Boat trip

On our last day on the North Shore, Sam Meyers (Eldons' dad and Amanda's husband) took the kids and Kyle out on the ocean to fish. Matty and I slept, it was worth it.  The boat wasn't big enough for us anyway. They left at 4:30 in the morning, because we had to leave that day.  The Fredericks were coming home.  Their daughter had already spent one night with us, and so we decided to get a hotel in Waikiki our last night on the island.
It was a great boat.  It was like Mason's speed boat but had a cabin underneath.

 The kids loved hanging out in the cabin, but every time Kyle went down there he got seasick.  Evan got seasick too and ended up loosing his breakfast,  mostly over the side of the boat. Most people would stop eating at that point, but not Evan, he's no quitter!

 Beautiful sunrise.  They went 3 miles out...where the sharks are, and then from Hale'iwa to Turtle Bay.

Unfortunately, they did not catch any fish on this trip, but it was a very fun boat ride and it was the last thing on the list of things they really wanted to do while they were there. So....CHECK! I guess we can go home.

Last Day at Waimea Beach Park

I may cry writing this.  We loved this beach.  The locals love this beach, and the tourists love this beach and in the winter the surfers love this beach. The turtles and dolphins love this beach too.  It is truly fantastic.
We recognized the Bishop's family as soon as we got there and George finally got to hang out with kids his own age for a minute.

 The one standing on the beach is one of the Bishop's sons and the one with his arms up is George and the one to his left is another son and to his right is a neighbor.
We took the kayak but didn't play with it too much.  We just wanted to do everything we loved doing.
The kids love jumping off this rock.

 I like taking the pictures.  I would have dared jump, but it just didn't interest me.  By the end I wasn't really afraid of anything, but mostly I just loved taking pictures of the kids enjoying it.

 We let the Rowley kids take the kayak out while we were jumping.

 George perfected the Hawaiian suicide.

Matty and Daddy jumping together.

 This is Matty's happy place.

We all love jumping in this cave too, it's no big deal, the tide was out and it was as easy as the very first time we did it, but it is fun for all, so we jumped a few times and took some more pictures.  We swam all the way over and I saw new fish by a new rock.  I thought it was so deep over here by the jumping rock and cave, but it isn't.  It is a great place for snorkeling.

I contemplated following those people's example and just buying a big brown tarp and moving to the beach.

We also spent some time rebuilding the ebenezer.  Animals have already started making this their home.

 Even a big crab lives here.  At least we think that is what it was...

This tree branch was about 3 feet off the ground and Matty was determined to climb it. 
She was so proud of her accomplishment.

Good bye ocean.  We will never be the same. We have loved and learned so much from you.

Last visit to our second home, at our second home.

Aloha oe' Polynesian Cultural Center!

Our one last visit to one of our favorite places on the island.  We loved every visit we had here.  I was getting a little tired of Kap's jokes.  I think I could have stood in for him if he ever took a vacation. It would probably ruin other people's vacations to see me up there, but I pretty much had it memorized.

We have been so many times that we have made friends with Brother and Sister Lunt.  They are missionaries there from Arizona and they were fun to visit.  Dave taught the kids a new trick on the ukelele each time.  It was like getting to visit with grandma and grandpa for a minute. The other sister is from St. George and is actually in our stake!  She was so sweet.

I liked this kookaburra bird.  The girls didn't like him, they said he was freaky.  I made them stand by him anyway.  Just after this picture he swooped down and picked a fish out of the water and flew away.








We had a little while to kill before dinner.  So we just hung out around the islands. We watched the 4D movie and did a little shopping.

We got there too late to get tickets to the actual luau.  George was really bummed he wasn't going to get to see those girls again.  I guess it just wasn't meant to be... ;) I did catch some pictures of the pig being removed from the ground oven. It looks pretty gross actually.  It tastes great though.

We ate at the buffet again and it was great.  We were in no hurry and we were pretty exhausted so we just ate slowly and relaxed until time for the night show to start.

That is your classic plate of Hawaiian food right there....all white with a little yellow pineapple on the side.

She is one happy Hawaiian.

After the night show we got some pictures and said goodbye forever, for now.

There's a great photo bomb from Shana's favorite dancer "crazy eyes"!