Hawaii- Aloha

We decided to take the boys to go see the Nakalele Blowhole just 20 minutes from our Condo.  Noah fell asleep in the car so Hyrum and I got to go on an 'adventure hike'.  We had so much fun.  Hyrum LOVES hikes and following trails; noticing every rock on the path.  The actual blowhole really wasn't interesting to him, but he was so excited to climb over rocks and slide down the slippery parts of the dirt.  The views were amazing and I loved having the little alone time with him and his curious, adventurous, almost-4 year old self.

     When we got back up to the van Noah had woken up and enjoyed climbing around on the rocks.

I love the pure wild nature that is found all over in Hawaii.  It seems untouched and so free from reality.  

This may seem strange but I LOVED seeing all the little stands on the side of the streets of pineapple and coconut.  I think Pineapple are so beautiful.

I had mentioned before that Cheeseburgers in Paradise was right on the ocean, it really is the perfect location.  When we finished dinner we walked onto the beach just outside and I was in awe at the beauty of the sun-setting.  I attempted to catch a crab for the boys and failed.  I have so many memories catching crabs and creating crab wars in sand-made cages on the Puget Sound.  Hawaii crabs seem to be a little more shy and much harder to catch.  Someday I'll teach my boys the fun of crab catching. 

  

I am so grateful to have been able to go to Hawaii.  It is so easy to be overwhelmed with gratitude for a Father in Heaven who cares enough for us to see to every detail and make things so beautiful for us to enjoy.  Hawaii, Aloha!

Hawaii - The Ocean

   I LOVE the ocean.  I love the smell, the sounds, the salty after-taste on my lips.  I love the sand sinking between my toes and the whole world unseen beneath it's waters.  Spending any amount of time in or near an ocean just makes the whole trip worth it for me.  I hope so badly that my kids will love the ocean as much as me.  

Hyrum loved the beach and playing in the sand, but never warmed up to being in the water that much.  We were glad that we decided to cancel his surfing lessons, because that would have just ended (or began) in tears. . . hopefully he will feel up to it when he's older.  He really liked building things with his sand toys.  He built houses and castles and towers of all kinds.  He's quite the engineer!

Noah was kind of funny about the water.  Sometimes he was scared of it and other times he LOVED riding on the body board.  Brett would push him into the waves and hang on.  He laughed hysterically and loved talking about 'surfing'.  Of course the time I brought my camera out to watch him was when he was scared.  He often loved being in his own little world on the sand.  He would play for hours with his buckets and shovels and sometimes just run around in circles.  

Brett takes the attack approach on the ocean and loves just jumping right into the waves.  He was so glad that he also had the opportunity to go Scuba diving while there too (pictures to come later).

Despite my love of the ocean, I really don't like getting in too deep, but I LOVE snorkeling.  I was so glad that we found some time to get out there with some of my nephews and brother-in-laws.  I saw some awesome tropical fish and amazing coral reefs.  

Hawaii (Pool side)

 With our kiddos being young they preferred pool time over ocean time most days.  Each day we were there (minus Sunday) we spent at least 2 hours at the pool located just yards away from the ocean.  It was fun being at the pool and still hearing the ocean.  We also used the pool as a 'cleaning' spot after we got out of the ocean to ensure we weren't carrying buckets of sand into our condo. 

 Hyrum's favorite pool activity with me was climbing under the tunnels (all the legs of people sitting on the edge of the pool) and playing shark.  Noah's favorite activity with me was holding onto my hands and jumping onto the third step in the water yelling "Cannonball!"  When they were with Brett I think they both loved being picked up high and splat back into the water, and of course riding on his back across the pool.  We would always end the time with laying out on the chairs with trail mix and water. . . what a life!  

Hawaii - Family Time

On Sunday we celebrated Father's Day by going to one of the local wards for church.  It's fun adding 27 people to a congregation :).  I feel very blessed to have such a great husband and wonderful Dad for our boys.  This trip has made it very clear to me that Brett is by far the favorite:).  We have two Daddy's boys and it's the cutest thing to watch.  Noah especially is always asking for Dad.  One of the mornings Brett got up early to go golfing.  When Noah woke up he came in and saw me and just said, "I want to talk to my Dad.  Where Dad go?"  We love you Brett!

Instead of hitting the ocean on Sunday we took the boys to ride the Sugar Cane Train.  The SCT is a small steam train for tourists, that is fun for little people.  While we waited for the train we practiced doing Shaka with the boys.  You may notice that in several of the pictures through out this entire trip Noah is always playing with his fingers or looking down, because he spent a LOT of time practicing how to Shaka.  I love how hard he concentrates and I just had to post this picture because you can see how he's watching Hyrum carefully in an attempt to imitate his hand.

We totally lucked out and had a little talk with the train conductor and he let us go into the locomotive car where the engineer leads the train. 

Halfway through the trip the locomotive car disconnects to blow steam (literally) and it got us all wet.  Hyrum wasn't so sure about the noise, but thought the whole thing was really fun.  

I realize the boys are wearing the same shirts, but these next pictures were on a different day. Every time we pass this Surf Shop I always want to take pictures because it's so bright and colorful, so here it is:

 

 On our last day in Maui we met up with all the Partridges at the Hard Rock Cafe in Lahaina.  It was a perfect place to eat for the last time on the islands.  Nothing says Aloha like eating between Tiki Rockband characters with the family.  Gotta love it.

Hawaii (one of many) -Family

 We've had an amazing long week in Hawaii and I don't really know how I can possibly put everything on here.  Instead of recording things into days I've decided to group things up into categories.  The trip was with all of the Partridge Clan (27 people total, 14 kids + 3 pregnant women).  Traveling in such a large group seems overwhelming, but I think we did it pretty well.  It was a really easy going trip with lots of free time while still getting in time altogether as a family.  We ate dinner altogether each night and had night time activities.  It was fun and crazy having all the cousins together.  My boys were in cousin play heaven and loved every moment they had to spend time with their buddies (the oldest being 11 and the youngest being only weeks old.)

We ate most of our dinners in the condos prepared by us, but on one of the nights we drove down to Lahaina to eat at the famous Cheeseburgers in Paradise.  There are no outdoor walls, so as you eat you can hear the waves crashing and feel the salty breezes blow.  Live music plays and the kids danced the night away.

I had to have a picture of Kaley and my tummies touching.  The third expecting Momma is still very early in the pregnancy, so no bump to bounce off yet :)  Being pregnant on vacation does have some drawbacks, but one great perk is that there is no question where my tummy mass came from in my swim suit.

The Partridges are a competitive bunch which means we had a few fun little challenges during the vacation to make it more interesting.  We were in charge of the Scavenger Hunt.  Brett put together an awesome interactive online voting website and it was fun seeing all the video/picture submissions of the trip.  Another great tradition that we upheld was the sandcastle building competition.  Ryan and Jennifer's family were in charge of that activity.  They had us divide into teams and each team was given a list of things they had to implement in their 'creation'.  There were some pretty awesome things, but the best part was just watching everyone work together and build things.

Noah preferred destruction over construction, so after a few stomping outs of peoples work Brett decided to ground him down for a little bit (literally).  He LOVED being buried in the sand!

Workin' Hard

  In preparation for the baby and for our trip to Hawaii coming up in a few days (WOOHOOO!) we've been working like crazy to get things done around the house.   Last Saturday Brett spent pretty much the whole day working in the yard. The lawn is now edged, mowed and all the sprinklers are fixed and arranged for perfect watering.  I'm so lucky to have such an awesome hubby who loves making me happy.  I'm really excited about our garden this year.  When the plants start producing I'll be sure to post some mouth-watering pictures.  The first fruits of our labors have begun to bloom.  We have the most beautiful peonies exploding in our front yard.  I can't help but just stare at their beauty.  I really think they're in my top 5 flowers of all time!  Within the next few weeks several dozen blooms will turn into a huge bush of white and pink blossoms.  

On the inside of the house we've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen (not cooking-which is another reason for the lack of recipe posts).  Our kitchen remodel is coming along nicely and we're starting to see the end of the tunnel with the whole project.  Here's a little peak, but we won't show any full pictures until the back-splash is put in at the end of the month. 

Another 'project' that has been keeping us hopeful and happy is this little dude.  This was taken almost a month ago so he's grown a bit more.  I just love his little face and can't wait to see the real thing.  So far the pregnancy has been going excellent.  Everything is looking great, my anti-body count hasn't spiked, and this little man is a wiggle worm!  

The Whole Kleenex Box

Yes, this was that good.  I really just wish everyone could watch this.  It made me so sad for all the forgotten children in the world, but so happy that God gave us the ability to overcome all things!

The End of Joyschool

 It has been a great school year for Hyrum.  Each week in Joyschool he has learned a new letter, number, and subject.  I've had fun teaching the kiddos and rotating with the other moms.  He has made huge jumps in his social skills and he really likes the feeling of accomplishment when he talks about what he did in school.  On the last day I asked them what their favorite part of Joyschool is and each of them, almost unanimously, said 'snack time, and fun activities!'.  The only thing I'm sad about is that I didn't really take pictures throughout the year.  Here are a few I took on their last day, which sadly didn't turn out very well.  I can never seem to take good pictures in doors. 

Craft time- making caterpillars 

We started with six kids and ended with these cute four.  Yes, Hyrum is the only boy - I think the girls have really calmed him down.

Each Joyschool starts with class time where they sit on their mats and we learn the new letter and number, then we usually sing songs that have to do with the theme or the letter/number.

When we're not in school Hyrum loves to be the teacher and play school with Noah.  It's so cute to watch him tell Noah stories and try and reenact what he learned.

Noah Live

Noah is a bundle of entertainment wherever we go.  He yells things like, "Booyah Grandma!" at random moments and does so many random funny things that I just can't keep track of them all.  He's such an entertainer!