Hawaii Five-Lowe Part VIII

We are back in our home.

Our time in Hawaii has come to a close, and all we do is exclaim our immense gratitude at having been able to share such a wonderful time together.  Such a beautiful place with the people we love.  There's just not much better in this world.

A few loose ends to mention before it's all over...

Did I mention I lost my ID?  As anyone knows ID is necessary in order to travel.  Yep.  I realized on Sunday that I didn't have my ID in my walet.  The last I remembered having it was when we were traveling to Hawaii.  I felt sick!  After saying a prayer and asking for help locating my ID, I felt pretty strongly that I didn't have it in my possession.  I had already looked through everything and couldn't find it.  I started making calls--to Hawaiian Airlines, PDX International Airport, Honolulu International Airport.  I was on the phone for a few hours total.  As of Monday night I had no ID.  We continued to pray that things would work out--however that might be, so that we would all be able to get back home together.  Tuesday morning came and at 8AM I received a call from the Honolulu Airport stating they had found my ID and it was available for me to pick up that day prior to our travel.  SO GRATEFUL!  It's always comforting to see the Lord's hand in our lives.

Traveling that day ended up being a wonderful experience.  The flight back went well.  Grammie Lowe was back in First Class, Grammy and Grandpa HB were sitting together in their own area, and The Big Guy Lowe and I were sitting with our boys.  It was sad leaving, but we were leaving with wonderful memories.  We are so grateful for the time we shared with eachother.  Was it perfect?  Of course not, but we weren't expecting it to be.  Was it wonderful?  COMPLETELY!  We are extremely grateful and look forward to many more trips in the future.

Mahalo

Hawaii Five-Lowe Part VII

Our last full day in paradise!

We planned on making it special!  We left our home early and headed to Hanauma Bay to play and go snorkeling at that beach.

The Big Guy Lowe and I initially were disappointed when we realized that good snorkeling wasn't as accessible as when we were in Maui, but through a bit of research we found that Hanauma Bay was supposed to be the best spot to snorkel in Oahu.  We were excited to give it a shot!  Looks promising, eh?

It was fun hearing stories from my mom and dad about the time they had been there back in the mid-80s.  They talked about walking out in the water and seeing tons of brilliantly colored fish.  They also talked about feeding the fish pieces of bread and that Uncle Steve was bit by a fish when he reached in the water trying to retrieve a large piece of bread that had fallen into the water.  None of that is allowed these days, but it was fun to think what it might have been like back then.

I'm so glad that Grammie Lowe decided to take pictures this day, as I didn't get my camera out once!  Things started out a bit rough with the little boys.  D was irritated with just about everything--after almost a week of being on the go can get most kids frustrated, haha and parents too!  We got down to the beach, found our spot for the day and then tried to get the kids situated!

G wasted no time in getting ready to snorkel!

J decided to sit on the beach.

D was still struggling though!!

Gratefully, he calmed down with a little love and some quiet time with Mommy.  The Grammies then told The Big Guy Lowe, G, Grandpa and me to head out snorkeling and between the two of them they would take care of the little boys.  We didn't hesitate to take them up on their offer.  Thank you so much!!!

We had a great time snorkeling!  The biggest difference we noticed from what we had experienced in Maui was the size of the fish--THEY WERE HUGE here!!  It was nice to be out snorkeling when we could actually see something!

The Grammies found what worked for the little boys and they all ended up having fun too!

Give a boy a bucket + fill it with water = Happy Boys!

After we were finished snorkeling, we decided to head out back towards our beach in Kailua.  This is when things got interesting...in a not-so-fun kind of way.  Up at the parking lot J took a fall and hit his head on the rough blacktop.  There was instant blood, and lots of it!  I picked him up and headed over to a grassy area where I poured water over his head trying to discover the extent of the injury.  There was just so much blood.  Two kind on-lookers came over with ice and other first-aid items.  We discovered that the injury wasn't as bad as the blood had made it look and we were able to calm J down, get him cleaned up, and head back to Kailua.  Whew!

We decided to pick up some Happy Meals for the boys on the drive back and for the adults we picked up some Fish Tacos from Maui Tacos.  Soooo Good!  Maybe we'll check out franchise opportunities in Washington/Oregon.  Hmmmmm. 

After getting home, everyone was pretty tired.  All the boys either took naps or had some quiet time.  Looking around, The Big Guy Lowe and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to the beach for a bit of time while all the boys were down.  Grammy HB said she'd keep an eye on things so we could head over.  Thank you SO much Mom!

I don't have any pictures of the hour and a half that we spent at the beach, but it was truly AWESOME!  We were in the water the entire time, body surfing jumping waves and just enjoying how wonderful everything was!  We had decided to check out the beach a bit farther north than we had all been together the other days.  Ahhhhhhh, just thinking about that time makes me smile and I feel instant relaxation.  We were so grateful for that last bit of ocean appreciation we enjoyed. 

When we knew we should be heading back to the house, we left the beach with such good feelings and good memories.  We will definitely be back to this area many more times in the future!  What a wonderful place to have such incredible family memories.  We are so grateful!



Hawaii Five-Lowe Part VI

Sundays are special days for our family.

We are grateful for the many blessings we have and look forward to attending church at home and on vacation.  By doing this we are able to show our gratitude as well as receive the blessings of the Sacrament.  We were happy to find that the local congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was pretty close to our vacation house.  One thing we love about attending church in Hawaii is how the members greet everyone with "Aloha."  I know, it sounds like a no-brainer because we are in Hawaii, but it is still something I enjoy.  I'm also grateful to know that no matter where we travel, we can be assured that we will be able to find a local congregation and we will be familiar with how the meetings will proceed. 

After church we decided to have a Family Home Evening over in the park.  We talked about being kind and thinking of others.  We collected a few things and then headed on a walk together for our activity.  It was beautiful!

We decided to explore the rocky coastline together.

It was fun inspecting the little tide pools.  Some were SO small, and yet they had little fish in them!

I thought this rock was so interesting!  The layers were fascinating to me!

Looking back toward the beach.

This was our attempt at a family photo.  Thanks for trying babe!

Oooooh, here's a better crop!!

Then we tried to pose the boys for a cute shot on the hillside.

Our boys don't like to perform for pictures unfortunately!  Too bad!  Your mom will keep trying!!

We decided to head back, but not without one more attempt at a group shot of the boys--this time in a little cave-like area.

After returning home, we played games and had good food. 

Here, Grammy HB and D were playing a game on the floor.  We also started another puzzle.

Not bad for another day in paradise!

Hawaii Five-Lowe Part V

We fell in love with Kailua beach!  It's actually rated as one of the top beaches in the world--and we were just steps away from that amazing beach!  Ohhhhhh, the beautiful water!

We had such a great day on Saturday.  It just seemed to all come together.  All the boys were relaxed and loving the beach--either the sand or the water.  I'm just going to share some pictures from that day...after I sigh.

Siiiiiiiiiiigh.

Okay, on to the pictures!

Enjoying the beach!

Grammie and J liked to hang out together--Grammie reading and J eating snacks!

Grandpa HB also spent some time in the shade!  You don't mess with sunburn in Hawaii--it will always win!!

The best place to fly a kite!

Great sandcastles!

Did I mention how amazing the water is?

I just can't help but be happy when I look through these pictures!  The water was the perfect temperature and both G and D were having a great time with us jumping the waves and playing!  It was just the perfect day...and I don't say that lightly!

Did I say that this was a perfect day?  Because it was.

My heart is smiling.

Hawaii Five-Lowe Part IV

Remember when I said we are serious about not over-scheduling our vacations?  Today was our one day we had something planned other than the beach or the pool.  But we still needed to get our fill of the water!

The day before, Grammy HB had walked home from the beach with G and they discovered an area full of fish!  Here is an arial shot I found that shows this shallow section just off the beach.

 Is it any surprise that G wanted to go back there with some buckets so he could catch something?  We were all excited to see the fish he had taked about!

After just a few minutes, G and The Big Guy Lowe had caught something!  There were crab in these waters!!  We met other people that were catching crab too.  It was amazing how strong these little guys were.

They were pretty aggressive and we were warned that their pinchers were incredibly strong.

I think they caught about eight that morning!

Very impressed little brothers!!

In addition to the crab, The Big Guy Lowe caught a fish too--with just a sand bucket!!

You can see the detail a bit better in this picture.  Cool, eh?

While we were having fun, it was really windy and the sun wasn't out much.  J, D and I huddled on shore, took a closer look at the outriggers, picked up baby 'pinecones" for Grammy HB and sang songs.

Impressive boats at the local club.

Finally it was time to release the captives!  Whether at home or in the islands, we are a catch and release family...at least until we have a license!!  :)

It was interesting.  When we released the crab, they were on the attack and had no problem coming right at you.  After a bit, they seemed to realize they should disappear, and they did just that as they burrowed into the sand and were gone!

After our event-filled morning, we got the boys down for early naps. 

We were excited about visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) up in La'ie that afternoon and evening.  Unfortunately, Grammie Lowe was feeling tired and hurting again, so she chose to stay home and rest while we headed up to learn some more about the many islands that make up Polynesia!

The drive up north was beautiful!  Love the mountains!!

The sun even came out as we were passing "Chinaman's hat island."

More beautiful coastline!

Before we knew it we had arrived in La'ie and found ourselves exploring the different "islands" that make up the PCC.

Tonga was a big hit as they played drums and blew conch shells.

The boys were fascinated with the Koi ponds and other fish.

When we visited 'New Zealand', The Big Guy Lowe and J were able to participate!

Here they are practicing.

J is getting in a little more practice...

Now time for the performance.

The rest of us were looking on.

We especially loved Samoa!

Our good friends, the Browns, are from Samoa.  We were so excited to learn more about their culture!!

They made fire...

we tried!

They climbed palm trees!

We just watched!

We had a great visit to PCC.  Grammy and Grandpa HB were planning on staying for the big show that evening, so we said good-bye and headed out to explore the rest of La'ie.

We visited BYU Hawaii, toured the visitor center at the Hawaii Temple,

 

and then we headed home.

It was late by the time we returned to our house.  Both G and J were sound asleep--something that never happens with our children! D on the other hand was wide awake, and he was a little chatterbox!  We just laughed at the conversations he was carrying on!

Another great day!