Feb.- Weeks 2/3- Hawaii (Thursday and Friday)

Monday and Tuesday we did the usual: finish planning and then hosted preschool for Ben (letter Ss), made the kids' Valentines to pass out, laundry, then packed, cleaned, and finished getting ready to leave.  

Wednesday morning we got Kenna off to school, finished packing and cleaning, then dropped the kids off at Aunt Swa's house.  Then we were off to Hawaii!!  Dan's dad's business is working on building a hotel there and since he often has work meetings to attend there, so he's been rotating through each of his kids and letting us tag along.  It was OUR TURN!!  

On the flight there, we enjoyed movies!  One of the favorites was St. Vincent with Bill Murray.  Dan's dad bought me this beautiful lei when we landed!  I will never forget the amazing aroma that thing put off!  They also have some of the coolest trees!  This one is at the airport.  

We got our rental van, then headed to our hotel in Ko Olina.  We checked out our rooms (so amazing!!) then headed out for dinner at a restaurant called Monkey Pod.  I decided to be adventurous and order some FISH!  I don't usually like it if it has a real strong fish taste, but this one was very mild and so delicious!  We tried watching a movie but then crashed pretty hard into bed and pretty early for Hawaii time, it being three hours behind Utah.  

Thursday morning, we woke up to these views and enjoyed a nice 3 mile walk.  Dan's dad already had some work meetings.  

Just doing some exploring.  

We ate breakfast at the resort at an outdoor restaurant called Longboards.  Then we changed and headed to the beach to chill for a couple hours.  

The weather was cloudy off and on and in the high 70s, which made it a little too cold for my liking for a swim.  But it was relaxing to just lay on the beach and talk with Dan and his mom.  

Once Dan's dad was done with his meetings, we grabbed a quick salad/sandwich lunch from a little store, ate them on our room patio, then headed out to go WHALE WATCHING!  The crew of the boat was very friendly and funny! I was feeling pretty good about not feeling motion sick, since I'm super prone,  until...the boat slowed down to our watching "destination."  The water was super choppy!  I was drinking some juice and had to quickly pass it off to Dan's mom then rush to the side of the boat.  I threw up my lunch, then thought I'd maybe feel a little better.  One of the crew members tried putting some lavender oil behind my ears and gave me some ice to chew on and press to the roof of my mouth.  But it was all in vain!  I was SOOOO sick!!  I threw up again, this time my juice, and then continued to throw-up/dry heave over and over and over and over...  For about two hours.  :(  I'm pretty sure being pregnant only compounded the motion sickness.

The smiling picture below was taken before I felt sick.  Being motion sick isn't like a stomach virus where you throw up and then maybe feel better for 30 mins or so.  It was CONSTANT nausea!  There were also about 7-8 other people who were sick too.  On the plus side, in between episodes, I did get to see two whales crest the water.  So, not a total waste.  ;)  

After the boat ride, they crew told me to walk around a bit to help me feel some stability.  

We got back to our hotel and skyped the kids.  These were their faces while we told them about me being sick on the boat.  

We all showered and got cleaned up then went to eat at an Italian restaurant.  It was delicious but my stomach was clearly not ready for a huge meal.  After dinner, we went back to our hotel rooms and played some card games.  I took a hot bath and went to bed.  

Friday morning, we went on another 3 mile walk, this time climbing some rocks and made it to another little beach where we saw some turtles poking their heads out of the water.  We ate breakfast at Longboards restaurant again then got ready for the day.  Dan's dad had work meetings ALL day so we took off for some sight seeing.  It was rainy off and on all day; so cool to see the rain turn from heavy, to light, to sunny and back to heavy...all within a few minutes!

First, we headed to the Dole Plantation.  They have EVERYTHING pineapple! 

We of course inhaled some most refreshing Dole Whip!  We also bought some other souvenirs.  Below, you also see the fields and fields of pineapple plants.  

Next, we drove to a beach to watch the surfers!  So cool!!  It was pretty windy so the waves only got more and more choppy as the day went on.  But I'm glad we got to see some earlier in the day.  

We also hiked to Waimea Falls.  Not a strenuous hike at all, but being 18 weeks pregnant, my hips were starting to feel all this walking!  It lightly sprinkled (locals call it "liquid sunshine") on us off and on.  We thoroughly enjoyed the scenery...especially these huge canopy trees!

Beautiful falls! 

We had lunch at a local place called Ted's Bakery where we ate this amazing garlic shrimp plate.  

We met back up with Dan's dad after his meetings and we had dinner at a restaurant.  Then we stopped by an ice cream/smoothie place and got this crazy dessert called snow ice.  It's like ice cream, but almost like it's been shredded.  It's super light and fluffy and SO good!  We played more cards and called it a night.  

Also, after trying to see more surfers, we drove home by way of the temple to take a few pictures since we knew the next day we planned to be there would be pretty rainy, and it was.