Paradise Cove

Our favorite beach is one that is just down the hill from our house at the Ko'Olina resort. Although this beach isn't technically one of the resort beaches, it is pristine, and relatively unknown. Some people even call it secret beach. My mom could NOT get enough of this beach while she was here. She loved swimming with the turtles. You aren't really supposed to touch them, but sometimes while swimming they will sidle right up next to you. My mom fed this little guy, and he followed her around like a lost puppy. She even named him Rocky.Here is Dallin and his friend Chance. Here is me and Masen playing with a ball on the beach. Yes, it is a basketball. The kid is obsessed these days.

The Black Pearl?

For the past few months Disney has been filming the 4th installment of Pirates of the Caribbean here on Oahu. When they first brought in the Black Pearl at the beginning of the year we went to go take pictures of it. So with my mom in town, she wanted to go see it too. We took her to the harbor where it was docked, but it looked NOTHING like the Black Pearl we saw in Feb. Whaaat? (If you would like to compare pictures, refer to my Feb. post) It looked like it had been to burned to pieces, and possessed by demons. Crazy. It just made we wonder what in the heck happens to this ship in the movie. These next 3 pictures are at Barber's Point on the west side of the island. I think they made it hard to get a good picture on purpose. Grrrr. We heard they were filming on the east side of the island, so we went to go check it out one day. We did not get to see Johnny Depp (Dallin was so disappointed! He had his little autograph book and everything), but we DID find out what is up with this ship. It turns out that when Disney brought in the Black Pearl they filmed all the shots they needed to, then they transformed it into this ship, which is called Queen Anne's Revenge. No wonder it didn't look like the same ship.

Evening at Waikiki

After dropping off Chris at the airport (Vietnam post coming soon), we took my mom down for an evening in Waikiki. We love to walk around the International Market, and the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, and then go watch the sunset at the beach. Follow it up with a yummy dinner, and we had the perfect night. We had bought my mom a new camera, so while trying it out I was able to get this picture of Masen.

Waimea Falls

One of our favorite places to go on the island is Waimea Valley where you can walk to a waterfall. It's only about a mile, and the path is paved, so I don't consider it a "hike." It's such a beautiful stroll, I knew my mom would love it. Taking a break - not from the "hike" but to stop and enjoy the scenery.
There were a lot of people swimming in the pool below the falls. It looked like fun, but we were not prepared to swim.

On our walk back down the downpour started. Chris had teased me about bringing an umbrella when we started, but when we got stuck in the rain, guess who was laughing?

Proud to be an American

Since the 4th of July fell on a Sunday this year, we started out the celebration on Saturday morning. Our ward does a cute bike parade for the kids, then a potluck breakfast. Corynn was so excited to get up and decorate her bike, but Dallin on the other hand was too tired to get up at 7 a.m. I guess he is enjoying too many late nights during this summer break. Here is my mom and I waiting for the parade to start. Brother Magaoay made a wonderful Uncle Sam as he led the parade. The kids made a couple of loops around the parking lot while some patriotic music was being played. So cute.We made a birthday cake for America. Nothing too exciting, but the kids love doing stuff like that.We had a fun 3rd of July, so it kind of made up for a boring 4th. Since it fell on a Sunday, Chris felt like we needed to uphold our standards to keep the Sabbath day holy. I admit I kinda wanted to go down to Waikiki and watch the fireworks over the ocean along with the rest of the island. Instead we got out the binoculars and watched the fireworks from our upper lanai.

I am so proud to be an American. I am proud of Chris' commitment and service to the Army, and our country. I am grateful for our founding father's who, with God's help, established this great nation. Let freedom ring!

Camping with Grandma Carol

With my mom visiting for a couple months, the first thing we decided to do was take her camping at Bellows Beach. It's one of our favorite beaches, but the cabins are usually booked up to a year in advance. We lucked out and were able to go for three days. Isn't it beautiful?
My mom didn't want to sleep in the cabin, so she took the blow up mattress onto the patio so she could enjoy the night air, and listen to the ocean. She says it was the best nights sleep she's ever gotten.We enjoyed lots of beach time. The kids loved making sand castles, boogie boarding, and playing with Masen. My mom and I relaxed, swam and read. I felt a little bad that Chris had to work. He was a trooper though, and didn't complain about a longer commute from this side of the island.
Here's a funny side story. Just about 2 weeks before this camping trip we had gone to Bellows with the Strattons. Corynn was stung by a Portugeese Man 'O War pretty bad. The tentacle was long, and wrapped around her leg from mid-thigh to mid-calf. It left welts and blisters and the poor girl was in a lot of pain. She vowed to NEVER swim at Bellows again. So here we are camping at Bellows for 3 days. She stuck to her promise the first day, but by the second day she braved the water. She found this little baby Man 'O War one morning while walking along the beach.
Our cabin had a hose on the patio to rinse yourself off after a day at playing in the sand. I could not keep Masen away from this hose. He was loving it so much. I finally just stripped him down, and let him play all he wanted.