Hawaii - Part 2 = Hapuna means this beach is heaven in Hawaiian

We were determined to get an early start on our second full day on the Big Island. Ian got the earliest start when he met an old friend from his Wilson Sonsini days for a nice little 48 mile bike ride. When he said he would be back by 930, we didn't know it meant he wouldnt be back until noon. Ugh!

While waiting for him Quincee and I took a two hour walk on the beach and through town (Mani Lani), which she might not forgive me for anytime soon. The other girls spent time at the pool, where Q and I joined them to cool off.

While we were eating lunch, the golf course got thirsty. The girls went to play in its drinking water. Don't worry- Panda kept them off the greens!

After, Taitum harassed the geckos. A favorite activity.

Finally, after Ian made it home, we took a short drive to the beautiful Hapuna Beach. Perfect day to spend hours sitting on the fine white sands and swimming in the clear blue waters. The people watching parade was pretty noteworthy too.

And we witnessed a rare sighting of the Hairless-Ankle-Diver Fish. Look closely.

After the beach we hurried home and showered so we could make the 30 min drive to Kona in time to return Ian's bike. Thank you biking for controlling another portion of our trip.

We decided to eat dinner in Kailua Kona and walk through tourist central.

Sleep couldn't come fast enough!

Hawaii- part 1 - Costco is the same in Kona

Get on the plane!!

In protest of the major airlines crazy new fees for everything (and because we'd rather spend our money on mo bettah things in Hawaii) we only checked our huge dive bag and carried on everything else. Each kid had their back pack and a piece of rolling luggage. So do-able and saved us $400. Take that American Airlines!

We made it to Hawaii late Wesnesday night- about 11pm. Although it was 1am according to our body clocks, our bodies didn't care about the time. Feed me - they whined.

We found the only restaurant in Waikoloa open- Macaroni Grill. Yep- starting our trip out authentic and right!

The girls barely stayed awake to eat, but were completely wired when we got to the house.

I was too tired to take photos of the place we are staying. Maybe a future post!

It was fun to wake up in the morning and see where we really were. Because we came in with only stars to guide us, the sun showed us whose boss. We got to the nearest beach as soon as we could.

This is the problem with having so many different forms of technology on which to store/share memories- our pictures and video are everywhere!!!! My phone, Ian's phone, our camera, our video camera. So only the pics from my phone are making in on this blog. Sorry!

After exploring, we did what any family who just spent $70 on sandwiches would do. We went to Costco! The girls played at the pool with Ian's parents while we shopped.


Dinner that night at home and then of to see the fire dancers.

Quincee had a stuffy nose all through her christmas vacation and tried "I'm not eating sugar for a week" to see if it would help clear it up. The week turned into 3 months! Forget the nose, she just wanted to wait to have sugar until Hawaii. And her willpower was amazing. So for her first treat in 3 months, she had a LAVA FLOW!

Check up

Sutton is going to kindergarten this fall. Ok- not real kindergarten (they moved the cut off date from December 2nd to November 1st) but transitional
Kindergarten. Because it is through the school district we have to do all the district paper work and check ups.

First- vision test. The nurse asked her what a pirate says and then stuck a patch on her eye. Arrrgh!!!

She's all good! Looks like she's going to school.

Oldies, but Goodies

Had to go through old photos to find one of Camden to use as her "baby/toddler" shot for her year book. How is she going to be a Freshman next year?!?

Now she's all grown up and on the honor roll.

Acting! And Singing! And Dancing!

It was Quincee's turn to take to the stage. She was Cathy in High School Musical. What?! You don't know which one Cathy is?! Neither did we until we saw the play.

Quincee got to let her true "ham" shine as she sang off-key (on purpose) and got laughs doing it. We didn't get any video and no pictures of the actual show- poor parenting. But I'm sharing what I got. Just like Quincee did!

Bittersweet Goodbye

My sweet Uncle Lowell passed away this March. He was 82 years old and lost his long battle with cancer. He will be sorely missed by so many. I have tons of fond memories of him. He was never without a tan, handsome, and alway greeted me with a kiss and big bear hug. He oozed love, patience, and kindness.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend his beautiful funeral in St. George. It is the only upside of this kind of gathering- getting to see and reconnect with family. I love my cousins and am lucky to have such a big, fun family.

This is my uncle's wife and their five children.

Some sistas. Becca and Ali.

My bros. Jon was there but missed the photo op.

Me and the mom.

And my sassy niece Cassy

After the funeral, my bro James and I talked all the way to the strip in Las Vegas, where he dropped me off for a beautiful wedding. If you want to feel old I highly recommend attending the wedding of a kid you used to babysit. It was awesome!

Cam in blurry action

Little did we know what we were getting into with comp volleyball. Our Saturday's are spent courtside (um- is it called a court?) and our butts are sore from a day of sitting on them. But we love watching Cam do something she loves.

For now. :)

Check back in June!

White Stuff

Thanks to all the leaders of our country past, we enjoyed a day skiing with the girls on President's Day. Sad to say it was our first ski day of the season, but with so little snow in Tahoe, we haven't been too excited to hit the slopes. When dad takes a day off, skiing seems like a perfect outing.

See the attempt to get my 3 girls to line up next to each other while on skis!

It was Sutton's first time on skis, so we signed her up for ski school. It was a colossal waste of money! And poor Sutton was traumatized. Bad idea!!! But she looked super cute, so thats got to count for something!

Poor baby- this is what she looked like when I came to get her after I got the call to pick her up early.