Sunday, June 21, 2009

A week in Paradise!

*I guess a week without kids has a lot of picture opportunities... so read at your own risk.  this is the longest post ever*

We loved the place we stayed. check out that morning view!
(there was some serious parenting guilt- it was a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom, all to ourselves.  As soon as we saw it, we felt bad for not bringing the kids with us). and although we did talk about missing them- we sure did love having that place all to ourselves.  



One of the first things we did was a snorkeling cruise to Molokini.  It was such a fun day.  They fed us breakfast on the way out to the island, then let us out to snorkel.   We snorkeled for about  an hour and then they brought us back on board and took us to "turtle town" to snorkel with the turtles.   Then fed us lunch on the boat while they took us on a boat tour and hoped to see some dolphins.  No dolphins were seen this day... but we still had an amazing time!  
this wasn't our boat, we were on the quicksilver- but you get the jist of it.


just look at those fish on the water. are you kidding me! ok really, i can't believe i am even blogging this... but a guy puked overboard while we backed into our docking spot at molokini.  these are the fish scrambling to snatch a piece of his- yes, wait for it, puke.  how gross is that!   we decided that instead of using the slide to go in, that the guy puked on, we would just jump off the other side.  good choice, yea.
anyone feel safe with the captain driving with his feet?! he was a funny guy and we had a good time talking story with him.  we were the only ones on the boat who lived on the islands. 


We checked out the "needle" at Iao state park. it was beautiful to hike around, and there was a great little river to swim in.  
yep- took this beauty of a pic all by ourselves :)
"the needle"

troy just floating down the river. 

One of our favorite spots we hit was La Perouse Bay. it is black lava rock with just bright blue water.  amazing!  We got there right when a storm came in, but still walked along the water to go check out some amazing surfing. 

On the right hand top corner- can you see the rainbow.  i love hawaii.

these guys were surfing 10-12 foot waves, that were crashing into this lava rock.  they had to surf through rocks coming up out of the water. it was crazy!  or I guess, they are crazy! 

in case you are wondering, there are surfers out on these waves. 
What would be a kidless trip without a 2:30am drive up haleakala to catch the sunrise.  I was debating our sanity on the drive there. But it was so worth it. It really was amazing (freezing at 40degrees and windy) but loved it!




this is the view from the top when all the clouds aren't in the way.  We loved having the clouds there for the sunrise though, they were just amazing. 
We went right from our sunrise to breakfast, a quick nap in the car, and then to a zipline.  We had so much fun on the zipline. this one has the longest line in hawaii, it is a 1/2 mile and takes a full minute to go down.  I must admit that I no longer have the same adreniline rush that i used to.  I thought i would get a little scared, but nope, it was just fun. 
so we sent our camera down with an old couple in front of us to take a picture. and this was the only one he took.   this is the "slow down" you are coming in too fast position.  We laughed so hard when we saw this is all he took.  
so we got smart and sent it down the next time with the newleyweds!  they did a great job and took pictures of us cruising down the long line. i only put one on here, because lets be honest- this post has 8 million pictures! who needs anymore. 


the fun bridge to cross at the start and finish of the lines. 
everyone we "zipped" with and our guides.  the old guy on the right Donald took the awesome shot of us in the Parachute pose. 
and the day wouldn't have been complete without also catching the sunset at the beach.  As long as we caught the sunrise, we had to catch the sunset.  This is the beach in front of our hotel.



We also had the "grand" idea to do the road to hana.  Ugh- shoot me.  For me- never again- for troy he gets to do it in a week with 15 boyscouts in tow!!!  poor poor guy. I told him to bring puking pills for the boys.   It was a 7 hour roundtrip drive and the craziest twisty turney roads.  but we made it, and instead of going back down the regular way- we took our rental car for all it was worth and went down the full "rugged and rural" route.  so glad we did.  
can you find troy on that wall?  i was on the side talking to some other tourist, look up and here is my husband.  he told me he needed to test it out for the boyscouts. 

although it was  a nightmare drive- some of the views were just amazing. 


phew- if you made it to here- well you might be stuck to your seat at this point!  but we had a fabulous trip.  thanks to pam and steve for an amazing place to stay, and mary kay and barry for watching the rugrats.  whose on for next year?!  i think this might need to be a yearly get-a-way!   ha ha, i wish.  we loved every second of it though.  it was so fun to work out, play tennis, eat out, shop, just walk around- everything was just so fun to do with just us!  i recommend a get away to everyone! :) 

here is why i love my parents....

My mom flew in on my birthday... so we had a little dinner celebration.  My "real" present was to head to maui without the kids in a few days- so we kept this small :)

As soon as my dad arrived, we headed up to waimea falls waterfall and hike.  Unfortunately all the pictures of us in the waterfall are on my moms camera! bummer!  but we had a fabulous day and came back hot and sweaty.  


Before Troy and I headed out a town, we did a little birthday celebration for Braden- mostly so my parents could give him their present while they were in town.  Nothing like a new toy to keep him busy while we were gone.  So we had a few of these...




Sang the song.... blew out the candles...


and then braden got this toy!  are you kidding me!  it is a "fightin' item" as we say around this house. the kids love it. too bad only one can use it at a time.  we have done some serious digging already.  maybe by next year we will have a hole big enough for a hot tub!




While troy and I were out of town, my parents took the kids on a crazy whirlwind adventure tour of hawaii.  They hit the zoo- as any good grandparents have to-

made crafts with the treasures from their adventure walks
played in the sprinklers
ummm- dressed up? i don't know where they even are here!
read books
and they also hit the waterpark, mcdonalds playland, went to the beach beach and more beach, went mini golfing, out to ice cream, a little target shopping and the pet store for good measure, the park, bike riding.... you name it- they filled the time with it.  I am sooo grateful that they wanted to do this for us. i can never tell them enough thank you's for our week away!

Once back, we also headed down to ko olina to check out the fish and catch a sunset.  i love seeing my kids with my parents. such great grandparents they are.  we love you and miss you!!