Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Our Hawaii vacation....finally

Due to my computer saying it would explode if I added one more thing to it, I've had some real issues with posting pictures.  I've been working on it in my "spare time", trying to make sure if it crashed that all of my photos would be safe somewhere else.  So, we are half way through January, and I'm just now posting about the rest of our vacation over New Year's week. 


We had a blast!!  Hawaii is one of our favorite places to go so we've always wanted to share it with the ALL of the kids someday.  That day came!  We took all 8 kids! To make sure we did things they wanted to do, we paired them off in teams with each team choosing an activity for a day.  And instead of spreading a lot of our pics over a week of posts, like I would normally do, I'm only sharing the highlights, and doing it all in one day.


Sarah and Esther chose zip lining.  We were concerned it might rain on us but thankfully we were spared.  I was amazed at Abby's bravery.  I thought for sure she would be scared since she is scared of roller coasters but she was all smiles. 
Don't we look stylish in our helmets?  That's an upside-down me with Joseph (son).  I laughed the whole way.
After zip lining we went to eat at the "famous" Kahuku Grill then did a little beach combing. It may be deceiving in the pictures below, but it was a little chilly and we got rained on.

Abby and I chose horseback riding, of course.  The Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore could take our large group, a 7-yr-old, and it was on the beach!  Loved it!



We wanted to go to the temple but it was closed for renovations, so we just walked around the grounds an in the visitors' center (a previous post has a pic of us in front of the temple)

While we were in the area, we had to try the North Shore beach.  Just to let you know, it's not a swimming beach in December.  The waters are crazy rough.  I nearly had a heart attach as I watched my kids step into the surf.  I kept having images of someone getting dragged out or swallowed in the waves.  So for my sanity, we went further down the beach and found a rocky area where there were some shallow pools.  Someone knew I was coming cause they carved my name in the rock (correctly I might add)!!

New Year's Eve, the older kids went to a concert down the beach while Joseph and I went to dinner with the girls and waited (slept) until midnight.  When the fireworks started, Joseph and Esther went down to the beach in front of the hotel while I dragged a sleeping Abby to the balcony to see the ones further down the beach.  She said "uh-huh" then climbed back in bed.  It was just a little anti-climatic.  The picture of the fireworks you see are the ones at the kids' concert.  Turns out we were watching the same ones.

A definite must when going to Oahu is to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center, so that's what Dad and Jacob chose.  It is the most family friendly place to enjoy and learn about the islands.  The staff are all students from Brigham Young University, which is right next door.  The guy you see at the mic started as a student and has actually been performing there for the past 20+ years.  We remember him from the first time we went!  Abby didn't even hesitate when they asked her to go on stage with the other children. What a cute ham!


Rachel and Rebekah got to plan swimming with the sharks.  Apparently all of our older kids wanted to do it too.  Dad, me and Abby were fine with hanging out at the pool.  Joseph and Matthew had planned for us all to go snorkeling too, but between the boat not working then a terrible storm coming in, we didn't get to go.  I was grateful, cause the water seemed choppy all week (December in Hawaii) and all I could think about was us all leaning over the side of the boat with motion sickness.  We didn't escape it altogether cause 5 out of the 7 got sick on the shark trip.  Their's was the last boat of the day because of the storm.  It got so bad that night, it woke me up with thoughts of the roof coming off the hotel (we were on the top floor).

And just like life, after the storms we can enjoy the sunshine even more.  The next day, our last day, was beautiful.  So we decided to soak up our last rays on the beach.


Just a few more pics . . .
It looks like Esther has a dress on but it is her mermaid tail she bought with her own money.  We had our own mermaid lagoon!

Good bye Oahu!
We are a little (lot) poorer in the pocket, but certainly richer in happy memories.


Hello LA!


1 comment:

  1. So fun! James and I have always wanted to go to Hawaii. Someday! These pictures are awesome. I would love to go horseback riding on the beach! Where did the girls get their swimsuits? I love Sarah's! I already sent her a FB message and complimented her dress on your last Hawaii post! I think I just need her whole Hawaii wardrobe please! Joey looks like he could live on that beach. I'm sure you all could!

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