24JUL15

It is time to say good bye to Hawaii. I know I made it very clear that I was never leaving but the Army had different plans and I know in the long run it will all be ok and I will love our next duty station in different ways than I loved Hawaii.  I will tell you that I loved every minute on our island and we became an island family.  The opportunity to live here was an absolute dream come true and I will always look back with nothing but wonderful fond memories of Oahu.  I have told Travis we WILL go back at least for a vacation because I truly belonged there.  Every weekend was running, hiking, and/or the beach and sometimes we hit up all 3.  We were together as a family and we had and made the greatest friends there with us.  Aloha Oe my wonderful Hawaii and all of you wonderful people that we had as part of our Ohana for 2.5 years!!

 

 

 

This all to familiar sight for a military family did not make me happy...  Such is the life we live.

We started out our last week on the island a bit rough.  The movers were there and we had to all hang out in one room of the house so stay out of the way as much as possible except 3 of us ended up with HORRIBLE stomach bugs.  The only bed we had left was David's crib and Ryan was the second one who got sick so this is where she napped all day...  I caught it at the worst possible time trying to get all packed to head to the hotel and Trav had to go into work for a bit.  I haven't been that sick in a while and hope it is a long while before I am that sick again!!  After 2 pretty rough nights in the first hotel we moved into the Hale Koa (the military hotel that is BEAUTIFUL and right on the beach!!)

This was the view from our balcony for our last week on the island and we made the very most of it!! 

Our anniversary was one of the first days we were in the hotel and Waikiki does a firework show every Friday on the beach!  I told Trav he was so sweet to get me fireworks for our anniversary!

My awesome family!  We got to hang out on the beach and wait for the fireworks to start.

Perfect!

Of course we had to hit up the Kroc Center one last time.  This gym was a DREAM gym!  The perfect pool with a great gym and child care available!  The kids always loved going to the Kroc and sometimes preferred that over the beach!

Bye Kroc Center!

Our last day on the beach and these sweet girls were just soaking it in!

Goodbye you beautiful water!!

I have to document myself there too!!

This was the pool at the hotel and I had to have one more virgin lava flow while enjoying the pool! 

And the way we kill 5 hours waiting at the airport (we couldn't fit the luggage and kids in the rental so we had to wait there while Trav grabbed the luggage!)  Hawaii you will always have a great big huge chunk of the McBride's heart!

22JUL15

Our very last hike in Hawaii... :(  We met up with some friends from Benning that we've hiked with before and headed out to Waimano Trail to check out some caves!  This was an easy hike with little elevation gain but goes through several tunnels which the kids LOVED!  Plus the beautiful Hawaiian vegetation all around us.  I absolutely adored every single hike we did on this beautiful island and I am so thankful we took advantage of every opportunity to explore!! 

 

 

 

These awesome kids!

Love that view (the kids AND the beautiful scenery.)

My awesome girls!

These caves were really fun and super dark! 

I love that we both love the hiking!  It made it easy to decide what to do on the weekend!

My family!

Always the little monkey girl!

Always wants to be like his big sister!

Just hanging around!

*sigh* that view!

14JUL15

Ashley and I and all the kids had some great times together!  She is a great running partner and a fabulous friend!  So I had to make a quick "see ya later" post.  They only left 2 weeks before us so I really feel like we made the most of our time together but I definitely look forward to meeting back up at some point (they are in Alabama so we are looking for a good halfway point!)  Thank you for EVERYTHING Davis family especially the fabulous memories!!!

 

 

Always being silly!

The day before they headed out we needed something fun but not our norm since they were leaving the very next day so we headed to the movies and saw the cute Minion movie!

And ice cream after of course!!  Love these cute kiddos and all the great memories they made!!

13JUL15

My very last race in Hawaii (for now...)  This race had so many bittersweet things about it.  It was part of the Tropical Triple Crown race series that began with the Hibiscus Half Marathon (which was the first half marathon I ever did.)  Plus the course we ran was one I'd never done before (quite a few of the races had similar courses.)  However I have ran on this exact running trail before.  When we FIRST got to Hawaii we stayed in a hotel that had a running path next to it.  I had already decided I would be running a half marathon in Hawaii because I always said I wanted to.  So I went out on this path.  I remember I had just heard of mapmyrun.  I turned it on and headed out.  I did 2 miles with lots of walking in between. This race was on that same trail.  Only it was 5 miles and I had no problem running it.  What a fun way to finish out my racing in Hawaii!!  Except for the part where Ashley hurt her ankle and could barely walk.  (but talk about an inspiration she refused to not finish even though this course was brutal because you run RIGHT past the finish line at about the halfway point! She kept going because she wanted that medal and she wouldn't feel like she earned it if she didn't finish!  She could seriously barely walk!!) 

 

 

 

How cute??  I mean you know you want this medal too!

This was the running trail!

May be in my top 3 favorite running shirts!! :)

My kids!  They make me smile!  I love how sweet they are!!! I came home to this poster!

My finishing time 46:02!!!

12JUL15

I almost forgot Diamondhead!  Ashley had never done it which is crazy for how much we hiked!  It was actually the first hike we did with the kids when we got to Hawaii but honestly not one of our favorites.  The view is beautiful but it's SUPER touristy and there are just so many great hikes out there...  It's one you just have to do though...  It's great how much all these kids truly enjoy the hiking.  David and I are always in the back but that kid amazes me with what he can do! 

 

 

11JUL15

Ashley and Andrew were leaving very soon so we needed to get in one more beach day with them! Unfortunately the weather was not super cooperative and it started raining on us but then it actually stopped and the boys got in some snorkeling and the kids got in some playing.  It was threatening rain the whole time but it held off just for us!  And of course even with a dreary day that view just can't be beat!!  This is 3 tables over on the North Shore and we had never actually been to this one.  It was gorgeous and because of the rain we had it mostly to ourselves!!