Hawaii With Our Kids for the First Time!

We arrived in San Diego a little later than I had anticipated so the kids fell asleep on the way down. When we got to the hotel, they were rested- to put it nicely. We realized that the room we were assigned only had 2 double beds and the upgrade to the suite was an additional $150 which made Tanner really upset. The kids were going crazy and no one really slept until around midnight. We had an early wake up call and I was exhausted but Tanner was restless. He ended up sleeping on the floor and was NOT happy about that. I was a nervous wreck about the big travel day but it all ended up going very smoothly. We had no hiccups and the plane had over 100 empty seats. We had the whole back of the plane to ourselves!

When the plane finally landed we all took a deep breath and filled our lungs with paradise. Pulling up to Ko Olina, my heart and mind flooded with thoughts and memories of Margie Keliiliki and I felt her so close! I knew she wanted us to have a wonderful week in her Hawaii and let me tell you, WE DID!

After we got to our room, had our jaws drop at the view, and unpack a little bit, Tanner and I left the kids and went to Costco. $600 later, we had a cart full of yummy food for the week. It was a struggle getting all of the food up to our room with no luggage cart and we ended up dropping 3 dozen eggs. It was ridiculous and we will maybe laugh about it someday...

But we rushed to change our clothes and then ran down to the beach to meet our friends! The sunset was the most gorgeous of the entire week with a great big rainbow shining across the sky! The kids jumped into the water and we firmly dug our toes into the soft sand. Wow! We made it! We are together as a family with our friends in Hawaii! A complete and total dream come true!

DAY 2

The next day was Sunday and we all woke way up before the sun. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast as we watched the sunrise and participated in ZOOM primary and sacrament meeting before heading up to Erika’s room for our own little private sacrament meeting together. Josh gave a lesson on finding joy and how we can feel the most joy when we freely give to others the things we can’t put a price tag on: love, forgiveness, patience, kindness, time...

Everyone went to Pearl Harbor but my kids were dying to see the water slide at the pool so we headed down there instead. Wow! The pool was amazing and by the end of the week I think my kids had gone down that slide at least 250 times. We played on the beach too! I love how the water is so clear and warm. We even swam with fish. We had chicken n rice in our room for dinner and joined our friends up in Jill’s room for dinner #2 and dessert. The kids were so stoked to be together, it was so fun!

DAY 3

Monday, we once again woke up before the sun (which was kinda my favorite thing- I’d sit out on the balcony and watch the sunrise and just have some quiet time), ate a good breakfast with a yummy açaí smoothie, and met our friends down at the pool. The mom’s spent a glorious 1/2 hour down at the beach while the guys stayed at the pool with the kids. Then we all walked down to the beach for a couple hours and had a nice picnic lunch. After that, we joined the Hundley’s on a little adventure to the North Shore. We stopped by some food trucks for a bite to eat and then grabbed some shave ice Matsumoto’s. We then drove up to Sunset Beach to watch the sunset. Tanner flew his drone and got some super cool shots. I was having a panic attack with the kids cuz the surf was insane and I was sure my kids would get swept off to sea if they stepped foot in the water. The sunset was pretty though and it was a fun afternoon. The kids were FULLY asleep by the time we got back to the hotel and I had to pretty much get Rayleigh to bed while she was asleep, shower and all!

DAY 4

Tuesday was another fun day of pool and beach. I took some fun photos with the go pro at the pool but they somehow got erased. Bummer. The kids LOVED the pool with the slide, different levels, waterfalls, and rocks to jump off of. We had another picnic on the beach and enjoyed a few hours there together. Paradise! The kids played so well together and everyone was so happy! I was able to take Parker to a luau with everyone while tanner kept the little ones home and put them to bed. Parker and I sat with the big kids and it was really awesome! The show was fantastic and I loved learning about island culture, watching the beautiful hula dancing and eating the delicious food! The pig was roasted in the sand all day and made just for us! Parker loved the fire dancer- that was his favorite. It was nice being together, just the 2 of us... with all our friends.

DAY 5

Wednesday we set off on an adventure with everyone together. We wore our matching shirts and headed to Waimea Valley. When we got there, we entered the beautiful jungle garden with a mission president, his wife, and 3 sister missionaries. What a nice surprise! We hiked through the lush landscape and Tanner and I had fond memories of the last time we went there- truly magical. We were all super hot and sweaty by the time we made it to the waterfall and the cool water felt so good... well, most of us appreciated it. Ella was NOT a fan. Too cold for her! But swimming under a real life waterfall is one of those super special experiences that I LOVE. We all felt invigorated after that. And hungry! Once again, I was well prepared with a picnic lunch. We hopped over to Sharks Cove and went snorkeling while Tanner flew his drone. Josh bought some frozen peas and made the fish swarm us which was super fun! Once Ella got some goggles on and looked down, she was shocked and surprised at all the fish and couldn’t get enough! Of course, Rayleigh was totally in her element and Jack had fun with his little buddies until they kept asking him who his crush was... he has no idea what that means! Parker wouldn’t have enjoyed this vacation NEARLY as much if he hadn’t been here with a few of his good friends.

After snorkeling and playing on the beach, we headed to 7 Brothers for lunch. Ella fell asleep in the car so I sat there with her in the peace and quiet. Tanner ordered me some ice cream and it was honestly some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had.... just from a little food shack in Kahuku. When we were done with lunch, we made a visit to the Laie temple. The moment we stepped foot on the grounds my heart flooded with the spirit. I miss the temple so much!!!!! It made me so happy to be there. The kids ran around and seemed to feel of the spirit too. They kept saying, “I love you so much!”

It was a long drive home due to some traffic and Parker got the news that he needs to finish up some more math to pull his grade up and that broke his heart. The car ride was definitely a low light of the trip but I am so proud of Parker for working so hard to get his assignments done and it was nice to see that he truly does care so much about his school success. 

He was not up to hanging out with his friends that night which worked out cuz Tanner and I went up to Jill’s room for some games with our friends. Tanner made me mad so I was upset with him for not eating the fish I made and then being mean to me about it. So I wasn’t in the best mood and I was desperately tired.   But it was fun to have adult time and playing games is always a good time.

DAY 6

Thursday morning, Tanner woke up early with me (by now, the kids were staying up later and later and waking up later so I had a good hour in the mornings to myself before they woke up). But I wanted to go down to the Lagoon and see the sea turtles and he came with me. We saw some and it was so cool! We took a walk down to the next lagoon and up to Aulani and talked the whole way. We connected and it was good. It’s just hard to be intimate when you’re on vacation with all of your kids and Tanner was feeling slightly neglected. When we got back to the room, the kids were happily watching TV and eating a frozen pizza for breakfast.

Tanner went with the Hundley’s and took Parker to Kualoa Ranch for a movie tour. They saw where a bunch of movies were filmed including Jurassic Park. That side of the island is so pretty and green. They had a good time! I stayed at the hotel with the kids and they didn’t seem to even want to leave the room! We’d been playing hard all week and they were needing some rest, I guess.  But I finally convinced them to go down to the pool and we went to the beach with everyone who didn’t go on the movie tour. It was everyone’s last day besides us. We got to Hawaii a day after everyone. So we all just relaxed on the beach and enjoyed the afternoon and sunset together. That night, Tanner grilled up the best steaks for our dinner! We had broccoli and mushrooms too and we always baked at least one pan of chocolate chip cookies for dessert each day. Parker planned a “mutual” activity for the big kids in the Hundley’s room. They watched Star Wars, ate popcorn, and played games. He said he laughed so hard, his stomach hurt! I’m so glad he had such a good time! Rayleigh went up there for a while too, and played games with the Mias.

Day 7

Friday was our last full day in Hawaii and it was go big or go home! We chartered a boat to to open sea and it was epic! We walked right over to the harbor from our hotel and we were setting sail by sunrise. Tanner deep sea fished and caught a cool fish first thing. Then he and Parker scuba dived while the kids and I snorkeled! We had fish food and it made hundreds of fish swim all around us! Ella was hesitant at first, but then she started jumping off the floating mat and having the time of her life. Jack was my best snorkeler and I was proud of all of them for being brave in the “dipe sea”- as Ella calls it. We headed to a second, more shallow dive site and this time Parker and Tanner were able to use the sea bobs which they said were a TON of fun! The girls stayed on the boat while Jack and I swam with the fish and we even saw a turtle!

After that, I kinda started to get sea sick but they gave me this special bracelet that sent an electrical current on my wrist and it totally worked! We sailed over to a humpback whale and the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced was hearing the whale songs from way down deep. It was incredible!!! I love being in the open ocean! It’s so freeing and grounding and exhilarating and totally feeds my soul. We all loved it!

We walked back to the hotel and had lunch and then enjoyed one last pool session. Rayleigh and Jack are totally going to miss the super fun pool. We went back to the room for some quiet time and watched 50 First Dates while Ella took a nap on my lap. Then we went down to the beach for one final sunset. We gave each girl a lei (Ella didn’t want to wear hers) and had a mini photo shoot. The kids made friends with some cute little girls in the water and we sat on the sand and said goodbye to our island paradise.

Back in the room, we ate dinner and watched Blue Crush. No one wanted to go to bed- we didn’t want our epic vacation to end!

Day 8

We woke up the next day and watched the sunrise one more time, Tanner made us French toast and bacon, we packed up, and we are now somewhere over the Pacific Ocean flying home.

I don’t think we could have had a better week. Honestly. Good friends. Good food. Good times. The best beach with the best pool. An amazing room with an incredible view. The weather was everything you’d expect from an island paradise. Not too hot and not too cold and enough humidity to make it luxurious. I’m so lucky to have Tanner who works so hard to provide for our family and who funded this trip of a lifetime for us. I’m blessed with great friends who uplift me and help me life a fulfilling life. I hope we can return to Hawaii someday soon!!!