"oh we're going... to a Huki'lau"

I've spent the day letting Jake and Claire nap and play at home, while I've blogged and done laundry. Here are the monster posts about our trip!!

Here we are at the airport anxiously awaiting our flight and trip to Hawaii!!


The kids were great on the flights. Watched movies, played with the ipod, listened to music and slept the last three hours all stacked up on each other!


It was late when we arrived in Oahu and Jake was feeling it, but Ashley was all smiles when she saw her first signs of actually being in Hawaii - people wearing leis and the cute bathroom signs!! Before we knew it we had hooked up with Ali and Blake and my mom and were on our way to the hotel! :)

Mom's B-day/St. Patty's Day, Dole Plantation and Waikiki

Mom's b-day was fun. We woke her up early to a suprise Ali had worked on - getting pics from lots of friends and family holding up signs that said "Happy Birthday, Kendall!" She loved it. We dressed her in green and I gave her the shirts I had made for our trip! She chose to do the Dole Plantation on her day so we all wore them out. We ate so much pineapple we could have puked, but had a fun time seeing where everything grows and trying pineapple ice-cream, chocolate covered pineapple, pineapple chunks, juice, you name it. Ashley got to pick a pearl out of a clam and Tyler and the kids did the world famous maze, which they loved! Afterward the boys took all the kids back to the hotel to watch the BYU game and the girls and babies took a drive to the North Shore to see some awesome waves and beaches! Then we all hunkered down by the pool and took the night easy.

Laie Temple, BYU Hawaii, Polynesian Cultural Center

Friday we drove to the North Shore to see the Laie Temple and BYU Hawaii. We also spent most of the day at the PCC. Highlights included: seeing a Samoan guy climb the palm tree, crack open a coconut with a rock and show us how to get the coconut milk; watching him also make fire with sticks and trying it for ourselves; learning to play games with the New Zealanders; hearing the Tahitians bang their drums and dance; learning the hula; throwing spears with the Tongans; seeing where they cook the pig at the luau; and watching Ha, the breath of life show! The flame thrower/spinner/dancers were incredible.

My birthday - Hunauma Bay and Poolside

For my birthday I wanted to go snorkling at Hunauma Bay. We had a good time there, although the weather kept us on our toes with rain, sun, humidity and everything in between. Even my kids wadded out to where they could bend over and see fish through their goggles though. By the time we got back to the hotel we were pretty worn out so I opted to have my b-day dinner by the pool! We relaxed in our swimsuits as the sun set, it was perfect! Later, Luke got a splinter in his foot and security came to pull it out and Blake made my b-day request come true by singing, in costume no-less, one of his old Aloha Kids' songs! It was hilarious. Ali found one of our favorite childhood books, Maddie and Shelly gave me a necklace and some flipflops and mom got me a daughters' necklace and some decorative jars for my kitchen. Ty did our laundry for me! It was a happy birthday to remember.