Life as it comes...: In a nutshell...

I wanted to post about our Hawaii trip in a nutshell.

To sum it up in one word I would say....superfuncantwaittogobackgreattimewiththewholefamilylovehavingmylittlefamilytogetherallweeklonginsuchabeautifulplaceamazingtime!!!

We really did have just the most wonderful time. There were a few days that we just got to hang out at the resort. The resort is so beautiful. There are two pools that are really geared towards kids, so Grayson and Kyle had such a fun time playing around in the pool. The Lagoon pool is so neat because it is meant to be like the beach. It is really shallow for the first fifteen feet, and it has a sand floor. It was great because Gray could just walk around and play in the water. The other pool is so fun too, it has waterfalls to walk through, a water slide, and is like a big circle you can keep going round and round. My boy was a fish, we could hardly get him out to eat. He did so well in his floaty this year, I was so impressed. Emma Jo and I just relaxed by the pool, tanning our legs, and reading a book. Okay, maybe that was just me, but she had fun too, I promise.

We also had a few "field trip" days when we were on the island. The first field trip we took was on Sunday. First, we went to church, and the view from the building is amazing. I would definitely love to see that beautiful view every Sunday. After that, we went up to the North Shore to have lunch. We ate at this little place called the Grass Skirt Grill, which is my mom's favorite stop of the whole trip. It's a healthy place with really fresh fish. I love that. After lunch we all headed up to Waimea Bay, a really pretty beach with a huge rock to jump off of. We ended the day by stopping at the world famous Motsumoto's Shaved Ice. Mmmmm.....I don't think Hawaii would be the same without shaved ice. We had more snow cones in one week than I've had in the last two years.

Our next outing we went to the beach Lanai. It is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Powder white sand, with the bluest ocean....just makes you want to jump right in! And we did. The water was warm, and so inviting. It was great, because every time we went to the beach, both of my kids would fall asleep in the stroller. Grayson was so good about that. He would just come up and tell me he was tired and wanted his "bebe" and a towel. I would wrap him up, give him a binki, and lay him in the stroller and he was out. Kyle had fun playing with all the guys in the water. After the beach Kyle and I went to a place I had been dying to go to ever since I saw it on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives called Fresh Catch. I am a sushi fan, and this place was famous for it's freshly caught poke. Let me just say, it was worth the stop. I've never tasted fish that was so fresh. We got the smoked octopus...which was amazing...and the tuna. We ended our fun day by soaking in the jacuzzi watching the sun go down.

Our third outing was definitely one to remember. Not so much for me, because I didn't do it, but definitely for Kyle and all the rest of the family. They hiked the stairway to heaven, which is a rigorous stairway all the way up the side of a mountain. Twelve hundred steps in total. It was quite the undertaking. Looks are definitely deceiving. All those who hiked it eventually made it back though...eventually. After that, we fueled up by eating at Teddy's burgers, then finished it off by getting mochi balls at the famous Bubbies Ice Cream Shop.

We are so blessed to be able to go on such a wonderful vacation, and none of it would be possible were it not for my amazing parents. They are the ones who make this all happen. I am so grateful to them for giving us priceless memories. After all....in the end all we have are our memories.