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!