Thursday, March 1, 2012

Hawaii

I am starting to feel at home in Hawaii. Grammy's condo has become a favorite little haven of ours and especially for my kids. I love walking in and opening the great big windows that stay open for the length of the trip. I love getting settled in and making it nice and comfortable. Trips to the beach, hours in the pool, time spent with the family. This time around was particularly nice in that the kids were that much older and were able to hang out at the beach that much longer. Tucker and I were in heaven! It was also really fun to have the Ford's there. We obviously can't get enough of them!
I was really nervous about the flight but the kids amazed me and were great. Capri kept exclaiming, "I am so excited! I am so excited!" I bet it was said 20+ times that day as we were traveling. Roman was beyond thrilled as well and the plane ride itself was enough to keep a smile on his face. As we were coming down through the clouds he said, "Mom, I see the clouds! Where is Jesus?" Oh how I love that boy. Just as cute, Capri said as we walked through the outdoor airport, "Daddy, I can feel the air!" Love that girl too!
We headed to Kailua Beach for our first official day and it was the perfect start to our vacation. Roman and Capri found a friend within minutes and were so entertained playing in the waves, our only concern was how far they would travel down the beach! They were not interested in staying right in front of us-they were way too busy exploring and jumping in the water.The next day was spent at Bellows Beach, the beach Tucker and his family would always go. It is beautiful and never crowded-key ingredients to a fabulous beach! As an added bonus, Tucker knows how to find sand crabs there and the kids were enthralled yet again with these tiny creatures.
While the twins and their Daddy were capturing their new pets for the day, Karoline and I got busy building a sandcastle. It was more Mommy building and Koko immediately smashing, but it was fun nonetheless! This girl just loves the beach, more than Capri for sure. It made the trip so easy to have her entertained.Karoline is talking a ton these days and some of our favorite new Hawaii words are "towel-blankie" for towel when she wanted to be wrapped up, "flop-flops" for flip-flops, and "My Diet Coke!" in reference to her lemonade (do you think her mom drinks Diet Coke at all?!). Love that sweet little voice!We made these awesome little tubs for the babies. Dug a hole, laid a plastic poncho in, covered the edges of the poncho with sand, and filled it up with water. Best. Idea. Ever. And I can't take credit for it. Some lady told us about it a few trips back and we finally put it into action. It was awesome for them to have a safe and warm little tub! Here is London ready to say a prayer in her tub-doesn't get much cuter than this!
It got a bit cold (dipped down to 75!) on our side of the island, so we spent a few days in search for the sun at different beaches up north and on the west side. We hit Haleiwa and Sunset Beach on the North Shore and had a grand old time watching the locals surf. The waves were enormous and they were incredible to watch! My darling cousin Makenzie is attending school at BYU Hawaii and we were able to bring her along for the day. We stopped at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck and our favorite bakery on the way so we could eat while the surfers entertained us. The kids loved playing with her in the sand and sea foam.
Cheri and I at Haleiwa-hang loose!
With the weather rainy everywhere, we took a day to hike the Makapu'u lighthouse trail. It is paved the whole way making it perfect for strolling little ones. I have to admit, Tucker and I were disappointed with how poorly the twins did on the hike. We brought an umbrella stroller for them to take turns but all they wanted was to sit in the stroller. Neither wanted to "make their legs super strong by hiking!" as we would tell them. I bet they would have done better had they not had a stroller to fight over, but still, we obviously need to hike more often! The view at the top was well worth it for us, and the dog at the top was well worth it for the twins.
This is Capri not wanting to take a picture:
Sunday was spent attempting to go to church-we got all ready, drove over, walked in, and then realized it was ward conference and they had changed their meeting times. Oh well! We headed to The Cheesecake Factory for their delicious Sunday Brunch instead. On our way back to the car, we stopped at the park for a few pictures...
Nothing beats the pools and hot tubs at Grammy's Condo. Although the pools are freezing, the kids cannot get enough of that slide. Roman was first to conquer the slide. He whizzed down time and time again and I didn't even need to be in the pool. Now he can swim all by himself to the side, flipping to his back if he needs to catch his breath. So proud of him! Capri was really nervous at first, but once she slid down with her daddy a few times, she realized she could do it all by herself. She was right! She went right down and then swam to the side. So proud of her! Karoline surprised me. She loved the slide as Daddy and Mommy held on to her, but soon wanted to slide down on her own! She was throwing such a fit that we finally let her go down one time, but that was all her Mommy could handle. So proud of her too!
Roman and Capri got into diving all of a sudden. Both had just started working on kneeling dives in swimming lessons and thought they should practice I guess!
A strip mall close by to our condo held Zumba almost every day. Cheri and I loved going and getting a fabulous workout in this fabulous setting right on the bay. The guys would sometimes bring the kids and watch-it was really fun! The teacher even spotted us by the second day and said, "You must be sisters-you move the same!" Hilarious!
At that same strip mall, there were some good places to eat and so we would bring our food here by the bay to eat. Such a perfect setting for my Koko standing right in front of Koko Head!
The last few days were spent at the gorgeous beach of Lanikai-our favorite! The sand is white and powdery and the water is all shades of turquoise and blue. The guys went snorkeling right off the beach, the kids played on the boogie boards (a new favorite activity), and us moms got to soak it all in. Nothing like a day at the beach!
So happy to be here with my sweetheart.
Cody and Cheri:
Karoline in her hot tub for the day!These two loved getting rides along the water on the boogie board.
And when they got sleepy...
Roman and Capri spent hours on these things. They loved laying on their stomachs, trying to surf on top, and pulling each other around.
These were probably our best days ever in Hawaii. Oh how much I will miss it!

1 comment:

Nicole M said...

These pictures are AMAZING!!!!! I don't even know what to comment on because each one is perfect and tells a story. I will say that you are one gorgeous mamma Alysha! Oh my goodness. And your kids all look like little models too. Looks like you just had the best trip. Next time I'm coming with you!!