I thought when we moved to Hawaii that I'd post way more. The opposite is true. I have NO time. Between homeschooling, homemaking, working, errand-running, and experiencing Hawaii, I have found that there are no hours left to document our lives here. I really really hope I can find a way to remedy this, as these are the years I want to document more than ever! But we'll see what I can do.
Since I blogged last we have had Brad and Lorraine come, Christmas, New Years, Stephen and William came, and Sean started his second semester at school. We have had so many little things happen as well, but I guess I'll just start with the first things first...Brad and Lorraine's visit!
It was incredible. It was sooo fun having them here. They spoiled us. We made lots of memories. The kids felt so much love. And they may have saved my sanity. Because it would take me four hours and 18 pages to write all of the amazing things we did, I will let the pictures talk. But, we had an incredible holiday, ate delicious food, spent four incredible days in Kona, got to go snorkeling several times, Lorraine and I did a session at the temple, Sean and I got to go on a date, we got projects done around the house, I was able to re-center myself with the help of Brad and Lorraine helping with the kids, we played tons of games, learned how to make Lorraine's delicious bagels, and explored new parts of the island that we hadn't seen yet. It was a wildly successful trip, and we can't wait for them to come visit us again!
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| After waking up really early, Brad fell asleep promptly when we picked them up from the airport. We adorned him with a lei crown then snapped this picture :) |
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| Mavi thought that Brayden's bike was for him... |
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| Giant spider Sean almost walked into while exploring a trail. |
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| Akaka Falls was so foggy when we went! |
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| Three generations |
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| Sean walks along everything like this that he can. Always. |
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| Mauna Loa Mac Nut Plantation.. Lots of yummy samples! |
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| Brad and Lorraine got me this dress for Christmas. I love it! |
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| Sunset in Kona on our first night there. |
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| Sean and I got to go on a snorkeling date! Last year when we were checking out HI, we swam in this cove, and I spent $10 for a snorkeling belt so I could go out. This time, I was out for way longer, without a belt, and felt even more comfortable! All those that know me know this is huge. I am terrified of water. Salt water is sooo much easier to swim in! Haha |
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| We spent a lot of hours in the resort pool. The boys had so much fun! |
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| Can't see us but Lorraine and I in front of the Kona Temple |
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| Another Kona sunset |
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| That's me! |
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| Everett in Kua Bay |
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| Sunset at Kua Bay |
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| We saw whales spouting out here while watching the sunset. It was so great! |
We drove up to Hawi and did the Pololu Valley trail. It is probably only 1.5 miles down but it's fairly steep! We ended up down on the beach and had fun playing in the trees,
Celebrating the New Year is apparently a big thing on the island. Everyone had fireworks like it was the 4th of July! They were even sold at Walmart and Target. We didn't spend very much at all but we got enough to entertain us for a good hour. The kids had so much fun!
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| Brayden and Grandma |
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| And yes, the boys are all in shorts. It is so weird for me that it's the evening of December 31 and we can be outside in the dark totally warm in so little clothing! |
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| Lorraine makes incredible bagels, and I asked her to show me the tricks of the trade. The boys wanted to help too! We had a lot of fun doing this, even though the heat and humidity made them rise way faster than we were anticipating. They weren't the best batch ever, but we had fun learning regardless! |
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| Asher and his bagels he made. |
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| While we were making bagels, Sean and brad were setting up the trampoline that we got for Christmas. The boys love it so much! |
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| Brayden's bagels |
We went to the Volcano, and Brad, Mavi, Sean, Asher, Everett and I went on a hike down to the Kilauea-Iki crater. In 1959 there was an eruption that lasted for 36 days. It was during this eruption that some of the fountains reached 1,900 feet high, soe of the highest ever recorded. When it was done erupting, there was a massive lava lake that took 36 years to cool. This hike allows you to walk on the cool lake bed, where you can see steam rising from cracks in the earth. Asher is the red dot in the middle of the photo.
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| In front of a steam vent. |
We went to the Botanical Gardens just north of Hilo. This place was cool. There was a fairly steep ramp right at the beginning and the big boys ran down it really quickly. Mavi got on his belly like a penguin and just slid down. It was hilarious. The boys wanted a try so we spent a good ten minutes just watching them all slide on their bellies down this ramp!
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| Asher climbs everything he can! |
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| The boys at the koi pond |
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| These boys ran ahead of us on the trail. We were walking and came upon them sitting here like this waiting for us. Ha. It was really funny. |
Not a great picture but I had to post it anyway. We really were so sad to see them go, and are so grateful for their sacrifice in coming to hang out with us for ten days. They truly spoiled us and we miss them even more now that they've been here and left again. We had a fantastic first Christmas in Hawaii, and wouldn't have had it any other way!
