So, our summer adventure continued . . . . in Hawaii! After spending three fun days in Saratoga hanging out and getting ready for the trip with everyone, we flew from San Francisco to Honolulu on Monday, June 14th. This was actually the first time we’ve been to Hawaii with just my family; we usually go with all of my extended family as well, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, etc. So it was really fun having it just be my family this time . . . . I mean, we still had 19 people in our group, so we were still a scene everywhere we went:) And for most of us, it was our first time to Oahu. We’ve done Maui a few times, Kauai, the Big Island, etc. but I haven’t been to Oahu since I was 3 years old, and most of the group had never been. So, we were excited to explore a new island!!
This is the hotel we stayed in. The Ko Olina Beach Villas Resort. It was awesome. We rented two private villa suites and split the group in two. Our little family, Brigham & Steph’s family, and John & Kristen were in one villa while Dad, Mom, Ashley, Michael, Jeff, Katherine, and Halle were in the other. Each villa had three rooms so it worked out perfectly. We also had our own kitchens which was key to this trip. We could cut down on a lot of food expenses by making a lot of our meals at home. So we hit up the local Costco pretty soon after arriving so we could stock up for the week. Anyway, the hotel was amazing, and it’s definitely a place we’d love to come back to again!!
There are these man made lagoons right in front of the hotel that are awesome. Perfect Hawaii beaches. 
Tuesday was our first full day on the island, so we decided to do one of our touristy activities – Pearl Harbor. I was so excited to go to Pearl Harbor. I’ve always wanted to see this historic place. And my grandfather (my dad’s dad) was at Pearl Harbor the morning it was bombed, so it was neat to finally get to go. 
We took the shuttle boat over to the USS Arizona Memorial. The memorial structure spans the mid-portion of the sunken battleship, which is the final resting place for most of the ship’s 1,177 crewmen who lost their lives on December 7, 1941.
It was so interesting to see the oil that to this day can still be seen rising from the wreckage to the surface of the water. The oil seeping is sometimes referred to as "the tears of the Arizona." They estimate that it will continue to leak for another 40 years. 
There was a very peaceful and almost reverent feeling while walking around the Memorial. I’m so happy we got to do this.
On Wednesday, we drove up through the middle of the island and made our way to the Dole Plantation. Originally operated as a fruit stand beginning in 1950, the Dole Plantation opened to the public as Hawaii’s "Pineapple Experience" in 1989. It was actually really fun, and we spent more time here than we were planning on. We browsed the large gift shop where you can buy pineapple anything, learned the correct way to cut a pineapple, rode the Pineapple Express train through the pineapple fields, went through a small portion of the world’s largest maze (shaped like a pineapple of course), fed some big fish (nothing to do with pineapples), and took lots of pineapple pictures. We ended the excursion by going to the cafe and buying Dole Whips, which were oh so good. We don’t have any pictures of these because we were video recording it (so hard to help kids, take pictures, and take video all at the same time!) I actually got pineapple ice cream with fresh pineapple chunks all over it. It was the perfect way to end our trip to the plantation!
Haha, I just love our “tourist” pictures! 
After the Dole Plantation, we made our way up to the North Shore and went to Sunset Beach. We were hoping to find some sweet boogie boarding waves, but it was off season for the big waves that the North Shore is famous for. We still had a wonderful afternoon relaxing on the beach and playing in the warm water . . . . definitely what Hawaii is all about:)
Our traditional sisters picture . . . and remember, I had just had a baby:)
James did so great on the trip. He was 2 months old and just hung out like babies do:)
On Thursday we went to Hanauma Bay to do some snorkeling. Hanauma Bay is Hawaii’s most famous snorkeling destination. The bay is a remaining volcanic crater and the curvature of the bay provides protection from large ocean waves and allows swimmers a great opportunity to view the marine and reef life in a safer, protected environment.
Good thing we always had our stroller to carry all our stuff . . . . oh yeah, and our baby:)
This is the only picture we have of snorkeling . . . . and they’re not even snorkeling. Haha, the boys were having a race in their flippers. So funny. You can see where Jeff’s flipper flew off his foot, and doesn’t Brigham look like a natural runner in his flippers? He must practice at home:)
When we had had enough snorkeling, we packed back into our rental cars, and made our way along the south shore’s coast to check out the famous Halona Blow Hole. It was pretty cool to see.
Then we went back to the hotel, showered and got ready for a night down in Waikiki. I love the Hawaiian night life. Everyone is out enjoying the warm evening, shopping, eating, strolling along the beach . . . . what could be any better?
We ate at Duke’s, an awesome restaurant right on the beach. The food was delicious and the atmosphere could not be beat. It was so fun. 
And then we hit up the shops. We always love shopping in Hawaii. We found all the kids some matching dresses and shirts to wear to the Polynesian Cultural Center the next day. And Ash and I had fun being silly pretending we were Asian tourists:) 
So, onto Friday . . . . our day at the PCC. We definitely didn’t have enough time to do everything the PCC has to offer. We kind of got a slower start that morning, and we hit some major traffic so it took us like 2 hours just to get there. So we wish we would have had more time, but we did make it in time for the parade they do along the river, and to walk around and do some of the fun activities.
It was so hot out this day. We took a boat ride around the river, and we were all just dying of heat. So we decided to cool off with some shaved ice. Even shaved ice tastes better in Hawaii . . . . how do they do it?
My little Hawaiian poser . . . . oh, how we love you, Leah Lou!!
And this was perhaps the most adorable thing . . . the girls had some private hula lessons. They were in heaven!! They were so attentive, following her every move.
The kids (and adults) also loved trying out these things . . . . I have no idea what these are called. The ropes with balls on the ends. They were so fun to play with and everyone was being so silly with them, it was hilarious. Again, not too many pictures, because the video camera was rolling for most of it.
Around 5:00, it was time to go to our PCC Luau. This is our group picture that they take with their camera and then try to sell it to you at the end for like $20 a print. Well, we outsmarted them . . . . haha. We just took a picture of the picture with our own camera. It’s not the best quality, but better than paying $20 for it!
A few pictures right before going into the Luau.
The Luau. We actually weren’t too impressed by this Luau. The PCC boasts to have the best Luau on Oahu, but it definitely wasn’t as good as the one in Maui we usually go to. They really packed way too many people into this space, so we kind of felt squished in there and definitely too close to the other tables around us. And the food really wasn’t that great either. And the entertainment wasn’t too impressive. So next time, we’ll just spend more time having fun around the PCC and I think we’ll just skip the Luau. It definitely wasn’t worth the cost.
Traditional Luau couples pictures:
After the Luau, we spent about another hour walking around and being silly before it got dark. The kids were having so much fun together, skipping and holding hands everywhere they went.
When it got dark, we made our way over to the PCC’s night show, Ha: Breath of Life. Now, I didn’t recommend the PCC’s Luau, but I definitely recommend this night show. It was amazing!! We loved it, and the girls loved meeting the real life Hula girls after the show!
Saturday morning we woke up and drove over to the famous Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, one of the largest flea markets in Hawaii. It was pretty overwhelming actually. Just hundreds of booths set up around the whole stadium selling all the touristy trinkets and junk you can imagine. After about an hour of walking around in the sweltering heat, we decided we had had enough and went back to the hotel where we spent the rest of the day swimming in the hotel pools and playing on the beach.
Annie actually learned how to swim on this trip! The above picture is Leah, and she was making some good progress as well. Below is Annie, and once she got the hang of it, that’s all she wanted to do. Just swim around the pool all by herself. Way to go, Annie!!
We have a family game that we would always play when we were little with my uncle Mike and all our cousins. It’s called Snake in the Grass. One person starts by laying on their stomach (he’s the snake), everyone puts their feet on the snake’s feet, and when the snake yells, “Snake in the Grass!” everyone runs away. The snake can only crawl, and they try to tag the people running. You have to play on a smallish patch of grass so there are boundaries and the snake has a chance to get people. Once you’re tagged, you become a snake as well, and have to drop to your knees and help the original snake tag people. The game ends when there is only one person, the winner, left running to try to get away from all the snakes. ANYWAY, there was a shallow section of the pool with soft pebbles at the bottom . . . . perfect conditions for a new game called Snake in the Water. It was pretty fun, especially for us adults who haven’t played Snake in the Grass for a long long time:)
On Sunday we went to the local ward and happened to see a missionary that had served in the Saratoga Ward probably 5 or 6 years ago. He recognized my family, and so they had fun talking to him and meeting his wife and baby. So crazy, you never know who you’ll run into! That Sunday was also Father’s Day, so after church, dinner, and singing, “Happy Father’s Day to You!” to all the dads, we went outside for a little Father’s Day photo shoot!
On Sunday evening we went out to the rocky shore and took some family pictures. The sun was setting as we were taking the pictures, and it was just gorgeous out there. All 19 of us, with babies Ryan and Jacob on the way:) 
Monday we drove back up to Sunset Beach, played some more at the hotel pools, and did some more shopping in Waikiki that night. Then we all flew home on Tuesday, June 22nd. It was an awesome vacation! We all had so much fun and we could have easily stayed for like a month (which we kept talking about . . . “should we just send the guys back to work and the moms could just stay here with the kids?” haha.)
THANK YOU so much, Mom and Dad, for an amazing trip. It was SO FUN!!!!
Until next time, Hawaii . . . .
