Saturday is a special day...

We had a really fun and busy Saturday!  We drove into Honolulu to go to the ALOHA SWAP MEET!  If you want to buy goodies to take back from the island - this is the place to go!  The market wraps around the Aloha Stadium, which means there are hundreds and hundreds of vendors to look through their goods & although some booths repeat themselves, there are still many treasures to find.  And some you want to buy...and some you laugh at who would buy such funny little trinkets.  And yet people do!  

The weather was finicky the morning we were there - the rain would start and stop, over and over.  At times it was wonderful to have some cool water falling down....until it brought in the sticky, heat & humidity!  Honolulu doesn't get the breezes like the North Shore, and after we had made it about 1/2 way around the stadium it was definitely time to stop for a cool treat! 

Hawaii's Shaved Ice - which we keep hearing rave reviews about, but to me it's just a glorified snow cone!!

We watched a vendor chiseling the wood to create island art....

....which the boys were in awe of.  I'm sure in their minds they wondered where they could find their own piece of wood and a chiseling tool!

As Bryson himself so fittingly put it, "Mom, Jacob and I are 'frienemies'"!  Yes.  That would be a fairly accurate way to explain their relationship.  Fun and friendship one moment.  Woes of brotherhood and possible worse enemies another moment.   I've seen their relationship really take on a new level this year --- they are close enough in age to drive each other bonkers....and yet they just can't live without each other.  Thankfully.  As they have forever together and can possibly sort some of their relationship issues out over eternity! :)

After the Swap Meet we drove up through the west side of the island, and stopped over at the Dole Plantation.  We wondered how pineapples could grow so pink!  There are so many more varieties than we see on a regular basis at the grocery store! 

We knew we were a long way from home...but we didn't realize we were this far away!!!

All aboard the Dole Pineapple Express!

aye - ready to roll on the grand adventure of the Pineapple Express!

The fields were spectacular!  Colors that popped right out from the bright red clay of the earth --- it was beautiful!

James Dole was the original founder of Dole Pineapple Plantation and the industry it became.  I read through the snippet of history that was on a plaque in the Gift Shop and it said that James Dole had graduated from Harvard, and came to Oahu on board a ship, landing with only $1.50 in his pocket and dreams of doing something with producing food in the rich soils of the island.

 He worked for his cousin keeping his land trimmed for $1 a day, and meanwhile scoured the island for an opportunity.  That seemed to arise when the Gov't put over 60 acres up for auction and James Dole purchased it with money that he borrowed from anyone that would give him some money.

It makes for an amazing self-made story!  

We continued our drive up towards the North Shore, and stopped at a spot along the Kam highway where sea turtles have made their home.  It's such a beautiful spot in the landscape, and there is something amazing at seeing those turtles swimming....I think that is what they are doing, as it looks like they are getting thrown around on the rocks and getting pummeled into the stony reef.  But they keep swimming along, poking their heads up out of the water and providing great entertainment for all the people that stop by to catch just a glimpse of them in the water!  

                                    

We then drove up to finally hit....the beach!  It was a new beach that we haven't been to, and although it was a much different set-up than we had wanted...it was still a beach and the kiddos still had a blast!

Bryson Jr. really wanted boogie-boarding waves - but the beach was so steep and as the waves came in, they would come in at about 6-8 feet high and then crash right into the beach.

Instead they chased and were chased by waves.  They played games in the sand, dug and buried in the sand, found treasures and just ran around exerting the energy that children do, that once upon a time we as adults did as well...and are now envious of.  

And when the sun started to dip down in the sky, we started to think it might be a good idea to get home.  But even then there wasn't a great hurry....

There was still time for the boys to play tag around and around each other after they were showered off and waiting for me to carry them to the car......

What a bunch of goofs!.......

...... and oh we love them and are so grateful for the fun that they bring to each day!

We had a really fun day and although we were exhausted and everyone fell asleep rather quickly once we got home and ate dinner and got ready for bed....it was a day that puts a smile on your face.

Fantastic! :) 

the trip that didn't want to be documented...

On the first full day that Nana and Papa Lord were visiting, we decided to visit a favorite spot we found on our trip here 2 years ago.  Waimea Falls.  It's a short 3/4 mile "hike" up a paved trail that is lined on both sides by a beautiful botanical garden area.  The trail leads to a natural falls, where they let you swim in the 30 ft. deep pool and even swim up to the waterfall.  Overall, it's a favorite memory, now from both trips.

The only glitch with this trip....it almost seemed like we weren't supposed to document the trip!

We arrived at the park around 12noon.  Although the hike is not that long, with children and stopping to look at the plants and just enjoying the area, it can take about an hour to climb to the falls.  Then to swim and head back down - I realized we'd need to eat the packed lunch before we began the hike.

We stopped under a huge tree that grows effortlessly here - and I wish I would have thought to get a picture with my camera right then...but I remember thinking I should just enjoy the moment through my natural eyes - to be in the moment completely and not behind the camera lens.  It wasn't until after lunch - a good 30 minutes into our outing, that I took out my camera to take a photo and realized I had left the SD memory card in the laptop back home....I'm working to download pictures each night, which is good - it's just bad when you forget an important part to have the camera work!

I was so tempted to run back home and get the card - but it's at least a 15 minute drive from that spot, so I would have made everyone wait 30 minutes while I ran home.  Hindsight - I should have taken the first photo I thought of, so I would have realized I had left the card and gotten it at that time.  Again - why hindsight has such a perfection rate! :)

Since I had a back-up with the phone camera, I realized at least I could get a few photos...they wouldn't be as great as I wanted, but at least I'd have something.....so off we went.  We enjoyed the hike/walk up - commenting on how incredibly green everything was.  So much of the vegetation seemed different than when we were here before....this time things not only seemed more green, but bigger, plumper (almost as if everything was full of the water the plants had enjoyed drinking from all the rain!), and the flowers were gorgeous in the colorful finery!  And I didn't get one picture.....yet.

At the top, we were excited to see the waterfall and quickly listened to the orientation from the Lifeguard about safety on the water....the kids put on their lifejackets and adults picked up a boogie-board and we picked our way down the rocks (a sharp and painful walk!) down the water's edge.

And the water was FREEZING!  Not like I had experienced with the Montana lakes and rivers during my high school years...but still this water was much colder than we had expected!

As children usually are - they were the brave ones that got into the water first, and then we adults followed slowly behind.  It took awhile and I felt a tad guilty for not being more adventurous and diving right in after the kiddos - but that cold was a shock!  Even after being warm from the hike and how nice a swim sounded...the reality was so much colder!

We were finally all in the water, and swimming towards the waterfall.  I realized that it looked a lot more intense and full than 2 years ago when we were here.  I remember reading that Oahu received so much more rain in June than they do during some entire summer months.  I looked at the waterfall and realized we were seeing the results of all that rain!  It was so powerful that instead of like our last trip, where we all went right under the fall and sat on a ledge for a picture....this time you could only sit about a foot away from the outside of the fall and you were still pummeled with water and felt like your breath was being sucked away due to the rapidly falling water.  It was quite a surprise that we weren't going to be able to go into the fall - but after watching a few people who braved swimming under the fall for about 15-20 seconds, I realized this was not for the faint of heart this time around....and there would be no way to get the kiddos under that fall.  Looking at it from the side and out in the pool from a distance seemed a much safer and better bet this go around!

We splashed around for some more time....because once you are in the freezing water - it actually felt nice.  And it took us awhile to get the boogie-boards so we didn't want to give them up before we were really ready to go.  When Bryson came up with his teeth chattering....that's when I decided it was time to head out.  :)

Right after getting everyone out, I was picking up my boogie-board and I realized someone else had let their board go and it was heading down to the stream that empties out from the big pool.  I went to scoop it up, and somehow my brain didn't register that I was going to use both hands - because when I picked up the other board, my hand let go of the phone in the other hand.  You know how you watch things in slow motion and you are thinking to yourself - 'how is this happening'?!  And yet it all goes by so fast?!  That was this moment --- I watched as my phone dropped into the water - which thankfully was only about 6-8 inches deep, and in my head it registered that I had to get the phone out fast!  I scooped it up and started to hit buttons to make sure everything was working.  I walked up to the lifeguard tent and turned in the two boards, and the lifeguard looked at the phone in my hand --- it was dripping a little bit of water.   He told me that if I put it in the dashboard of the car, it might help it to dry out, and of course to try the rice trick....putting the phone into rice and closing it securely so that the rice absorbs any extra moisture.  The phone seemed to be working just fine - so I hoped it wouldn't need anything done.  

Then I noticed that the screen started to get darker....and my pictures were starting to look like I was in a New England fog zone....or as Jacob says, "a very froggy place".  

The phone even stopped working at one point, and I started to panic.  How was I going to explain this to Bryson?!  Then thankfully it started to work again....sort of.  I did end up needing to put it into rice when we got home as I realized that I could get most things on the phone, but I couldn't make a phone call out.  Hmmmm...strange. 

When we got back - the boys wanted to go to the beach for a little bit of time.  Madeleine wanted to stay home and rest with Nana and Papa.  Since I'm working on the goal to hit the beach any day we can, I took the boys down to the Hukilau beach....about a 3 minute drive away & watched them both swim and enjoy time running around the water and trying to boogie board a bit.  We spent about an hour there, and then we needed to come back home so that I could get ready.  The kiddos were staying home while I went to do a session at the temple...working on another goal for this summer to get to the temple more often, and I was so excited to see inside after they had worked on remodeling the entire thing and rededicating it.  

It was a beautiful time to be in the temple.  It's interesting how sometimes when I get the chance to be by myself I don't know what to do with myself at first.  I'm fidgety.  Trying not to think of everything that I should be doing.  And working hard to stay focused.  Thankfully all my efforts at first were just working towards getting into a session on time - I was working to get there for the 7pm time, but I didn't even leave the house until 6:50pm .  This might be a problem at some places -but here the home we are staying in is really close to the temple.  As in, I counted steps and estimated it's about 300 steps away.  That is so  close!

And it was exquisite and I did finally calm down and found ways to relax while partaking in the blessings of being in the Lord's House.  Absolutely amazing.

And this is walking home - I wanted to try to capture at night time the view from the back of the house....this is it!  You can't see the temple completely as there are some rather big trees that grow along the perimeter of the temple grounds....but you can see the white glow of the temple and the house we are staying in, is directly in back of that rock.  It's absolutely amazing to look out all the time and see the temple as the main thing you see out the window.  What a perfect view anytime - and particularly we are so happy to have it while we are here.

That wraps up June 30th....another fabulous day in paradise, and even with some unexpected pictures to document the fun and experiences!