We traveled for the first time as a family of five to St. George, Utah where Brian's parents live. Keeping 3 kids happy and entertained on a cross country flight is a workout. It also requires a lot of luggage. And snappy retorts to passengers who have zero tolerance for young children in a public space. But I digress.
After a few days, Lucy and I said good-bye to Brian and the girls and ventured off to Hawaii to meet up with girlfriends, Annette and Akiko. A girls' trip has been in the works for quite some time and what better place than the Big Island? Heavenly...Indulgent...Too Good to be True...are adjectives that come to mind. Three ladies and two nursing infants in tow--we were quite the sight. We moved at our own pace, could be out the door in a matter of minutes (compared to the planning and foresight required to haul multiple children out the door), ate and ate and ate (Akiko and husband Grant did us the favor of testing out ALL the good restaurants in prior trips), we laughed a lot, and were so sad when our time was up.
Highlights from our splendid four days together:
Lots of Beach time
Fabulous snorkeling--Mauna Kea was my favorite and little did I know Annette was such a diving/snorkeling pro. One of her many, many hidden talents. I loved being able to just walk out into the water and have great snorkeling at your finger tips.
Lucy and Makoto chilled in their beach tent. They could possibly be the two most easy going infants around. Since they are betrothed to each other already, we hope this will be the first of many trips for these two to Hawaii together. I just hope Makoto likes taller women. :)
Sea turtles! We saw them both on land and while snorkeling.
Visiting the Kona LDS temple
Visiting friend Jackie Auna and family
Jackie used to live in our ward, but her family moved back to Hawaii last year. You might recall she was one of the women I ran with last year (though she was brave enough to do the full marathon.) We met up with her, husband Aaron and their two little kiddies to see some of the Volcanoes National Park. The smoking volcano is behind us, but hard to make out in this pic.
Elise and Elijah
Hiking to the Lava Tube
About to enter the lava tube--
A hike the next day overlooking lava fields
Here's a better picture of the volcano during the day
And the same view at night--glowing from the hot lava inside.
Visiting the Kona LDS temple
Visiting friend Jackie Auna and family
Jackie used to live in our ward, but her family moved back to Hawaii last year. You might recall she was one of the women I ran with last year (though she was brave enough to do the full marathon.) We met up with her, husband Aaron and their two little kiddies to see some of the Volcanoes National Park. The smoking volcano is behind us, but hard to make out in this pic.
Elise and Elijah
Hiking to the Lava Tube
About to enter the lava tube--
A hike the next day overlooking lava fields
Here's a better picture of the volcano during the day
And the same view at night--glowing from the hot lava inside.
Farmers Markets
Hawaii has some of the best produce I've ever had in my life. The pineapple, tomatoes, avocados, were like "butter" as Annette would say. I would go back to Hawaii for the produce and fish alone.
Hawaii has some of the best produce I've ever had in my life. The pineapple, tomatoes, avocados, were like "butter" as Annette would say. I would go back to Hawaii for the produce and fish alone.
Given that this was my first trip to Hawaii, now I know what all the fuss is about. It is breath-takingly beautiful, and to enjoy it with good friends was absolute luxury. We literally had to drag ourselves to the airport to catch our respective flights--we just didn't want the time to end.
***Stay tuned for the recap of another week in paradise--with wedding pictures to boot!
3 comments:
How amazing! Until you mentioned the wedding, I was thinking you were a pretty lucky girl....well, you ARE lucky, but the wedding gives you an excuse to have a girls weekend in Hawaii (as opposed to downtown SLC, that is.) How fun for you!
What lovely pictures and what a trip! I am envious. : ) We LOVED seeing you all, catching up on all the east coast news. I especially enjoyed meeting your sweet & sunny newbies, and following you all up Volcano. That's so cute Lucy and Makoto are betrothed! I really admire you all and am so grateful to know you. Looking forward to your pics of Maui!
Sounds like a fun trip--and so great that you got to meet up with Jackie too!
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