MORE GOOD.

So, since we don’t have pictures… I am going to try and do a brain dump here… starting from day 1. Our first travel day was Monday. Tic Tac was SOO excited to ride the plane. We call Lilianna “Tic Tac” a lot because she still has the cutest little baby teeth- tic tac teeth! Isaiah and Lil looked like world travelers at the airport, pulling their own luggage. Isaiah was pretty fascinated with all the processes, and asked lots of questions. I sat with Tic Tac and Daddy sat with Isaiah. She held my hand so tight for take off. Fascinated by all the little things on the plane… she asked me to roll down the window. Isaiah was happily reading his book and then played his DS for the last time. Tic Tac was forever fidgety the entire flight- having to go the bathroom at the WORST times. I think she just liked going into the tiny bathroom. We arrived in Oahu in the afternoon, checked into our resort, ate dinner, and did some Wal-mart shopping for groceries, etc.

Tuesday, we met up with Uncle Paul, Auntie Kathy, cousin Alyssa and her friend Mia. We drove around the island and visited the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Fruit Heaven for Isaiah, whose FAVORITE fruit in the world are PINEAPPLES! The kids were pretty amazed at how pineapples start out, a tiny little pineapple sprouting up in the middle of the leaves. We ate lunch and then dessert. Of course, Isaiah just wanted pineapple, so he got a small box of some of the sweetest delicious pineapple we’ve ever tasted. Lil had a Dole whip – and didn’t even want to share with me! We all boarded the train to the Pineapple express. We saw fields and fields of pineapples growing in rich, red dirt. Mango trees, macadamia trees, coffee trees, etc were also planted for harvest. Isaiah was amazed to learn that a single pineapple can take up to 2 years to mature. He said, “Wow, that makes them pretty rare.” I think he enjoys pineapples EVEN more knowing this. The tour was great, until my cell phone dropped out of my purse on one of the turns. I watched it fall in S-L-O-W motion and break apart next to the track. Luckily I got it back at the end of the tour- as the train operator saw it happen and retrieved it for me. LUCKY I got it back, uncracked. This was the piece of tech that didn’t get stolen on our trip. Next the kids and dads went through the pineapple maze/scavenger hunt; while Kathy and I sat in the shade and had a chance to chat. Dave and Paul went together and all 4 kids raced around the maze together. Isaiah LOVES a challenge. When Dave found the kids, Isaiah exclaimed, “we only have 1 more stamp and then we’re done!” Dave said that Lil seemed really proud to be big enough to run with the big kids. They were hot and exhausted when they finished, but very happy! We were all pretty hungry so we drove further out to North shore and visited Giovanni’s World Famous Shrimp Truck. Poor Tic Tac fell into a deep sleep in the car and could not be woken, even when Isaiah said, “Lil, we’re going to eat SHRIMP!” My kids happen to LOVE shrimp and all seafood. Isaiah tore through a 1/2 order of garlic shrimp which made his Dad extremely proud. We sat very close to the car so we could keep an eye on Lil. Isaiah kept going back to the car to check on her because he didn’t want her to miss out. We ordered the boy another 1/2 order which he devoured. He loved it but said he was sad the Lil missed out and that she didn’t get a chance to sign the truck. We drove home too late to go to the pool, which disappointed Tic Tac, who had been asking to go to the pool ALL DAY.

Wednesday, cousin Korina arrived from CA and we all went out to the Macadamia nut farm. Besides seafood, my kids love NUTS. I know, they are nutty kids. The macadamia farm is beautiful there, set among the jungle, with big beautiful trees and wild chickens and baby chicks everywhere. My kids love chickens and are not afraid of them in the least bit (as we raised chickens in the backyard for a few years). These were wild chickens though, not tame and easy to catch hold like ours were. They chased them around for awhile after we sampled the nuts and Kona coffee inside. Outside, there was a huge bin of raw nuts outside that you could crack open and eat and several chickens under a tree where there are rocks and logs waiting to try and get some leftovers. The kids sat and got some nuts to crack open. They are surprisingly very good raw. Tic Tac particularly liked doing this and looked like a little native girl, squatting there and cracking open nut after nut. Chickens were climbing all over getting super close to her. One even stole a piece of her nut. She didn’t even flinch, and popped the rest of it in her mouth. She’s a very funny little girl. All the other little girls there were scared and bothered by the chickens, but not Lil. She ate a TON of nuts and told us her tummy was all full from nuts. Isaiah chased chickens most of the time, determined to hold one of the baby chicks, but to no avail. My Isaiah with his constant tan looks totally like a local. As do I. I was asked at least 10 times during the trip if I was local.

We stopped a few times along the way, once to see the turtles basking at Lanikai beach and once again to hit up a fruit stand! MORE pineapple for Isaiah and coconut for Lil.

Afterwards, we all came back to the resort where we finally got a chance to swim in the pool. Isaiah practiced his strokes and Lil floated around with her bright orange floaties! Isaiah and I raced each other across the pool a few times and Dave played squirt guns with the kids.

That afternoon, we all took a cruise on the Mai Tai Catamaran off Waikiki Beach. The kids wanted to go up front and stand by the rails. Brave little Tic Tac loved getting splashed by the waves. She was her usual excited hoppy self. So cute with her golden hair blowing in the wind and her big grin. It was really cool to see the water change from clear, to turquoise to aqua to deep blue. When the waters got a little rougher we all sat by the nets enjoying the cruise. We saw views of Diamond Head and I told the kids they had been to the top when they were little. Isaiah was 4 and Lil was not even 1 yet. Dave and I ergo carried them and made it all the way to the top 4 years or so prior. One day when the kids are older, we’ll do it again, if we decide to come back to Oahu.

After the boat ride we ran to our room, got changed and came back to the beach with the cousins. I was pretty amazed, because at home in CA, Lil is TERRIFIED of the ocean. Loves the sand, but barely puts a toe in the water. She could hardly keep away in Hawaii. She loved the warm clear water and gentle waves. I couldn’t believe my baby girl was in the ocean. Of course, the kids couldn’t resist collecting some beach rocks, shells and even sea glass we found there.

We went to Marukai Udon for dinner where we ordered two of our Lilianna’s most favorite things, noodles and tempura. Isaiah had a musubi and noodles. But you kids were so tired you were were practically sleeping in your noodles.

Thursday morning we got up bright and early to head out to Kualoa Ranch. We were pretty excited about our jungle tour. We had some extra time before hand so we went to go feed the animals at the petting zoo. There was a big huge pig, a giant tortoise, a bunny, some goats and a donkey. The poor little turtle was “running” at full speed to try and get some lettuce, but Princess the pig was trying to hog it all. We managed to distract Princess and throw the turtle some lettuce. The shy bunny finally came around and let us pet it too. The bunny was bigger than Jilliboo our cat back home! Our tour was pretty bumpy. We got in the 6 wheeled off road vehicle and held on for dear life. The whole ride up I could tell by the way Tic Tac was holding on to Dave’s arm that she was riding that line between sheer terror and fun. Isaiah was loving it, holding on tight! No seatbelts! On our way up we spotted two wild pigs, a great big one and a tiny dark one running around the jungle together. We stopped to gaze at the old Hawaiian fish ponds and were told the history and genius of the Hawaiian ancestors. In the old days only Royals were allowed to fish in the fish pond. All others caught fishing would be executed. Up high the views of the ranch and surrounding areas were breathtaking. We sat next to an elementary school teacher who told Isaiah to really take it all in and appreciate the trip. She said that a lot of her students would never leave their small town, and never get to experience such beauty. We passed many fruit trees, strawberry guava, mango, and kukui nut. We learned that the kukui nut is rich in oil and the ancients used it to burn like candles. At the top, our tour guide Lani brought out coconut leaves and showed us how to make a fish on a pole out of them. Before we left she discovered we were running behind and told us to be prepared for a fast ride down! Lani booked it down the mountain at crazy speeds, boy could she drive! We were holding on for dear life, but having a blast. By this time Lil had loosened up and wasn’t scared at all coming down, even though it was much more scary going down than up. At the bottom, there were dozens of cows hanging out by the gate as we passed it.

On our way back to the resort, we stopped at a fruit stand on the road and had some coconut juice (Lil loves it, Isaiah doesn’t) right out of an ice cold coconut. We also got another pineapple all cut up for Isaiah.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Hanauma Bay. We were so very proud of our kids, who BOTH did some snorkeling. Lil looked pretty hysterical in her giant orange floaties and goggles. She would swim out, take a deep breath, plop her head in the water for 2 seconds- just enough time to see a few fish and pop back up to tell me what she saw! We stayed very close to shore so she didn’t see a whole lot, but she saw a handful of different fish, mostly Convicts and Butterfly fish. She did see a “DORY” fish too. Isaiah was very hesitant at first, refused to wear any type of floating device and wanted to swim out far where the waves were. We were just very nervous because even though he is an awesome swimmer in a pool, swimming in a coral packed ocean with snorkel gear he wasn’t exactly comfortable with and waves worried us. Finally we compromised and at first he couldn’t get used to the mask, the flippers, the gear. But after a few minutes, we were snorkeling together out in the ocean, holding hands. It was so exciting! We saw DOZENS of fishes of all different colors and sizes. Dave and I took turns snorkeling with Isaiah. On their swim out they saw a dog faced spotted puffer and HUGE parrot fish as big as Lil! On our swim out, Isaiah and I saw a sea turtle feeding on sea grass in a cave. It makes me smile from ear to ear that we saw it together! We were talking through our snorkel masks and pointing, all excited! Isaiah was naming all kinds of fish (because the boy was really paying attention during the informational video). We saw racoon fish, butterfly fish, convicts, surgeons, tangs, wrasse and more. We had so much fun there the kids didn’t want to leave. Tic Tac loved playing at the beach there and searching for shells. The water was warm and clear, the sand was soft and the waves were gentle. It was beautiful. We closed the place down and left promising we would take them back.

Friday morning we were up early again to embark on our Rainforest, Waterfall and Movie site adventure- hike up to Manoa Falls. Our guide met us at the gate, told us that scenes from Jurassic Park, Hawaii Five-O, and the Hunger games were filmed there in the rainforest. He had actually been an extra in some of the Hawaii Five-O episodes. He gave us bottled water and granola bars and told us to have fun. He told us that we were free to go into the falls even though the sign says not to! We started on our hike and marveled at the vast amount of greenery around us. Vines, trees, bamboo all twisted… Trees with HUGE roots hanging down…the smell of the woods and mud and flowers all mixed together…the song of different birds… yellow and white butterflies floating by… So beautiful and serene. The trail starts out very wide and starts to get more narrow and muddy as you go up. Lil slipped once and wall all upset she got mud on her knee. I told her it was okay, and go ahead wipe it on her shirt or wipe it on me. The kids did great. They didn’t even complain one bit. We went slow and careful. We stopped along the way to walk on logs, smell flowers and stare at bugs. We could hear the falls coming up. “We’re almost there!” the kids shouted! We made it to the top, gave high fives and stared at the falls. Then we had a quick snack of 7D dried mango, and gulped down some water before ducking under the rope to the falls and the pool of water. Tic Tac really wanted to get the mud off her knee. We walked in the crystal cool water and Lil saw a fish. It was so clean and refreshing. Although the walk down was easier, it was also more slippery and dangerous. I feel square on my butt in the mud after losing my footing because someone rushed past me. I was holding Tic Tac’s hand and took her down with me! We were all okay and merrily coming down laughing and happy when Tic Tac starts this chant of “SO MANY TREES! SO MANY ROCKS! SO MANY LEAVES!” SO funny in her little voice all excited! I got eaten alive by mosquitoes, but it was worth it.

We went back to our resort, got cleaned up and went to Teddy Bear World. What a wonder. You would never know it was so cool inside! We saw the 8 wonders of the world all decked out with Teddy Bears. The statue of Liberty but a teddy bear. Mount Rushmore in Teddy Bears, SO CUTE and funny and detailed. New York City in teddy bears! They even had a teddy bear Dinosaur world! Like Jurassic Park, filled with Teddy bear explorers. Tiny bears, big bears, giant bears wearing costumes and clothes, wedding bears, an underwater world filled with scuba diving bears and mermaid bears! There was a questionnaire scavenger hunt and Isaiah was ALL OVER that! But the best was the ELVIS stage show where we watched a short movie of Elvis in Hawaii and then were treated to a mini concert starring Elvis Bear, his backup singers and band members. It was hilarious and so CUTE! Lil wanted a picture with every one of the big bears, including the Gangnam Style bear at the end.

We walked to beach and played in the water until evening. Dave tried to surf out there but the tide was just too low and far out to catch any waves. I took so many pictures of you cute kids playing with Daddy- while he pushed you on the long board. Isaiah tried to stand up and “surfed” into shore a few times! The smiles were huge and giggles were plenty!

That night we came back to beach, met up with the cousins and Uncle Paul and Auntie Kathy to have dinner at the Steak Shack and watch the fireworks. Afterwards the cousins wanted to check out Teddy Bear World, so we had an encore presentation! Auntie Kathy couldn’t resist buying you kids each a bear. Elvis got to her. Even though it was getting late, we decided to ride the trolley around town just for fun. The Hawaii air is so balmy and relaxing. You kids were so tired from such a long day. Isaiah dozed off a few times and Tic Tac fell asleep and had to get carried back to the room. So glad Isaiah woke up. Too big to carry anymore! Tic Tac is even too big, but Dave and I traded off and we made it “home”. Dumped the kids into bed and got some sleep ourselves.

The next day (Saturday) we rode the trolley to the marketplace, got some boba and headed out to North Shore to meet up with the family for more Shrimp Truck!!! Tic Tac fell asleep AGAIN on the way there. Isaiah was all bummed out, but we were able to wake her for lunch. Yep, you kids love shrimp, and Giovanni’s is so soo good. We freaked out for a second because the kids disappeared momentarily. Isaiah had taken Lil around to sign the truck. Sweet big brother wanted his baby sister to have the full experience. They bonded a lot on this trip… laughing so much in the back seats of the car, it was very loud everywhere we went!

We went to the Polynesian cultural center, where we were lei-ed and led around the different villages by our hostess Sarah from New Zealand. We learned about the different customs and cultures of the different villages. We played a traditional New Zealand stick game, watched warrior dances and drum shows. The kid’s favorite show was the Tonga show, where we were taught how to make coconut milk and how to make a fire. We saw a man climb all the way up a coconut tree with bare hands and feet. We watched the new Imax 4D movie and saw the wonders of Hawaii only viewable via helicopter. The theater was amazing and huge and the seats moved. Mists of water hit us when we neared a waterfall and the smell of flowers pumped out when we flew over gardens. We rode a canoe all around Polynesia and returned for a great dinner of prime rib and seafood. The kids and Dave ate their weight in crab legs. Finally the show was about to start. We took our seats and watched in awe the amazing singing, dancing and fire breathing. They story of the HA, the breathe of life played out before our eyes. I couldn’t help thinking, Isaiah could fit right in, he looks so Hawaiian. Lil couldn’t wait for the icecream. She kept asking during the whole first half of the show when it was going to come out. Give the girl ice cream and she’s happy. The show was amazing. Polynesia’s culture and people are beautiful.

Sunday morning we woke up early to drive out to Happy Trails for horseback riding. Such a great experience. The horses are so gentle and well taken care of. Tic Tac rode the biggest horse of all Hombre. He was a gentle giant and was so good with her. She looked SO tiny on top of this giant horse! Isaiah’s horse was called Bella. He did so well in riding, like a natural, steering her left and right, gently tapping his foot when it was time to go and pulling back when it was time to stop. My horse Aloha was a stubborn girl who wanted to lead the pack and kept tailgating! I had to keep putting on the brakes, and she sure made it known that she was not happy about that! It still was an enjoyable ride through the amazing weeping pines of the jungle. We went all through the jungle through trails steep and curvy. It was actually very relaxing. The views were beautiful at the top. Again, I got eaten alive by mosquitoes. They love me. At the end of our trip the count was: 16 Mom, 2 Isaiah, 0 Lil, 5 Dad. Kids say I have sugar blood, Daddy has spicy blood and they have sour lemon blood.

After stopping for lunch, we decided to head out to Wet and Wild Water Park. It was SO MUCH FUN! The first ride we did was a family raft ride where all 4 of us could ride. My brave little girl held on so tight and again straddled the line between terror and fun, closing her eyes so tight at times and squealing with delight. She’s such a trooper. Isaiah LOVES water parks and isn’t scared of ANYTHING. Lilianna tried ALL of the rides she was tall enough for at least once. I kept asking her, “Did you like it? Was it fun?” She would say yes, but she didn’t want to go again! We found the kiddie portion of the park and Tic Tac and I played there for awhile while Dave and Isaiah went off to conquer the TORNADO. The tornado is a giant red funnel that you get dropped into by raft and you pretty much get flushed down, like a toilet bowl. It is crazy fast and fun! Lil and I did a few other small rides and then went to hang out at the wave pool. She loved floating in the waves and swimming around. The boys came back and Dave peer pressured me to take Isaiah and go do the Tornado with him. We did it 2 times in a row! Isaiah rode the tornado 4 times that day! We got as many rides in as we could until Wet and Wild closed.

Back at the resort the kids went to hang out and watch movies with the big cousins while the grownups went out to dinner. We had great drinks, great food and great conversation with Paul and Kathy. This was their last day there, so it was nice to be able to hang out with them one last time.

Monday was our final full day in Hawaii. We rode the top floor of the double decker bus to the Honolulu Zoo. The zoo is small, but really cool. We loved the monkeys and lemur exhibits. The monkeys were showing off and in full swing. We saw toucans and were laughed at by laughing gulls in the bird exhibit. We told the bird jokes and it laughed at some of them, but not others. It had a really odd sense of humor! We saw a crazy huge komodo dragon which was really FREAKY! The gardens and park at the zoo were really beautiful. One of the last animals we saw was the Golden Lion Tamarin Monkey. He was the cutest little monkey ever! The kids said they wanted to buy me one!

After a quick lunch of pizza, we picked up our car and headed out to snorkel Hanuama Bay as we promised we would one last time. We had a great time again there. Isaiah’s snorkeling skills got even better and he was even more confident than before. Tic tac spent most of her time swimming in the warm water and looking for shells. By weeks end we were all pretty tan!

Regardless of what happened at the end of this trip, we enjoyed every precious moment we were able to spend together as a family. Not worrying about work or school or things back home… but truly just being together and watching our kids experience things for the first time was priceless to us. Getting to see their big eyes, proud smiles, goofy grins… holding little hands tight… hearing their hearty laughter… watching them fall asleep after a long adventurous day… tucking them into their beds every night… lots and lots of hugs and kisses…they are growing up so fast… too fast that we wish we could just freeze time.

I know they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and we lost all of them. We lost all of the video too. But our time together can never be taken away from us and will always be cherished. The love we have for each other can never be stolen or even measured. This was not our first adventure and certainly not our last. There will be many more to come… and double the pictures next time!