a day at the pcc

 

One of our favorite days in Hawaii was spent at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  We had to laugh though, because we chose the first and hottest day of our trip to spend there, and the kids were dying.  It would have been a perfect day to have a little rain or overcast sky, because much of it was spent sitting in the sun.  Oh, well- that's how we roll!

I've been to the PCC lots of times, and Courtney and I went there together on a trip also, but we were excited to take the girls.  It was mostly the same (same cheesy jokes!), and the girls loved it.  Ryenne can still make us laugh with her perfect impression of the way things are done in Samoa.

The kids loved the boat show, especially when one of the boats "drivers" fell in the water.  Every time a boat came by, the girls would say that it was their favorite one!

(Our girls, who are quite the tree climbers themselves, were quite impressed with this guy's skills.)

 

Of course, the girls wanted to meet this guy, but Kate was the only one brave enough to ask!  :)

making fishies on a stick. . .!

Claire had been talking for weeks about seeing the "fire dancers" everyone had told her about and was so excited to see the night show.  Wouldn't you know it, she fell asleep almost as soon as the show started.  We tried everything (even ice cream!) to try to wake her up, but the poor girl was just plain worn out!  We bought a DVD afterwards so she could watch the "fire dancer show".  The other girls were absolutely mesmerized by the whole show and still say that it was their favorite part of the day. 

(I'm trying to inspire them to go to school at BYU-H.  So obviously, this day was a big weapon in my arsenal.  Now I keep telling them that if they there, they can learn to dance like that too!)



(It's so fun to see these pictures, and reminds me of the fun we had on our trip. One thing about our day at the center that made us laugh is that as we were leaving the New Zealand exhibit, I thought I saw a friend that I had known in our ward growing up. When I called her name, sure enough, she turned around! What a small world. We ended up seeing them a few days later at Pearl Harbor too!)

i did something really awesome the other day

So the other morning I was out in the yard trimming stuff.  You  know, the plants that should have been trimmed last fall, but weren't.  And since I didn't really know how to do it, I just took the trimmer thingies and whacked away to my hearts content.  We'll see how that goes. 

To keep myself occupied whilst hacking at my bushes, I was talking on the phone to my sister.  And then I noticed I was feeling a little hot.  Well, I must have been feeling really hot, if you know what I mean, because I yanked my sweatshirt off.  It took me a minute or two to notice that it was feeling really breezy.  You know why?  I looked down to remember that I didn't have a t-shirt on under that 'ol sweatshirt.  Just my undies.  (And a you-know-what, thankfully.  I say 'thankfully' because that is not always the case.) 

First, I got dressed.  Second, I looked around to see that the road was blessedly bare.  No neighbors to see me hanging out in my skivvies, working in the front yard.  Except for the farmer on the tractor across the street, that is.



Lucky guy.  Bet he's still laughing. 

hawaii. . .our favorite pastime

If I were to ask the kids what their favorite thing about Hawaii was, I'm guessing it would be boogie boarding at Pounders, hands down.  I knew of this fun little beach from my college days, and it ended up being the perfect place for us to play.  The waves were just the right size, the sand was perfect, and we were almost always the only ones there.  We ended up going there almost every day- and always had a blast!  My favorite thing to do was to sit on the beach and watch the girls play with their Dad.  Sheer joy!

Kate would always make us laugh so hard.  She was rarely able to catch a wave, and would get pounded, again and again.  She would stand up with her hair all awry, sand everywhere, and just smile!  Being the trooper that she is, she would just go right back at it every time!   I was looking over our pictures and smiling at the fun memories from our afternoons at the beach.  I asked Kate, "how many times do you think you got pounded?"  I didn't expect an answer, but she replied, "Do you need an exact number?" 

 

hawaii. . .our home base

When we decided to go to Hawaii, we knew we wanted a house on the beach- away from the business of Honolulu and Waikiki.  We ended up finding a little place up toward the north shore, about 15 minutes away from BYU-Hawaii.  We had the mountains at our back and the ocean in front.  Chinaman's Hat was just to the North of us.  The beach was good, but pretty rocky in the water, and so the girls spent most of their time at home beach combing.  The little rock wall was covered in their treasures, and every day they would show us their new finds. 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the first afternoons we kayaked to Chinaman's Hat.  It was pretty breezy, and I got an earful from a certain daughter who felt as though my kayaking skills left a little bit to be desired.  Once we got there, we beached the kayaks and explored a little bit, after which we traded passengers, thank-you-very-much.  My return passengers were much more complimentary (or at least held their tongues) and we all made it back safe and sound.

The weather was pretty stormy the first weekend and so we spent a few days relaxing at the house.  I read several books during our stay.  It was so nice to leave all the doors open and feel/listen to the ocean breezes.  Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm pretty sure we should go back.  ASAP. 

Ryenne had her own room, and the other three shared a room with two twin beds.  Claire was so happy with her "closet", where she chose to sleep on a little mattress.  She was so much fun on the trip.  She loved the decks of the house, and would cuddle on the deckchairs each morning, wrapped up in a blanket.  (Just now, she came to see what I was typing and told me, "I love everything about Hawaii!")  The other day we were cleaning up the house when she asked me, "Mom, did you like it in Hawaii?"  I told her I did, and then she announced, "Then let's get packed up and go back!  Right now!"

I agree!

 

 

 

A favorite part of our stay was breakfast at the picnic table on the back lawn.  Each morning we cooked up breakfast (fancy things like Ego waffles) and sat at the picnic table and ate while we watched the ocean.  We had lots of fun during those breakfasts (and lots of POG- a now favorite juice drink the girls discovered)! 

 

During the days we usually left to go explore, but it was so nice to have somewhere to call home.  Most nights found us cuddled together on the couches for a movie, popcorn (and some more POG, of course!). 

 



hawaii. . . a good day to be immodest

After getting our rental car and surviving what the girls refer to as "the longest Costco trip ever", we arrived at the beach house.  The girls had been waiting to go for a swim, and were a little bit disappointed that we were on a reef (not the sandy beach they had been dreaming of).  The beach in front of the house was great though, and they had a great time exploring and beach-combing whenever we were at the house. 

Our favorite line from the trip was Claire's announcement the first day after we arrived.  As we walked back to the car after getting groceries, everyone commented on how hot it was (we had just come from winter, after all).  Claire piped up and told here dad, "Well, Dad.  It's a good day to be immodest!"  We've had some good chuckles over that. 

 

That night we drove up to BYU-Hawaii to show the girls were I went to school and then stopped at the temple.  It was a beautiful night.  I forgot the camera, so all we have are phone pictures.  The girls thought it was beautiful, of course, and loved the huge palm trees.  They also had fun visiting with the sister missionaries. 

 

The next day was Sunday, and it poured rain all day!  We went up to Laie to church and then drove the kids to Laie point.  When I lived there, we used to spot turtles there every now and again, but it was far too stormy to see anything.  The girls were pretty impressed with the huge waves and all the spray as they crashed into the rocks.  After, we ventured to Sunset Beach to take a peek at the surfers, but it was raining so hard we didn't even get out of the car.  So, back to the house for a relaxing afternoon!

 

aloha! . . .getting to hawaii

 

 

Yay, Hawaii!  Since we used free flight miles to get to Hawaii, we had to fly out of Las Vegas.  (Well, actually we could have flown out of Salt Lake City, then back East, then South- you get the picture.  It was faster for us to drive to Las Vegas and fly nonstop!)  So.  We spent the first day driving south.  The girls were so excited and had been counting down days since Christmas.  That being said, the seven hour + drive might have been a little bit painful.  I might have threatened one certain daughter to get out and walk a time or two.  But other than that, the drive was a blast.

 



 

Once we arrived, we ordered pizza and got settled into our hotel room for the night (after a swim in the pool, of course). 

And then, a bright and early breakfast and shuttle to the plane.  The girls were troopers and the flight was lovely (as lovely as a six hour flight can go).  Claire was an outstanding traveler the entire trip and was so happy to be together with everyone.  Several times she said, "You know what the best part of this trip is?  Being together!"  Everyone except Samuel, that is.  He stayed with the Petersen cousins and had a great time of his own being the center of attention.

 

 

Let's get this party started!