Aloha Hawaii! Jeremy and I tried to enjoy our vacation, but it was difficult leaving behind a sick little girl. I had a hard time leaving, but knew the kids would be in good hands with both my sisters. The one thing I was excited about was leaving 15 degree weather for 85 degree weather.
We spent the first few days in Oahu. It was their rainy season so it rained most the time we were there. The first day we just went to a movie and tried to figure out how/when to get back home since Michele had said Mackenzie woke up every hour that night and that Cameron started throwing up!! After stressing and calling around for a few hours we decided we should try and enjoy the day :) We booked a sight seeing bus tour that stopped at Honoma (not sure how to spell that) Bay in the picture above.
The main reason I wanted to take the tour was for the stop at the Dole Pineapple Factory! I remember going there as a kid, and a few other times, it is amazing stuff!
I was in heaven! I would have been okay missing all the other stops and senic stuff....leave me here :) I enjoyed one for my mom too. She thought she died and went to Heaven when she first tasted them too. it's almost too bad we discovered it because you can't get it anywhere else.
The second reason I wanted to take the tour was for the final stop at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Of course it rained the whole time we were there, hence the sweet ponchos we bought!
Jeremy and I enjoyed the entertainment and thought we were going to die laughing several times throughout the day.
There is a lot of amazing talent and dancing that these cultures possess. it is so entertaining.
We enjoyed a pig roast and learning how they cook ....really interesting, and gross at the same time!
After the big buffet feast we got on another little tour bus that took us to the LDS temple there close to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We walked around the visitor center and enjoyed some time there before we went back to watch the main show of the evening. It was a full day that's for sure!!!
Then we went from rainy Oahu to sunny Maui and enjoyed this breathtaking view from our balcony! Calling home every so often we were getting reports that the kids were still sick, they were at Margo's now, but they just wanted "mommy". We were feeling horrible that the kids were sick and that Michele was worn out (understandably) and Margo had such a busy schedule she wasn't sure how she could watch them the extra few days we needed. With my mom's broken leg and my dad helping her, he wasn't able to watch the kids very long, but helped as much as he could. Anyway, we decided it was best to just head home early...so after we were able to change our flight from Maui to Oahu, we were able to purchase another pair of round-trip tickets from Oahu back to Utah. Since we had to buy more tickets we tried to find the cheapest ones and those ended up being $1500 leaving in 2 days. So I was able to relax a little bit more knowing that we could relieve our help sooner and be home with the kiddos that needed their "mommy".
I was wishing we could have brought the kids with us when I saw this pirate ship with its own little beach area at the resort. Cameron would have gone crazy!!
You can see the beach right beyond the pool area. It was so nice to be close. We were close to everything. There were lots of little shops and restaurants. It was such a nice place!!
We rented a car one day and went to this Lavender farm. It was so pretty, but I can't even imagine how amazing it would be to go there in the summer when all the lavender fields and bushes are in bloom. The guy says you can smell them miles away! There were so many other flowers and other beautiful plants here too.
This picture is out of order, but it is a view of our balcony from the pool area.
back to the lavender farm....this bush behind me is a lavender bush/hedge!!! When it is in bloom the whole thing is lavender. I had no idea these existed.
I love all the beautiful, different flowers in Hawaii. The smells of some of these flowers are beyond amazing!
We did a zip line adventure one afternoon. This was our group....
Me and my buddy Cocoa...one of the guys who held my life in his hands :)
Us with our gear on....
The other thing I love about Hawaii besides the amazing smelling flowers that are everywhere are the rainbows that are everywhere also!! these pictures don't do justice to the beauty....seriously! I don't know when the last time (if ever) I have seen a full rainbow. This was awesome!
I am not sure why this didn't turn out more colorful in the picture because it was soooo bright!
Jeremy wanted to rent some of these, but I vetoed that quickly! So the guy was nice enough to let him try it out for a minute.
Whale watching was fun. Maui is known for the whales this time of year. They go there to bread and mate before heading back to Alaska. I guess this particular place in Maui is protected and taken care of specifically for the whales.
We spotted several whales off in the distance blowing water. And we even saw a big one jump out (breech) of the water.
the dolphins were all over too.
eating at a long boards restaurant enjoying the dinner singer :)
So sad, it's time to go home.....but so excited to see our kids! We had a nice break, even if it wasn't completely relaxing. We were so thankful for the help my sisters offered by watching our kids. The timing was bad for them to get sick, but I appreciate their willingness to still watch them. We talked about cancelling the trip all together when Mackenzie got sick the day before we left, but thanks to Margo and Michele they said they could take care of things and to just go. It was a much needed break and I got some sun...I hadn't seen in a few months.
It was soooo difficult to leave 85-90 degrees and come home to 5 degrees!!! SERIOUSLY. I came home in shorts and flip flops and almost got pneumonia just leaving the airport to get to the car when my dad picked us up!
