Hawaiian Vacation

A few weeks ago, we took our kiddo's out of school and went to Hawaii for 8 days.  We stayed on the west coast of Oahu in Ko Olina, which is very quiet and far away from the crazy, busy city.

The week was perfect.

We played. We swam. We snorkeled.

And by the look of these shriveled fingers, you can tell that the kids spent a TON of time in the water!

We spent the week with friends.  6 adults, 7 kids and perfectly perfect dynamics!

I took roughly 700 pictures.  But how could I resist when we drove by quaint places like this....

Doesn't that just scream 'Hawaii'?!

The shave ice was a big hit! (They call it SHAVE ice...not shaved ice! Who knew!)

We tried boogie boarding for the first time on the north shore.

We had hoped to see a turtle while we snorkeled.  And we didn't just see ONE turtle, we saw several.  And two even crawled up on the beach, right in front of us! Hello Mr. Turtle!

I tried hard to be a fun mom and swim with my kids.  Get my hair wet.  Snorkel along side them.   I even went down the water slide!

Even with a small abscess on Emmie's bum (which turned into cellulitis), it was still a fantastic vacation.

Her last night in Hawaii was spent in the ER....

...but she was a trooper.  And after some IV meds, she was in tip top shape.  Just in time to fly home.

One of Dan's hobbies is putting together video from our vacations.  I haven't ever shared any on my blog, but thought I'd give it a try this time!. If you have a few minutes and would like to watch, click here!

Oh Hawaii, how we miss you!

jen