Bella, Gabe and Josiah

We decided that açaí bowls and smoothies were on the menu for breakfast. We figured that the boys could split one, but apparently that was more complicated than we’d pictured. Once breakfast was done (and we dealt with changing the pirate pants after someone sat in fresh bird poop), we’re headed out to the Dole plantation. After some Dole whip, we stood in a very long line to ride the train. The boys loved it, so it was worth the wait, but we did wait for awhile. Luckily there were some pineapple plants that Josy could run around in while we waited. After the train, we stood in a very long line to go back into the main restaurant/gift shop in order to use the bathroom and almost left to get lunch elsewhere, but instead we stuck it out and got lunch there. I’m glad we did because then we had time to go to the pineapple maze. Also, it rained at the exact moments when we were sitting and eating lunch and then quit when we were in the maze, so that worked out well. I also wasn’t sure how t...

Pat and I went diving! I didn’t know how we’d pull it off, given the fact that we have two little boys, but Uncle Nathan volunteered to take the boys for the morning. I haven’t been diving since before I was pregnant with Gabe, so it’s definitely been a while. And I was definitely nervous, but it was so much fun. On the first dive we found a wrecked WWII plane. On the second dive, there were a bunch of turtles swimming around. But then half the group had to turn around, including Pat, because they were running low on air, but I got to keep going and saw more turtles and a frog fish. It was strange to dive without Pat though... Meanwhile, the boys went to a bunch of parks and then played with the dog and the bunny. We hung out at Nathan and Cassie’s for the afternoon. Josy and Jeremiah napped and Gabe tried to see if he could wear out Winston. Apparently he did such a good job of that that Winston slept the entire next day. After everyone was up, we went to the beach with Cassie’s paren...

We woke up on Wednesday ready for another beautiful day in Hawaii! We didn’t bring a high chair. Needless to say, breakfast was a little interesting. Cassie’s mom Darla made Gabe a summer pirate costume. He has refused to wear anything else unless he’s actually swimming. We stopped by the beach for a bit while we waited for the zoo to open. We stopped for crepes on our way to the zoo and the pirate had to check out the situation. We finally made it to the zoo. Somehow this picture reminds me so much of Uncle Matt. It might help that I think we went to the zoo when he was about this age. Josy definitely loved the giraffes the most. The zoo was fun, but it was pretty hot. I expected some showers like the Phoenix zoo or even the Portland zoo, but there was nothing. It was just hot. And all Gabe wanted to see were the parrots. Unfortunately, they were at the end and there were some pretty strict rules we had to follow as far as what direction we could walk. So after walking around in the ...

We’re in Hawaii!! We showed up in Oahu late Monday night and Nathan and Cassie had to work on Tuesday so we were on our own most of the day. We started with breakfast on the beach. Then we had to go play in the water for a bit. It didn’t take Josy long to decide that he loved the water. We weren’t really prepared for the beach, so we didn’t last long the first time. We headed back to our condo, which is a block from the beach, and settled in for a bit. The boys are both super excited about the view. Actually, I am too, but I’m less excited about them being in the balcony by themselves... After naps, since we were all crazy tired, we headed back to the beach to play. I have two little water babies. Gabe stayed out at neck level and just kept telling “I’m deep! I’m deep!” Josy, meanwhile, just headed straight out into the water. When he hit chest level, I made him stop. There were no waves out there so it was perfect for the boys. Then we met up with Nathan and Cassie and got to meet Je...