Hawaii! Day 2

Day two in Hawaii. It was great to wake up and eat breakfast to this view:

 While we ate breakfast, the master planner went to work on the days agenda

 Luke was able to spend a few hours in the morning surfing and the kids and I went hunting for sand crabs

 I had to take a picture of the liquor stash before it was sure to be depleted.

 Our mornings outing for the day included a trip to the Waimea Valley. In true Grove fashion, we showed up too early and the darn place wasn't open yet. We got a sneak peak of the scenery

 and some of their local creatures

 Then we headed across the street to the beach for an hour

 The kids got their first experience of the ocean waves

 Jack was having fun in the whitewater until the current sucked him under for a second and he got scared. These poor kids had no idea what it is like to swim in the ocean

 Lily was also enjoying the waves until she had a similar experience and wouldn't go back in the water afterwards...

 The rest of the family was enjoying the view from the beach

 Finally around 10am the Waimea Valley opened and we were among the first inside.

 It was a bit pricey to get in, but it was a beautiful hike

 The final destination were the Waimea Falls

 We all braved the 50 degree water to swim out to the waterfall

 You can't even believe how cold the water was!

 We swam up to the waterfall as fast as we could and snapped a picture

 And another picture

 And one more

 Then we got out as quick as possible and made the trek back.

 At the visitor center we all stopped for ice cream. Luke and the kids decided on some sort of cookie/ice cream but we also had to try the locally made popsicle... it was less than impressive

 We headed back home for lunch and Luke squeezed in another surf session

That big house behind Luke is where we stayed for the week

 The house was right on the pipeline of the North Shore in the area called "the back door." The currents and the waves were really strong so it wasn't a good place for the kids to swim. But they still enjoyed watching the water and getting their feet wet

And mostly just playing in the sand

 Eating lunch with Acacia and Kristi

 Relaxing after surfing

 For our afternoon outing we decided to head to the beach where the crash from "Lost" was filmed. It was a really windy beach with tons of kite surfers

 There were two dogs running around the beach who were very friendly and Jack had a blast playing with them (he really wants a dog of his own).

 You can see the kite surfers in the distance

 After the beach we hit up a local place for some shaved ice with vanilla ice cream

 Once back at the house it was time for dinner duty. The master planner consulted with the book to figure out who was on duty that night

 A very detailed list of all the family members was used to divvy up chores such as cooking, cleaning and drink making.

 Luke's team was up for dinner making that night

And Papi's team was in charge of drinks

The kids and I headed outside to stay out of the way

Then we got to enjoy a large family meal

Relaxing after dinner

Watching the sunset

Later that night we gathered together for a Cards Against Humanity game. We laughed well into the night with some rather inappropriate, but very funny cards. Thankfully the kids fell asleep so we could enjoy the game uncensored.

Hawaii! The flight and first day

Our big family trip to Hawaii was planned for over a year in advance. It would be the first time in a long time that the entire family was on vacation together. As the days drew nearer everyone was looking forward to the trip. The kids made a paper chain to count down each day and they talked constantly of the airplane they would soon be riding on. We had to go through boxes to dig out some summer clothes and Lily loved to put them on and say "I'm ready to go to Hawaii!"

Lily is ready for Hawaii

Monday morning we were up bright and early and were headed to the airport by 8am. We had an easy time with the airport and the kids loved running up and down the moving sidewalks. I tried my best to tire them out before the 8 hour flight. 

The flight was long, but pretty uneventful. We spent several hours coloring and thankfully Lily fell asleep for about 2 hours. Meanwhile Jack watched movies on the iPad and we did workbooks together. 

It was a relief to finally land in Hawaii and get off the plane. We rented a mini van with my parents and the kids were excited for their new car seats and the van doors which opened/closed at the touch of a button. 

Even though we got to the house around 5pm Hawaii time, it was really 9pm Colorado time so everyone was exhausted. I didn't get any more pictures that day as we were getting settled in and rested up for the week to come.

Trip to the farm

Laughing Buck farm offers $1 admission day once a month. We tried it for the first time and the kids had a blast. Their favorite by far was chasing and catching chickens.

 Jack loved holding the chickens. He is such an animal lover

 We also got a tour of the farm and were shown the little piglets and we got to hear how loud they can squeal.

 We milked a goat

 And tried the warm goat milk

And we played in the hay barn and had a picnic and chased more chickens. The kids have a blast and Jack keeps asking to go back there so he can catch more chickens.