A Family that Surfs Together. . .

We totally surfed today, Dude.  It was so rad and tubular and hang ten.  Cowabunga, dude.   All of us got up (except Avery, who didn't try).  G had a hard time with it and was up for a short second so we didn't get a pic.  We're totally doing that again.

 

Mele Kalikimaka Day 4

Today was Sunday, so we decided to keep it low key as much as possible.  We started with a church at the local little branch here in Hanalei.  We were a little late, but still were able to get there in time to take the sacrament and listen to the talks, which were very good.

Afterwards, we went home to regroup and eat a bit.  We then hopped in the car for a long drive around the island, stopping at a couple of sites along the way and ending at Waimea Canyon, "The Grand Canyon of Hawaii."  We were in the car for a long time, going along really windy roads.  A few of the kids got a bit car sick, but enjoyed their first Coke to settle their tummies.  Ben commented that we broke some pretty big family rules by shopping on Sunday (yummy Hawaiian shave ice) and drinking Coke (I know, I know, funny little rule with the Coke.)

 At Waimea Canyon.  It really was beautiful- but we had neglected to bring the jackets we knew we needed, and Garrett got stung by a bee, oh, and we had some really yucky tummies- so we didn't stay long.

Mele Kalikimaka Day 3

No pics of this yet because I need to get them from Amy.  This day we went on a grand adventure.  Tom was sick (poor guy) so he and Avery stayed home while we went off to a fantastic adventure that started with a long, exhausting 45 minute kayak ride up a river.  When we got the the end of the river, we embarked on a MUDDY 45 minute hike.  When I say muddy, I mean it looked like we had brown socks up to our calves.  It was sloppy and ridiculous, but fun.  Thankfully, when we finished we ended up at a gorgeous waterfall where we could wash off, swim and make a wish behind the powerful falls.  Ben ventured under the falls and found that the intense water shooting down rocks from 120 feet above was not a soft shower of water.  Always the adventurer.  I didn't bring my water camera, but Amy did- so hopefully the pics turned out well.  Either way, it was a fun adventure.

Here are the pics Amy sent me.  There is no rhyme or reason to the order- but whatevs.

Mele Kalikimaka Days 1 & 2

Not much to say about Day 1.  We went to the airport, flew to LA, ate some McDonalds and then boarded another airplane for a LONG, LONG, LOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG flight to Kauai.  The kids actually did really well.  The last two hours were a bit difficult, but they rose to the  occasion.  We got to Kauai at about 6:30 Hawaii time, 9:30 Utah time.  Then we had to get our car, get some groceries at Walmart and Costco and drive about 40 minutes to our condo.  We immediately loved our spacious, nice condo that had room for even our teenagers to stretch out.  But we didn't know how nice the place was until the next morning when we woke up to sunlight and saw the view.

And this is what we woke up to.  This is actually the view from our patios (we have 3 patios in our condo).  We're at Hanalei Bay Beach Resort and our condo has a direct view of Hanalei Bay.  It's pretty phenomenal.  

 Pictures of the day on the beach.  The kids had so much fun playing in the surf and loving the water. Avery struck a surfer pose every time I pulled out the camera.

 Boogie boarding was the most fun.

 Or playing in the sand.

 We went exploring and found a fantastic cave.

 These two best friends have been inseparable.  I don't have many pics of Scotty because he's always so busy with Cal.