Favorite Pics from Hawaii

Blake and I at luau
Ian at luau

Blake chasing all the "doggies" on the island at the luau (me chasing Blake)

Chilling during the car ride

Waterfalls near Lihue

Relaxing by the pool

Me and Ian on Beach.

Grand Canyon of the Pacific

Near Spouting Horn on South Shore

Running away from the ocean.

Playing in the sand

Pondering Life

Beach Buds

Picking up Jeff at the airport

Hawaii...

Here is a quick recap of our trip in Hawaii. :)

The flight out was horrible. Most of you know, who live in Fairbanks or have visited the only flight that you can get is the 1am flight out of here. Not sure why I can never fly at any other time...anyways. That flight is never on time. Well, Jeff packed my laptop - and my phone Internet was being so slow (didnt think to call to double check) so I couldn't check the status and Jeff was in a rush to just leave and get checked in. So we leave at 11ish and check in at 1145 - to find out our plane is an hour late - we wont be taking off until 2am ish. YIKES. So we had lots of time to kill - good thing too because while we were going through security - our double jogging stroller doesn't fit through the x-ray so they manually check it....WELL.... we forgot to wash Jeffs bag and gloves before leaving (read: Jeffs gloves and backback have been sitting in the back of his Stryker for 6 months exposed to God knows what) so what happens?? Well there was residue on his glove that got transferred onto the handle of the jogging stroller where they swabbed for the test: The test for explosives..... All of a sudden - there are a lot of people by our stroller, taking our bags - and telling us that they have to do a search and pat us all down. They were doing there job, questioning us where we worked etc. The stroller tested positive for RDX, ax explosive that Jeff is exposed to all the time! Just an exciting story to remember for this R&R Trip.

The boys did fairly well on the plane trip - sleeping most of the way. Blake did have a couple of crying spells, which really weren't that bad - but as a sleep deprived parent, trying not to piss everyone off on the plane the situation is 100x worse do to stress than it usually is.

By the time we got to Honolulu we had to catch a 20 min flight to Kauai. At this time Ian is just yelling no more planes I want to go to the beach. He calms down and we finally check into our condo. We left AK 0200 am and arrived at our condo at 5pm the next day. The place was lovely. Just like the pictures on the website. 2 bedroom 3 bath condo with an wonderful kitchen! Stainless steel everything - and a view of the ocean from our bedroom and living room. :) Plenty of rooms for the kids to play and plenty of space outside that they could run around in and we could sit on the lanai and watch them as we chatted, drank tea, or tasty tropical drinks.

Blake wasn't a fan of the grass or sand. I dont blame him - all he knows is snow! It took him a day or two to learn that it was ok and he would finally walk on it. We pretty much just chilled at the condo for the first couple of days. Hanging out by the pool, the beach and taking walks along the ocean. The boys loved it. We enjoyed it.

We rented a car Thursday and Friday and toured the South and West shores of Kauai on Thursday. gorgeous coasts view, and wonderful valleys - we stopped at pretty much every guide thing in the book along the way. There is only one road that goes around the Island - so you'll pretty much see everything. We stopped at Spouting Horn, and the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

On Friday we stayed close to the area - didn't go to the North Shore like I had wanted because we were going to an Luau that night from 5-9 and wanted the boys on best behavior. So we stuck to the East side and drove around Kapp'a and Lihuie and found a great park for the boys to play with and play on the ocean. It was great. Then we went to the Luau. That was fun - the PIg that they had cooked, wasn't as good as i thought it was going to be and the Poi was just plain - kinda nasty - an equivalent to lettuce - really no taste. The boys loved the dancing and the drum playing of the Hula Dancers. Very nice.

Then the rest of the weekend we stayed at the condo playing in the ocean, pool etc. As much as I would loved to do more - I have to realize that we have 2 toddlers and traveling with children isnt' that easy. I guess when they are older Grandma and Grandpa can take them as Jeff and I can really "vacation" .

We really enjoyed ourselves. Very laid back, slow and relaxing. Just wanted the doctor ordered.

We are here

I know its been a while since I have posted. Jeff arrived in Fairbanks on March 6 and will be leaving on the 21 - tomorrow morning. We have enjoyed his stay very much. We hung around the house for a few days before boarding a plane and flying to Hawaii - we stayed on Kauai for a week. PURE JOY! Then we just hung out at home for the remainder of his R&R. The countdown for 6 more months will start here shortly... enjoy some pictures. :) I will type of our vacation here shortly! :)