The Atkinsons

Hawaii 2017.



Well, we went to Hawaii again this year. I'm not sure how we keep getting so lucky, but I'm not complaining. We really debated if it was a good decision to go this year with all the things we had going on and other obstacles. We knew I'd have to fly there out of and back into Seattle by myself with the kids, and that we'd all have to get there on different days, but in the end we felt that we couldn't pass up the opportunity and decided to go. We mostly did the same things we do every year because we love it so much, and it is always a new experience when your kids are growing up and learning to do new things. I feel grateful to have made so many wonderful memories with my family on this island. 

Here we are taking off from Seattle not knowing what is in store for us. The kids were great, and Elijah even slept for a couple hours! Love these little travelers. 

One of our old neighbors moved to Hawaii last year and so I thought it would be fun to spend my first evening with her, especially since no one else was there yet and I knew she and her 5 kids would be so fun. We went to a fun beach area on the north shore close by the house where we were staying. The kids played, chased crabs, explored an old bunker, and felt the sun on their faces and sand on their toes like you only can in Hawaii. 

The next day I needed to head back to Honolulu to get my father in law at the airport so we thought it would fun to spend another afternoon with my friend and her kids since they lived in that area. They took us to the lighthouse hike, but we went down to the beach instead of up, which is a place I had never been. The kids played in a rocky reef area which kept them out of big waves. My father in law was really tired from getting off a flight from Australia, and had I realized how tired he was I would not have gone to the beach, but he was good sport about it and the kids love it when he is around, especially Elijah, he loves grandpa so very much. I love the picture of those two together in the water. When I took it I thought, this will be one of those pictures that you always look back at and show your children. Just a little boy and his Grandpa on the beach. My friend showed me a little rock out a bit from where we were playing that was a good jumping point. There were lots of youth jumping there. My friend's son brought me over so I could take a leap. The water was really warm and salty, extra salty, and it was so so fun. On our way back we got some Shave Ice at Uncle Clay's because you don't come to Hawaii and not have shave ice. I would definitely recommend this place over anywhere else if you are near because he uses natural ingredients and it's so so good.

  

The next morning Scott went to the airport to get Mary. While they were gone we ran across the street to play at the beach. We weren't in the water long when it started to rain so we sought cover in the trees. Climbing trees is always a good idea, rain or not, and so we stayed up there long after the rain had passed. This particular tree had a natural little treehouse in it, a big area carved out right before the tree started to branch off in all directions. I broke my tree climbing rule oh "not letting the kids climb higher than they can climb themselves" and hoisted them into this little nook. They loved it so much and stayed there for a good 45 minutes or more while we threw things back and forth and had lots of make pretends. It was a fun morning with my two kiddos. 

After Scott came back with Mary we headed to Pupakea which is by far my favorite place to take little kids. They can spend hours and hours there. There is a shallow tidal area that is big and fun to explore with lots of little fish and crabs and all kinds of things to see. Olive had been practicing using her snorkel over the summer and had gotten really good at it, which made it even more fun. I decided I would take her out the deep end because it is just a different kind of experience. We put on her floaties and held hands and headed out. Right as we passed the big rocky area that separated the shallow end from the deep we swam right through a big school of fish, and it is a memory engraved in my mind, like magic. It's sad that sometimes it takes seeing things through the eyes of child to realize how amazing it is, but that's how I felt that day, as if I was seeing everything for the first time with her.  

After our snorkel adventure we grabbed dinner at the Elephant Thai truck. That place is delicious. While we all ate Elijah sat by, talked to, and chased after the chickens. He never tired of them and when we were done eating we had to drag him from the place.

One of the things I love most about traveling is that everyone gets so tired from doing fun things all day that they sleep so well when they make it to their beds at night. I also love that we all just sleep together and make it work. It would be hard if it was long term, but for me it is doable when we are traveling and actually can be a really fun, bonding, and memorable experience. We took Elijah right out of a crib at home and then put him in beds everywhere we went. He did awesome and we never looked back. Olive has always slept anytime, anywhere, but it's taken Elijah a bit of time to adjust to our somewhat nomadic lifestyle and now he sleeps like a champ. Love these kids. 

In the evening around 9 or 10 I went to Honolulu to pick up KC. I got some Malasadas for us on the way over and it was fun to see him and drive home together. It had only been 4 or 5 days, but I missed him. I don't like to be without him much anymore. The following day we rented paddle boards and kayaks and paddled down a calm little outlet. It was really fun and the kids kept jumping into the water and paddling around the boats in their little floaties. So cute. Last time we were here I had seen this rope swing  hanging from this awesome tree and really wanted to jump from it but didn't really have the chance so I was determined to jump from it this time. Then I talked everyone else into jumping. No regrets.

Friends outside our door every night.

We had decided a fun thing to do the next day would be to walk across the coral at low tide to Goat Island. Kc loves doing that. It always causes me a fair amount of anexity to wade through the water with both my kids to get to there, but I never regret it. It is so beautiful and luscious and the kids love to play in the water and pick up shells. We explored the other half where the waves come crashing against the rocks and crabs can be seen crawling every which way near the waters edge. Then we headed back and got some yummy food at some food trucks and spent the rest of the evening together (and I think we may have made a run out for some Chocolate Haupia pie, but I ate so much delicious food it is all a blur at this point.)

Catching crabs at night. 

On Saturday afternoon, our last full day together, our friends came into Laie to visit. We were trying to decide between a few options of what to do and landed on doing the PCC hike which is something that they had never tried before. We knew the hike could get a bit long because you have to hike back and forth across a stream, climb over lots of rocks and stumps, and maneuver in between branches, but we still thought it would be fun. You realize how hard things are when you force someone else to do them with you because then you feel a sense of guilt for anything that goes wrong. I had a lot of fun, our kids hiked very well and a little over halfway through I put Elijah in the ergo carrier and he fell asleep, but I can't say the same for my friend's family. Her oldest son was not very happy about it and complained most the way, and her youngest son had to be carried by only her or he would cry the entire time. They have 5 children, so I think it just made it a lot harder on them, but their other three kids did great and happily hiked along. We did have to hurry a bit to make it up and down before we lost the sun, but we made it up there had some time to jump from the little waterfall (Olive even jumped with me) and played around for a bit before we headed down. I still loved it, but am thinking we should have done something more relaxed with them. Lesson learned. 

The following day was Sunday and we went to church, cleaned up a bit, and spent some time together. Later that evening we took KC back to the airport to head home to Utah. Olive, Elijah, and I were headed to Seattle the following morning to spend another week there before driving home.

I had promised the kids all week that we would stop at a fruit stand and get some fruit and since that hadn't happened yet I hurried over there in the morning before we left. I have to say that this fruit stand has really gone downhill and it was not as good as it has been in the past, but it is still fun to look at all the exotic fruit and pick some out to munch on the way home.

WE DID IT! Til next time!