HAWAII 2010 IN PICTURES

 

HAWAII 2010

Mom and dad gave us another opportunity to travel to Kauai with all my siblings and the cousins. We stayed at Princeville again and as always it was such a treat. It was a wonderful week if you look over the fact that my children's faces got so sunburned that they are scabbed! What kind of mother am I? I promise I really did sunscreen them and re-apply regularly. I swear the sun is alien there. There was also a bit of chaffing going on with all the boys which was discovered when they all began to walk like bow-legged robots. But a little neosporin fixed 'em up and they were back in the sand and surf the next day. We did some of the same things as the last trip like surfing and boogie boarding, only this time we rented the boards for the week rather than just doing a lesson. I thought that renting them was way better because we were able to spend more days at the beach for far less dinero. We also had multiple shaved-ice trips with the favorite this time going to Shaved Ice Paradise. I discovered a little too early in the week that you could skip the whole shaved ice top and order straight macadamia nut ice-cream in a cone. Heaven! Like last trip we all attended a Luau together, this time the Smith Family Luau instead of the Princeville one. I think the consensus was that we all liked this years choice better. The grounds were absolutely beautiful and the whole affair was more relaxed and family friendly. Some of the men thought the dancing etc. went on a little long, but for the most part everyone had a great time. I was really proud of the kids for going out on a limb and trying many of the local foods and dishes although I don't think anyone but mom ventured as far as the Poi. Ryan and I got an afternoon to ourselves, which we shared part of with Andrew and Shelly who also had a few hours without kids. (we watched Baldwin kids earlier in the week for A and C while they golfed with A and R )We went to this gorgeous little protected cove in Hanalei and snorkeled and walked on the beach among the "coconuts". Ryan and I also stopped at a juice bar and got the most amazing fresh squeezed juice concoctions. We rounded out the week with a boat dive for Ryan and a girls day at the spa for me and all the ladies. Why have we not done that before???? The kids loved ordering lunch by the pool and practically drowning themselves drinking POG. There was lots of noise (so sorry for the other guests) and games of "crush the carrier" on the lawn for the kids and late nights of "catch-phrase" for us adults. Mostly though it was just so great to catch up with everyone and spend time with our kids away from all the typical stresses of life. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family around us.

Easter Eggs

Just a fun afternoon of getting into the Easter spirit. It was such a nice weekend with General Conference being the same weekend and all. We ate a yummy Easter breakfast this year instead of a big dinner and that was a nice change of pace. The boys love breakfast the best anyway, so it was a winner all the way around. Then we watched both sessions of conference and dyed our eggs in between. I wish every Easter weekend could be so relaxed and peaceful. It really gave us a chance to focus on what why we were celebrating in the first place.

FINAL FOUR FRENZY

Basketball season has always been a big deal around our house because of Ryans love of the game. This year one of his "bucket list" dreams came true. My dad had tickets to the sweet sixteen and the elite eight playoff games and invited Ryan to go. We made the trip to Utah where he and Caden were able to see Syracuse vs. Butler and Kansas State vs. Xavier. Then a couple of nights later he went to the Kansas State vs. Butler game. He and Caden both had such a great time and the games were very suspenseful and fun. The night of the actual finals we made a fun dinner of appetizer type foods and had a carpet picnic in the family room while we watched the game. As you can tell by the "attire" that AJ is wearing, it was a very informal affair!

CROSSING OVER

It's official- Caden is no longer a little boy. He earned his Weblos badge and crossed over from Cub scouts to Boy scouts last Thursday. It was a bit anti-climactic for him and for us because he has been in boy scouts for a month. Because his birthday is a week before Christmas and pack meeting was scheduled early in the month of December due to the holidays he wasn't able to cross over on time. He was a good sport about it and was really happy other than the fact that he didn't actually get an arrow (which most of the other boys is our ward have gotten, but we have a new cub master and I guess he is not doing that)for earning his arrow of light award. He also earned his compass points badge and the religious knot which can both go with him on his Boy scout journey along with the arrow of light. He has worked so hard and is looking forward to all the fun he is going to have as he continues is scouting. Way to go son!

HANGING BY A THREAD

Jack has once again become Jack-o-lantern! Last week he lost one of his upper anterior teeth and the other has been hanging on for dear life. The other night I found Jack in the bathroom perched on the counter facing the mirror. He had dental floss wrapped around the base of his tooth and he was pulling hard! He explained to me that this was how his friend Chase pulled his tooth out and would I give him five bucks if he pulled out his own? I said I definitely would give him five bucks since I could clearly see that the tooth was still firmly attached on one side and not ready to come out. Well either he has a super high pain tolerance or is highly motivated by money but he screwed up his face and yanked that sucker right out of his head! I couldn't believe it when he told me it was out - "you owe me five bucks" was all he said.

HOOPS

Jack is playing hotshots basketball this winter/spring and having "a ball"! Ryan is helping out the team as well and I purposefully don't say "coaching" because it is more like herding. It is so much fun for him and for us to watch him and his teamates run up and down the court. He is staying on for another session and hopefully will actually be able to refine some of the skills they have been working on.