Leaving Hawaii

Today we woke up knowing we were heading home. I don't think any of us were ready. We thought 10 days would be sufficient but we were wrong. We could spend a month here like our friends were doing over on Maui. We didn't have to rush as our plane took off at 11:00 so we went for Starbucks and Jamba Juice and then returned our trusty jeep. We were at the airport quite awhile allowing some last minute purchases by the kids, stuffed animals and an ukulele. We were lucky as this flight was nonstop. We were back at PDX about 8 and Ben's parents were there to pick us up. The trip was officially over. Some last thoughts or pictures I wanted to share with you. Before we left I had heard about the Mickey lamps at Aulani. We are doing our room in a calm beach theme so I knew I wanted to buy the lamps. They do not sell them at there store anymore because they could not keep up with the orders!! I was able to have my name put on a list, and had a lady call me soon after we got home, so we should have 2 of them by the end of summer. The kids really enjoyed this vacation. I am not sure if it was going with friends or being near water almost every day but they would love to go back. I know both Ben and I wish we could go snorkeling more. I wish we had had more time at Aulani. We never got to see their Starlit Hui show, never played their scavenger hunt, didn't go snorkeling in their bay and on and on. We also never saw any of Oahu but the Memorial. If you have younger kids the Aunty's Beach House is great. My kids went the first day for about 45 minutes. I think it is probably best for ages 3-7. Ethan would have enjoyed it if he had someone with him and Alicia was just too old. It's free and they have a lot of fun things going on. They also have a great check in/out system so there is no way your child will be stolen. Aulani also has this water play area that Ethan enjoyed but again probably would have enjoed more with friends. When I was checking in for our flights I found they have a great area for those people who have late flights and need some where to stay. They also have computers for you to use for flight check-ins. Thank you for sticking with me as I took weeks to fininsh this trip report. I love looking back at the pictures and I know it will help me remember everything in the future.

Mothers Day in Hawai Day 10

This morning we woke up and headed to the character breakfast here at Aulani. I loved it but the kids, especially Alicia, really didn't care to have characters come around and visit. It's sad when they out grow it. Anyway the breakfast was yummy and again so many choices for every picky eater out there. We found some chairs again in the shade and staked our claim. The nice thing about the pool chairs is that someone comes around and takes orders for you and then your food is delivered to you in cute bamboo baskets. We all spent time on our chairs reading or playing electronic games. It was very peaceful. We had almost the same day as the day before but a little after lunch Alicia and I headed off to a lei class. We also finally checked out the Disney beach and then headed out to dinner. It was a nice relaxing day and we were all sad that as we went to bed we knew we would be heading home when we woke up. I am wearing the lei Alicia made me for Mothers Day. It was nice to spend time with just Alicia. The last picture my camera took before it broke!

Hawaii Day 9-Aulani

So I last left you we had just checked into Aulani. We were on the fourth floor in the Waianae Tower. It really is a beautiful building. We decided to go try out the lazy river before our dinner reservations at 7. It was about normal dinner time for people with little kids so the swimming area was fairly empty. Ben and I found some lounge chairs and the kids were off to find an inner tube. We lasted about an hour and then went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. Earlier we had seen that the half beach area had been taken over by a company throwing an appreciation party. They went all out. It was gorgeous. When we went to dinner we sat outside and we could hear the entertainment they had hired--Gavin DeGraw and Lifehouse!! So we got a free concert. It was really cool to sit eating our dinner listening to LIVE music. We went to Makahiki a buffet for our first meal at Disney. It was pretty good. LOTS of choices and some yummy desserts. Ben and I really wanted to head down and watch the concert after dinner but the kids were really tired and vetoed that idea. Instead we wondered back upstairs to the small gift shop and then to our rooms for bed. Saturday morning Ben was off to find a Starbucks while the three of us went down to find some great shaded seats for the day. We decided to get seats at the pool area. Found some under an umbrella and we stayed there the entire day. It was just a relaxing day. Lots of swimming, lazing and eating. The kids and I had got refillable mugs and so we had pop, tea, lemonade or hot chocolate whenever we wanted to go refill it. That evening they had a Disney movie out on the garden laws. They had grass mats to lounge on and we watched The Muppets. Not my favorite movie or one I even remotely liked but the whole idea of sitting outside in Hawaii watching a movie was very nice. We were then off to bed. We really felt spoiled here and it was so nice to stay at one spot and just hang out together all day. If you ever get a chance to go with your kids take it. Up next. . . Mothers Day in Hawaii

Day 8 of Hawaii

Today we are leaving the Big Island and heading to Oahu for three nights. We drove to the airport and dropped off our jeep and made it to the airport with a lot of time to wait. AS we were going through screening Ethan was randomly chosen to be screened. They started to take him to a back room but an older gentleman said he could do it all right there at the end of the belt with our luggage. they took a fingerprint and ran it through a computer and then said he was free to go. they made it very easy and non-threatening, told him he could brag about it at school. I think Ethan forgot about it about 10 minutes after we walked out. Kona has an outside airport. So we were waiting for our planes in the beautiful outside weather, which was also windy. We also got there early so the area we would sit in was full for a different flight and we sat somewhere else. I tell you all this because we moved around a bit and it was windy and about 20 minutes before boarding I realized I had Ben and the kids boarding passes but had lost mine. We checked every bag a few times, all pockets, wandered the areas we had sat in and found nothing. The first lady I asked for help told me to go check my bags again. Sure, like I hadn't done that already. The second lady I asked was Hawaiian and I have to tell you the Hawaiians are just so nice. She so kindly just printed me another one off like it was n big deal. I had been so nervous and she made me feel like it was no biggie. We made it on the short flight and got off in Honolulu. We had tickets for Pearl Harbor so we got our next rental car, again a jeep, and found our way to the Memorial. We enjoyed our time in Pearl Harbor, Ethan especially. They do a good job of making it easy to understand for kids and giving all the information you might need. Ben's grandfather was in the USS West Viginian that was hit in Pearl Harbor so it was something we really wanted the kids to be a part of. Then we drove to our next resort-Disney's Aulani. This place was so much fun. We had ran around the week before so wanted to just relax. We rarely left the resort and that was only to eat. When we got to the resort they gave us each a lei and then we were off to find our room. To be continued. . .

Final full day on the Big Island (Day 7)

So after a short break I am finishing the Hawaii trip report: Thursday was our last full day on the Big Island. We have reservations for a luau tonight but wanted to spend the day on his side of the island in the water. We left fairly early so we could try and get some family pictures taken. The problem was that the kids were really in no mood for pictures. After a few attempts I gave up and my kids were off to the waves. We stayed at Hapuna Beach for all morning and then headed back to our resort. we probably could have stayed a little longer but we had cut it pretty close the last time we had an evening event and Alicia was set on having plenty of time to get ready for the Luau. We also had to stop off and buy a suitcase for the present we had bought Ethan for his birthday. We got back with plenty of time so e all took showers and started to pack for the morning flight. We then headed to the hotel for the Island Breeze Luau at King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel. We were all excited for this. The place was very pretty and they had fun things for the kids to do before the start. They got tattoos, learned how to throw the fire stick, and we watched the pig come out of the pit.

Finally it was time to eat and then enjoy the show.

Those dancers were amazing and it was nice to spend the last night with our friends here. We went back to our resort and started packing a bit. Our flight in the morning isn't too early so we can finish then.

Memorial Weekend 2012

I love that Memorial Weekend is kind of the unofficial kick off to summer and our weekend felt like the perfect start. Friday Ben took off early to come to the schools assembly to see Alicia (and a few other school mates) get an award for leadership.

Alicia is in the front row second in from the right in pink. She didn't know she was getting an award so it was a surprise to see us there. We then took Ben's parents out to dinner and a little side trip to see a building downtown Salem that we may be interested in. Saturday we worked in our yard in the morning and then headed into town to run errands and get lunch. The yard work was pretty large scale. The lady who lived here before planted everything she could get her hands on. I felt bad ripping out perfectly fine plants but they were all so close they were stunting the growth of each other. So we tore bushes and plants out and then decided we had to also take out the weed barrier as it was just sewn with ground covering. I can't stand having every inch of the garden covered.

I wish I had gotten pictures before we started. But you get the idea. We could only get a quarter of what we needed done as even after we filled our yard debris can we made piles on the side of our house too. I love walking out of my house now and seeing fresh bark with just a few bushes and the maple tree. Just a few more weekends and the front yard might get under control.

Hilo Day

We spent the week at a condo in the Kona area of Hawaii. Today we were going to drive across the island and see Hilo. When I was doing research there was controversy about driving Saddle Road that goes across the island. People feel it a dangerous road because of the weather. I now am not sure what the big deal is. Not sure if maybe living in Oregon where we drive in the rain more days then not played into it but I didn't think it was that big of a deal. The drive over is about 2 hours. It started to rain the last half of the drive and I was wishing we had just stayed back in Kona. I didn't want to be in Hawaii in the pouring rain. When we got to Hilo we decided to head to the Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens first. Alicia was excited to see a Bengal Tiger. When we got there the rains had just stopped so that was very nice. This was a nice little zoo. Lots of beautiful vegetation, even saw a pink pineapple plant. The Bengal Tiger was asleep when we walked by so that was disappointing.

The boys enjoyed the parrots more then I would have imagined they would have. Kept talking to it. Poor parrot.

Peacocks were also everywhere around the zoo. We watched a couple for awhile. We were imagining it was a female that was being stalked by this male trying to show how beautiful he was. Finally she had enough and walked over to another peacock strutting his stuff. It was really quite hilarious.

After the zoo we wanted to find the Macadamia Factory but never did. Instead we found the farmers Market. We walked through there and bought a few souveniers. We then piled back into the cars and went to Akaka Falls. It was nice to get out and stretch our legs a bit. The vegetation here is just so different then what we have. Trees that have hanging roots, HUGE fern plants, leaves that are the size of bushes. It was a very pretty hike. The water fall was pretty but again we are spoiled here in the Willamette Northwest with our own beautiful falls. These darn kids never want to take pictures and look like goof balls half the time!!

It was now dinner time so we headed into Waimea. We tired to go to a couple of different restaurants but they didn't work out so we took them to our new faorite place in Hawaii- Solimene's. The older three kids were not in the mood for pizza. They went next door for Subway while the rest of us headed in and had some yummy pizza and more marinara sauce! We then headed back to our side of the island for more homework, laundry and bed.