A Proper Send Off

North Shore Rainbow

Our last day in Hawaii was spent doing some of our favorite things.

We drove to the North Shore, got some shrimp at Giovanni's, stopped at my favorite Turtle Beach, ate at Cholo's, and went for some shave ice.  We were too melancholy to enjoy the afternoon too much, and before we knew it, it was time to start heading to the airport.  On the way back into town we saw this rainbow.  I have always been a big softy, and overly sentimental, so to me it was the perfect send off.  

One last memory and rainbow for the road. 

Kualoa Ranch

One of my favorite things we did, before we left Hawaii, was go to Kualoa Ranch.  We had planned to go many times over the last 4 years, but it just never really worked out.  They have atv tours, horseback riding tours, and bus tours... since we had to take the kiddos we took the movie bus tour.  The bus takes you on a tour of the breath taking grounds, and the guides give you a brief history of the property, and show you the most popular sites used for movies an television shows.  

Can you guess the one I was most excited about???  Yeppers, Lost!  

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from that day, I took so so many.

I love how Harry always looks away from the camera...

The boys in front of out tour bus.

Harry didn't last very long.  

It was kinda hot on the bus, and he couldn't have cared less about the tour.

Ruins from the old sugar mill that used to run on the property.

We must have driven past this a hundred times, and never really knew what it was.

Doesn't that island out there kinda look like a turtle ;)

Parts of Kualoa Ranch run right along the coast.  It was such a pretty view.

Cool history fact:

During World War II the military built a landing strip on the property, for use in emergency, the trees offered great camouflage from other planes or people on the road.  The also build a couple of gun batteries, and bunkers. (Is gun battery and bunker the same thing???  I have no clue.) This one was called Cooper Battery, and was used as a coastal defense gun battery.   As cool as that is, it's not the reason why we are posing outside for a picture...

They also used this bunker as a Dharma station (The Tempest) on LOST! 

(I was giddy.)

Kualoa Mountain Range

Kualoa means 'long-back' the ranch is chock full of beautiful valleys and mountain peeks.

One of the prettiest places I have ever visited.  I could spend forever here.

This picture tries to show how far back the valley goes, we didn't even see a quarter of it.

Just another view.

They have filmed a lot of movies here: 50 First Dates, Jurassic Park, Windtalkers and Tears of the Sun, just to name a few.  Here is the giant lizard paw print from Godzilla.

Jason was so excited to see the log from Jurassic Park, that the doctor and kids hide behind to get away from the dinos.  He wanted to get out and re-enact the scene, but Harry was asleep and the driver drove past before he could ask.

And last but not least...

Hurley's Golf Course from LOST!

(I wish we could have gone in the 'winter', so the grass would've been green.)

It was such a fun day, and I am so glad we went.  Next time, if we are fortunate enough to go back to Hawaii, I wanna go on the atv tour!

Great memories!!

Spoiled Rotten

Before we left Hawaii, and made our move back East, we were fortunate to spend a couple weeks hotel hopping and playing tourists.  We spent the first couple nights at Ko Olina, before we went down town to Waikiki.  This was our first real family vacation (we normally always go home to visit family-which is FUN- but its not really a vacation), not to mention that ten of the days/nights were paid for by the Coast Guard... who could turn that down.

The grounds at Ko Olina were beautiful.  

This was probably one of my favorite places to stay, less people and traffic, yet still plenty to do.

Sigh....lovely.

The view from our room, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki.

Harry would roll out of bed, and end up on the floor (with all the pillows) every night.

He wasn't too sure about not sleeping in a crib anymore, but he got used to it.

(Even if it did involve a lot of blanket stealing and kicks to my ribs.)

We slept in late every morning,
and lounged on the balcony eating a tasty brunch of muffins, waffles, and fruit.

Clark trying to decide what to eat...

he always just ended up taking a taste of everything :)

My two sleepy babies...

We went to the beach everyday, 

all day long.

Daddy and Harry swimming.

We couldn't keep the boys out of the water, 

we went swimming everyday, sometimes twice a day.

I don't think our swim suits ever really dried all the way, before we went back out to swim.

We even rented one of those fun paddle boat thingys.

Clark loved it!

Every Friday the hotel has a firework show, which both of my kids HATED.  

But, it was fun to watch off the balcony.

When I think of Hawaii, I really don't think of fireworks...

but I guess the hotels have to keep the tourists happy :)

We did a lot of walking around, sight-seeing, spending money we really didn't have, eating(!)

and loving that we were together as a family, on a real Hawaiian vacation.

It was such a great way to say goodbye to the last four years, and state that we have grown to love.  

The Last of My Hawaiian Sunsets.

Just a few of my favorite sunsets, that we got to enjoy, before we HAD to leave Hawaii.

I think out of all the things I miss about Hawaii, I miss the beautiful sunsets the most.

Oh, and the beaches!

Ko Olina, Hawaii

June 10, 210

It reminds me of sherbet ice cream, just a little.

Ko Olina, again.

It really never gets old.

I wish I had the know-how and the experience to take better pictures.

These don't even begin to do justice to what it really looked like, all the colors that were in the sky, the light and the dark...sigh, it is just too beautiful.

Waikiki, Hawaii

June 13, 2010

See that little sailboat off in the distance... I bet they got some good pictures :)

Waikiki, Hawaii

June 13, 2010

It amazes me how much the sky changes in the few minutes that it takes the sun to go down.

This doesn't even look like the same night (as above) but it is.

I promise, I will stop whining about how much I miss Hawaii... someday.

Hopefully soon, just be patient.  I need a little time :)

So long old pal.

We got Gary in April 2002.  

We drove out to a little farm in Maryland, three hours from our apartment in Alexandria, Virginia.  When we got there I saw another lady holding him, hmming and ahhing trying to decided if he was the kitten she wanted.  Well, we knew right away! 

 He was so delightfully orange, and had a spunky personality.  As soon as she set him down we snatched him up, paid the lady $30, and ran out the door.  He was our first kitten, our first little baby.  I fed him pieces of hot dog on the drive home, trying to get him to like me, and we slowly fell in love.

His name started out as Pippin, we were rather obsessed with Lord of the Rings at the time.  But it never stuck, he didn't really come when we called him.  So as a joke, we started to call him Gary (SpongeBob's snail from my old favorite cartoon SpongeBob Squarepants).  

He loved it, and came scampering over the very first time we called him.  

From then on, he was always Gary.  

He was such a silly cat.  

And didn't seem to mind living in a tiny 800 square foot apartment.

Although he was a little neurotic.

But we loved him all the more for it.  He was so fun to play with.

He survived the move out to California, and loved living in a bigger house.  

He kept me company while Jason was gone on the boat for months (and months), and he finally had his first taste of living outside.  He would meow to go outside all day, until I finally let him.  He would spend his days lounging around outside, patrolling the neighborhood, and then when he got bored come home again at night. 

 He never really strayed too far from home.

He loved us too much ;)

Silly ol' Gary.  You really were so funny.

He let us dress him up for Halloween!

And for Christmas!

He wasn't too sure of the babies, at first...

But once he figured out they weren't going anywhere, he learned to love them,

or tolerate them....or lets face it, hide from them.  

Clark really did love Gary, so much.

Gary barely survived the move out to Hawaii, literally.  He almost died few weeks after we got him from the airport.  He developed a urinary tract infection, due to all the stress, and we found him half dead under the shed.  After a late night trip to the kitty ER, and $1700 later, he was on the mend...but forever changed.  He was more grumpy after that, not playful anymore.  He depended on us for food and a little affection, but he didn't really like us anymore... and it only got worse when we had the kids.  We couldn't let him get too stressed, or he would get sick again, so we let him live outside where he seemed to be happier.  

I am not sure we would ever spend that kind of money on a pet again, especially now that we have (real) kids.  But we were homesick, and just spent $400 to fly him to Hawaii, AND I was newly pregnant with Clark and very hormonal, he was my first baby after all.  He got a second chance.

It was for this reason that we decided to leave him in Hawaii.  

I didn't think he could manage another plane ride, let alone a road trip across the country (he hated driving).  I didn't want to chance it, and risk his life... knowing that if he got sick we wouldn't have to money to help him.  Our friends and neighbors graciously offered to keep him.  They are good people, and already have a lot of pets, so I know they are taking good care of him.  

It was so hard to pack up and leave him there, we feel guilty about it everyday, especially when Clark asks for him.  But in the long run I know it is better for Gary...  He gets to spend his kitty retirement lounging in the sun, enjoying the beautiful weather, chasing geckos in HAWAII!  

We should all be so lucky.

Clark giving Gary his last hug.

(Ignore Clark's dirty face.  It was moving day, so we let him run wild and crazy...which resulted in a lot of dirt.)  

Clark loved playing with the cat so much.  From an early age he would seek Gary out, to chase him and love him.  He was so sad when we said goodbye, he cried for hours.

It was so heart-breakingly sad.

So long Gary, old pal. 

 We honestly do miss you, so much!

You were the best cat, ever.

One last picture.

Gary loved this little ducky.  For the first 4 years of his life we always had to make sure we had plenty of back-up duckies, in case he lost or destroyed the last one.  

This was my favorite Gary, the fun-loving lets chase my ducky into the bag Gary, he was the best.

Aloha 'Oe

Our last Sunday at church, Kahalu'u Ward, Hawaii.

June 6, 2010

 I loved the time we got to spend in the Kahalu'u ward.  

The people were so warm and inviting, and I loved the atmosphere of family and tradition.  I appreciated the time I spent serving in the nursery and the ladies I got to work with, they taught me so much about myself and being a Mom.  Jason and I have been through a lot of ups and downs, and I am so thankful for the righteous and dedicated home teachers we had, I will never forget Brother Faga and the kind spirit he brought into our home every month.  I am going to miss the big ward parties we used to have (with ALL the food) and the wonderful people we got to know.  It is so hard to say goodbye.

On our last Sunday at church on the island, as is tradition, the ward sang Aloha 'Oe to us.  The spirit is so strong and touching when I hear this song sung (in Hawaiian) and needless to say I had a million emotions and tears I was holding in that Sunday.  Once again I feel so blessed for the time we got to spend in Hawaii, and so thankful.

ps. Our house smelled like flowers for days, from all our leis... I think we counted 45. I love Hawaii!

WHY am I leaving Hawaii???

We only have four more weeks left in Hawaii!

4 MORE WEEKS!

I am not ready to leave yet...

I am going to miss everything so much!

I am going to miss the mountains, the beautiful breathtaking Ko'olau Mountains.

We are so lucky to live right next to them.  During rain storms you can see hundreds of little water falls cascading down the steep cliffs and cracks.

I am going to miss the clouds and the sky, and all the amazing colors they produce here. 

The sunsets are always amazing, and the few sunrises I have experienced were lovely.

Mokolii Island or Chinaman's Hat.

The sky REALLY was this purpley-pink color.

How beautiful!

I am going to miss the trees, probably the palm trees the most.

Hawaii does have some of the most curious tress I have ever seen.

(I know we aren't going to lack in that department, in our new area, living only minutes from the Redwood Forest!)

Isn't this tree just crazy.

I am going to miss all the different types of flowers, that we get all year long, and their sweet smells.

(I am going to save you from the hundreds of flower pictures I want to post.)

Did you know Plumerias are my favorite?

I want a Plumeria tree.

I am going to die without the sunny, warm beaches, DIE!

I have taken for granted how close we are to some of the best beaches, in the world (yea, I just went there).  We can go swimming whenever we want, and snorkeling...I will miss you the most snorkeling, me and you are best friends forever.

This is Turtle Beach, where all the giant Sea Turtles come to eat and swim.

This was our home for four years.  We started our family here.  Never before have we felt more at home than here in Hawaii.  In all the places we have lived so far (Utah, Washington DC, Alameda) this one feels the most like we belong, it is going to be so hard to leave.

I am so GLAD and HAPPY that we are going to live closer to our families!!!  No more six hour, four hundred dollar flights!  Family roadtrips!

Still, despite the all the GOOD our move will bring, it is so hard to leave...maybe we might come back, maybe.

This is Kaneohe, where we live.  If I was smarter I would digitally add in a little arrow where our neighborhood is, but alas I am not.
This place is all about coming to, not leaving.  She whispers and calls to you, come visit me, play at my beaches, experience my culture, shop and eat, explore my beauty.  Hawaii seduces you, she wants you to be here...she doesn't want you to leave.  

Oh, Hawaii...I LOVE YOU!