live... laugh... love...

ah, the lazy days of summer!

Sleeping in, no schedule, sunny weather... I am loving these unstructured summer days! 

Ashley got her turn to go to Catalina with Grammy for 4 days.  Emily and Lauren have each gone in the past.  Ashley got to get to know her second cousins better, like Melanie, above.

Nana is in town for the week and as a special treat, I got us tickets to see the Broadway production of Mary Poppins that is touring here in Orange County.  It was Nathan's turn to get a taste of the big theater and my friend, Allison, joined us as well.  It was a fabulous performance!

The kids wanted to go to the beach today, so we headed to The Hole for the afternoon.  Lauren stayed home with Nana for some sewing and movie watching (Nana introduced her to Jane Austen's 'Emma'). Emily dug a hole to China - well, not quite, but she reached water and it completely swallowed up her siblings.  Craig even showed up at the end, and stayed for some ocean swimming with The 3 Littles while I drove Emily home to get cleaned up for a babysitting job.  

Ahhhhh, summer! 

St. George and Provo, UT

For the 4th year in a row we took our family to St. George after school got out to spend some time at Las Palmas Condos at Green Valley.  Grammy joined us this year, as she had been in Mexico for 2 months and missed the kids, and Grandpa was still down there.  Craig worked from his St. George office. Grammy, the kids and I did what we always do - swam at the pools, shopped at the usual shops, and ate lots of shaved ice.  One evening, the whole family went to see CARS 2.  Another we went to Gunlock Falls for some rock jumping (everyone jumped except me!).

We ate dinner at Cafe Rio, which is always great, even though we now have one here in the OC.  We stopped in at the historic Jacob Hamblin home which has tours run by the LDS church.  Grammy drove Craig's car back home on Saturday morning, July 2, while the rest of us piled in the Expedition and drove the 250 miles to Provo.  I had not been to Provo since 1998!  It has certainly changed and grown.  But around BYU's campus, much was the same.  We took a drive down memory lane, driving past the little studio apartment Craig and I lived in for the first 4 months we were married while Craig finished his last semester at BYU. We drove past the apartments we had lived in when we were single.  We drove over to Tony Roma's, which is now an Italian pizza place, where Craig and I met. We took the kids on campus and admired the beautiful Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni Building...

...and the library, both new since we were there.  We ate at the Cougar Eat and shopped in the BYU bookstore. That evening we went to the Stadium of Fire at the Lavell Edwards Stadium on campus.  It was a huge patriotic celebration, with everything from parachuters, dancers, singers (David Archuleta and Brad Paisley) and a fly over by the jets from Hill Air Force Base. And of course, the  spectacular fireworks show at the end.  It was a fun night, even though we didn't get back to our hotel until about midnight.  We slept in til 10 am Utah time, then hurriedly got ready for church and attended my cousin, Marianne's ward. We'd not met her husband or kids before, so it was fun for my kids to discover new cousins.  

(Josy, Haily, and Myka Gary with my kids.)

We drove up to Sundance after church and enjoyed the beauty of Provo Canyon.

Then we met up with my dad's siblings and their spouses who happened to be in Provo for the 4th.  We visited, had brownies and root beer floats, and enjoyed a walk along the Provo River. 

(Dave and Carole Hayden and Claire and Bob Nees)

Monday, we got Emily checked in to Especially For Youth (EFY) for her first taste of BYU campus life.

Her good friend, Sophie, was also attending with her cousin, Rachel.  Emily had a nice girl from Arizona for her roommate.  Emily's favorite adjectives for describing her week at EFY?   "Amazing" and "Awesome"!  The new acronym we all learned was "COW" - Crush of the Week.  Let's just say Emily has a COW in Sacramento :)  We introduced our kids to BYU's ice cream at The Creamery where they serve ginormous scoops!

After getting Emily checked in, our family piled back in the car and drove back to St. George for one last night at Las Palmas.  We enjoyed the pools for a warm 4th of July evening.  We ate dinner at The Brick Oven, a pizza place that originated as Heaps of Pizza in Provo long ago (like my dad's BYU era:)  It had changed the name to Brick Oven by the time I was at BYU and now has locations around Utah.  I was pretty disappointed in our meals, but of course, we didn't order pizza, so that was probably our mistake. Tuesday morning, Craig went into the office for one last day of work there.  The kids and I ate breakfast at a favorite place, The Bear Paw, where they serve huge vanilla creme brulee stuffed French toast and delicious apple-oatmeal-pecan pancakes.  Then we met Julie Dyer and her kids, who were in town visiting Julie's sister and family, at the splash pad next to the St. George Tabernacle.  The kids had a blast playing in the water features of the park.

Our vacation came to a close at 4pm CA time, when we packed up the car and made the 6 hour drive home.  It was a great week+!  I'm still trying to recover from the trip.  It's good to be gone, but really good to be home!  

 

 

 

Kauai... 1988

Look!  I haven't changed my hairstyle in 22 years!

 

Nathan is the same age my little brother, Robbie, was in 1988.  

 

On one of my runs this trip, I jogged through the Kiahuna Plantation and checked out the beach in front of the condos.  I totally remembered it from that trip all those years ago.

 

My parents are big on photos of scenery (actually, they took slides).  I'm lucky to be in this shot!  Thanks to them for these pictures!  It was fun for me to see them after many, many years.

 
 
 

 

Day 7...

Our last night in paradise.

Went to a luau at the Kilohana Plantation.

A great way to end our amazing vacation.

Tomorrow we have a full day here and then head out on the red-eye to LA. 

Aloha! 

the real story

Oh, aren't they cute?!  What perfect little angels!

HA!

Lest anyone think we are living in a state of familial bliss here on our tropical getaway, let me tell you what happened after the shutter snapped.

We all piled into the minivan with our shave ice.  Before Craig had even gotten it out of park, Nathan had somehow managed to spill Ashley's shave ice all over her and the seat.  Ashley began to cry and retaliated by pinching Nathan.  Nathan pushed Ashley.  Ashley punched Nathan.  Now both are crying and Craig and I are both yelling for Ashley and Nathan to get out of the car because they are walking home.  It takes me getting out of the car and clearing Lauren out of their way to get them out.  They then stand of the sidewalk there in Koloa, suddenly quite chummy in their plight, while we sit in the van in the adjacent parking lot eating our shave ice.  Maren is now crying because she thinks we are going to leave them there.  Emily is telling us to leave them there and drive home now because she needs to use the bathroom.  And I'm sure Lauren was giving us her two cents, although I don't remember anything specific now. 

It's pretty much like that everytime we get in the car together.  We have come to the conclusion that we just have to stay on the beach.  Everyone gets along and has fun together when we are out of the house and out of the car and enjoying the great outdoors.

And that's the real story behind the picture perfect photos...

Day 6...

Much better day for me, not so good for Craig.  He was fightning a migraine all day.  We drove up to the north end of the island again, stopping to see Wailua Falls and then on to Kahili Quarry Beach near Kilauea.  It's a beach not known to most tourists. (Thanks, Steph, for the tip!)  It's a cool beach because the Kilauea Stream empties into the ocean there, so the kids could play in the ocean and in the stream.  A sand bar makes the stream into almost a lake with no waves or current.  The kids had fun making pools for tadpoles and tried out a little rope swing into the stream.  Craig spent the first hour and a half there sleeping in the car, then joined us on the beach for a little massage (ask me about my rates!) and a cool off in the ocean.  After another hour or so, we headed a little farther up the highway to Banana Joe's for delicious banana frostys and fresh fruit.  (Unfortunately, the fruit got a little mashed up on the car ride home, but will make great mango and papaya milkshakes in the morning.)  We drove back down to Poipu for dinner at Puka Dog, a polish sausage in a hollowed out bun with their special lemon garlic sauce, a choice of relish (I went with the coconut relish) and Hawaiian mustard.  Absolutely delish!  We did a little souvenir shopping in the Poipu Shopping Village - got our Kauai Christmas tree ornament - and Nathan got his much wanted shark tooth necklace.  Our trip is winding down... but still paradise!

  

day 5...in paradise?

The Ideal (from the website for Captain Andy's Na Pali Coast Sailing and Snorkeling Adventure):

5 to 5½ hours of Na Pali, sailing, snorkeling and fun! You'll see spectacular sea cliffs, enchanting waterfalls and timeless lava tubes. Enjoy the history and legends of the ancient civilizations that once inhabited these verdant valleys. Plus, we'll anchor at a tropical reef to snorkel and explore an underwater ecosystem.

The Reality:

All true..

...but also includes me walking the line between barely feeling OK and seasick, me chumming over the starboard side of the boat, and me lying in fetal position, nearly incapacitated, for the duration of the very long 5 hour trip. 

Not so much paradise today.  More like hell.  If the Hawaiian gods wanted to consign me to an eternity of torment and misery, that boat ride would be it.  But the rest of the family had a great time.  Sorry I missed it

With the boat crew...they were so good to our kids.  I would definitely recommend this company to anyone. Well, to anyone who doesn't suffer from motion sickness! 
   

day 4...

spent the day at the north end of the island today... it's still paradise!

Craig and Lauren both jumped into the Queen's Bath.  The jump itself isn't bad, it's the getting out that is sketchy.  The surf is constantly rushing in.  I was really nervous to let Lauren jump.  She wanted to do it again, but I put the kabosh on that!

We picked up two copies of Mockingjay at the Borders Books in Lihue on our way north.  It is the final book in the Hunger Games series and just was released today.  Emily got her own copy and Craig and I have to fight over the other.

After spending the afternoon at Haena State Beach, we hiked a mile up to an overlook of both sides of the island:  back towards the state beach on the east side and the Na Pali coast on the west.  The kids mostly complained that we were dragging them on this hike, but the views from above were spectacular.

  

Even Maren got out there for some snorkeling with the fish and sea turtles.

day three in paradise

Highlights from today:

-starting the day with a 6.5 mile run through Koloa and Poipu

-taking Maren to the playground on the beach after my run

-spending the day at the turtle beach, body surfing, boogie boarding, and playing in the waves

-more shave ice for the kids and Craig, a big diet coke for me

-jumping off Kipu Falls, even me!

-watching the sunset (finally!) from Brennecke's Beach

-going out to a quick, quiet, casual dinner with Craig after the littles were asleep

Another perfect day in paradise (even with all the complaining and bickering amongst the kids about who did or did not want to go the beach, go to the falls, etc...  Everyone had a good time upon arrival)

 

So many more pictures I could upload...once again, too tired!  Til tomorrow!

day two...

I suppose I should include journaling with the pics we are taking here in Kauai.  My memory isn't what it used to be... actually I've never had a very good memory!  We arrived here on Friday evening, got our rental minivan, and drove over to our condo at the Regency at Poipu Kai.  It's a great little 3 bedroom unit, perfect for our family.  It's a 5 minute walk to Brennecke's Beach, and ironically, the house we stayed at 13 years ago with 8-month-old Emily, Grammy, and the Dunne family is right there too.  So our first evening here we settled in to the condo, everyone threw on suits, and we walked over to Brennecke's Beach just as the sun set for a short swim in the warm ocean.  We brought the kids back to the condo, set them up in front of the TV and Craig and I drove off in search of something for dinner.  We went to the shopping center not far down the road, across from the Kiahuna Plantation, where I'd stayed with my family as a teenager.  It is also the location of Keoki's Paradise, where we went out for a fancy dinner with baby Emily, Grammy and the Dunnes all those years ago.  We got burgers, mac-n-cheese, and fish-n-chips to go from Poipu Tropical Burgers.  The kids could barely keep their eyes open to eat their meals.  It was about midnight California time, so we were all happy to hit the sack.  Our bodies being on said Cali time, we were all up around 5:30 local time.  We ate chocolate covered macadamia nuts for breakfast since that was the only food in the house.  We all got ready for the day, piled in the bright blue Dodge minivan, and headed to the store we love to hate...Wal-Mart.  Two hundred dollars later, we were stocked with everything except produce and meat.  We came back home for a very late breakfast and then packed up for a day at the beach.  The pictures I posted yesterday are from Brennecke's Beach...eating shave ice over vanilla ice cream, body surfing and boogie boarding, and snorkeling with the sea turtles.  It was a perfect day.

So that brings us to today, day 2...

We started the day early again.  Craig and I went for an hour walk down at the beach.  We arrived back at the condo to a property employee at our door.  He asked if we were staying in this unit and when we answered yes, he reminded us that we were on Hawaiian time now and it was not quite 8 o'clock in the morning.  Oh those kids of ours!  Apparently the TV had been blasting and since these units don't have air conditioning, all the windows are open all the time.  We had a big talk with the kids about being thoughtful of our neighbors and now all the neighors hate us. We are trying to be quieter, but it's a difficult task for most of my kids. 

We got ourselves ready for church and drove to the closest ward in Kalaheo for the 9 o'clock meeting.  We arrived at about 5 minutes after the hour and the parking lot was empty.  A paper was taped to the door.  Yes, it was stake conference and it was being held at a convention hall in Lihue.  We started to drive back home to change clothes and head to Waimea Canyon for the day, but the kids were being so obnoxious in the car that we just sailed right past the condo and headed to Lihue for Stake Conference of the Kauai Hawaii Stake!  Nothing like 2 hours of conference to mellow those kids out.  It was actually a great meeting with Elder Kent Richards of the Second Quorum of the Seventy there as well as the Hawaii Honolulu mission president and his wife.  We came home for lunch and a little down time, then walked over to Shipwrecks Beach in front of the Grand Hyatt.  The kids had fun playing in the water.  Craig and Lauren walked over to check out the people jumping off the enormous rock at the end of the beach.  Meanwhile, storm clouds rolled in and it started to rain, so me and the other 4 kids started back for the condo.  It was raining in earnest by the time we got back, but the kids had picked up some coconuts off the ground on the walk home and had fun trying to break them open.  Craig took the kids to the pool to rinse the sand off, I made spaghetti, and we had dinner.  Craig and I and the three littles drove over to Spouting Horn, just missing the sunset again!  Then home for scriptures and prayers and the condo is quiet now.  Off to bed for me too.  It is only 8:50, but my body thinks it's almost midnight! 

I'll add pictures to this post later... I'm on Craig's laptop and it's not uploading these files very quickly and I want to head to bed.