DAY 3

We did a session at the temple in the morning and then a quick drive through tour of the BYU Hawaii campus. It took all of 1 minute. I didn't realize what a small campus it is. What a beautiful place to go to school!!



We also took our first walk on the beach. Can you believe that it took us three days in Hawaii to walk along the beach? Crazy! Although, we did walk from our car to the ocean to get to our surf lessons. Does that count as a walk on the beach?



That evening we boarded the cruise ship. After learning all the safety evacuation rules we immediately started eating and really didn't stop until we rolled off the ship 7 days later. We loved touring the islands by ship. We would recommend it to anyone and would do it again in a heartbeat.

HAWAII - DAY 2

We kicked day two off with surfing lessons. What a blast! It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Maybe that is because the boards are nice and wide-- very beginner friendly. We do have some pictures of surfing, but they are on a CD that cracked in my suitcase. I am working on getting a replacement. I'll post pictures later.

In the afternoon we went on a horse ride. The view was beautiful. Over the next few days my behind was a reminder that I have no idea how to ride a horse. Next time I might think about getting a few more pointers.


After getting cleaned up, we ended up arriving fairly late at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend much time visiting the villages, but we did enjoy the luau and the night show. If I ever get to Hawaii again, I would definitely spend more time at the PCC, especially if I have my kids with me.

HAWAII - DAY 1

So, many of you know that Travis & I just got back from a trip to Hawaii to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We had such a great time. It was a lot of fun. I have so many pictures that I want to share, so I thought I would give you a daily itinerary of what we did. By day three most of you will probably be saying, "Enough is enough!" But, humor me OR stop reading my blog for the next few days because it is all going to be Hawaii. Come November I will get back to reality and post some Halloween pictures. I also need to get back to reality and stop looking at our pictures from our trip everyday. For some reason, it just makes me think I am back in Hawaii, even if it is only for three minutes. Anyway, here is what we did on day 1:
Pearl Harbor

I loved visiting Pearl Harbor. I have always been fascinated with history, especially WWII. It was a really sacred place where you couldn't help pay respect to the thousands of young men and women that lost their lives while serving our country.

On our way to our hotel we stopped by the Dole Plantation. The ice cream was delicious!! We couldn't pass up these photo opportunities! I've always wondered what I would look like as a pineapple!

We took a train ride around the pineapple fields and learned all about the history of the pineapple and the Dole name. It was really fun and interesting!

Sorry about my picture placement...I'm still not so great at that and I am too lazy to figure out how to do it right. Laura, I need your blogging help!

Birthday Boy!

Parker's birthday started with breakfast cake (coffee cake). He wasn't a huge fan and so after downing my own, I helped him finish up his piece. YUM!


Next, we opened presents...well, I should say he opened a present. He only had one present that was sent by my parents. His other grandparents sent money which I deposited in his bank account and his dead beat parents didn't buy him anything! At first I felt really bad about it, but then I talked myself into feeling better with the reasoning that 1) he is turning one and will never remember this birthday anyway and 2)we already have too many toys that we don't know what to do with, so why buy more?

We finished all the celebrations with birthday cake. As you can tell, Parker made a smooth transition from baby food to solids.

SURPRISE!

In September we took the kids to the circus as a surprise night out. It was really fun. They have never been to the circus before and so it was a great surprise. Ciera really was this animated. It was great!


Chase, our animal lover, was enthralled with the tigers & elephants. Ciera loved all the lights and action. She has a little more Vegas flare to her. Cael thought it was all great, but a little long. And Parker, sweet Parker, was great for the first half and then not so much fun for the last half. I spent most of the second half walking around looking at all the over priced food and souvenirs.

So, the circus has changed since I last went. I remember the circus being more about animal shows and trapeze artists. This was much more "over the top" than I remember. Lots of lights, dancers, and action. It was all very entertaining.

A first and possibly a last

Okay, it wasn't actually that bad, but it was a reaffirmation that I am not the best camper. Two weeks ago we went with our ward on a campout. On the way up I told Travis that it was the first time since we have been married that we have ever been camping together. Travis always goes on the Father/Son camp outs, but I have never been on a Mother/Daughter camp out. Not that I would be jumping in line to go if they had one, but why isn't there a Mother/Daughter spa day or something like that?

Anyway, we all had a really great time until bedtime arrived. Parker did not keep any of the sleeping rules. He wouldn't stay in his port a crib and he didn't sleep through the night! He actually woke up regularly all through the night. Finally at about 6a.m. Travis took him to the car and I was able to get a nice 2 hour block of sleep. I felt like I had a newborn again. But, as tired as I was the next day, I couldn't be mad at him. Who could be mad at this face?


The kids had a great time playing on the rafts. They spent most of the afternoon and all of the next morning playing in the FREEZING water. Travis couldn't resist joining them. I would have, but the water was definitely below 85 degrees...and as you know, I am allergic to cold water.






Travis throwing things out of balance.

I know it has almost been three weeks, but...

Here they are! Finally I am getting around to posting first day of school pictures!




Chase was "kind of" excited to start school again, but Ciera was "super" excited for 1st grade. She was really excited to be able to ride her bike to school with Chase.



As you can tell, Chase does a great job taking care of her.

So far, everybody likes their teachers. Ciera is in a 1st/2nd combo class. I haven't really decided how I feel about that yet... anyway, this week I went and helped in both of their classrooms. I really enjoyed it. It makes me miss teaching and always gets me excited for that far off day when I will hopefully return to the profession.

Cael also had his first day at preschool. He has been asking to go to preschool for about 2 years now. The morning of his first day he must have asked me about 20 times if it was time to go yet. He continues to love it. I love that they do all the "messy projects" there that I am never brave enough to do at home.