Time...to relax...

Things have been especially busy around the Lowe house these days. 

Between the hundreds of hours The Big Guy Lowe put towards the planning and following through of The Life of Christ event (which was truly wonderful!!) and the added hours he's needed to fill with work and increased traveling to CA, not to mention all the activities that are part of our daily lives, we have been ready for some sort of reprieve.  Just time to sit and relax.  Doesn't that sound simply wonderful??  I thought so too.

Flash back to January.  The Big Guy Lowe was invited to a conference for those in his profession.  In order to be invited, you had to be doing very well.  We were thrilled and humbled when an invitation was extended.  As The Big Guy Lowe explained to me what we would be doing and where we would be, all I could think was "Why wouldn't we want to go?!"  One week later it looked like we wouldn't be able to attend as I had a severely burned arm with a lengthly recovery ahead of me.  Gratefully, the new skin on my arm had healed to the point that my doctors said a week in the sun (with sunblock) would be wonderful!  Whew!

Again, Grammy HB was a life-saver as she provided the loving care to our three boys.  We are so grateful mom, and love the memories our boys have of the "vacations" they get to share with you!!  Thank you!!  With the boys under her watchful wing, we were able to head out to Naples, FL.

May 2nd, we headed to the airport at an early hour--4 AM!  Thanks dad for taking us!!  With Stake Conference being the weekend before and The Big Guy Lowe being in CA part of the previous week, our trip kind of crept up on us!  Before we knew it we were on the plane headed east.

After traveling all day, we made it to FL and met up with some wonderful people that we were able to enjoy the week with!  To begin the wonderful-ness--we were staying at the Ritz Carlton.

Very nice is all I have to say.  Take a look at what we were going to have to deal with the next week.

It was going to be rough!!

We started our stay by taking a walk out on the beach.  We were immediately amazed by the number of shells strewn throughout the beach!

There was a beautiful sand sculpture too!

When we were unpacking in our room, we found a little "kipper" that made it into our luggage.  ;)  We decided to take him with us as we explored a few places.  :)

Here's our room, with kipper.

Kipper had a bit too much sun, so opted to stay under the blue umbrella for some time.

A turtle that lives in the trees just up from the ocean made his way out to the water and back.  Kipper was there to see. 

Another sand sculpture was admired by our feline friend. 

While the "cat" might have liked the sand, our favorite view was right out in front.  The water was actually warmer than the water in Hawaii--that includes all of the seasons we have been there.  It also had a greater salt content.  Nothing we couldn't deal with.  Oh it was wonderful!

The Big Guy Lowe had meetings in the morning, and I was free to do what I pleased.  One day that included a class on flower arranging.  This was my final product.

Another morning I sat and read in the most wonderful space.  Sigh...

After the morning meetings, The Big Guy Lowe and I would head out to the beach.  It was wonderful!  So relaxing sitting on the beach and then running into the surf and playing for a few hours until we were tired enough that we wanted to sit and dry off a bit--only to run into the water again.

See that little flag on the pole?  In case we needed some refreshments while we were lounging.  NICE!

We enjoyed reading on the beach too.  I was reading President Hinckley's biography Go Forward With Faith, and The Big Guy Lowe was reading President Monson's biography To The Rescue.  So wonderful being inspired by the lives of modern-day prophets.

In the evenings we would dress for dinner.  Some nights heading out to nice restaurants, other nights attending conference events.  This is where we ate one night--great steaks!

One morning we headed into the Everglades for an "Eco-tour".

This is what we saw...

 

We followed another boat the entire time.

The wildlife we saw was a bit staged.  The drivers hit some milk-type jugs that were filled with stale marshmallows against the mangrove trees...and racoons came a-runnin! 

Unfortuantely our lense was dirty from the trip, but The Big Guy Lowe was able to hold a baby alligator. 

Yep, I did too! 

On our way back to Naples, we stopped at a nature preserve.  We actually saw some wild alligators here. 

 

Look back through the trees...

he was probably about seven feet long. 

While we had a nice time, we were happy to get back to the beach! 

Later that night, the awards dinner was held at a private exotic animal preserve.  Amazing dancers, musicians and fire-breathers entertained.

 

 

 

And we were able to enjoy a few animal-friends too!

Here's Tyson, a FL panther. 

Can't remember the name of this beautiful giraffe. 

 

When dinner was served, this is what our table looked like.  Each table was different and each was beautiful.

Our last day we drove up to Sanibel Island for the morning.  Such beautiful shells!

We also ate at an interesting place, that had pretty good food.  We even tried alligator.  How about that?

Tastes like chicken...chewy chicken.  :)

We had a wonderful time, but amid it all, we missed our boys.  Cell phones have made being away from our boys a bit more tolerable.

The morning we were to leave, this is what we saw on the tarmac.

We were looking forward to being home on Mother's day by 11:00AM.  Unfortunately, a gas line leak derailed that plan.  We did end up getting home by midnight that night after an adventurous day.  The bright point of it all was getting to know Rod and Julie.  I still laugh a bit when I think about the adventures we shared.  We will definitely look forward to seeing them again in the fall.  But nothing could make me happier than seeing this as we drove up that night.

It says "Welcome Home" and "Happy Mother's Day Mommy".

While it's always nice to take a break, it's always better to get back home.  :)

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 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!