27JUN15

I have so many pictures from this day and they're not really in order either...  Great blogger over here! Haha!  One other great thing with my mom here is she basically makes us go on a date!!  Not only that but she was willing to watch Ashley's kids so we could go on a double date (it may have mostly been an Ashley/Monica date but the boys had fun too.)  Ashley had been bugging me about how I HAD to kayak out to Chinaman's hat before I left Hawaii because she had done it with one of her friends and loved it!  So we were able to rent 2 kayaks and head out for what turned out to be an amazing and gorgeous day in Hawaii!!  We did everything Hawaii has to offer in one day!  We kayaked out to Chinamans hat, hiked up to the very top (more rock climbing NOT my favorite but worth it...)  Then we snorkeled around the entire island where we saw tons of fish, awesome shells, beautiful coral and we swam right next to the HUGEST turtle I have ever seen!!!  Then we kayaked back and got some Huli Huli chicken for a late lunch!  AMAZING and EPIC doesn't even begin to describe this super fun day!!

 

See not in order.  Pretty sure this was on our way back down (as much as I LOVE hiking I don't love coming back down.  I go slower coming down then going up... So we were behind Ashley and Andrew. Poor Travis.)

It's hard to see but this was at the top and we saw a turtle in the water before we even got in!

Part of where we came up!

That view???  Oh my gosh!

My little island of Oahu!

LOVE this shot Ashley got!  It's actually a canvas on my wall now!  I have never been on a kayak before so on the way out I was not so good but I think I got the hang of it!!

From a distance! See why it's called Chinaman's Hat??

HAHA this picture cracks me up because I think this was us trying to get ready (there was ONE other couple up there so we were able to get some pics of all of us!)  Obviously Ashley and I know how to quickly strike poses.

There's a cute one with all of us!

My LOVE!!

One of the boys tried taking pictures of us but they didn't do it right.

So we took matters into our own hands.

See out of order... This was going up.  Trav is so patient with me (usually) on the way down he was guiding me exactly where to put my feet.  Sweet husband.  PS Ashely told me this was a super easy hike with no real rock climbing.  She lied.

26JUN15

We ended up wearing Mike out so my mom and I took the kids on another hike.  Pu'u Ma'eli'eli is one of my very favorite hikes!  This was the third time I had done this hike but only the first time the kids did it.  It isn't an easy hike and once again my kids showed me the awesome hikers that they are.  At one point there is even a rope and since it wasn't wet you mostly just needed it for a little balance but the girls flew right up (and down my scariest part) and David and I went up together and he did great as well!  I'm glad they got to do this one because they really enjoyed it especially getting to go into the pillboxes at the end! 

 

Sweet brother and sister!

Lexi went up the rope first!

Ryan's turn.

Then David (I took a few pics then I went up with him!)

Grandma's turn (she also rocked the hike!)

That view!!

Has anyone ever noticed Ryan seems to have only one hiking shirt?  Well she doesn't but she always has to wear this one because it has a monkey and she says it helps with her monkey hiking power. ;)

JUMP!!

22JUN15

What? We took our visitors on a hike?? Of course we did!!  Lulumahu is one we've done before and would do it again.  It's pretty short (maybe 30 minutes WITH David walking.) And the payoff is BEAUTIFUL!  Gotta a waterfall hike in when you're in Hawaii!!  When we first got to the waterfall it was PACKED!  I was so disappointed because the first time we did this hike we passed ONE other group (granted it was pouring rain that day...) Luckily that huge group left not long after we got there and we had the waterfall almost completely to ourselves the rest of the time!  We spent a lot of time just playing in the water and enjoying being outside.

 

 

These silly monkeys!

Mommy and another silly monkey!

When we first got there the girls insisted they wanted to climb up the first part of the falls which made me a bit nervous because I'm not very good at that kind of thing but they had zero issues! :)

I told David to not get to wet because he was going to have to walk back in those clothes but he listened as well as a 3 year old.

The girls at the top of the first part of the waterfall (TONS of people Y'all!)

At least we could get one of them to take a picture! :) (This was actually after some of them started to trickle out)

Once we got the place to ourselves we decided to climb on up!!

Yep just a little wet...

Teaching Mike the art of the selfie stick. HA!

Heading back!  Loving the vegetation.

21JUN15

My mom finally made it for a visit!!!  Mike and my mom came to visit us and I was so happy they made it before we left the island!  We hiked and beached a LOT!  And here are a few other things we did while they were here (don't worry the hiking and beaching pictures are soon to follow!)

One of our very first stops was Leanords for some good old fashioned Portuguese donuts!   Oh man these things are addicting!  They have a few different flavors but they are all THE BOMB!! 

My mom got to celebrate her birthday in Hawaii so we took them to one of our favorite restaurants right on the water! It was a beautiful sunset in paradise!

 

Love my mom and I LOVE her being a grandma to my kiddos! She is an awesome grandma!



We hit up Chinatown for the first time and the kids loved exploring!

So of course we had some DECLICIOUS Chinese food!

 

And my mom got to see the most perfect double rainbow I've ever seen in Hawaii!  It was absolutely amazing!  This was taken from my DRIVEWAY!  Oh the beauty!!



We said goodbye at our favorite breakfast spot Koa Pancake House!  We love you mom and Mike!  Thanks for coming!

 

20JUN15

Ashley talked about trying to get a cabin on the beach and she was able to book one for a weekend (shockingly because these book a year out!)  They are through the military and they are 2 bedroom cabins DIRECTLY on the beach!!!  They had kitchens and living rooms with a pull out couch so we all fit easily for the weekend and we were able to cook our own food (they even had grills on the back porches!)  Oh my gosh it was an AMAZING weekend!  The weather could not have been more perfect and the company wasn't too bad either. ;)  We even had another family come out and spend one of the days with us.  Who wouldn't want to spend the whole weekend on the beach???  Can we go back and do it again tomorrow???

Our home for the weekend!  The best part was there was also a park that happened to be right by our cabin so when the kids got tired of the water they could take a break at the playground and we could see and hear them from our cabin!  (We went through a LOT of sunscreen!)

View from our back porch.  I could have stayed here for a month!

Ryan and David heading to the park! We lived in our swimsuits. :)

The beach! 

My pic to brag to everyone on the mainland...

The 4 older kids didn't get out of the water much at all.

David was pretty dang happy too!

How we spent our time.

We even woke up early enough one morning to catch the sunrise and it was absolutely worth it!!!

So thankful he has given me these unbelievable opportunities and chance to make the greatest friends!!