Monday, January 31, 2011
Dinner
Some silly pictures from dinner on our second to last night in Oahu:
Photographer Emily
Cutie!
Family self portrait
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Pro Bowl!
And now, the main event of this Hawaii trip - the Pro Bowl! What a fun and unique experience! This was the only day that it rained the entire week we were in Hawaii! But thankfully, we were able to wait it out on the bus that took us from the hotel to the stadium. And as an added bonus, Kyle & Emily were napping on the bus so it was even better of a wait out. Our seats were perfect for the view and protection from sun and rain, though the rain had stopped by the time the game started.
Jeff, Kyle & Emily. Even though we were on the AFC side, we wore our Bears shirts as we are Bears fans.
Jadon, Kyle & Jeff. Jadon is in his first half shirt - Patriots! At half time he switched over to his Eagles shirt as he also loves the Eagles.
Jeff taking a silly video of us - "aloha, mahalo, football"
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Waimea falls
This was an awesome outing! Waimea Falls Park is gorgeous!! You hike up (really just a walk, not the steep incline requiring hiking shoes the reading material makes it out to be - we were in flip flops and did just fine) the path that is well paved, passing through a beautiful jungle filled with loads of plant life to get to the falls. I think they said it's 3/4 of a mile walk each way. The kids had a good time with it as did we!
At the falls with Alan. We eventually got in for a swim. It's very shallow for the first 2 feet as you walk in. After that they said it's 30 feet deep! Kids were required to wear life jackets, thankfully and they had noodles, boogie boards and surf boards for them as well. Kyle & Emily weren't too keen on getting in the water as it was 70 degrees! The air was more like 80 so that was helpful and with the sun it was bearable. But the water sure was cold! It took some getting used to! Anyhow, the four of us went for a swim - Alan didn't bring swim shorts so he didn't swim - and had a great time swimming at the waterfall!
*There are a few more pictures to post, that I will, when I get them that are photographic proof of the actual swim.
Pineapple plantation
For the kids "P Party" celebration in Hawaii, we had originally planned on going to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. While it wasn't much of a party there (thankfully we had the Patriot's Pre-ProBowl Party for a real "P Party"), it was great because we met up with my cousin Alan there. He's stationed in Hawaii and lives about 5 minutes from the plantation.
Daddy, Emily & Kyle in the maze. It is recognized in the 2008 Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest maze, covering some 2.5 miles of maze.
A video from the Dole Pineapple Plantation for their preschool friends
Bedtime stories with Daddy
The kids just flock to Jeff for bedtime stories.
Even the Miko's wanted in on the action.
Emily got tired and Brennan did too so he snuggled up with Emily.
I'm not sure if Brennan was more excited about Kyle's blue bouncy ball or snuggling up in a big kid bed.
Patriots Pre-ProBowl party
This week at school, the kids were going to be having a party to celebrate "P" week. We had several events to celebrate the letter P in Hawaii. The first of which was the Patriots Pre-ProBowl Party that Eric brought us all to. It was a nice dinner with the families of the New England Patriots players, coaches, doctors, and staff.
The kids had a great time running around together after dinner. I think that's Emily on the bottom of the kid pile there, though I only see the bottom of Kyle's shoe (the navy & yellow) so he's in there somewhere too.
Lanikai Beach
Our next outing was to Lanikai Beach which is supposed to be one of the top beaches in the world. Now I really only know San Diego beaches as comparison, but this beach really was amazing. The water was crystal clear. The sand was fine, soft and reasonably cool. It was very clean - both water and sand. And best of all, it was hardly crowded. We saw a crab and a little fish right near shore so the kids could marvel at them too. The drive there was pretty scenic as well going through what seemed like a rain forest and driving through a tunnel that goes through the mountains.
Not pictured below is our ocean kayak adventure! It was Kyle and Emily's first time in a kayak on the ocean. They've done kayaking in a harbor before, but weren't allowed on the ocean. It was also Jadon & Brennan's first kayak experience and Brennan was so excited by it he fell asleep within 5 minutes of starting. We attempted to paddle out to the twin islands which look pretty close and actually are, but were thwarted by increasingly strong waves as well as a rocky reef that mandated a round about way, into the waves to reach the islands. Needless to say, we weren't going to risk falling out (we were wearing life jackets) or getting pummeled by the waves to reach the island. So we had a nice paddle and turned around.
Not pictured below is our ocean kayak adventure! It was Kyle and Emily's first time in a kayak on the ocean. They've done kayaking in a harbor before, but weren't allowed on the ocean. It was also Jadon & Brennan's first kayak experience and Brennan was so excited by it he fell asleep within 5 minutes of starting. We attempted to paddle out to the twin islands which look pretty close and actually are, but were thwarted by increasingly strong waves as well as a rocky reef that mandated a round about way, into the waves to reach the islands. Needless to say, we weren't going to risk falling out (we were wearing life jackets) or getting pummeled by the waves to reach the island. So we had a nice paddle and turned around.
The twins with the twin islands behind them.
After the kayak adventure, it was nap time. Brennan continued his nap from the kayak. There was a little hut already constructed that served as his napping tent.
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