I have been putting off blogging about Hawaii for months. It seemed so overwhelming. I wanted to tell so much about it. So now that months have passed I decided my best course of action if I ever wanted the story told was to steal what my dear friend Brittany wrote about the trip. In true Brittany fashion, she gave a very detailed description and is such a great writer. I love her. I fully agree with all the sentiments she expressed. Jordan and I had an amazing time and feel so blessed to have amazing friends and an amazing mother who we flew down to watch our kids. I don't think the kids even missed us- they have so much fun when Grammy is here. So below is what I cut and pasted from her blog:
I have a tan. The high today was 34 degrees and it hasn't stopped snowing at my house. I'm covered head to toe in clothing, but underneath it all I'm tan. More than my tan, I'm glowing. I'm refreshed. I'm on a post vacation high. Not ready for a reality check. Even the reality check's that have come our way since coming home can't get me down.
Piled up bills & mail. Who cares.
TV's not working. Big deal.
Kids whining about stuff. Love them so much.
It seems that nothing can get me down right now. After a full nights rest in my own bed after 8 nights away, I woke up this morning feeling like the past week was a dream. As my kids hopped up on our bed asking for milk and breakfast I was certain last week didn't happen. As I showered, in my very own shower, I noticed the scrapes on my leg. Must have been from the coral reef on the ocean floor. As the thought crossed my mind, I realized how dreamy that sounded. I also noticed the blister on my toe. I remembered that it was from my flippers. Just 24 hours earlier I had been snorkeling.
Now I was in my own home, my own bed and my own shower feeling like it was all a dream. For Tim & I it was a dream come true. 8 days away in Hawaii. Spending time together. Laughing with our friends. Waking up to palm trees and perfect weather. Going to sleep to palm trees and perfect weather. Lots of sand, ocean, food, fun and friends in between. All while our children were happily at home being taken care of. Being in the middle of our child rearing years, I honestly felt like this day would never come. It was a huge sacrifice for my Mother-in-Law who cared so well for our kids all week. We know it's not something we get to do every day so we enjoyed every second of our time away.
It was a dream and I'm not ready to wake up. Thank goodness I have a tan. I hope that as it fades my memory of our Hawaiian days will not. I took lots of pictures with "my heart." Thanks to my cute friends suggestion. I also took plenty of pictures with my camera. I'll be posting those just as soon as the laundry is done
We arrived in Kona, Hawaii at 5:30 pm. The airport is on an old lava field so it's not exactly beautiful beaches everywhere as you would expect, but it did not disappoint me. This was the first picture that I took and I couldn't get enough of these gorgeous sun shots! I loved the outdoor airport. Everything is outdoors, which just confirmed to me that we really would be having amazing weather.
We got our luggage then made our first stop in Hawaii at Costco. So lame, I know! In fact, my first meal in Hawaii was a Costco Hot Dog, which is totally against my traveling policy. BUT, we were starving and on a timeline. I knew I'd eat enough amazing food later on to make up for it. After Costco we loaded up our groceries and had to get back to the airport to pick up some more friends. Josh & Annie Hiatt flew in from Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was quite fun the entire trip to tell everyone we were from 3 different states. With all of our food and luggage our rental minivan was a little bit crowded. Josh had to ride this way from the airport to the resort. While Jordan was checking us in at the resort, the lady at the front desk asked if his friend was drunk. Awesome!
We finally got into our room around 8:30 pm (which was 12:30 am Utah time). We checked out our room and had fun catching up with each other before going to bed exhausted!
The place was beautiful, but inside our room was only the beginning. The outside of the resort was the absolute stunning part! We'd only been here a few hours and I was already in love...
day two
We woke up in Hawaii about 4:30 am (since it was 8:30 am Utah time) we tried to sleep, but just couldn't! Finally at 6:30 am, Tim & I went running. We ran down through the resort. We stayed in Waikoloa Beach Resort which is full of a bunch of resorts. Our resort was theHilton Kings Land. We ran down and immediately found the beach. We walked along the shore and just kept pinching ourselves. It was gorgeous and perfect. I was just so happy to be running with my husband, which is always a special treat since we rarely have time to do that at home.
We came back to our room and had green smoothies for breakfast (thanks Hiatt's). Then we all suited up and headed out to explore our resort.
The pool area was dreamy and perfect. It was never very crowded. It felt like we had the place to ourselves some days. As you can see from these pictures, we definitely did this day!
The Hiatt's brought their sweet baby, Hallie, along. She really was a dream baby. We hardly knew she was there. It was fun to occasionally get to love on her and make her smile. Annie & baby Hallie should really get into beach modeling!
We also had full access to the other Hilton property, which was Hilton Waikoloa Village. This property was even more amazing than our resort. This resort had 3 HUGE freshwater pools with gorgeous waterfalls and water slides. I loved that the servers came around to take our "virgin" drink orders while we soaked up the sun!
We walked all around the resort. We saw the dolphins they have at the resort, which you can actually pay to swim with.
We also explored the Lagoon on the resort and Tim posed with a Sea Turtle that we saw. Don't worry, he didn't touch it since it is against the law. They are a protected species.
After a day soaking in the sun and exploring all that our resort had to offer, we got cleaned up and headed out to dinner at Kamuela Provision Company (KPC). This was a gorgeous beach side restaurant with gourmet dining. We were supposed to have an amazing view of the sunset, but we caught the last of the sun just before we got seated. Either way, the food was delicious and the view was incredible!
While everything about where we were staying and what we were doing was picture perfect, some of the funnest memories from our trip were the little silly moments. I absolutely loved watching how much fun these boys had together. They kept us laughing the entire time. They actually kept themselves laughing much more than us, but it was always entertaining. Here they are trying to figure out how to work the DVD player. Really? Three guys. Really?
day 3
Tim and I started out at 6:30 am again (it was impossible to sleep in). We got our early morning run in and then suited up and headed toMauna Kea Beach. This beach many people told us about. It only has 40 parking spots so you have to arrive early to get a spot. This made for a very quiet, private beach. It really was beautiful.
When I think of myself playing in this water I can still taste the saltwater in my throat. I'm sure my friends can still picture me trying to clear it out of my nose and throat. Yuck! The saltwater in that part of the ocean was so potent. I loved swimming in the ocean, but I couldn't handle that saltwater. My body is perking up a bit just thinking about it!!
We ate our sack lunches that we brought and enjoyed a relaxing day at the beach. It was very low key and very relaxing. Then we headed into the town of Kailua-Kona to check out Ali'i drive and hit the Farmer's Markets. We picked up some fun souvenirs here. We got the boys some sea turtle necklaces and gecko bracelets. I bought some cute earrings. Josh bought a bunch of delicious fruit. I loved the Farmer's Market. I had to restrain myself from buying everything.
As we walked along Ali'i drive we found some Tropical Dreams Ice Cream. I had the toasted coconut. It was delicious! We also ran into one of our "supporting actors" as Josh so cleverly called him. I can't remember his name, dang, but he was a crazy man that somehow followed us on our path down Ali'i drive. Luckily, we stopped off in a market to buy some t-shirts and we lost him. Phew.
One other memory from this walk was the black crabs all over the beach rocks. They were so disgusting, but fascinating to watch these black creatures crawling everywhere. Speaking of disgusting, Hawaii has a serious Cat infestation. If you're not a big fan of cats, you won't like it here! They. Are. Everywhere. I actually like cats so I thought it was kind of fun, but other times when you would see a group of 100 cats all huddled together it was a little creepy. They seriously could take over the island if they wanted to. They were ate every single restaurant we ate at just waiting for some scraps of food. They were also lurking all over the resort.
One of the funnest moments of this day was watching Josh do an impromptu comedy routine! Tim helped him out a little, but only at the urging of Josh. Our favorite "supporting actor" of the trip goes to Justin from Target. I can't forget his name and I really hope that Josh has already called this Target and talked to this boys boss. The story wouldn't be funny to retell, but I have to remember this funny moment forever. Oh boy. Thank you Justin for helping us find our friends, find a place to park the car and laugh our guts out!
We came back to the resort after a long adventurous day and did some more swimming before the sun set. Here are the boys practicing their dead man float.
These boys loved playing basketball and volleyball non stop! I was horrible at basketball, but I think I brought some skillz to the volleyball court. We had a lot of fun volleyball games!
We ended another incredible day with another beautiful sunset. We made frozen pizza's for dinner tonight. I think everyone was too exhausted to go out. The pizza adventure was way too crazy. Not sure why the boys were in charge of this, but they were. The pizza turned out. It was food. We were hungry. Thanks for the effort boys. I think we chatted or watched a movie. This may have been the night that I curled up on the floor and fell asleep. I may have snored one time, but I'm told it was only once. I'm sure I slept with my mouth open. Just another day in paradise!
his morning we got all dressed up to go to church on the big island. We figured it was a great photo opportunity. It felt more like prom, which made for lots of awkward photos. We had fun though!
We went into the town of Waimea for church. Our friends, Eldon & Danielle Hatch (who become our pseudo tour guides) introduced me to an AMAZING young man named Kuha'o Case this past summer. He came to our ward and did a fireside. Tim was out of town at the time, but I took the boys to the fireside. It was amazing! He is a 16-year-old blind piano prodigy. His testimony is just as amazing as his musical abilities. We were able to go to his ward in Waimea for church and I was so happy to see him up there playing the organ. It was also beautiful to watch him prepare and bless the sacrament. His blessing of the sacrament is the most beautiful sacrament prayer I've ever heard. The people of the Waimea First Ward were so incredible. Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming to us. It was fun to meet Kuha'o again and introduce my friends to him and his grandparents.
After church we ate lunch at a local place called Village Burger. It was a delicious burger and the Parmesan fries were pretty divine also. After lunch we headed back to the resort. We were all pretty tired. We headed down to the pool where we sat to read and relax until the sun went down.
After church we ate lunch at a local place called Village Burger. It was a delicious burger and the Parmesan fries were pretty divine also. After lunch we headed back to the resort. We were all pretty tired. We headed down to the pool where we sat to read and relax until the sun went down.
After relaxing the sunlight away we decided to get take out from Macaroni Grill (I know, I know...totally against my travel rules, but everyone got a night to pick the food and this was cute Annie's favorite. That's how much I love her!) I actually really loved my salad. We also ate enough Mauna Loa Coconut Balls & Toffee Balls to feed a small country and played some super fun games. I loved that we were all having so much fun together and everyone was so happy. Especially Jordan, who couldn't stop laughing about Annie's half sisters?!
day 5
This morning we went to the pool and hung out for a bit. Then we got ready for the day and went our separate ways. The boys went golfing. This picture is the best! Jordan is so awesome at posing and he's also great at taking a joke. This was a pretty candid shot. I was trying to get all the boys to pose for a picture in front of the clubhouse. True to form, Jordan was the only gracious boy and so nicely waited for the other boys to come. He definitely wasn't being serious here, but he was willing to take a picture. Little did he know, that they were behind him mocking him as they ran into the clubhouse. Needless to say, this was the only shot I got.
Thank goodness the boys were able to get some pictures while they were out golfing
Meanwhile, us girls went shopping. We hit the Kings & Queens Marketplace. It was fun to browse Coach and try on some rings at Tiffany's. I found my 15 year anniversary present, Tim?! It's gorgeous and not too expensive. We made a few purchases and then headed back to our resort pool to relax and get some sun!
After we cleaned up from the pool and golf, we headed over to the Hilton Waikoloa Village for dinner. We enjoyed a boat ride to our restaurant, which was super fun. It dropped us off right at the Boat Landing Cantina. I know we look possessed, but we must have been. My editing program would not let me fix those eyes!
The food was delicious, but the company was even better. We had such a great time chatting the night away (once the boys got rid of that pesky umbrella in the middle). I think Melissa is fake chatting or laughing or maybe choking?! This picture makes me happy so I had to post it. Every time I would try to take a candid shot somebody would always look over and try to smile.
I loved the many conversations we had on the trip. Adult conversation is the best. I obviously was craving it! Something fun that we did at dinner was Best and Worst of the day (which we actually do at home sometimes). We were always nervous about what the "worst" would be, but usually it was just an unworthy picture posted on instagram or the lack of something we weren't able to do. The best things were usually the simple moments that made the day great, like playing a volleyball game together or eating something yummy for lunch!
Something else I loved from this night was the awesome music they had playing. They played some classic 80's hits. It was fun to talk about our favorite music and reminisce about our youth. Annie & Melissa were a little disappointed that I never joined in their singing duo with them. They both have beautiful voices and one of my memories from this trip is hearing them sing. Constantly. It made me feel right at home. My sister is always singing. I guess I didn't get that gene, but I do love that those girls are never afraid to belt it out. Even walking through a Hilton parking lot!
day 6
Going to the Kona Temple was a highlight of this trip for me. It's always a joy to go to the temple, but something about being on this gorgeous island, enjoying myself so much, having my incredible husband and good friends with me just made this place feel like heaven on earth. It was also fun to meet some fellow Utahns as we left the session and see someone that we had met at church a couple days before.
After the Temple session we were on the search for Donkey Balls. It does seem inappropriate especially after leaving such a holy place, but our pseudo guides, the Hatches, told us that these Donkey Balls were delicious so we had to give them a try. We ended up going the wrong direction on the highway and ended up at this fabulous little cafe. Oh how I love serendipitous moments like this. Happy little accidents are my favorite. This was definitely one of those moments. This place was gorgeous. The food was delicious. AND we had the kindest, sweetest server ever. He even invited us to his house whenever we're in town. He was curious why we were dressed up and wanted to know where our church was. He had been on a few service missions and been reading some books about Christianity. He was interested in checking our church out sometime. We left him with the information and we all had a secret little prayer in our hearts that he really will check it out. He seemed to have a very ripe spirit and a thirst for knowledge that was enviable.
If you're ever in Kailua Kona you must check out Holuakoa Cafe. It was divine!
After our detour, we did end up finding the Donkey Balls store. We were able to sample a bunch of Donkey Balls and they were delicious (despite the hideous name). After another stop at Target and Costco, we arrived back at our resort and the boys hit the basketball court once again. It was a must to sit by the pool in the evening and watch the sunset. The water in the evenings was remarkably bearable, which was shocking to me. We swam well into the evening without getting too cold. I was always quick to hit the hot tub after I got out of the pool though.
We cleaned ourselves up, just a tad. It's probably obvious that we didn't spend too much time on our hair or makeup this week. Tim and I along with the Romans went to the Lava Lava Beach Club for dinner. Josh and Annie were too depressed (because of the extremely disappointing election results and the bleak outlook of the next four years ), but we had to get away from the news reports and drown our sorrows in food. It was a very disappointing night for us personally, especially with the entire restaurant clapping and cheering because Obama won. But, we were in Hawaii and determined to make the most of it! The Lava Lava Beach Club was really cool. The stars were AMAZING. (Seriously, Josh. They were.) The atmosphere was gorgeous. If I went again I would make sure to hit this place before sunset. Melissa was trying to teach me how to pose. Her and Jordan are professionals. This was my third attempt and I still look creepy. Sorry, Lis. Better luck next time!
Day 8
How could it possibly be the last day of our trip? I woke up on our last day feeling sad. I was NOT ready to leave. Sure, I wanted to get home and see my boys, but they were having so much fun with Grandma I still really wasn't worried about them or missing them terribly bad. I thought about just having them fly to Hawaii and meet us. Then I realized that all good things must eventually come to an end. It's always great to leave on a high note, right? The weather was beyond perfect. The food was amazing. Our company was fabulous. This was the most fun that Tim and I have ever had on a trip. (Maybe we just don't get out enough?!?)
!
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