Thursday Morning started early, with an 8:30 visit to the USS Arizona. That was the only place Boston asked to go to on the island. I thought that was pretty cool for a boy his age. Before they ferried us over there, they have you watch a video about the boming of Pearl Harbor. I thought it was going to be a boring video, like they show at Hanauma Bay, but I actaully really enjoyed it and so did the kids. They were all paying attention (minus Sophia half way through). I learned a lot about Pearl Harbor. Aubrei studied a little about Pearl Harbor in school this year, so she knew a lot about what she learned in the video. I know I am an emotional person already, but it really was a moving experience to visit the site of the USS Arizona, and think of that day and all the lives that were lost. When we got back to the harbor we took the "Memory Walk", which had plaques with details of that day. We then took the Bowfin submarine tour. That was fun and intresting to see the inside of the submarine. Honestly I don't know how someone can live in a submarine. I was getting clausterphobic at the beginning of the tour, and the sleeping conditions looked so uncomfortable! It made me have a greater apprection for those seaman that served to protect our rights and freedoms.
After the tour, he headed back to the hotel for our time share spill. We had sat throughone 9 years ago, and almost bought one then. It was good we didn't. We are now looking foward to visiting Hawaii yearly now! After our time share presentation, we grabbed the kids and hit the pool and beach. I LOVE this hotel. The beach is perfect, and the pool area is so much fun. I had fun playing hide and go seek in the lagoons with the kids, and getting shaved ice from the pool food shack. After several hours in the sun, we headed to the hotel to get dressed for the night. Thursday night was our Waikiki night. We tried the Puka Dog (now called Hula Dog) that was featured on the Travel Channel. My friend recommended trying it. Their lemonades were super yummy, and their sauces on the dogs were so good. The buns were just to big. I felt like I was eating a big chunck of bread with a little bit of hot dog. The bun was yummy though. The bun is shaped like a cylinder wiht a hole cut out for the dog. You hold it upright, and all the sauces slide down to the bottom. I think if the bun was cut like a normal bun, it would have been a more enjoyable dog! We had to try it though for the experience, and it was worth it for that lemonade! So yummy! By the store was a booth with a bunch of parrots. That kept the kids entertained while we ate.
Thursday night was our Waikiki night. We tried the Puka Dog (now called Hula Dog) that was featured on the Travel Channel. My friend recommended trying it. Their lemonades were super yummy, and their sauces on the dogs were so good. The buns were just to big. I felt like I was eating a big chunck of bread with a little bit of hot dog. The bun was yummy though. The bun is shaped like a cylinder wiht a hole cut out for the dog. You hold it upright, and all the sauces slide down to the bottom. I think if the bun was cut like a normal bun, it would have been a more enjoyable dog! We had to try it though for the experience, and it was worth it for that lemonade! So yummy! By the store was a booth with a bunch of parrots. That kept the kids entertained while we ate.
After dinner we started walking around Waikiki. We found a place that had those human hamster balls in water. The kids convinced me to do it with them. It was tiring and hot. I think I worked off my hot dog in that thing. The kids had a fun time doing that. They also had a great time watching the street performers and shopping. The found some interesting Hawaain trinkets in the flea market section of Waikiki. They came out of the Quicksliver with something, and Boston had a good loot going, that he paid for himself, which incuded new short, shoes, t-shirt, and rash guard. The rest of them got shirts that said Hawaii on it. Better quaility than the swap meet ones!:) The kids wanted to stay and shop longer, but it was late and the drive back added another 45 mintus to our bedtime.
Day Three was our Polynesian Cultural Center Day. We woke up early, hoping to hit Pearl Harbor before we headed up there, but they were already sold out of the early tickets. The lady at the counter was really nice, and reserved us tickets for the following morning, so we wouldn't have to do it online and pay the fee. We then had a few hours to kill and so we decided we would hit the Aloha Bowl Fea Market. Ben and I had gone years ago, and I didn't really like it. I really wasn't planning on it this time, but when we passed it, Aubrie begged to stop and so we did. The kids LOVED it. They all found various trinkets to waste their money on. Sophia got a few Hawaiian shirts with cats on them, Aubrie found an "I LOVE Hawaii" shirt, and bought some necklaces for her friends. She is always so thoughtful when it comes to her friends, and she always uses her own money. I bought her a bag to carry her books around between classes, and we also bought Aubrie and Sophia some luggage. They were perfect carry-ons with a Hawaiian print. I have been wanting to get them their own luggage for awhile, and the price couldn't be better. We wont have a problem ever finding their luggage, if we needed to check it, that is. The boys got some sunglasses (so did the girls) Boston got a Hawaiian mask that is now hanging in his bathroom , which goes great with the beach theme he already has in there. Ethan got some type of dragon carving. He always surprises me with things he likes. This time the Flea Market was fun. Funny how kids can do that!
After about an hour there, we headed up towards the North Shore, and made a short stop at the Dole Plantation for lunch and their yummy Pineapple Whips. They have all these pearl oyster booths set up out front, and Aubrie couldn't resist the draw of opening one up. (She takes after my Mom) She spent her own money to open one. Black is the rarest, and she spent a few minutes trying to decide what oyster to pick. (She wanted a Black so bad!) We all gathered around to see what her oyster had hiding in its shell, and low and behold the lady uncovered a BLACK pearl! Ben made a funny joke about it being a Jack Sparrow (Black Pearl, get it? haha). Aubrie was elated that she got black pearl! She called my Mom up right away to tell her all about it!
We then headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We got a SWEET deal on tickets. Ben spoke to one of the workers a few days earlier and she got us the employee discount, which was HUGE! I definitely felt much better about the rest of our expenses after that one was practically obliterated! The kids had a lot of fun there. Their favorite thing was trying to make fire, and the fishing station. Sophia was called up to dance during the Figi show, and after that she started to get a big head, thinking she was the Star of every show. Aubrie is a good sport with Sophia always having the spotlight. In fact, she tries to help her get picked for things now. The boys were on stage at the Samoan Family show, and had to dance on stage with coconut shells. Ben got pulled up to play the drums at the Tonga show. And we all had fun rowing the canoes. We had a lot of fun pictures to choose from at the end of the night! The food this time wasn't the best. In fact, I have to say it was pretty bad. I definitely would not go with the cheaper dinner, but I couldn't really ask for the nicer once since we were getting such a sweet deal. The Prime Rib dinner Ben and I had there last time was much better. The show definitely made up for it. It has been 9 years since I have seen that show, and I didn't start remembering it until half way through. The end of the show included fire, and is AMAZING. The kids LOVED that part. The show ended at 9:00 and we didn't get home till 10:30. Going to the Polynesian Cultural Center takes up a full day. I'm glad we did it when the kids were younger though, because I think it won't be as exciting for them when they are older. Now that's one more thing checked off our list of things to do with the kids! When we got home we were TIRED! We all crashed pretty early, knowing we had to get to Pearl Harbor EARLY the next day!
Sleeping-in the first day in Hawaii never works for me. In fact, it's usually not until the 3rd or 4th day that I can sleep in. The girls and I were up by 6 and after laying around for about an hour, we finally got out of bed and got going and got the boys up to start our full day on the island. I wanted to get most of the food stops checked off, so we would have a full day at the end of the week to just hang out at the resort. We started our day at Diamond Head. Ben and I had never done that hike, and decided that would be our first stop before it got to hot. Everyone else had that idea, because when we got there we had to wait 15 minutes for a parking spot. We stocked up on some waters, and then started hiking. The kids started to complain at first, and soon the scenery took their minds off the work. Breath taking views, and hiking up stairs and through tunnels made it a fun hike for all. I also was happy to start my day with perhaps the only exercise I would get for the week!:) We finished our hike with shaved ice from a Shaved Ice Shack at the bottom. Yum!
Diamond Head
We then headed around the southeast shoreline. Right past Hanauma Bay, we stopped at the Halona Blowhole. We hiked down to it, instead of watching it from above. We hiked down to the beach that leads to the blowhole. There was a nice area of sand, if you wanted to make a beach day out of it. You had to walk over rock to get to the blowhole. There were a lot of big black crabs hiding out on the rocks. We were having fun looking for them. At one point we were all standing close to the edge of the rocks checking out the crabs. Suddenly I hear Ben and Aubrie scream and start running backwards. I didn't see the huge wave coming towards us. It soaked us and almost knocked Sophia right out of Ben's hands. Luckily Ben had just put away the video camera! It was a great memory. We then made it over to the blow hole. Right as we leaned over to look down into it, a wave came in and pushed water through it, staying water everywhere. We got that on tape! The kids really enjoyed that stop.
Our next destination was up by the temple. We were ready for lunch and heard the shrimp shacks up there were the best. We stopped at Fumi's, another "Molly suggestion" The shrimp was yummy. I got the spicy shrimp and it was the best. Everyone was eating mine. After lunch at the shrimp shack, which luckily had a hamburger for Ethan, we were headed to Ted's Bakery. They have the best chocolate pie, with a coconut layer. Sophia and Boston refused to eat at the Fumi's Shrimp Shack, so we ordered them some lunch and got a few pieces of pie to all enjoy. All the tables were full, and a gentleman with a little dog invited us to sit with him. Aubrie and I ate our pie while the others waited for their lunch. Then the guys wife and daughter showed up with a whole pie. They said it was cheaper that way, but that they weren't going home so they gave us the rest. So we all got a piece for ourselves. They were locals on Spring Break. How nice of them to not only share their table, but that awesome pie.
After stuffing ourselves, we stopped at Sharks Cove. On the way there we passed a lot of the north shore beaches. All the sudden Boston squeals and says , " EWWWW I just saw one of those butt crack swimsuits!" Glad that grosses him out! Sharks cove was fun for the kids. It a shallow cove where you can find sea life. Aubrie was in HEAVEN! She got her Rocky Point after all:) We spent a little over an hour there. Aubrie found a HUGE starfish. She was going to take it home, but after walking a short distance with it, she realized how bad it was going to stink up the car, and decided to leave it. I'm glad I wasn't the one that had to tell her to leave it! We decided that we would come back again, with snorkel gear another day, because they had so much fun.
A common pass time for Ethan in between stops!
Sophia's cat Accident!
It was getting late, and the kids had been begging to go back and swim, so we ended our day with more shaved ice at Aoki's shaved ice. Everyone raved about Matsumoto's, but Molly swore that Aoki's was just as good and not as crowded. I got mine with ice-cream on the bottom. The ice was perfect and it was all so delish. The BEST I have ever had!! The kids got ice cream instead, and they missed out. Just another reason to go back.
We finally made our way to the hotel. The kids had a blast playing tag in the Lagoon's while Ben and I soaked in the hot tub. New people kept coming in and out of the hot tub that we would strike conversations with. Before we knew it we had been in the hot tub for two hours. I was just so impressed how friendly everyone was. In a nice Resort like that, it was refreshing that people were so down to earth, and not snooty. I can't handle snootiness. Thats why I always resist joining country clubs. After we had completely pruned our bodies, we finally made it back to our villa for more cereal, and some TV. Sophia knocked out right away, and the rest of us watched Cupcake Wars and Extreme Foods (I think that's what it was called). Another great day on Oahu!
Last summer we booked a family trip to Hawaii. Aubrie and Boston have been asking for years, especially Boston. Ben and I decided that it would be most ideal to wait until Sophia was 5 so that all our kids could appreciate it and remember it! I think the kids finally gave up on ever going, because by the time we booked it they weren't asking anymore. That made it even easier to surprise them. We kept the trip a secret from everyone, minus a few family members, knowing that if anyone in the Ward knew, it would definitely get out. Well, I didn't realize that our Spring Break fell over Ethan's baptism date, so in the last week it got out where we were going. I threatened (lol) the people who knew with secrecy! I was so nervous the Sunday before we left that someone would mention something. When we sat down in sacrament a guy behind us said, "Are you excited for your cruise?" Luckily he was misinformed and we went on the Disney Cruise last Spring Break, so we were able to play that off. We made it out of church with no spoilers!
The kids kept asking what we were doing for the break, and kept begging to do something. Whenever the boys would ask, "Can you take me to Jump Street?" or " Can you take me to (fill in the blank) over the break", I would just say "Sure!" They thought I was the best Mom ever, and I knew they would forget all about it when we were in Hawaii! Aubrie wouldn't settle for any of those things, and kept begging me to convince Ben to go to Rocky Point. On Sunday, I pretended to have a "talk" with Ben in our room, and then told the kids that we were going to California to go to Disneyland. We told them we were going to leave really early so we could get to the park early. We all hurried and got to packing. Some of my friends thought it was nuts that I waited that long to pack, but that would have ruined the surprise, and besides its not hard to pack for Hawaii! If you forget something, you can buy it there.
We had to leave our house at 5 am to get to the airport on time. That meant I was up at 4 and the kid up at 4:30. We successfully made it out in time, and stopped at Dunkin Donuts on the way out. We took took Happy Valley to the 17 to throw them off our normal route. As we took the exit to the Airport the Aubrie said, "What are we doing here?" We yelled "Surprise! We are flying to California!" They were so excited. Sophia was squealing with delight! When we got the Hawaiian check out counter, they started to get suspicious. We convinced them that it was only a leg on Hawaiian that stopped in LA, and that the tickets were cheap because they didn't have enough Phoenix flyer's going to Honolulu. They finally bought that when I started to make them feel guilty for thinking we would go to Hawaii after we just went on a cruise. When we were at the gate and handed them their tickets, Aubrie saw the destination as Honolulu. They weren't jumping around in excitement like I thought they were. Aubrie said later it was because there were people around. If I had to do it over, I think when we got to the airport I would have told them then. It was still a great surprise and they were excited!
The flight was a long 6 1/2 hours. For some reason I thought it was 5. It made me even more grateful we waited till Sophia was 5 to make the trip. A new iPad (Ben's little surprise), iPods, etc. entertained them. Boston also had his Hunger Games book to take up some of his time. I was SOOOO tired that I couldn't see straight to read, but couldn't sleep either.
We arrived in Honolulu around noon. Our first stop was Big Kahuna's Pizza. I emailed my friend Molly who lived there, and got all the good eating spots, etc. The pizza and cheese balls were Super yummy, but we ordered way too much. We took our full belly's to the hotel. We stayed at the MarrioutKoOlina Beach Club. It is so Heavenly there! We didn't realize check in wasn't until 4. We walked the premises, and crashed on the couches in the lobby for about an hour, before our room was ready. We got settled and then headed by the pools. The pools are so great. They have an adult pool, a kid pool with a beach, and they have all these Lagoons that connect to each other. There are about 6 hot tubs around all these pool, and by the Lagoons there is a slide. On Monday's the Resort has a show. They have Hawaiian dancers, and singing, and the famous Samoan guy that used to be at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Now he works for that resort and does a small show on Monday, and a Huge Fire show on Tuesdays. Part of the Monday show they invited the kids to come up on stage and dance. The guy then picked three kids for a dance off. The first child he chose was Sophia. She stole the crowd with her cute self, and her awesome hip shaking. She thought it was so cool that she got to do that, and she wasn't shy one bit! She liked being up there. I think we have a born performer on our hands!
After the show the kids swam, and Ben and I sat in the hot tub. We met so many people that night. One couple in particular comes with their family every year, and we hit it off really great. We look forward to seeing them there again, and in the meantime are staying on contact through Facebook. After soaking ourselves for awhile, we headed back so we could go out and get groceries. OUCH!!! The food prices are ridiculous in Hawaii, and even more ridiculous at the Safeway in Hawaii. They are building a Walmart that opened a few days after we left. We are looking forward to that next time, since we realized that Target was even cheaper than Safeway, so Walmart must be even better. When I got back to mainland and went grocery shopping everything seemed so cheap! After shopping we went home and had cereal for dinner. LOL We felt heavy after the pizza. Oh, Ben did get Wendy's and said that was the best hamburger he has ever had. I think he just said that since we gave him a hard time for getting Wendy's. We were so tired, being on Arizona time and waking up so early that day, we went to be before 10. It was a good thing because we needed all the sleep we could get for the big day that laid ahead!
Aubrie's last meet was athe Saturday before Spring Break. It was at Peoria High and there were no other family events, so this was the first time that Ben and the family got to see her compete. Aubrie did really well on the Vault and Beam. She placed 2nd and 3rd, (respectively) and 3rd all around. She medaled in every event, so she came home with 5 medals. She was beaming the whole time. I was so happy that she had a great meet when Ben was there. Perhaps that contributed to it. She is such a hard worker, and so dedicated to the sport. If Ben would build her a beam or bar in the backyard, I know I wouldn't be able to get her off of them. Despite the rigorous school work she has, she has stuck with it. I am also very proud at her willingness to not compete on Sundays. Despite the fact that she has missed half of her meets, because they fell on a Sunday, she is still one of the top girls in her group, without that experience. I know the Lord has blessed her for sticking with that commitment. The last meet is actually this Sunday. It is the Championship meet. She was VERY sad to miss it. At her level it's the last meet of the season, so it's not a qualifying meet. But all her teammates were begging her to come. She started to cry a bit, when she found out. We had a good talk in the car, and she realized that going just once would be a slippery slope where people wouldn't respect her decision as much. Luckily, she will be moving up to level 5 next year, where there are less Sunday meets. She is excited to finally be with some more girls her own age. Since she started just two years ago, she was working out with little girls from the beginning. She worked hard to move up fast, and finally it will pay off next year. I don't know how long she will take this sport, but whatever she does, she really gives it her all!
I only have on Game App on my phone, and that would be Angry Birds. When Angry Birds came out, I remember Ben and I getting addicted to it for a few nights, and then I was done with it. Of course it does serve it's purposes, like keeping Sophia quiet or occupied when I need her to be. I never thought that this game would go so huge, to the point that I would be doing an Angry Bird birthday party in the future! About six months ago Ethan used his own money to buy an Angry Bird stuffed animal. Ben didn't want him to buy it, telling me he would never use it. Well, I let him use his money as he wanted, and he still sleeps with it every night, and brings it on trips. He has become a fanatic of Angry Birds since. Luckily he isn't the only kid who is in love with these funny creatures, so when he told me he wanted an Angry Bird party there was plenty of ideas, and clip art on Pinterest to give him an AWESOME party!
This year we had his party on a half day, which was a week before his actual birthday. We did that for Boston this year, and he had a good turn out! I wanted to make sure Ethan's 8th birthday was awesome, since Boston's 8th birthday was a disaster (not having a kid in football we weren't thinking when we scheduled a Friday night party!). Boston even said to Ethan, I hope your 8th party is better than mine! (so sad) Well Ethan had a bigger turn out than I expected, and had to make a mad dash to find enough party favors, since I had bought them a month early.
I put a lot of time into this party. When the kids were younger I would spend hours making a cake and preparing favors, etc. Now I throw parties together in a few hours. I reverted back to the old ways, wanting to make this one special. I prepared these cute lanterns; thanks to my friend Monique for the idea. Then I made these party favor buckets. Inside was an Angry Bird notepad, stickers, pencil topper, and fruit snacks! I had a lot of activities planned, and the most popular and first activity was an Angry Birds game. My Awesome husband sat outside in the cold (for Arizona anyway ) the night before and filled up 50 water balloons for this game. We divided the kid into two teams, and one team used boxes to make a structure where they nestled green water balloons (representing the pigs), and each kid got a chance to throw one balloon at the boxes trying to break the green balloons. Then they switched. The team that broke the most green balloons won that round. That was by far the most favorite event of the party. After three rounds there were a few extra balloons they had fun with! The next event was the Angry Birds piñata. We haven't done one in awhile, and like I said, I was going all out! The kids had fun with that, once we figure out a place to hang it, after it broke of the hook we screwed into the patio drywall. The swing set worked!
The next event was swimming. Unfortunately I thought I turned on the hot tub, but found out I only turned on the pump when several boys were screaming as they jumped in. They soon got over it, and even migrated to the pool. Boys are CRAZY! Boston's friends get in the pool every year at his party, and his is in NOVEMBER! After swimming, Ethan opened gifts and we sang happy birthday and had cake and ice cream inside. This year I got smart and just bought those ice cream cups, so we didn't' have to scoop it! Wish I would have thought of that one about 11 years ago (Aubrie's first party)! Ethan got so many gifts. Most of them were Legos, and he also got a few awesome Angry Birds things, including a shirt. He was super happy, and so my mission was accomplished! After his party Boston and Ethan spent the next few days building every Lego kit he got.
For his actual birthday I surprised him and pulled him out of school for lunch. Ben met me at the place of his choice, which was In & Out! He was so surprised, and was beaming the whole time! I have really started to see a big change in him. He is becoming more mature and responsible (when he remember to be:). So lucky to have him for a son. He is so creative, smart, and has a tender heart. His eyes still light up when he smiles, and his laugh is so infectious, that Aubrie still comments on how she just loves his laugh. He is a good student, and wants to do what is right. What a great 8 years I have had being his Mother.
