. They could actually sleep in a bed with no screaming kids and it was a really nice hotel. They had an awesome swimming pool so we decided to take a swim with everyone for a little bit. The kids had lots of fun in the pool. They actually enjoyed the hot tub the most. Logan loved it! I'd dip him in for a few minutes to let him get a little warmer. He hated the cold water as you can see in the pictures. The swimming pool doesn't compare to the beach but it was still lots of fun.

I had to post this picture. Sorry Jason! Isn't his sun burn lovely? You think this looks bad. You should have seen it in person. It was bright pink, almost kind of purplish in some spots. And his chest was just as bad. He was definitely in pain. That's as deep as he would get in the hot tub.

Hawaii--Sept 10th

Yummy Breakfast

To start our first morning in Hawaii, Jason and I and Kari and Ben went to breakfast. Not just any breakfast but the BEST breakfast ever. Kari and Ben found this place last time they came to Hawaii. It's called "Boot's and Kimo's" and it's a little restaurant in Kialua and they are famous for their Macadamia Nut Pancakes. These pancakes were seriously like eating a piece of heaven or something. You get two huge pancakes and they smother them in their macadamia nut syrup. I could have eaten them all day long if I didn't care about my weight or money. They were sooooo good! I was licking my plate to make sure I didn't miss any of the yummy syrup. If you're ever in Oahu, you definitely have to go there. I highly recommend it.

The best pancakes ever. Don't they look so yummy?

The Beach
After breakfast, everyone headed to the beach. We went to Hukelau Beach (I know I'm murdering these Hawaiian names, so sorry about the spelling). And we pretty much spent the whole day there. The kids were so funny about there first time at the beach. Well, it wasn't Afton's first time and she did great. She loves the ocean and playing in the waves. I thought she'd be more scared of the waves, but she had a great time. Dax and Logan on the other hand, didn't like the water at first. Well, Logan never really liked it, but Dax liked it and then decided he didn't like it. He got in the ocean with Jason and Ben and then they sent Dax on a boogie board---by himself. He made it to the shore the first time and then the second time he fell off and didn't want to go in the water after that. But he did like the sand. He had lots of fun building sand castles. Logan didn't know what to think of the sand at first. He didn't like walking in it or touching it, but then he finally got use to it. He loved picking it up and then dropping it on his feet/legs. And of course he ate some too. I think every baby eats sand. The poor little guy. He had it all over his hands and he'd go to suck his thumb and couldn't because it would be covered in sand. Jason and I had fun riding the boogie boards and body surfing. And of course getting sunburned. Jason always gets sunburned his first day and it was bad. His whole upper body was bright red. Very sexy!

Playing at the beach

Dax falling off the boogie board.

He took such a good nap this day. The sound of the ocean is so calming.

Wearing grandpa's hat.

Shrimp Shack
For a late lunch, we headed down the road to the Shrimp Shack. Another yummy place to eat, if you like shrimp. Although they do serve them with their heads still attached. Didn't know how I felt about it, but it was kind of fun ripping their heads off. And they were really good and you get super messy. Jason had fun scaring the kids with the shrimp. Afton tried a little bit, but that was it.

The whole family eating shrimp

Kind of scary looking, but really good.

This was Logan's sunscreen mohawk. Works just has good as gel.