Adventures |

Dole Plantation

We did the tourist “thing” and visited the Dole Plantation. We walked around the grounds and saw all sorts of beautiful plants and flowers too. It’s like God was trying to show off with all of the strangely wonderful looking vegetation. We also took a tour on the Pineapple Express and got to see the pineapple fields and different crops harvested in the area. Of course we all tried the dole whip afterwards, mmm!

Turtle Beach

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We had the chance to visit Turtle Beach on the North shore of Oahu. Waves here were too big to safely play in the water, but we walked down the beach together. It’s the beach they filmed part of the show LOST, when the plane crashes in the first season. We walked about a mile down the beach to find the sea turtles. I saw a few in the water and then one sunning himself on the beach. It was really neat, I was expecting them to be little guys but they were really big and prehistoric looking! The kids thought the turtles were pretty cool too, but I think they had more fun running from the waves and sliding down the sand dunes.

Easter in Oahu

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Easter Eve (is that a thing?) we colored eggs with the kids.

Before bed, the kids helped make funfetti cupcakes with grandma Leslie. Ben cracked the egg himself and was so proud.

Easter morning the kids hunted for their baskets.

Leslie bought them Easter outfits and Cassidy was so excited to wear her sparkly pink dress. Leslie also did an “Elsa braid” for Cassidy, because I lack the skills ;-)

Playing with grandpa and her new duckies.

We went with my dad and Leslie to their church service. They had several dramas.

After church there was an Easter egg free for all for the kids. Last week their church had an Easter egg hunt for the community and there were a ton of eggs left over.

This guy nicknamed “Uncle Bubba” handed out eggs with money afterwards too.

My dad and Leslie :)

Annnnd, that’s us!

Easter dinner with family <3

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now is ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him
From rising again

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

Beginning adventures

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Leslie took us to a break wall where she often sees rays and tropical fish. She’s even seen an octopus there before.

No such luck on the octopus this time, but we did feed some of the birds.

Cassidy thought they were just the cutest.

We visited a beach on base and the kids were excited to “surf”

Ben looking for things to add to his collection. He was particularly interested in the coral.

Enjoying the beach.

Andy trying to catch a crab.

He got one!

This was part of a little marina on base. The tree looked so cool and the color of the water here was unreal.

Leslie said some people kayak to work on the base to avoid traffic on the island. What an awesome way to commute!

We visited my dad’s office too.

Colonel Lute!

Benny felt pretty important.

One of Cassidy’s grumpier moments, Ben had sat in the chair she wanted ;-)

Love him!

A little splash pad had just opened up on base so we popped over to do that too.

So fun!

I’ve tried to keep a normal schedule with them (Cassidy has been off and on grumpy) so quiet time has been important. Silly girl fell asleep in the armchair in her room.

Andy enjoying the hammock one afternoon while the kids were resting.

Aloha!

by Heather | 1 Comment

We survived the trip and made it to my dad and Leslie’s place on the island of Oahu! We drove 3 hours to Toronto (it was half the price to fly out of the Toronto airport vs Rochester or Buffalo). The kids enjoyed their Timmy’s donuts while we waited for our first plane.

We picked up our second flight in Vancouver. We BARELY had time to make it through customs (since we’d be entering into the US again) and got to our flight with minutes to spare. If I did it again I’d try to get a longer layover anywhere I had to deal with the customs process.

The first flight was 4.5 hours. The second was 6. It wasn’t enjoyable by any stretch, but honestly the kids did great! A lot was asked of them and it was an incredibly long day with time changes and both were troopers! No meltdowns and they were able to keep pretty busy between movies, coloring, games on the tablet, crafts and other activities.

We had to “make” them sleep too, I think they would have tried to push through but we put activities away and carved out a chunk of time on the second flight as “sleep” time.

Andy’s smiling because Ben is sleeping and quiet. Ben.talked.the.entire.time.he.was.awake.

My dad and Leslie picked us up at the airport and had beautiful leys for us. This is us the next morning, slightly more awake than when we arrived :)

They aren’t kidding about it being paradise here, it’s SO beautiful! Warm air and sunshine feel so good and it smells wonderful.

My dad is a Colonel in the Air Force and is on Hickam Air Force Base right now.

Sparing no expense for a Colonel, his housing is a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath, beautiful home on base.

Views out their livingroom window are amazing. They sit right at the entrance to Pearl Harbor.

The back patio, where I’m sitting going through photos. Birdies are chirping and I’m enjoying an iced coffee.

Some of the birds that frequent their feeder.

You can even see ships coming in and out of the harbor. Hickam is a joint base with the Navy occupying the other side.

A sweet moment with Cassidy.

Ben telling Leslie all his plans about coconuts and beaches. And drinking coconut milk. And the coconuts he’s going to bring back for his class. He’s set on coconuts!

Cassidy loved finding all the little flowers that fell from trees in their back yard.

Doggie Sadie was happy to have new visitors too!

And Prim just wanted dinner.

We’ve just stuck to activities on base so far. And I realized that the dog and cat made it into this post but I didn’t share any pics of my dad ;-) We visited his office and I have those photos and many more adventures coming up! So thankful to be here, it still seems pretty surreal!

Just keep swimming

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We may have watched Finding Dory three plus times over Thanksgiving.

Anyway…

We also headed to Niagara Falls as a family over Thanksgiving break. Friends of ours had won a free night’s stay at a hotel, but unfortunately moved out of state before they could use it. So they gifted it to us!

The original plan had been to visit the Aquarium and do some touristy things before heading to Andy’s parent’s house on Thanksgiving day. Andy wasn’t feeling great before or during the trip though so we pretty much just bummed around the hotel. The kids loved staying up late watching TV and eating snacks in bed. They slept pretty well (Cassidy and I shared a queen bed, Andy and Ben also shared a queen). Our room neighbors stayed up pretty late and woke up loud and early which was a little annoying, but I suppose nobody really goes to a hotel to sleep well.

The kids doing a puzzle the next morning. They were bright eyed and bushy tailed!

Hotel picnic breakfasts are awesome!

Poor widdle sick Andy. Haha, the poor guy did actually feel pretty crummy.

I took the kids down to the pool and we were excited to find a mini aquarium too! I’d never actually told them we were planning to do the aquarium (I tend to not tell them things ahead of time because then I have to answer questions for days).

So fun!

This one was Ben’s favorite, with sharks and stingrays.

This is a perfect depiction of the kids’ personalities :) Ben is cautious, calculating and a little hesitant to try new things (even if he is super friendly and outgoing). Cassidy just goes for it, wants to do it herself and and is very determined that she will succeed at it.