Wave Runners

By their excited faces here, you would not have guessed that the girls did not want to go to the beach today. They were too busy playing with their cousins, but once they got there, excitement took over, and they had a great time. These photos are Rebekah's first time in the Pacific Ocean, and despite all the running away she is doing in the pics, she did actually get in once I put the camera down and held her.



Testing the waters...



Getting a little braver {or running away :-)}...



The waves made a bigger impact than they anticipated, and I could tell just the sound of it was enough to deter Rebekah from getting any closer. She held on just a bit longer, waiting out a few more waves...



Now she's pretty sure that she's had enough!



The older girls loved the crashing waves! I had never seen them so excited as they ran away from something before...



Ka'iulani almost completely under the wave.



Here, let me help you up (maybe)...









They could have kept this up all day! And they just about did, at least for a few hours :-)

Fun, Fun, Fun, at Sea Life Park!

Today we went to the Waikiki Aquarium and Sea Life Park. All the photos below are from Sea Life Park where we had an amazing time. During one of the shows, a sea lion painted a picture for our sweet niece, we fed sea turtles, and saw an incredible dolphin show.

To formally introduce our precious nieces and nephew, Alyssa is standing behind our nephew, Triton {aka Handsome}, his sister Charene is wearing blue in the middle, and Chariel is next to Emma. Dave's sister, Ku'ulei is on the far right, and all three babies belong to her and her husband, Addison.


The whole day was great, but I definitely thought a highlight was the dolphin show. Sea Life Park is home to the worlds only whalphin ~ the girls were awed. I'm curious if anyone can tell from the pics below, which one is the whalphin? It's mother is an atlantic bottle nose dolphin, and the father is a humpback whale.

It was a beautiful park and a wonderful experience!






























The kids had such happy excited faces as they watched the shows.










Coaching the sea lion as it turns in circles.



Granddaddy with Alyssa, Charene and Chariel.



After we fed these huge sea turtles, as Granddaddy was holding Rebekah, she asked him if he could put her down in there so she could swim with them.



The cousins in front of Rabbit Island.



Adventure #1 on the trip was a huge hit ~ it was such a fun day for the little ones to play together!

Getting There is Half the Fun

Our day started bright and early yesterday. This is our first photo of this vacation taken before 5am. I love seeing the girls all sleepy-eyed and excited.



While waiting at the airport, the girls kept busy playing ping pong. If there's a way to make the sport dangerous, our girls figured it out. A few early Monday morning business travelers got a good wake up call as they had to dodge a flying ping pong ball on the way to their gate.



We stopped at the play area right outside our gate for a last minute chance to burn off some energy. It was much needed. The girls were way too excited, and Alyssa was probably the only one who entirely understood the length of the flights we were about to board.



Once we were in flight, Emma worked on her travel journal and MadLibs {she loves, loves, LOVES those silly stories}, Alyssa started her assignment for church and you can see Rebekah who argued long and hard for that window seat zonked out in the back.

I'm not sure that this story is blog appropriate, but Alyssa insisted I share it...before we took off, I was helping the girls get settled in their seats. I had my back to the aisle and was leaning into their row. There was a male flight attendant (and I tried to leave this detail out, but the story literally lost some of it's pizazz, but let's just say the bath towels in his house are embroidered His and His) who tried to slide past me as he stowed a bag, and the button from his coat got caught on the back belt loop of my pants. We were stuck, both embarrassed, and he giggled out a nervous, "Oh, well this is something new." Alyssa was laughing so hard she couldn't stay in her chair. In the confusion of trying to get seperated, Alyssa thought he was trying to put a luggage tag on me. A few seconds later, we were no longer attached, but not due to any help from her ~ she definitely has my tendancy to fall into laughter in awkward situations rather than offer help.

And because I seem to have a knack for making embarrassing situations that much worse, he was collecting trash at the end of the flight, and I turned to Alyssa to ask her if she had anything, and when I called her sweetie, he thought I was talking to him. He thanked me and called me "Love." Alyssa was very amused.



We were welcomed in Honolulu so sweetly by Dave's family. Here is Dave's sister and our nieces and nephew. Poor Emma was between sneezes here, but the cousins were so excited to see each other.



We were so surprised that everyone came to meet us at the airport. Here are the girls with Dave's grandparents. It was so wonderful to see them!!



Little Kamele and Grandmommy.



Enjoying the fresh Hawaiian air as we drive to the condo. Rebekah kept looking around, asking us if we were sure this was Hawaii. She was concerned that she could not see sand anywhere. Dave said that she must have seen too much Aloha Scooby Doo, and that skewed her expectations.



The smell is different and wonderful here ~ full of flowers...that was the first thing Emma noticed as we got off the plane, and she kept taking deep breaths, savoring it all.

About 5 minutes after this picture was taken, our car was rear-ended as we sat at a red light waiting to make a right turn. It was just a tiny bump, but a startling welcome to the island :-)



We made it to the condo without further incident, had a wonderful dinner at Rainbow Drive In, and swam in the pool. We are SO thankful and excited to be here.

On Hawaii Eve

Tomorrow, we are leaving to visit Dave's family. As I was packing I recalled this photo flip book that I got years ago on one of our first trips to Hawaii together. It has been at least a few years since I had it out to look through it.

When I saw this album sitting on the shelf in an ABC Store, Alyssa was a tiny baby at the time, but I knew I had to have it. Something about the three little girls on the cover spoke to me ~ and in a way, the two younger girls became a dream in my heart the day I saw this. A dream that eventually came true :-)

I showed it to Dave and asked if he remembered the day I asked him to buy it for me, and the circumstances around it. He laughed a little and said, "Yeah, we're not buying any books on this trip."

Leotard Fun

Recently at the gym, the girls were all given coloring pages to design their own leotards and I loved what the girls came up with!

These are Alyssa's designs. I'm not sure how I feel about wearing a bright yellow leo, but it looks pretty on paper!!



These are Emma's. I thought it was cute how they closely resemble her team leo. She couldn't think too far outside the box of what she currently wears for meets :-)



And these are Rebekah's, which turned out quite unlike any leotard I have ever seen before.



Maybe my very favorite leo: Alyssa's Get Your Grip On design. I think the idea of having helpful reminders printed in huge letters across the front of leos is something that could really take off! She should think about creating a whole line...

Parade Day

Over the weekend Emma's gymnastics team was in a parade and we invited her friend Halle to spend the day with us.

I wish I could say the weather was perfect for the occassion, but the parade started off with a few drizzles. Fortunately the sun came out once everything got going, and the girls were able to loose the blanket tent.



We were sitting right near a corner, and the girls were sure these motorcycles that kicked off the parade were headed right towards us.



They were very concerned for this guy and his poor legs.



These girls were in the parade advertising their new hair studio. The girls looked shocked at their crazy hair and I told them if they misbehaved that's where I would take them for their next haircut.



So excited to see Halle and her sisters as she came around the corner.



Demonstrating her best one-armed cartwheel.



The parade route ended right near the southshore. It was hot by now, and it was so nice to dip our feet in the water to cool off...



Marvel at more gems pulled out of the lake...{see, the rock fascination is contagious}



And climb the huge rocky shoreline.



It turned out to be a perfect summer day.