Hawaii

Once upon a time my wonderful in-laws treated our family to a trip to Hawaii.  We joined grandpa Steve and grandma Jackie, Auntie Kelly, Auntie Danielle and cousins Brannon, Max, Jordan and Amanda for a week of fun on the big island.  We left on Mother's day with a fairly uneventful flight, other than Kacie freaking out the second we stepped up to the door of the plane.  She was screaming, crying "scary, scary" as we took our seats.  Thankfully, Haley saved the day by telling her it wasn't scary; it was fun.  Kacie immediately stopped and said "oh ya, fun!" and was totally fine the rest of the flight!

We landed in Hawaii, greeted by the warm air and lots of green plants, trees and grass.  We are so used to living in a drought that Abby exclaimed "Can you believe it, mom?  Real grass!!!"  The only green grass we are used to seeing is fake!  We all got our rental cars and headed to Costco for lunch and groceries for the week, then it was off to our condos.  The kids were fairly done with traveling at that point, so there were some nasty words and looks, until Haley told Kacie that all the lava rock we were seeing was donkey poop.  Nothing like a toddler cheering "donkey poop" to lighten up the mood.  The rest of the car ride was one of my highlights, as they laughed and sang and shouted "donkey poop" about a thousand times!

All of our condos were in the same complex, and ours was the best (in our opinion)!  It was so stocked with everything the kids could want or need (a port-a-crib, legos, books, plastic dishes, sippy cups, balls, boogie boards, pool tools...you name it, they had it) and was so comfortable to be in.  It felt like home away from home.  One of the best parts was the big grassy area right off our lanai.  All four kids loved running around out there!

Our week was spent playing at the beach, boogie boarding, snorkeling, exploring, shopping, swimming in the beautiful pools at the condo, and watching hula shows (Kacie's favorite part).  It was a week that we will not forget, and we can't put into words how thankful we are for the gift  that it was to us.

Ready for a week in paradise:)

Hanging at the beach with grandma and grandpa

Early morning on the lanai!  Our first few mornings started around 4:30 because of the time difference!

We found a chameleon:)

left to right: Brannon, Haley, grandpa, grandma, Kacie, auntie Danielle, Abby

Checking out the tide pools in the lava rock

 

At the fancy Hilton near our condo

Real grass!!!  This was just outside our condo.

Snorkeling!

She didn't want to miss out on the snorkeling!

Abby and grandma Jackie were snorkel buddies!

One of the kids' dreams was to drink out of a coconut.  No one liked it!

Playing at the pool

Look closely at this picture...you will see A LOT of cats.  There was this tree right on the beach (see the ocean in the background) that had at least 17 (the most I counted at one time) cats living under it. 

Kacie LOVED the cats and named them all Fogo (rhymes with Togo)!

We love building dribble castles.

I don't even have words for this one!!!

I looked over at Seth to see him working on his math homework at the beach!

Abby could have boogie boarded all day every day!

When Kacie sees this picture she screams "Uncle Seth", because he was pretending to be her uncle when we took the picture!

My favorite girls in all the world:)

THANK YOU grandma and grandpa!