Johnsons Came!

It seems that every post I post is regarding visitors. It's because when visitors aren't here, life is uneventful. School, work, chores, gymnastics, church, errands, etc. But when we have people in town, we sure do know how to live it up! And that is definitely blog worthy.

I'm going to preface this post by saying that there is no way that I can portray the incredibility factor of this trip. This post seems underwhelming to me considering how epic it was. But, I did my best without spending days writing it :)

The Johnsons came and visited us! This was the first group of guests that included kids for the boys to play with. (Lincoln and Hendrix have been here, but are still so young!) The boys were in heaven having their cousins here.

Let me back up and start at the beginning. Lisa, Quinn, Tyce, Kayla, Garrett, Lance, and Paul took ten days off and flew to Hawaii. They flew to Oahu first where they spent 48 hours at the Polynesian Cultural Center, Pearl Harbor, the beach, etc. Sean and I were lucky enough to sneak away with them! We left the boys here (Jamee Adams watched them for us!) and we had a little getaway. It was so nice! The Saturday we were there happened to be Sean's birthday, and it was really nice to get to celebrate in Oahu! We got to go on a hike with just the two of us for the better part of a day and it was so great to escape into nature for a few hours with no concerns in the world! Also, we ate lunch at an incredible Thai Food truck that I'm still salivating over. We even convinced the Johnsons to go there, and they loved it too!

We flew into Hilo on Saturday evening and seeing the kids all together was quite amazing. The boys were so overjoyed to be united! We stashed kids into all sorts of places when it came to bed time...Tyce and Paul in the laundry room, Kayla on the couch, Garrett and Lance in Brayden and Asher's room, oh and Lisa and Quinn in the classroom. It was impressive!

We had a blast while they were here and did so many fun things. The volcano, including the Rim of Craters road out to the sea arch, Lava Tree Park, Kapoho Tide Pools (twice!), Ahalanui (twice!), Punalu'u and the Bakery (yummy!), South Point (but the conditions were crazy so no one jumped), Two-Step (more on this one later), and Kua Bay (twice!).

We went to Rainbow Falls and the Boiling Pots here in Hilo but the weather was so crummy that we got out of town most days. When we were home though, the kids had a blast outside and on the trampoline, we played lots of games, made bread twice, and Lisa and I even got out for a run!

Alright, now for the fun part. Pictures!

Off to Oahu!

Reunited and it feels so good! At the "Ha! Breath of Life" show

Tyce is officially taller than me. Sad day.

Lance and Paul. It was so bright! We attempted to go snorkeling at Shark's Cove but the waves were ridiculous so we didn't get in.

At the beach right across the street from the Laie Temple

On our hike

Everett and Lisa were caught cuddling several times. Even now he still says "I wish Lisa was here so she could cuddle me."

Kilauea Iki

Sea Arch

Kilauea. We actually saw lava splashing up around the caldera. It was amazing!

Going to Costco with 9 children and three adults can only accurately be portrayed by Lisa and Quinn's faces in this picture.

Kua Bay

Tyce stayed in one spot and let the waves wash the sand around his feet. It was so funny to watch!

Asher buried himself. I think Lance helped him.

Lisa and I playing on the white sand (and black rock) beach. Can you tell I've seen a little more sun than her? ;)

Quinn and Paul getting hit by a wave

Water bending!

The sunset on our drive over the volcano was beautiful! Lisa captured this one.

Four bugs in a rug.

Kayla and Mavi

Lava Tree

Kapoho. It was cold and raining (off and on) but it was so great to be there! There was this really nice couple that saw us with our brood and invited us to use their beach front property. The tide pools outside of their house were incredible. The kids all got to see a lot, and Quinn and I got to swim with a sea turtle! When it was raining, we moved our stuff under their house since it is up on tall stilts. It was so nice of them, and such a blessing for us!

After Kapoho, we went to Ahalanui (hot pond). Everett learned to swim! I had forgotten his life jacket on accident but it was the best thing. He got in and started by dunking his head and seeing how long he could stay under, then we taught him the deadman float (the photo makes me laugh!) and before we knew it, he was kicking off of one of us and swimming a ways to another adult. It was so incredible to see! Since then, his confidence in the water is phenomenally higher!

 

We had planned weeks before Lisa got here that we'd do a long run together. I knew it was 7 miles from my house to Coconut Island and we wanted to try to run it. Yes, we lose 1,200 feet in elevation but it was the distance I was going for. We had the kids and husbands all packed and ready to go to Coconut Island for the day, and we were off! Neither of us had run for awhile, and I haven't run longer than 6 miles (and only once) since before I got pregnant with Maverick. Although I hadn't run distance, I had been running frequently. Lisa hadn't been running frequently as she's been fighting bursitis in her hips. It wasn't long before Lisa just told me "You're stressing me out because I know I'm slowing you down. Just go!" so at about 1.75 miles, I took off.

The boys were planning on leaving about a half hour after us to bring us water then meet us at the beach. I didn't see them until mile 6, and Lisa was in the car with Quinn! She had stopped about about mile 4.5 but I was so proud of her! She did such a great job. Sean asked if I wanted water but I just kept going. I was on fire! I have never ever felt that good while running...even one mile. I wasn't fatigued. I wasn't mentally weak. I wasn't at all discouraged or in pain or anything. I felt invincible...like I could go forever. I did end up stopping for a quick drink of Iskiate (think chia seed lemonade) then went off to finish my run. Once I got to Coconut Island, I ended up running the long way around Liliuokalani Gardens to add length to my run. I still was feeling so good! I would have kept going, but I stopped because I was at my destination, and my family was waiting for me. :) I ended up running 7.62 miles in 1:16:44, making my average pace a 9:40/mile.

If I could have a repeat run like that, I'd be running a half marathon in no time! I was really surprised at how minor my sore muscles were the next day or two as well. I don't know what happened, but it was definitely my favorite run I have ever done. I was so proud of myself!

I was super proud of Lisa too. She got out and ran a little bit more with me when her van caught up with me, but I don't remember her deets. I think she ran 5.5 miles though...which is the longest she's run in a really long time too! So proud of us! It definitely changed my mindset knowing that someone was on the road with me, even though we weren't next to each other. I love running with her!

We found this amazing coconut cream stuff that we bought for Pani Popo. We ended up using it for that, as well as a dozen other things. On pretzels, in abelskivers, off of a spoon, etc. It fell out of the cupboard and spilled but it was so good we didn't want it to go to waste! We had just mopped the floor so...we (Lisa, Mavi. and I) maybe grabbed some aebelskivers and had it off of the floor. I know. Disgusting. Gotta live a little!

I have attempted making bread a few times in my married life and have failed miserably each time. Lisa is my generation's bread master (as taught by our mother) and she took the time to teach me how she makes it. I didn't have wheat berries so we made white but it was sooo good. We made it twice while she was here so it could solidify in my mind and man. I'll be doing that again! (In fact, I made it again for Easter dinner at a friend's house and two loaves were gone almost instantly. I heard comments like "It's like I'm eating a cloud!" and "This is pure heaven in my mouth." So...thanks Lisa for teaching me how to be awesome!)

Punalu'u

Fuzzy but...Honu!

When we got to Two-Step, it was crowded, as always. But the coooooolest part of the WHOLE TRIP??  DOLPHINS!!! Lisa, Quinn, and Tyce got in the water right away and were out swimming amongst the coral when we heard buzz that the dolphins were out there. We tried to find them and get their attention to tell them but they were already out there. Lisa had the GoPro with her, and I was so glad! Quinn came in after a little bit and I was able to go out. Kayla also braved it and joined us so she could see the dolphins. So Lisa, Kayla, Tyce, and I were out there for a bit just swimming around with them. There were to pods...I heard about 90 dolphins total. They got really close to us. At one point I could have reached out and touched one, but I didn't. I don't know why! It was incredibly cool to see them kind of sleeping on the bottom, then all at once surface and have all of their dorsal fins gliding across the surface before going back down. It is a moment I will never forget! Most of the GoPro footage of the dolphins was video so I don't have any great pictures of the dolphins unfortunately, but I have great photos of Tycen and Kayla out there braving the deep blue!

Can you spot Tycen?

Dolphins!

(Picture from when we went to Two Step the next week with Caitlin and there were also dolphins! *Is this real life??* But I couldn't end this post without a great dolphin pic :) More in that post! PC: Sean)

Out of order but Sunset at Kua Bay. Photo Cred: Sean

We had an absolute blast with the Johnsons here. There were a few moments of frustration and times when we had to separate the kids from each other because it was just too much, but overall, it was a net gain on this trip. Everyone left fulfilled and happier because we got so much quality family time!

Mavi's Speech

At 18 months I knew that Mavi's speech was behind where it should have been. I talked to the pediatrician about it and he said to wait until he turned 2 before we did anything about it.  We waited, and when he still only said "Mama" at two, and it meant both Sean and me, we knew we needed to intervene. The same week he turned 2 we moved to Washington for six weeks on our way to Hawaii. Once we got here, it took us awhile to establish insurance, a primary care provider, etc.  While trying to figure all this stuff out, we found out about a place called Easter Seals.  I called them up and instantly we had an appointment with them. We did intake paperwork, set up an evaluation, and got lots of questions answered. After Mavi's eval, they determined that he qualified for in-home speech therapy once a week. This was in November.

After Mavi's evaluation, but before his first appointment, something clicked in his mind. He must have known we were serious about his talking because it happened. He's a talker! He went from saying literally five words (Mama, moo, woof, meow, shoes) to adding new words daily. Asher was his next word which illustrates the special bond that they have. But here, barely three months later, Mavi is saying hundreds of words, spontaneously says 5-7 word sentences, is using possessive pronouns (Asher: That's mine. Mavi: It's yours?) and is adding new words to his vocabulary every day. He got a giraffe for Christmas and he used to call her Baff, but this last week figured out how to say "giraffe" all on his own. He has completely obliterated all of our goals we had for him by the time he reached three years old, and is even ahead of his age for some things (like stringing together more words than is expected of him).

We knew he was smart. We knew he understood everything we were saying. He just didn't really have an interest in speaking. But now that he has an interest, he is revealing all of the knowledge that he's been harboring in that brain of his. We are so proud of him and his progress, and by the time he graduates this program when he turns three in June, he will have no need for speech therapy at all anymore. It's been such an incredible experience to see his language explode like it has!

Stephen and William's Visit!

Eight hours after Brad and Lorraine flew out, Stephen and William landed. Yes. I know. We're spoiled.

We spent the day in Kona waiting for them. We checked out several new beaches but ended up at Kua Bay which has become our favorite beach in Kona. We then hung out on the temple grounds and snacked on our packed lunches waiting for the uncles to land!

Sean was making Brayden a sand honu when a white crab crawled out of the sand. It was so cool! 

The brothers got here safely and we had so much fun with them. They explored in our woods and named our avocado tree Xander. We went snorkeling at the Kapoho Tide Pools but the water was really low and it wasn't a super successful trip for guys. Fortunately they went back a couple more times with way better luck! We went to Punalu'u and South Point, then went Sean was still on break when they got here so we got to go camping with them. We went to this place down by South Point and it was incredible. The road to get there was a rugged dirt road that required some fun off-roading. We felt like we were in the African Savannah. It was beautiful and unique and amazing that there can be so many different landscapes all on this island.

There were 12 honu resting on the beach this day at Punalu'u!

A view from our campsite.

The sunset that graced us that night was hands down the most incredible sunset I have ever seen. The entire sky was painted in a tapestry of orange, blue, purple. The pictures don't give it any of the deserved justice but it was jaw dropping and breathtaking. I could have lived in that moment forever!

Stephen and Kyle slept in hammocks but we brought our large tent for our family to sleep in. There was a decent spot for the tent to set up, but we didn't realize before it was too late that the entire ground was covered in spikes from the trees. Think huge thorns on all the branches and debris all over the ground. We would have to stop every few steps to remove a thorn that had driven itself all the way through the bottom of our inadequate footwear. We finally got the tent set up but we had to be really careful not to poke holes through the tent floor into our pads and sleeping bags!

The boys all slept like angels and woke up super happy. I love that they are getting old enough that we can do things like this and truly enjoy the experience!

Four boys sleeping in the tent.

After leaving our camping spot, we headed to Honaunau (a.k.a. Two Step).  This is hands down our favorite place to snorkel on the island. We keep coming back because apparently this is where dolphins come to play! We hope to see that someday but unfortunately, this wasn't that day. We snorkeled for a few hours and saw some pretty cool stuff before heading north again.

We headed back up toward Kua but because it was a holiday weekend, we knew it would be super crowded. We decided to try yet another new beach. Makalawena Beach is really remote. It also requires 4WD to get there. It took us about an hour in the truck to go just under three miles. Stephen and Will were both out of the truck for a lot of it, helping Sean navigate some sketchy areas. It would have been faster to walk maybe but since we had the kids and all of our gear (boogie boards, food, towels, snorkels, etc.) we drove anyway.

Makalawena was a very pretty beach. I was really surprised at how many people were still there despite how isolated it was. The surf was low so the boogie boarding wasn't as great as it could have been but it was still a beautiful beach despite that! There was this really cool piece of driftwood that Sean set up his hammock under. And then the boys started lining up on it and playing chicken. Sean and Will played a couple times and Sean won both times. Then Stephen got up and dominated Sean twice. Ha. It was really funny. Sean is really really good at slacklining and has incredible balance so this surprised me, but it was fun to see Stephen's Alpha male come out and defeat him both times!

Honaunau Bay

Makalawena Beach

We went to Rainbow Falls, the Boiling Pots, and Akaka Falls. William and I got to do a session in the Kona temple. We ate delicious food, had way too many desserts, and played games every single night. Also, Sean and I got to go on a sushi date!

William jumping in at the Boiling Pots

We had so so much fun with the uncles here. They had plans to go on an epic backpacking trip but due to dengue and Stephen getting sick, they weren't able to pull it off. I think the boys were a little overwhelming for them at times, but I think (and hope!) that they had fun while they were here!

I was really grateful for the opportunity to get to know my brothers a little better. Stephen is only 4 years older than me, but we haven't really hung out very much since high school. Sure we see each other at family events but the 4 kids each kind of diffuses our time. Ha. William has been home from his mission for 10 months and I have hung out with him a few times since then but only in small increments. It was fun having him around so much too.

I truly am blessed with so much great family. I recognize this and absolutely cherish it. Thanks so much for coming guys!