Cute Things Caught on Film

Flowers Sophia picked for me on a walk with my Mom. It was all Sophia's idea and she picked them herself! Ben and I laying by the pool and Ethan brought us waters. Notice the flower taped to the side....he did that so I would know which one was mine! LOLThen when Ethan was laying by the pool he decided he wanted some shade, and came up with this!

Then he an Sophia decided to make a fort around the BBQ! Fun times around the pool the weekend before Halloween. Gotta love Arizona!

They had this cutout at Walmart and took free Polaroids for anyone who wanted to do it. The guy said this was the funniest one he had taken the whole day. Of course....its Ethan!

Sophia insisted on wearing this headband out to the store. Lucky for her she is my fourth and I couldn't care less, but rather got a kick out of how great she think she looked! Ethan had his Pie Night two weeks ago, which is a night where the parents come to their class, have pie, and listen to them read. Could he be more enthused about this?
This is what happens after a long day at church with no nap! Notice the dinner below that Aubrie made on her own from a cookbook she got as a party favor, at Kaelyn's party!

Children's Museum

So the whole time I have lived here, I thought the Children's Museum was the same thing as the Children's Science Center. The Science Center is great for older kids, but not the best place for preschoolers. Erin invited me to go with her and Sailor, so I thought that there must had been some new additions for the youngsters. When we got there, I realized that it was a totally different building, across from the science center, meant for the younger kids. Sophia and Sailor had a great time. They had so many fun things for them to do. Some of the things included a "car wash" that they rode bikes through, a craft room, a grocery store, and a section where they hung hundreds of pool noodles from the ceiling for them to make their way through.

She had a chance to paint a playhouse. She didn't do it too long because she didn't like paint on her hands!

Loved play-doh as always!

Sophia's favorite thing was the grocery store. They had little carts and real food containers. They also had older kids working the "register" and bagging. The older kids would restock, also. At first Sophia would fill her cart with things she sees me buy at the store. It was funny to watch her look for familiar items. At one point she walked to the other side of the room and reached to the highest shelf to get a Simply Lemonade container she spotted. About a half an hour into it, she was grabbing everything she could find to take it to the register and put it all on the conveyor. Who knows how long she would have been happy playing in there, because we finally had to pull the girls out so we could get back before our kids got out of school. I definitely will be taking her again, but maybe not until flu season is over. She got the flu the next day!:( Perhaps I'll just go and bring plenty of hand sanitizer!:)

Halloween Happenings 2010

This year Halloween started early. When we got home from Hawaii, there was an email in my inbox that said that Trunk or Treat would be the 9th of October. So instead of having several weeks to gather costumes, I felt as thought I was practically shopping for them before I could recover from trip. At first I thought we would just be skipping it, then I decided they would use old costumes. Of course, that didn't happen. A trip to Party City, and a little costume hunting for Ethan, turned out new costumes for all of them. Aubrie a Piratess, Boston a Hot Dog, Ethan a Ninja, and Sophia picked Strawberry Shortcake!

I used the same old cat outfit I wear every year, and Ben went as a soccer player. The kids had a fun time with the carnival games, spook alley, and of course the "trunk or treating". We decorated the car with cobwebs, and such, and played the same Halloween CD we have used every year since we have lived here. It sits in my car all year long, and gets used for Trunk or Treat only. lol Ben bought a bowl with one of those hands you control with a button. We had fun with that one this year. It even scared Sophia!Aubrie tried to hide in the cobwebs and scare a few kids. When the night was over, Boston said it was fun, but was sad there were no carnival games. Apparently he didn't see they had moved from the greenbelt to the parking lot this year, since he spent the entire time on the green belt playing football. We had a good laugh at his tunnel vision! Here are some more pics. I have to say that Sophia is the CUTEST Strawberry Shortcake I have ever seen!

The following Monday was Columbus Day, therefore the kids had off of school, and finally had time to put up all the Halloween decorations. For the first time, I let them to it all themselves. I was busy cleaning and doing other things, so I pulled out the box and said "go to it". I was quite proud of myself, not going back over their work and fixing things. I did add some spider webs the week before Halloween (per Boston's request because, "our house wasn't scary enough") but beyond that I was "hands off"!

The next Saturday was a Halloween first for Aubrie and Boston. Aubrie wanted to invite some girlfriends to a haunted house. I picked one that I thought would be appropriate, and told her she could invite 4 friends. She was soooo excited. She made cute invitations on her own, and passed them out. Only one of her friends was brave enough to go. Her best friend told her, "My Mom said I could go if I want, but there is no way I'm going to a haunted house!" Because we were down to one friend (which I was so thankful for later) I told Boston he could come along, too. We went to the Haunted Maze Farm in Glendale. They were so excited, and Aubrie's friend was very scared. While we were waiting in line, Freddy Krueger, along with another scary character tried to scare Aubrie. She is like me; hard to scare. Haunted Houses NEVER scared me, but I thought they were fun and I played into them. So fearless Aubrie went around taunting Freddy while we were in line. When we finally got in the maze, the first part involved us going through a corn maze with Freddy weaving in and out of rows trying to scare us, and the whole time he was saying, "Aubrie, I'm going to get you", "Aubrie, your mine!", etc. She thought it was funny, but her friend was extremely scared and clinging on to me with her dear life, to the point where I could hardly walk without falling. (The whole "glad there was only one friend" coming into play.) That is what I was dealing with for a 40 minute walk through a "scary" maze. Aubrie and Boston loved it and begged to go again. On the way home they were all laughing and talking about it, and Aubrie's friend decided she liked it after all! We ended the evening with Good Berry and took Aubrie's friend home. It was a good first "Haunted House" experience, and I'm sure they will be begging to go again next year. We probably will, since the farm also had fun stuff for younger children, like mazes, train rides, petting zoo, etc! A fun place for all ages!

Next came all the school parties. Of course, since I'm hating my new camera, it doesn't seem to be making it in my purse lately. I missed pictures for all of their parties.

Sophia had fun making the popcorn hand, tootsie ghost, and decorated pumpkin. She also had fun doing a cake walk (but for candy)

For Ethan's class, I volunteered to help out with pumpkins. We weighed them, measured them, guessed if it would sink or float, cleaned out the guts and counted the seeds. Afterward, they played pin the stem on the pumpkin, and made a craft. None of the kids classes got to dress up this year, which they were all sad about. Aubrie rebelled and wore a football jersey, saying she was a football player. She actually got compliments on her outfit that day! ha

So whats left?? Hmmmm...the hard part about summarizing over a month.

The night before Halloween, Ethan had a birthday party for a girl in his class, and I brought Sophia along. They had a fun time. When we got home we watched a pumpkin carving contest on Food Network. The kids loved watching that, especially Ethan. Before he went to bed, he started making sketches for a pumpkin carving, and when he woke up that was the first thing he started working on.

By the end of the day, Ethan and Aubrie had carved a pumpkin before church. It was Boston's idea to put sandwich bags on their hands. He doesn't like getting dirty!

Aubrie also made some Halloween sugar cookies, since she had to stay home from church as she was recovering from the flu. She made them all herself, and they turned out great! She is becoming my little cook...always wanting to try new things.

Halloween evening, I agreed to letting them trick or treat on our street. I stayed back and handed out candy.

When the kids got back they decided they wanted to take part in scaring the trick or treaters. Aubrie sat in a stroller by the gate, and jumped when people noticed something in there, and Boston and Ethan did this.

At first I thought there was no way that would scare anyone, but I was WRONG!!! They scared so many kids, especially the older ones. When the kids got close they would move, and sometimes Boston would start rubbing his belly and say "give me your candy! I want your candy!" One group of kids wouldn't come to the door, after several attempts, and said no candy was worth it. Another group walked to the door and asked someone in their group if it was a hologram, until Boston moved and scared them to death. Another group of teenage girls walked up to the patio and turned and ran away when they saw Boston and Ethan move. Aubrie had her fair share of scares, as most didn't expect anyone to be in the stroller. They had a great time scaring. I'm hoping they are up for it again next year!

Game, Meets, and more!

So I realized I haven't blogged about the kids activities for the year. They are staying busy, and so are we. Funny thing is that most of the time I actually am enjoying it. I love seeing the kids do things they love, trying things they don't love at first, but end up loving it, sticking with things that they don't necessarily love all the time (ie piano), and working hard to be their best at all of it.

This year the kids are doing the same activities as last, with the exception that Aubrie and Boston have continued with the gymnastics that they started in the summer. The gym is helping Aubrie be a better dance (more flexible and strong). It's helping Boston become a better athelete. Besides that, he is just good at it because he has a very precise personality. I saw that in diving this summer. After the summer, they moved Boston up to team. So now our Saturdays will consist of three soccer games during the season, mixed with gymnastic meets, karate tournaments and dance performances/competitions. This weekend was Boston's first meet. His morning started off with an 8:00 am soccer game, and then off to a Cub Scout Day Camp, and then straight to his meet! It was just a fun Strong Meet to get them excited for the season. It was in Chandler, and was during Ethan and Aubrie's soccer games. So I took him while Ben went to the games. Oh, I better not fail to mention that Aubrie's team finally had a win this year. They put Aubrie in as the midfielder, and she scored an awesome goal! She was so happy, and so was her team!!

So back to Boston's meet. Boston was so funny because the closer we got to the meet, he started to say that his stomach hurt, which usually means one of two things with Boston. In this instance it was his nerves. I knew once he saw his coach and friends, and saw how the tournament was being conducted he would feel much better. I was right. The whole time he looked calm. He did great for his first meet. He got 9th. I'm sure that doesn't sound great, but most of the boys in his age group have been taking gymnastic much longer and have a little more muscle for those dips and pull ups. His strongest event was the rope. The ropes were right in front of the audience seating, and I could hear people comment how they couldn't believe how effortless he made it look. He was happy with how he did and had fun. That's all I was hoping for.

Stretching with Team

Gearing up for the Rope

Up the Rope No Problem

On his way down while the other kid is still going up!

After the meet we stopped at the Chandler mall, that was conveniently right next door to the facility the meet was held. We first grabbed some food, and then hit a few stores that included Tilly's and kids abercrombie. Boston was so sweet the whole time. He kept holding my hand, and he would count how many things we did at the mall. Our last stop was at a popcorn store. I got some gourmet popcorn and he got a caramel apple. He acted so grateful for our time at the mall together. On our way home we talked the whole time. At one point we played "Would You Rather." Boston asked me if I would rather jump in the Antarctic or get a tattoo. I hesitated, wondering if I could survive a dive into those waters. Boston piped up and said, "I know what I would do. I would jump in the water for two reasons. First because getting a tattoo is against Gods will and also, they hurt!" I love his desire to do what is right. While at first I was dreading the long drive out to Chandler, I was grateful for that time we got to spend with one another.

When Aubrie and Boston were very young we heard a talk about what we are doing with our "precious Saturdays" with our children. The speaker mentioned how we are only given so many before they are grown up and gone, and asked if we were using them to develop relationships and establish memories, or always filling them with our own errands and personal agenda's. Luckily we heard that talk when the kids were young, because we always cherish our "Precious Saturdays!" I'm now seeing these extra activities as dates with our children and a great way to spend our "Precious Saturday's'!

The napkin holder Boston made for me at scout camp. Notice he put a heart on it for me!:)

If only I had a picture!

Last week the kids did some things that made my heart smile, and I wish I could have taken a picture, or some video! So hopefully writing them in detail will help me retain the mental pictures in my head.

Wednesday of last week Sophia showed up to scripture study complaining that her head hurt. Apparently, Ben said she had a hard night, but had failed to check her head. She was running a fever. I gave her some Tylenol and had her lay on my bed upstairs and watch TV while I got the kids going for school. Later in the morning, I was wondering where Aubrie was, and I found her upstairs with a bowl of water on the ground and her tending to Sophia's fever with a cold, wet washcloth. Typically the kids blow through their chores before school so thy can play video games, get on the computer, etc. What a sweet sister to spend that extra time tending to her little sister. Aubrie has such a nurturing spirit about her. I'll admit that she does not get that from me. I'm a little more mechanical. "Fix it up, give a kiss, and off you go little one!" I know she got it from my Mother!

Thursday, Ben brought home some new football jersey's for the boys. You could tell they were excited to wear them the next day, because they laid them out the night before. Friday morning I happened to walk with the kids to school. I got ahead of the boys, and when I looked back to check on them they were walking down the street with their arms around one another talking about their jersey's and football. Just the sight of the two of them forgetting their surroundings and putting down all pretenses was so sweet!

Another gem of the week was Friday, right before Ben and I left for date night. A few days prior, Ben had found an old ipod docking station/player and put it in the boys room. The boys have enjoyed getting ready for school with their music. Well, when Ethan came home from school on Friday he went upstairs and turned on the music. I was busy getting ready for the temple and didn't realize what he was up to, until I decided to go ask him to turn it down a bit, and found him and Sophia dancing in his room. They were having so much fun together. That isn't all. Right before we left he asked us to come and watch them dance. He had set the "stage" by pulling down his shade, and setting up "seating" with a few blankets and pillows. When we commented on how great their dancing was he said, "You can leave money over there if you want." He had set up an empty square tin on his bookshelf right by the bedroom door! LOL Ben and I had to turn our heads so he couldn't see us laughing. He then said, "I prefer coins!" Ben then hurried to our room to gather some coins to drop in his tin collection box! That kid is a piece of work!

The last great moment of the week was on Sunday. Before church, I was helping Boston go over his Faith in God book, and he picked the activity where he had to plan and make a nutritious meal. It came to no surprise that he picked Spaghetti and Meatballs! I had to help him think of some other side dishes and then we decided to make it for dinner that night. Over the past month Boston has taken more of an interest in cooking. Nothing big, but coming from not even wanting to make a PB&J, making brownies and Mac & Cheese was a huge step for him. And the fact that he wanted to do it on his own was surprising. So I knew with that new interest, making dinner with him would not be a painful experience. In fact, it was quite the opposite. He was so good at following directions. When I told him to keep an eye on the noodles and to stir them, he was on top of that amongst all the other things he was doing in between, like setting the table etc. He made the sauce and made the salad, too! He even used the sharp knives to cut tomatoes. I guess this was a great moment of the week because, typically, Boston likes to rush through things, and doesn't like to spend a lot of time learning something new. That is the result of things coming easy for him. So for him to take time for me to teach him something, and enjoy all the steps in the process was awesome! It was great and productive Mother/ Son time!

"Sweet" Reunion

I don't know if I have spoken of my Mom's side of the family on here. My Mom comes from a family of sixteen. We were all very close growing up. We were always getting together for holidays and such. I have the fondest memories as a kid with my Mom's family. One thing that made getting together so fun, was that everyone in my Mom's family is a lot of fun! They are full of energy, have great senses of humor, are "real", and are very kind. They all have these wonderful attributes. I attribute them to my Grandmother. She is one of the most amazing ladies I have every known. One time her neighbor slapped her across the cheek, and she turned her other cheek for her to slap the other one, rather than striking back with her actions or words. She was a great example to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I am grateful for those attributes she passed to my Mom, making her so wonderful and therefore being a great example to me.

With that said, it is always a delight to spend time with my Aunts and Uncles. There are a few Aunts that I am particularly close too, because the lived in California and I grew up with them when I was little. That is my Mom's twin sisters. They are so full of life and have the light of Christ shining from them so radiantly it's infectious. One of those twin sisters, Aunt Laura, has always been so encouraging and complimentary of Ben and I. She always tells us how proud she is of us and our little family, and how proud she is of how we handle ourselves. She is always so positive. It's been a long time since we have seen her and her husband. The last time we saw them, they stopped by in North Carolina, when I was barely pregnant with Aubrie. They took us out to dinner, and came and visited our new home.

They were supposed to visit us last year, when they were planning a cross country RV trip. A week before they left, her husband and son got in an airplane crash (they are pilots), and her husband almost died. Her faith and strength through the whole ordeal was amazing. The doctors were amazed at his recovery. A year later they started the trip they had planned before the accident. That put them here the Tuesday before our trip to Hawaii.

They wanted to surprise my Mom, so I told my Mom I wanted to take her to lunch before I left for Hawaii. When we got to Mimi's I could see them in the bar area hiding behind menus. LOL As we were walking to our table, my Aunt grabbed my Mom from behind and scared/surprised her. My Mom was happily surprised. We had a great lunch catching up. They went absolutely crazy for Sophia, and as usual they kept saying how I hadn't changed, except for the better! After lunch I took Sophia home for a nap, and they went out for the day. They dropped by later that evening, after the kids activities. The kids absolutely LOVED her! They said, "Can we have her for a Grandma, too!" They kept saying how energetic and fun she was. They are right. She LOVED the kids, and had so much fun with them. She kept telling them what great kids they were.

She wanted the tour of the house and Boston volunteered. Boston was cracking us up as he was giving her the most detailed tour I have every seen, down to the bathroom cabinets that hold the toilet paper and food in the pantry. Boston said the next day how much fun he had showing her the house! ha ha After the tour, we put the kids to bed, and sat out by the pool and enjoyed the sound of the waterfall and the cool air, as we caught up some more. We then got a tour of their RV and said our goodbyes. It was hard to say goodbye to them. They are such amazing people. I wish that we all lived in the same area so my kids could experience the fun family times I had as a kid, and also so I could see them more!:)

Mt. Humphries Or Bust

So the week before we go to Hawaii my brother Joe calls me up and asks me if I wanted to try Mt. Humphries again. My first response was, "No!" Not because I didn't want to do the hike, but in my mind I felt I didn't have the time. I hadn't packed or even begun to think about what I needed to take to Hawaii, and preparing for other things that week, like Activity Days, was making me feel busy. When I told Ben that Joe wanted to go he asked me why I wasn't. I told him I had too much going on, and when he asked me to tell him what, I couldn't really think of anything I had to get done on Saturday. Packing for myself takes less than an hour, and in reality Activity Days was already planned out. So I called my brother up and told him we were on! Aubrie decided to stay home this time, when I realized the hike was 4 hours up and 3 and 1/2 down. We did leave much later this time...about 7:00 am!

We finally picked a perfect day. No moisture and great temperatures. The hike was grueling in some spots, but overall it was very enjoyable. We made it to the saddle in about 2 hours. There we stopped for lunch and enjoyed the view, resting up for the hardest part of the hike. The last hour of the trail was through rocky tundra. There was a lot more climbing than just walking a trail. There were 3 false peaks before you got to the final one. During the last hour we passed a boyscout troop. We had gotten a good distance ahead of them, and it then became my goal to not take so many rests that it would allow for them to pass us. It's not that I cared to beat them, it just was how I paced myself. The last few hundred feet they started to close in on us, and I could hear Joe behind me saying, "They are on our heals!" I wanted to stop so bad, but I pushed up the last slope to the very top. I had to stop and catch my breath for a few minutes before I could take in this view!

We sat up top for awhile and talked to other hikers and ate some snacks. At that point I wouldn't have minded hand gliding to the bottom, or being picked up by helicopter. Ha! Knowing I had a 3 1/2 hour hike back down wasn't so appealing. We finally started our descent and it actually was quite nice. I ran the parts that had a smooth trail. Surprisingly my energy levels were high. It was all going great, until about an hour from the bottom I twisted my ankle when I stepped on a large root on the trail. It hurt so bad and I instantly wondered how in the world I was going to get down from the mountain. Then I thought, "GREAT! I was worried something like this would happen right before our Hawaii trip and it did!" I sat there wondering what to do. I knew I didn't want to be rescued! After resting for a bit, I started hobbling down the mountain. After about 15 minutes, I stopped to sit on a log and rest it. Two guys passed by and asked if I wanted them to call for help. I told them I would be alright. Joe told me we should sit there for awhile. Instantly I had the feeling that I needed to get up and keep moving. I didn't hesitate. Just a minute down the trail I passed those same guys and one of them offered me their hiking poles. Using them helped so much, and allowed me to get down much faster. I know I was prompted to get up just so I could get those.

What a great feeling it was to finally get back to the car. We stopped at the nearest gas station where we got some ice, and I iced it on and off all the way home. Despite the twisted ankle (which stopped hurting after a few days, and started hurting again after Hawaii), I was so glad to finally accomplish that hike. One more check on my bucket list! LOL

Ethan's Hero Day

In first grade they write about their favorite Hero's. When Boston was in first grade he picked the military. Ethan picked the Army. I wonder what Sophia will pick? Ha! At the end of the school day they invite the parents to come and see all the kids and their reports. The kids read their reports in front of the class. It was voluntary. At first, Ethan didn't want to read. It only took a few kids doing it to change his mind. The second to last line in his report was, "I want drive their tanks and shoot the bad guys.". It got a few laughs. At least he knows what their used for.

Some missed summer events!

Going through my photo library I realized I missed some important stuff! Since this is our family journal I don't like to leave anything out!

Here are some pictures from the day that our friends, the Waishnora's, were sealed in the temple. We carpooled with the Hawkins and decided it was time to get some pictures in front of the Mesa temple.

Once when we got inside, unbeknown to me, I was to escort Jen throughout her day. It was so great being in the brides room with her and being able to be with her every step. I even see the nursery, when she put her kids in there. It was AMAZING to me how well behaved all the kids were, even down to the infants. It was the most peaceful nursery I have every been in! It was an amazing sealing, not a lot of dry eyes. What an amazing blessing it is for families to be sealed forever! It was such a great moment. What a great family!

After some pictures, we stopped at Cafe Rio for some lunch, and ran into a lot of people from the sealing. Go figure!

After all the diving, swimming, etc, was done this summer, I was feeling a little disconnected from my friends. I called (who am I kidding....texted) Erin, and told her it was time to get together for some swimming. I thought it would be great to invite a few other friends to catch up, and in the end it became a huge swim party. I provided chicken salad sandwiches, and PB&J's for the kids, and had everyone bring their favorite summer dish. It was great bringing everyone together. Life goes so fast during this stage in life, its harder to maintain friendship like we used to. The food was yummy, the kids had fun, and I think the Mom's may have had more fun chatting, eating, and having some adult interaction!:) Definitely something we need to do at least once a summer!

Last but not least, one of Ethan's contraptions.

Hawaiin Get Away!!

Ben and I have been long overdue for an extended vacation get away. Our last one was our trip to Italy when Ethan was 1! We planned on going to the Mediterranean for our 10 year anniversary, but then he started his new company. We then said we would go when Sophia was two, but then he started another business venture. So FINALLY we made it a priority, and after 5 years of putting it off, we decided to make another trip to Oahu. Last time we did Waikiki. While fun, it didn't leave much time for just relaxing on the beach. This time we stayed on the west side of the island at Ko' Olina. Marriot has an amazing resort there, nestled up to a lagoon. We toured it last time we went and had decided we would stay there if we ever came back.

Never in my life has preparing for a vacation been so involved. I was in need of a vacation after all the planning that I had to do. Just writing down the kids schedules was exhausting. My Mom watched the kids, and I hired a babysitter to run them to all their activities. Knowing they were in school and staying busy made me feel better about being away so long. I think that vacationing during school is definitely the best option.

We left for Hawaii early Friday morning. We arrived in Oahu at 11:00. We went with some friends this time, but we stayed at opposite ends of the island and only met up for dinners. That arrangement worked out perfect, because it allowed for us to have much needed alone time, but a little more socialization at night. Anyway, after getting our rental, grabbing a bite to eat and dropping the Jarvis's off at their hotel, we didn't make it to ours until around 3:00. Ben worked his magic and had them upgrade us to one of the nicest rooms by the water. This was the view. I think just being up one more floor would have been better, but I'm definately not complaining! It had a great patio with nice patio furniture, and a bathroom bigger than my kids rooms!

We quickly threw on our suits and headed to the sand. We were able to soak up a few hours of the sun, before we got ready and headed out for dinner.

View of Hotel From the Beach (our building is 4 story peaking out on the left hand corner)

We ate dinner at Dukes, a restaurant in the beautiful Surfrider hotel in Waikiki. I got a macadamia nut crusted chicken and virgin colada. The food was yum, and the dessert was even better. Unfortunately the airplane food worked me over, and my stomach wasn't right. So after dinner and a little bit of walking around, I had to head home.

Saturday Ben and I started the morning right with the breakfast buffet. Marriot resorts have the most incredible breakfast buffets. Last time we came we got free breakfast every morning, and so we engorged ourselves on their amazing food. I felt like I was on a cruise. LOL This time, breakfast wasn't free, but I told Ben we had to bite the 60 dollar bullet and have it at least once. After stuffing ourselves to oblivion (wanting to get our money's worth lol), Ben and I headed out for a drive around the island. We drove as far west as we could, and found a nice secluded beach and quickly plopped ourselves down by the water.

It was so pretty and quiet, but soon after getting there we were blasted with sand as the winds picked up. I think I had sand in my hair for the rest of the tip from that! We quickly picked up our stuff and found refuge in our car.

We then headed to the other side of the island, called Kailua. There is a 45 minute hike to Maunawili Falls. I found the hike online, and it looked fun. On the way there, we made a quick stop at the Pali lookout. The weather was clear this time, and the view was awesome.

It was just a tad windy!

After taking some pictures, we hiked the old Pali road. This is what it looked like.

I would have loved to have walked the trail a little further, but we had to get started on our hike.

The hike was interesting. It was muddy and full of roots, rocks, steps, etc. It took about hour and 1/2 to hike there.

When we were almost there, there was a lady coming back with her daughter and I asked her how the falls were and she said, "They're OK!" I'm thinking, "Great! That is not what I wanted to hear after all of this!" The falls were nice, but the funnest part of the falls is supposed to be jumping in from three different height levels. We didn't even get in the water. I wasn't scared of jumping (I jumped comparable heights at Havasupi). I was a little nervous about the water. There was a sign warning us of Leptospirosis, and that was enough to keep me out. I did enjoy the hike though, and it was fun watching other people make the jumps!

After our hike we stopped along side of the freeway to watch the Blue Angels air show for a bit and then we headed off to the Dole Plantation for some of their yummy ice cream. We then went back to the hotel and caught the last few rays of sun (about an hour), and then freshened up for dinner. We met up with the Jarvis for Cheesecake Factory. Yeah, such authentic Hawaiian cuisine, I know! LOL To be fair they had things on their menu that you could only get in Hawaii! After dinner, we made a stop at Target to get some food and other essentials. It was so funny being at Target there. It was so weird to me how people live their day to day lives in such an amazing place. I thought, "where do these people vacation?" Then we got talking to someone on the trip and they said they came to Arizona for vacation, and they loved it. I was thinking, "Really? You surely are just being nice!"

Sunday we spent the whole day at the Hotel relaxing. We woke up at 9:00 am and stumbled to the beach around 10:00. The weather was PERFECT, a little cloud cover, which made the beach awesome.

If you look at the top of this picture you can see a bride. They had several weddings a day at the chapel nicely located on this private lagoon! It's no temple, but definately a nice place to have a wedding.

Ben and I also enjoyed these amazing drinks!

It was probably the best iced drink I have every had! The pinapples were frozen so it kept your drink cold for a long time, and kind of made a slushy on the sides. It was so yum!

For lunch we walked across the street and grabbed a sandwich and bought some souvenirs for the family.

On the way back I noticed a building for the Disney Time Share Property they are building next door. Ben went back to the hotel, and I went in to get some info. They gave me a quick tour of their rooms (which were amazing) and showed me pictures of what their grounds will look like. Disney always goes above and beyond in everything they do.

After the tour, I headed back to the room, and then we hit the beach a bit longer. We came back to our room to watch the sunrise from our balcony!

Later that evening the Jarvis's met us with the car (they took it for the day) at our hotel, and then we grabbed some Outback for dinner.

Monday we woke a little earlier to get up to the North Shore for our Shark Tour Adventure. I I talked Ben into swimming with the sharks. It's not as scary as it sounds. They put you in a cage and let you float out in the sea while the sharks swim around you. I was so excited when I heard about it, and knew it was for me! The rid

e on the boat was a nice perk to the activity. It was another beautiful day, and it was great going out to sea and watching the landscape of the island behind us. I was able to see the beauty of the island in a single snap shot, instead of bits and pieces.

It was amazing how blue the water was. It looked like they put dye in the water!

When we finally got the spot where we anchor the boat, it was amazing how quickly the sharks started to surround us. Apparently they come to boat because they hear the sound of the diesel engines, and think they are the crabbing boats that come to dump out their left overs. Ten years ago a man on the island figured that out, and thought he would try making some money off of it. So their first cage was made out of PVC piping spray painted silver to make it look like metal. LOL (We got all this info off one of the captains who Ben was talking it up with). Anyway, when I first saw the fins, I started to feel uncomfortable enough not to volunteer to go first. The whole boat volunteered a group of 4 young oriental boys to lead the way. Once I saw how easy it was, and that the sharks wouldn't try to go for my hands that were holding the bars, I felt much better. We offered to go second, and I'm glad we did. When our turn was up the weather started to turn south, and the last group had rocky waters to contend with. Ben got some great video with our underwater camera, and he was brave/stupid enough to reach his hand out of the cage and pet one. I was content to just watching them pass by. It was definitely worth the money, and I cant wait for the kids to try it when we take them. Ben and I already made bets that Boston would chicken out, and Aubrie and Ethan would be the first to volunteer! ha ha

After the shark tour, Ben and I just drove around the island.

Our first stop was the temple. When we made our travel plans we were looking forward to doing a session, and was so disappointed when we found out it was being renovated!

Our next stop was down the street at BYU. We stopped to get the boys BYU shorts or something, but their selection was pathetic. I was disappointed to walk out of there empty handed. It was cool to be on campus when classes were in session (last time we went over Christmas break). I kept thinking how cool it would be to go there. Ben and I could totally see Boston loving it there.

After BYU we stopped for lunch and ice cream. We then stopped at a beach for about 30 minutes and enjoyed the waves and weather. While we were on the sand we started seeing all these little crabs pop up out of the sand. We had fun tormenting them, and watching them pop up somewhere else. After our beach stop, we started our search for the Black Pearl. They had been filming Pirates 4 over there, and had been parking the Black Pearl in various locations. We never found it, but had a nice relaxing drive seeing parts of the island we didn't see the first time.

We finally made our way back to the hotel and freshened up for the Luau at Paradise Cove. We did the Polynesian Cultural Center last time, and knew we would do it again when we take the kids, so we decided since its one of the most popular on the island and conveniently next door to our hotel, we would give it a try. We took a nice walk through our hotel grounds (below) to get there.

This picture is bit of a joke. Ben was always carrying my purse for me which is far from subtle!

When you first get there give you a complimentary drink and put on your lei!

Afterward, they have a "hostess" take you to the table. On the way to the table I told her we were celebrating our 14 year anniversary and expressed the hope that there was some good seats left. We had arrived a few hours after they opened, and even though we bought premium tickets, I was afraid ours would still be far from the stage. When we got to the tables the only thing she had for us were two seats about as far as our tickets would allow them to seat us. I was a little disappointed, but knew we were there late, and so I didn't think about it again. We walked around watching the pre-shows, making lei's etc, when the hostess who sat us came up to us and told us she found us better seats and to find her when it was time to eat. The Headdress making station!

After the final pre-show, we grabbed her and she directed us to the best seats our tickets would allow, right in front of the catwalk. I was so happy I opened my mouth for once, that's usually Ben's department. The seats were awesome! I almost felt a little guilty having them.

Before the show, they served dinner. Most of food was really good, but the fried chicken and salad were something they could improve on. Seriously, who serves salad without ranch!? They had a fish dish that came with a Macadamia sauce that was so delicious, and the coconut cake was yummy, too!

Paradise Cove at Dusk

Yummy Food

Complimentary Virgin Coladas

During dinner they performed, and then took a short break while they asked for volunteers to come up to learn the hula. I volunteered because they had about 40 on the stage (safety in numbers).

I'm in the the middle covering my face!

My hula certificate! LOL

After dinner, the main show started. The dancing and singing was great.

Toward the end of the show the same hostess that sat us came up to Ben and asked him to come with her. He looked nervous, thinking he was in trouble for something, but I knew that they were going to have him dance. After they took him, they had a few people from the audience up on stage, but there was no Ben. At the very end, they said "we have a special treat to end the show". Out comes Ben in a grass skirt, lei, head dress, and Hawaiian maracas. He did a dance with two of the girl performers, and then they both planted a huge kiss on his cheek. Luckily I had my video camera ready, knowing something had to be up. The kids got a huge kick out of it!

BUSTED!

After the show, we headed back to the hotel and took a 30 minute walk around the shore line. On the way back we plopped our tired bodies down in the lawn chairs on the beach. The weather was just the right temperature, and the sounds of the ocean crashing on the shore was like a lullaby. I could have laid out there all night if we didn't have to get up at 4:30 the following morning. We reluctantly dragged ourselves back to our room, and tried to rest up for the long day ahead of us.

Tuesday we caught an early flight to Kauai for a day tour. It was a bit pricey, but definitely worth it. We were torn between the Big Island and Kauai but heard that Kauai is the prettiest. . There isn't a lot to do there, but I would love to have several days to hike their trails! It's so plush! This island is used over and over for tropical settings in movies including, Jurassic Park & Indians Jones. Even the aiport looks great!

When we first arrived we met our tour guide, who was a white old guy named Larry. Our first thoughts were, "we got ripped off". We couldn't be more off base. He lived on the island for over 40 years and knew so much. I loved soaking in all the information he had. That's one reason I like tours. They tell you things you would never know, and show you places and things you would never notice. The tour took us up the beautiful Waimea Canyon. That took almost half the day, but it was very beautiful.

So far up, we are in the clouds

There are chickens all over the island!

Other spots we saw included the famous Opaeka Falls

and Spouting Horn.

We stopped for lunch and had shave ice (its shave not shaved over there) at the famous JoJo's. It was very good. Mine had a scoop of Macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom, and coconut cream on the top. After eating, and picking the brain of the tour guide, we headed out to the other side of the island for our river boat cruise. For some reason, even though I had used the restroom at EVERY stop, I had to go again really bad. I don't' know if it was the huge shave ice I just had, or the fact that the ride was so bumpy, but I knew I couldn't' make it to the next stop. The driver had to make a little diversion at the airport (which we were passing) so I could take a potty break. Ben likes to tease me about that. After the potty break, we went on the river boat cruise to the Fern Grotto, a famous romantic Hawaiian spot where people often come to get married.

The river Grotto from above

There the boat performers sang to us, and then they performed for us on the way back. It was a nice way to end our trip in Kauai.

We got to the airport with a few hours left before our flight back to Oahu. Luckily there was an earlier flight, so we paid the extra fee so we could get back to the hotel and enjoy our last night in Hawaii.

We had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant by our hotel, that we had been wanting to try. We ate out on the patio and enjoyed our last dinner in Hawaii outside. After dinner we walked to the beach and laid on the lawn chairs again. The temperature was a little cooler, and we finally resigned ourselves to our room for the night.

Wednesday we woke up early to enjoy a few last hours on the beach. We spent 2 1/2 hours soaking up the sun and finishing up our books. ( I read Into Thin Air and the Hunger Games) As I took one last dip in the ocean, I was sad as I walked out of the water. And as we left the beach, I was sad to leave the sand. It was such an amazing trip, and it was so hard to leave. The only thing that made it exciting to come home was that we got to see the kids. We missed them very much. This time we didn't come home a day early from our vacation, but I was excited see them.

We spent the 6 hour flight home reading, playing games on the I pad, and watching Valentines Day. The movie ended right as we started to descend. The flight home went much quicker than the flight there. We got in at 12:15 and got home at 1:30. I thought 6:30 scripture study would be so hard to get up for, but waking up to Sophia's sweet hug and saying "Mommy, your home", got me right out of bed. After scripture study we brought out the kids gifts, and then went back to business as normal. Despite the fact I was fighting exhaustion all day, I was such a better Mom. Amazing how a trip can do that. I'm thinking we won't be waiting 5 years for the next one! Of course, I'm always a sucker for my kids and want them to join in all the fun. So who knows?! Thanks sweetheart for an amazing way to celebrate 14 years or marriage!!