Hawaii with Work 2022 Plus Also, Kauai

Man, I’ve been traveling a lot. Like, A LOT. But hopefully this is the last trip for a while. I was really looking forward to this week in Hawaii but I was so ready to go home after 3 days. 

We left early on Monday morning out of LAX. Tanner was frantic and worried that we were going to miss our flight. We did not. He was then very excited about the breakfast cheesey bun they gave us on board for breakfast. We had a 5 hour layover in Kauai and we took the free Marriott Shuttle to the hotel where we stayed at the end of the week. We were both not very impressed with the property but the beach looked nice. I called to check in with the kids (by now they were home from school) and wish Rayleigh a Happy Birthday. But when I finally got to talk to her she was sobbing! Parker went with Kim to pick up the kids from school and manhandled Rayleigh out of the middle seat because he doesn’t like it when she sits there. I was FURIOUS with Parker. Like, I sat down at this resort in beautiful Kauai and yelled and cried. I spent an hour dealing with that. How embarrassing that Kim had to witness that? How awful for Parker to treat his sister like that- especially on her BIRTHDAY. I hate that I happened. I hated that I was gone. I. Was. Livid. 

Tanner gave me space to settle down and we grabbed some nachos on the beach and then went back to the airport were we sat for 3 hours because our flight was delayed. It was fine. We had nothing else to do so we just sat there. But my type A personality couldn’t handle not being productive and I was not happy. “What am I doing here….” When we finally arrived in Kona, our Uber was $75 (outrageous) but we made it to the Hilton just in time to partake of the company dinner. It was 11pm California time but we sat down to eat. When we walked in, it was kind of awkward but Kim came up and gave me a big hug and I really appreciated that. I ordered the most expensive fish on the menu along with a Lava Flow and it was delicious. 

That night we crashed into bed. It was like 1am CA time and Tanner needed to get up early for a work meeting. But as soon as I fell asleep, I woke up again to discover that to my horror, I had a UTI. Ironically, I’d brought AZO which I’ve NEVER done before but I was so glad I had it. I was finally able to sleep from about 4am-8am and Tanner went to his meetings. He was able to secure me an Rx and borrowed someone’s car to go pick it up for me. How grateful I am for Tanner! And how thankful I am that we were JUST in Kona and Tanner knew right where to go to get the medicine. He also picked up some fruit, yogurt, and drinks to keep in our room. 

I spent almost the entire day relaxing in the room and let me tell you, it was the highlight of the week. I took an extra long shower, I read, I did yoga… all with the doors wide open to the ocean and with the dolphins swimming down below. It was heavenly. 

That night, I was feeling much better and we met up with everyone at the Marriott at the Mauna Kea for dinner. Jeremy doesn’t work for North American anymore but he’d already booked his flights through the company so they decided to come- but they weren’t going to stay at the Hilton. Dinner together was SO nice and we celebrated Trevor’s birthday, too. We each went around saying something nice about him and we ended with our loving thoughts for Jeremy and Liz. Everyone cried. It was sweet. After dinner we went night swimming in the warm pool under the bright stars. It was truly a magical night. 

The next day, Wednesday, there was a company beach party at Hapuna Bay. Kyle and Jessica shared their sweet ride with us and we stopped by Bob and Lisa’s place to grab some chairs and umbrellas. The lunch the guys made for us was super yummy and we enjoyed swimming and relaxing on the beach. Right when we arrived, though, I finally had my interview with Rondo for that kinder aide job! It was super surreal zooming with them as I had my toes in the soft Hawaiian sand and warm ocean water while I answered their interview questions. Hopefully I get the job!

After the beach, we went to Obisic which was really the only reason I even wanted to go to Hawaii in the first place. It was soooo good and I’m so glad we made the effort to go! We met up with everyone there and then went back to the hotel to go to bed but apparently a bunch of people went back up to the Marriott to swim with the mantas and didn’t tell us. They also went on a snorkel tour that morning and didn’t invite us. So, that was not nice. 

Thursday, we got up early and drove to the other side of the island with Kyle and Jessica to ride e-bikes with everyone around Volcano National Park. Luckily, I packed snacks in a cooler because we thought we didn’t have time to stop and eat (everyone else did, apparently) I also thought our bike tour came with lunch, but it did not. So I was starving. The e-bikes were super fun though and it was fun being all together on an adventure. We learned more about the volcanos and the history and geology of Hawaii. After that, we visited a couple of waterfalls. One, we hiked down to and swam under it. It was one highlights of the trip, for sure! The guys all got in and jumped off the waterfall but I was the only girl who got in. It felt so good!

We rushed home to make it in time to a dinner that we were invited to at the Fairmont. I was happy we were invited but the other 2 couples that we were with were NOT. We drove over with one couple but they ditched us when dinner was over and I wanted to cry. It was the 3rd time that week that we’d been excluded. But really, the most hurtful was when we were sitting eating dinner and I was completely excluded from the conversation. The girls never talked to me or asked me questions or drew me into the conversation. It was deeply hurtful and I was REALLY mad. But I ordered steak and lobster and 2 appetizers and 2 lava flows. So that was nice. We didn’t know why we were invited to his fancy dinner by Tanner’s boss and we still don’t know. But it was nice non the less. I went to bed feeling really sad and I desperately wanted to talk to my friend and be home. 

We left Kona early Friday morning and, though we were happy to leave the work people behind, we were sad to leave the gorgeous view. But we flew to Kauai, grabbed our rental car, and found a good local spot to get teriyaki chicken. It took forever! But it was worth it. So yummy. We drove all around the island with the Shaka guide and got a good feel for the island. It is gorgeous and we already want to come back and explore at a slower pace. We saw some waterfalls, viewed some epic look outs, did one smallish hike, and one bigger one called the Sleeping Giant. Kauai is all about adventure, for sure! 

That night we attended an awesome luau. The story was all about family and Hawaiian culture and passing our light, our torch, down from one generation to the other. At the end, the female lead had a baby and I almost cried. It was so moving. The food was so good, too, and it was nice being there with JUST Tanner.

 

Saturday, we woke up to catch a little bit of the sunrise and check out our breathtaking view from the 9th floor of our hotel. The property looks out over a beautiful bay. We hopped in the car again and set off on a full day adventure around the island with the Shaka Guide. 

We saw some waterfalls, visited some beaches (we definitely need to come back and spend more time at the beach), saw a lighthouse, and gaped over Waimea Canyon. We drove all the way to the top to see the view but when we got there, it was in the clouds! Wa waaaa We made our way back down the canyon and boarded a boat for our NA Pali Coast Sunset Tour.  

Andrea just recently went to Kauai and when I asked what’s the ONE thing we should do, she recommended Captain Andy’s NAPali Coast Sunset Cruise. It was gorgeous and Tanner and I love being on the water. They fed us a delicious dinner and taught us more about the history of the coast line. We relaxed on the boat and soaked it all in. We watched the sunset and took pictures. It was a great day. 

Sunday, we should have gone to a local ward, that would have been cool. Or we could have zoomed our ward and saw Erika’s son’s farewell talk but I didn’t know he was giving a talk- no one told me. Oh well. We had a slower morning. I sat out on the balcony and read my scriptures. Tanner slept a little longer. We returned the car and went back to the airport, ate some lunch, and now we are flying home. I can’t wait to be home. I hate leaving my kids and I really don’t want to do so again for a very long time. Like Jack Johnson says, “It’s always better when we’re together.”

Aloha!

PS: Kim and Monte did a fantastic job watching our kids for the first time! They had a great week and Monte did a ton of house projects for us. We’ll have to get the full story of how their week went tomorrow when we are all home and rested. They flew home while we flew home. Parker is babysitting until we arrive tonight around midnight. The kids called several times and they were always happy and seemed to really enjoy their time with their grandparents. And I am very grateful! Hopefully they had a good time and would be willing to come back again someday. 

Highlights: 

1. Fun and fancy dinners with our work family  

2. EBike around Volcano National Park

3. Swimming in the warm ocean 

4. Obisic

5. View of the ocean/dolphins from our room

6. Swimming under a waterfall 

7. Night swimming

8. Hiking in Kauai with Tanner

9. The luau

10. The sunset cruise up the NAPali Coast

Lowlights:

Expensive Ubers

Flight Delays

UTI

Feeling Excluded

Not enough time at the beach

NOT ENOUGH SHAVE ICE!

We had Welcome Home chalk on the driveway and this special drawing and freshly picked flowers from Ella.

Jack got a haircut from Grammy!

One child seemed to have missed us most of all...

After our terrible start to the trip with Parker, he really straighten out and was a good kid. He was kind and helpful. He's trying REALLY hard to earn that iphone.