Hawaii- Part III

It's a good thing many of you expressed interest in seeing more Hawaii pictures. Because I've got plenty! Here is the third and final installment.

Surfers
Our first day in Maui, Drew drove us around and took us to the Northern coast to check out the surfers. Being from the east coast I haven't witnessed too much surfing in my time. It was fun to watch, especially young kids who could really work a surfboard.

Haleakala National Park

Maui is home to a dormant volcano, called Haleakala. It is driveable, but consists of many twists and turns, which leaves you dizzy and a little ill. We pulled off to catch a glimpse at an overlook, and to settle our stomachs--here is my brother Dave and his wife Janene above the clouds.

This is at the summit, where I fed Lucy at 10,000 feet.

We did a short hike before heading back down the volcano. The crater is behind me and Brian in the pic below. This hike changed my understanding of volcanoes--I always had a very simplistic view of a volcano--a mountain with large opening at the top that spews lava. And if you stood on the edge of the opening, you'd run the risk of falling in. (Perhaps I've watched too much Dora in my time.)However, the top is actually a bunch of hills and valleys with crevaces and openings that emit lava. Enlightening.

Family Beach Time

Can you believe these rolls? I butter and eat them daily. Such a chunky monkey.

I love this shot of my Mom--she looks so glamorous.

Lady talk at the beach. (The lady with the book is my SIL Janene--she FINALLY gave up the "I will never" shrug to the Twilight series. Here she is devouring New Moon.)

Snorkeling

The morning of the wedding, my brothers Drew and David went on a diving trip--nothing like going to the bottom of the ocean before you take some serious vows. The rest of us, not being scuba certified, took a trip out to the island of Molokini for some good snorkeling. Brian kindly stayed behind with Lucy so I could go with my family. Although I'm always game for snorkeling, I didn't think it compared to that on the Big Island and I didn't like being so crowded with all the others on the boat tour.

Wailea

Brian and I didn't fly out for a couple of days after most of my family, so we stayed a night at the Marriott Resort in Wailea, which was heavenly. Quite possibly the most relaxing part of our trip.

Lucy liked it, too.

Brian and I decided that resort life is not how we would want to spend an entire vacation, but a day or two longer would have been ideal. Our room was oceanside and this was our magnificent view. Is there anything more wonderful than eating breakfast with this?

And ending your day like this?

Hawaii...you haven't seen the last of me.

Mahalo.

Hawaii- Part II- The Wedding

The voyage to Hawaii was mostly driven by my little brother, Drew's wedding (though, a girls' trip was incentive enough). Drew and Chloe have been engaged the past year and a half and got married in Maui, which is where Chloe is from originally. They were married at the Four Seasons Hotel there on the island, which is extremely picturesque. We are delighted to have Chloe as part of our family--she keeps Drew in line!

Here are highlights from the day, some of these pictures are courtesy of my uncle, Doug Spring.

The Setting


Pre-wedding pictures

This is a pic of me and all six of my siblings. We all live in very different parts of the country (Oregon, Washington, California, Missouri, Florida, Maryland, Georgia), and so it's a rarity that we are all together in the same place. My father, Russ, said that one of his highlights from the day was seeing the seven of us standing there having our picture taken. That may be the ultimate best part of a wedding is the reunion of family. We're kind of a crazy mix, but we had a great week together and were glad we could all be there to support Drew and Chloe.

A stunning picture of Drew with my parents, I think.

The Wedding

The Reception

We had a lovely evening together--Brian and I were at a table with the rest of my siblings (with the exception of David, who was the Best Man) and we had a fun evening. (We apparently won the award for the most virgin pina coladas ordered at one table.) Chloe's lovely mother, Anny, is a florist in Maui and of course did all the flowers for the wedding--they were exquisite.

The first dance

Drew and my Mom on the dance floor (doesn't she look stunning in her fuscia dress?)

Fortunately, there were no mishaps with this dance move

More reception pics

We danced the night away, with my studly nephew TJ showing us how it's done.

And this was the sunset we watched while eating dinner. Postcard perfect.

And just because I KNOW you're not tired of Hawaii pics yet, there is STILL more to come. Stay tuned!

Hawaii- Part I

My list of things to blog about is daunting. It seems that my days are not long enough. But I can't let our latest summer adventure go unnoticed.

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.

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.

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!