Hawaii

For the third time in about 6 weeks, the girls and I boarded for an airplane.  We had just gotten back 5 days before from Grandma Barney's funeral (I took no pictures).  And we had General Conference Easter, and I worked a ton in those 5 days, so we were a bit busy.  I was just relieved to have Nick with me as I flew with the girls.  

But it was still a long flight with a 10 month old.  She is so incredibly busy.  She doesn't hold still.  Ever.  Luckily she's happy, and she thinks everyone around her is her best friend.  People think its cute at first and then they get a little bit creeped out by the fact that she sits staring with an open mouth grin for 20 minutes straight.

We hadn't taken off yet and we were already feeling a little crazy.  We had to stop in San Jose and we surprised Papa and Nona by showing up on their flight.  That was glorious because Briz sat with them most of the time.  I didn't really know what to do with myself.  

But we made it.  And the sun and water was waiting for us.  We immediately went swimming in the pool.  Tanner and Sierra were already there.

Wubs loves her Papa and Nona, and was so happy to have all of her cousins and aunts and uncles around.  She has lately, however, started to want me a little bit more, particularly if she's tired.

Briz got marks from her goggles and wanted me to take a picture.

We mostly played on the sand and in the ocean.  The kids played in the waves, built sand castles, followed the fish and the sea turtles.  We woke up in the morning, went to the beach for three or four hours, came home, tooks naps, and then went to the pool.  Not a bad schedule.  Then every night someone was in charge of dinner.  So we ate dinner, often followed by dancing and wrestling.  

Wembley was scared of the waves the first day or two but then loved them.  After a few days she started crawling straight for the ocean.  But she loved playing in the sand, as long as she had a toy in her hand to chew on.  Mmm. Plastic and sand.

She was also constantly trying to rip people's sunglasses off of them.  She's pretty quick.

We did a few other things which I didn't get pictures of, but my siblings did.  So once I figure out how to upload shared photos, I may add a few more.  Friday morning, we went to a snorkeling cove where the adults and some of the older kids snorkeled and little kids threw rocks (Or in Wembleys case chewed on rocks). On Saturday, we drove to the Olivine Pools where we went hiking, exploring, and swimming.  We then went hiking in the forest, where the kids discovered some wild chickens that they chased.

On Sunday, we took family pictures in the morning, and then headed to sacrament meeting.  After that the girls had an afternoon to themselves.  We went to a lot of different beaches this trip which was cool.  I was a little bitter because I was looking forward to sleeping and reading, but everyone else decided to ask Landon's girlfriend a lot of questions.  How rude.

On Monday night, we had a little birthday party for Teya and then we had a family home evening activity with Family History Jeopardy.  I dominated.  And then we had a rousing game of Red Rover.

Briz sporting the bikini.

Papa and Nona were awesome taking care of everyone.  They were constantly taking care of the grandkids, and I loved watching all of the special bonding time.

Papa helped Dane get used to the waves.

Wembley was excited watching the kids laugh and play.  This is the face she makes when she is squealing with excitement.

Portia, as the mature 8 year old was the big helper and the little boys loved her.

We did a few other activities: the boys went scuba diving and surfing, we rented a kayak one day.  And we went out to eat as adult kids one night.  

We were just in Hawaii in November, but I'm not sure I could ever be there enough.  The beach and the sun are my heaven.  I love watching my kids explore and be creative and have fun outside.  And even better when they get to do that with family.  It was a pretty special trip that we got to be there altogether.