packing it in

sandy panty hose
the line up, out the door

connoiseur
sister missionary placing a flower in idas hair, she LOVED it



maternity



playing with flowers


BYU-Hawaii
Ha - the show

we are still waking bright and early at 6:00 am every morning. this is working to our advantage as we have been packing so much into each day. for example yesterday...

our first stop was the beach in front of our hotel. we lathered ourselves up with sunscreen, swam, played in the sand and layed in the sun. ida doesn't like to walk on the sand, but will sit and dig and occasionally lick it. by about 11:00 we were done, so we cleaned up and decided to drive to the north end of the island. we stopped in haleiwa for lunch and shaved ice at matsumoto's {north end of the island = ehhh, matsumoto's shave ice = ehh}. we continued on until we hit the temple. hooray! we walked all around the grounds and thought it was just lovely. it is currently being renovated, so i am sure that it will be super duper when it is re-dedicated and back in action. one of the sister missionaries suggested that we see the new show "Ha" at the polynesian cultural center, then come back another day to see the rest of the park. it was a good idea. we got to the park and ended up eating right before the show in the most expensive/nasty buffet dinner EVER. it was a cross between a ward potluck and a bathroom at a truck stop. the show "Ha" made up for the lousy grub and we left happy. we saw a lot of fire, hula hips, chest slapping, spears chucking, yelling, sweaty muscular guys who could dance! dance? dance!, long flowing hair and grass skirts. we are going to go back on monday to experience the rest of the center as you have 3 days to use your ticket. what a bargain. when we got out it was late and we were whipped. the hour drive back was long, but the kids slept and we made it.

speaking of the kids, they have been so good and have seemed to enjoy everything. occasionally as we are in the car for a while, eli wonders why we aren't swimming in the pool back at the hotel, but in general they have been troopers. eli keeps us on our toes thinking of the next meal and novelty drink and ida just keeps her eyes peeled for birds or a rock to hold.

bishop museum & planetarium

when you come to honolulu, take the kids to bishop museum. it was full of beautiful and interesting exhibits. my favorites were the shell and coral samples and the whale hanging from the ceiling. there was a traveling show at the museum all about the circus, so eli got the chance to walk the tight rope and fly high.

we also learned a lot about volcanoes and c.j. rode a massive snail.

it was a fun morning and well worth it.

aquari-rama

yes

early squirrely
USS Bowfin {submarine tour, amazing}

ida slept between all the important parts...











aviation museum of the pacific play time
air traffic control tower

mighty MO!

the spot WWII ended.




national cemetery of the pacific


aloha.

we have been here a couple of days. man, is it nice. everyone, COME TO HAWAII.

we have decided that the answer to everything on this trip will be "yes".

do you want another lava flow? yes.

do you want to go swimming? yes.

do you want to go to another museum? yes.

can you believe how nice it is out? yes.

do you want to live here? yes.

let's eat? yes.

does this town remind you of long beach? yes.

did you get sunburned? yes.

did you see those crazy jellyfish at the aquarium? yes.

i loved pearl harbor, how about you? yes.

who wants to hike to a waterfall? yes.

did you see that tiny slammed mazda truck? there were 2 huge hawaiians in the front cab and 4 shoehorned into the back?!? flying along the highway?!?!!!! yes.

why doesn't anyone wearing helmets on their motorbikes around here, they must be crazy... yes.

it is amazing what you can do and get accomplished when you narrow the answer down to one word and the same word....

anyho, we are having a good time. the night we got here, we checked in, ordered room service making sure they included 3 lava flows. while the food was coming c.j. jumped on the beds and whooped and hollered, eli colored and ida ate bird poop on the balcony. everyone was in heaven. it was late to us with the time change but we had a party anyway.

since sunday night we have been waking at 6:00 am and going. going. going.

monday: pearl harbor {see photos}. it was inspiring. we were there all day, taking it all in. to top the day off we went to "the punchbowl", the national cemetery of the pacific. it was built in a crater, high above honolulu. it was so beautiful and peaceful and perfect.

tuesday: we tried to go to the Bishops Museum and Planetarium but hilariously it is closed on tuesdays {as of 6 months ago}. we headed to the Waikiki Aquarium instead. it was tiny but packed full of fun colorful fish. the kids enjoyed it. the rest of the day we spent at the pool and swam and talked to random people.

oh, holiday. i love you.

in preparation

in 12 days we are going to be sitting on that beach for 2 weeks.

i am ready, i am ready, i am ready.

i am ready for the warm sun on my cheeks. i am ready for freckles to appear. i am ready to bust out shorts and my favourite pair of birkenstocks.

i have the kids clothes laid out and packed already. i have my swimsuits ready to be squeezed in to {dave, i wish you were here, i need a few alterations done...} we all {except c.j.} have colds, officially getting them out of the way {usually we come down with something oh, THE NIGHT BEFORE WE GO ANYWHERE}. so to you cold, not this time, no, NOT this time. we have beat you to the punch.

i am prepping my laptop and organizing cameras. i am itiner-izing and researching. we are playing our ukulele. eli has been reading books on pearl harbor. we have invested in numerous travel guides.

it is time to go and relax and really soak up the sun. we are ready.

clubs and indigestion

wow, last night.

the food i consumed for lunch and supper yesterday had a UFC title match in my stomach. all night long. several times i was placed in a submission hold, but did not tap out {dave would be proud}. thank you butternut squash ravioli with blue cheese sauce and the RS annual banquet. shall our paths never cross again.

on a complete different note, eli was so excited to show me the 3 pieces of paper he had crumpled up in his backpack yesterday. he told me that some girls at school had gotten together and formed a "club" and had written the names of the Olympic mascots {kind of like autographs} on paper and where handing them out to fellow classmates. he received 3 of these fancy notes. one even had a large heart on it.

with wide eyes and true 8 year old excitement, eli then explained that he and a couple of buddies {saahil and eshan} were also going to start an autograph club. yes, a lightening mcqueen autograph club. saahil {i am assuming he is the president of this awesomeness} ordered all three of them to bring 16 or 10 pieces of paper to school today. eli gathered paper last night and said he would bring 10 since it was the smallest amount of the two choices. he also told me several times how excited he was to get this thing going and start... A CLUB.

about 20 minutes ago c.j. and i picked eli up from the bus stop.

me: so eli, tell me how did your club go today...

eli: it didn't happen...

me: what?! why not?

eli: nobody brought a pen.