Lanikai Beach

One of the best parts of our trip was finding this sweet new beach, Lanikai. It was named as the #1 best beach in the United States and I can see why. The sand-as fine as flour. The water-every color of turquoise and warm. Plus, there is a reef about a mile out and so there aren't any waves-perfect for kids and perfect for snorkeling. Lots of palm trees lining the beach as well as fabulous homes that I hope to at least rent someday. One was selling for a cool $8.9 million if anyone is interested. Sigh. Anyway, we went to explore the beach and here are my parents as happy as can be knowing that we will be back:They were a bit more adventurous the next time and rented kayaks with Cheri and Cody. Go Mom!

It was Cody's birthday-the big 30-and this was the perfect way to celebrate:

Roman and I hanging out on the beach:

Me and my bestest friend and sister Cheri:

Roman couldn't have been happier than at this moment-playing in the water with his daddy:

Capri loves her grammy and we decided this is exactly where she gets her "princess" attitude:

She gave up the princess act for a bit to play in the dirty sand with the rest of us:

Incredible beach=incredible day!

Bellows Beach

Though there are a couple of beaches closer, we choose to go to Bellows Beach in Waimanalo. There are a few reasons for such a decision. First, we don't get called out as "howlies." Both Sandy Beach and Makapu'u Beach are really for locals only, meaning if you are white-get out of the water before you drown! Also, Bellows is never crowded-definitely not a tourist spot. It is beautiful with tree-lined beaches and majestic Jurassic Park-like mountains behind. We love it!
Roman could have played with this crab all day...but then it probably would have died. Tucker dug up a couple of these guys and Roman and Capri went crazy. Capri loved to watch, but when asked if she wanted to hold it, she would reply, "Roman hold the crab." Roman was happy to oblige! She may have gotten this from me as Tucker tried to get me to hold it and I immediately screamed and chucked the crab out of my hand.
She finally held it for a second, but felt much better carrying the creature this way, in a bucket:
Roman was all about the crabs and being buried in the sand-the beach was good to him. :)
This is Capri doing her "princess" pose. I know, I am already worried.

The Pool

Capri's favorite part of our trip was hanging out at the various pools and hot tubs. She is still a bit fearful of the beach-icky sand and loud waves aren't her thing-but she did much better than ever before. Still, the pools were perfect for her and Roman. They had a kiddie pool next to two big pools and several hot tubs. They would go from one to the other with smiles plastered on their faces. Something about taking a cup of water from one and throwing it into the other or going from the cold pool into the hot tub-bliss!

They loved their rings and both would push off one end to get to the other side of the tub. I loved that Capri would keep her legs perfectly straight and her bum all tight as if she were trying for water ballet.
Roman was a bit too brave and would push so hard that he would almost flip forward. I guess I should have expected that from him being the fish that he is!Roman loved that he could walk around the entire kiddie pool by himself. You could tell the water was cold because he would try and keep his arms up. Right after I took this picture he slipped and went right under, but came back up smiling ear to ear and ran over to the hot tub.
Capri in transition from the kiddie pool to the big pool:
Capri giving Grampy a shower-I am sure he loved that!
One of the greatest things about the pool is the slide. No, it's not much, but my kids thought it was about the best thing ever. Roman had no problem going alone, but Capri requested Daddy's help...

Notice how she is covering her ears? For some reason, whenever she gets scared (and it's often due to loud noises), she resorts to this:

Roman speeding down with a look of joy mixed with a bit of anxiousness!

The Condo

I want to start off my Hawaii posts with the condo. Tucker brought me to Hawaii with his family over 8 years ago to propose on Sandy Beach. I know, best proposal ever. On that trip I fell in love with Hawaii, its pristine beaches, perfect weather, fabulous hiking, incredible water and amazingly beautiful scenery wherever you look. This was my dream vacation. What made our trip even better, however, was the condo (aka Grammy's condo per Capri). Tucker's parents own a place in Hawaii Kai, a condo in the Mauna Luan. They have had it for years and I hope they keep it forever. The grounds are spectacular and our unit is perfectly comfortable and homey. The unit is decorated in a range of greens and aquas-definitely not what you would put in your home, but great for Hawaii. The best part is the view. Great big bay windows are opened upon arrival that showcase the grounds and pool area. I love feeling the breeze and listening to the water falls right outside. Absolutely tranquil. Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture of the place! So, instead I will provide a picture of the twins in their goggles while in the eating area because I don't know where else to place this picture!

We're Back!

Hawaii in the middle of January is always a good idea. In fact, it has to be the best time to go. The excitement of the holidays is over, the inversion is here, and warm weather is needed to break up the frigid winter. We are back and having a tough time adjusting to say the least, but I will post pictures soon!

And in case I didn't have your address...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Nielsons!

Merry Christmas!

Make a Smilebox collage

We had a fabulous Christmas this year! The kids had so much fun which makes it so much fun for us. What wasn't so fun? After going to bed at 3:00am (see post below), Roman woke up at 5:45 and didn't want to go back to sleep. I have to admit that by 7:00, I was so anxious I was about to wake Capri up so we could get this show on the road! My mom called me around 7:30 and said that my nephews were up and ready for us to come over. I couldn't wait any longer either, so we woke Capri up and let them open their stockings and see their new kitchen set from Grammy and Grampy. We then headed over to my parent's house to start opening presents with the rest of the family. You know your nephews are extra sweet when they had actually waited for an hour downstairs playing lego while their parents slept in a bit. Then, Kaleb was more excited to give Roman and Capri their gifts than opening his own. I need to learn how Rob and Jesse do it!

So, we got to it and let the grandkids open presents one at a time, then we exchanged gifts and started in on our own presents. My favorite gift was definitely our new membership to Lifetime Fitness-it will definitely give me the motivation to get back into shape post baby! Tucker's favorite, though not a surprise, was getting the go-ahead to plan a mancation with Cody to Parump, NV. What? You haven't heard of such a thriving metropolis? Actually, I don't know if there is anything there except for Frontsight, a firearms training center. Those boys are headed for a defensive handgun training and can't wait.

As for the kiddos, Tucker and I really wanted to keep Christmas on a budget and we did well sticking to it. The funny thing is, we could have even done less! Roman played with his new CAT truck for hours and could have cared less for anything else. Capri spent a good hour playing with the screws and screwdriver we used to get the truck out of its ridiculous packaging and didn't care for opening any others after she opened her doll. We were sneaky and decided to hide the rest of their presents to save them for their birthday. SWEET!!! They did love these new aprons my mom made and the dollar zone trinkets I put in their stockings, but that was about enough for them!

After a delicious breakfast and a quick cleanup, we left to spend the afternoon with Tucker's parents, the great-grandmas, and Tanner and Drew. Susie had prepared an enormous turkey dinner complete with her insanely good stuffing. Yum. We had to eat and run, however, because we had to get back to talk to Jon. He is doing so well and it was so great to hear his voice. The perfect ending to a perfect day!