101: sky's renaissance project

Once again, Skyler waited till the very last minute to inform me about a huge renaissance project that was due on Thursday. I basically told him, good luck with that! Of course I said that, but ended up helping him..I always do! Actually, besides going to the store for the ingredients, Skyler pretty much did this all on his own, with my close supervision.  He made medieval herb bread and strawberry tarts. He cut the herbs, measured all the ingredients, even went next door and got freshly ground wheat from our neighbor. He kneaded the dough by hand and formed the balls. He made the tarts by first making a sugar cookie crust. Then he just mixed strawberries, sugar, and a little lemon juice in the food processor and blended. It was very time consuming, but I think everything turned out great!

100: back to reality

Back to reality! Somehow I thought it would be a great idea, after being gone 2 weeks, to put an enormous project on my very own shoulders.  Ryder's teacher is having her 50th birthday this week and I wanted to do something extra special.  Besides making her a cute banner and having all the kids make her cards and attaching them to sunflowers and getting her a gift card from the class, I decided to make her a video. I had 1 day! I spent the majority of Tuesday at the school intercepting kids when I could..at recess, lunch, and library time. I taped them saying their favorite things about Mrs. Skinner and asked them to give her a birthday message. It even worked out that the class had library time and Mrs. Skinner wouldn't be there, so I had them sing her happy birthday. I went home immediately and began editing the tape. I'm not going to lie..it turned out amazing! I even had a tear in my eye. I love it when a last minute plan comes together.

99: aloha..until we meet again!

A sad goodbye to the island we love! Aloha!

98: happy wet easter

 Quick stop at the Pali Lookout..not a bright idea to visit wearing a dress! It is like hurricane winds up there!

We drove back up to Laie for Easter Sunday! It felt nice to get out of the busyness of town and spend this special day with family. We attended Sacrament meeting with Brian & Cindi, but then skipped out early to take some pictures at the temple and get one last shaved ice. For the 12 days we were here, this was our only day of rain! It's pretty amazing to think we had sun the whole time..that just doesn't happen in Hawaii! The rain wasn't going to rain on our parade..or on our easter egg hunt. It just made it that much more exciting! The rain was coming down in sheets, but that didn't dampen our spirits. This trip was incredible! I can't thank the Watkins' enough for opening their home to our family. The boys already miss their cousins terribly and are already planning their return trip! You won't get any complaints from me. It was so fun strolling down memory lane and remembering all the fun times we had while going to BYU-H and sharing those with our boys.  We feel blessed to have had such an incredible opportunity to visit and can't wait to go back! We'll give them a little time to recoup..but not much!

97: for the love of paddle boarding

It was an early Saturday morning! Cindi came to do the kid switch around 6:15, after picking up her sister and husband and niece from the airport. We made the most of our last beach day! I have always wanted to try paddle boarding so today was my day. It was a lot of fun, but hard work..especially when your paddling over 200 pounds. Skyler didn't want his own..he was a little nervous, so he hitched a ride on mine. It was a bit tricky balancing our weight, but we got it! The thing with Waikiki is that the reef is so shallow. I had to stay on my knees till we got to deeper water because if I had fallen, it would have been ugly and painful! We saw sea turtles out there and I think Skyler's piercing scream scared them away. All the while, as we are frolicking in the ocean, Ryder and Jayden were in the hotel room watching movies! I wasn't going to fight it..we all got what we wanted that day! We had a gorgeous sunset..a perfect way to end an amazing trip!

96: waikiki

 A room with a view!

For the last weekend of our trip, we decided to stay downtown in Waikiki at the Outrigger Reef hotel. They asked us if we wanted to upgrade to a deluxe ocean view, of course I said NO! Good thing we didn't pay any extra because we had incredible views from our "partial ocean view" room! Ryder didn't want to come with us because he wanted to stay with Hannah and David. So Cindi kept Ryder and we took Rebecca and Stephen with us for the night! It worked out perfectly, except for the fact that Skyler got really sick and had terrible earaches. After dinner, he and Jim went back to the room while I took the others and ventured downtown Waikiki! We hit the International Market Place and loved seeing all the crazies! Stephen and Rebecca had never been down here so everything was new. I can't believe how much it has changed! I DO NOT like the feel of it! I quickly was missing the north shore and the casual, no fuss vibe!

95: pounders

Took a walk around campus this morning..good times!

 My old stomping ground...bikini beach!

 POUNDERS beach

While at Pounders, the kids took the fishing nets and had fun catching the little minnow fish. The boys had so much fun with their cousins exploring, climbing trees, and playing games.  There was such sadness when we had to leave! But that just means we need to be regular visitors!

94: a day at the bay

Hanauma Bay is and always has been a tourist trap..but it's a must for first timers. We drove up to the parking lot and it was full, so Jim dropped us off and parked a couple miles away and walked down. What a pain! They make you watch a conservancy video about the reefs before you can enter. This was Ryder and Jayden's first time. Jayden didn't have the greatest experience and Ryder rode on my back like a turtle. There were beautiful fish everywhere. It was one of the best times I have been. I loved having my underwater camera and not only took pictures, but video of the beauty that lied beneath. I was so glad that Rebecca could come with us because her and Skyler were perfect buddies! After snorkeling we had shaved ice in Waimanalo and then played a little at Lanikai beach. It was another fabulous day in paradise!

93: a hike up diamond head

 A rare moment of brotherly kindness!

 Lanikai beach...my favorite!

It was an adventure day! The cousins had to go back to school so we decided to explore the other side of the island. We hit Diamond Head first! 200 feet into about a 1 1/2 mile hike, Ryder began with his drama,"my legs are out of battery!" "I'm not going to survive this..I'm going to DIE!{drag out DIE for at least 10 seconds!}" "My legs need to be charged!" It was quite comical and we were giving the other hikers quite a show. Ryder lets you know how he feels and isn't shy about it! Miraculously, a little bit further into the hike, he got his second wind and began running to catch up with his brothers. His response, "my legs got charged!" I wish I could have found the same charging station. After we summited the crater we took a scenic drive along Hawaii Kai and Makapuu. We ended up in Kailua and Lanikai..in my opinion, the best beaches in Oahu! The sand is like white powder and the ocean is so clear! It's heavenly. I knew I needed to bring some sand home for my apothecary jars and I made Skyler do my dirty work!

92: a day of play

The cousins got to ditch school and hang out with us today! We decided to make it a North Shore day. Before the fun started, I had to get family pictures. It's never a welcomed event, but it had to be done! It was this very spot, 15 years ago, Jim and I took our engagement pictures. Who would have thought we'd be standing on the same stretch of sand with our 3 boys years later!

It was a perfect day..the waves weren't as big as the kids would have liked, but they made the most of it.  Stephen, Rebecca, and Skyler even went to jump off the rock. Rebecca and Skyler stayed on the lower portion, but not Stephen! He went full board.

A day on the north shore is not complete without a trip to Matsumotos shave ice! Jim and I tried to average at least 1 shaved ice a day..we only missed a couple days. After our treat, we drove to turtle beach and were not disappointed! There were sea turtles everywhere. A few even had come up to the beach to bask in the sun. We had an incredible day and wish the cousins could play the entire time with us!

91: i love to see the temple..especially in hawaii!

After sitting and listening to conference for 4 hours, we decided it was time to get out, so we took a walk up to the temple. It was a gorgeous day and the ground are so beautiful. The kids were especially fond of the huge banyan tree in the back. It was all fun and games until Jayden got hurt! As he was channeling his inner Tarzan and swinging from a vine, he hit the wall at 75 mph..that's his story and he's sticking to it! I had to carry him on my back all the way home. It was a miraculous recovery for as soon as he saw something that perked his interest, he had forgotten about his debilitating injuries, and ran to this new discovery!