King Kamehameha I Day--June 11th

Yes, June 11th is a official Hawaii state holiday and we just happened to be there on June 11th. King Kamehameha I, was the first ruler of the Hawaiian Islands, he united all the Islands together. There was a parade that was going to be passing right by our hotel so we decided to check it out. We staked our place and took some pictures of the kids.

Well, after being there for about 30 minutes and the parade still wasn't to our street and didn't look as if it was anywhere nearby the kids started getting ansy. Also, two older ladies who were pretty rude came and practically pushed our kids off the rocks they were sitting on and took up residence there for the parade. Annoyed was I you ask?? Yes I was but I just moved them to the lawn and didn't worry about it. Another five minutes go by and the ladies that just stole our sitting rocks asked if we could move because our stroller was blocking their view? Seriously? So I politely told her we couldn't. Gosh I'm nice. You can see a picture of the culprit below.... :) Well, after about another 10 minutes Landon and Dayton voted that we skip the parade and head to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We didn't need much convincing and we were off.

So here we are at the Dole Pineapple Plantation and "The World's Largest Maze"--atleast that is what Landon and Dayton kept reminding us the whole way there.

So the maze sounded like a good idea and it started out fun with our little Dole visors on and our map to find the eight secret stations hidden in the maze. Ugggg. Seriously, after about 10 minutes mom was so sick of running into dead ends and walking, walking, walking etc. Landon and Dayton liked it but this thing was humongous and we were so lost and hot and hot and sweaty and lost. We found our way back to the entrance/exit and told Landon and Dayton we would come back after we saw the other stuff all the while knowing there was no way I was going in there again.

I have never seen a pineapple bush before so I was curious to see one. They are so weird looking and did you know it takes a pineapple 22 months to grow!! Crazy, that is so long. Here is a picture in case like me you don't know what a pineapple bush looks like. They just stick up on this really thick, stiff, leaf thing. Huh. I'm sure I looked like a dumb tourist but it was so weird looking.

Our little pineapples!!

My boys!

After the Dole Plantation we drove around the island to the Oahu temple. It is currently under renovation and is closed but the visitors center was opened so we stopped by. The visitor's center is one of the nicest I have seen aside from the SLC temple visitor centers.

The Polynesian Culture Center is close to the temple and with your PCC ticket you get a "free tour" of the LDS temple visitor center, I thought that was funny because last I checked you get a "free tour" of the visitor center without the ticket too. Sneaky mormons. Okay not really but the sister missionaries said a lot of people do come by from the PCC so it is a good thing. It was a fun day.

Hanauma Bay

It's hard to see what we are looking at here but they are penguins. Our hotel had it's own little penguin pond and every morning at 8am guests were able to go pet the penguins and feed the turtles. The kids thought it was great.Here is a picture of all the little kids taking a turn petting the penguin.

After the morning penguin excursion we headed to Hanauma Bay. It is a Hawaii state park that is famous for snorkeling. It was actually more amazing than I thought it would be, you see TONS of fish and coral and all kinds of things. This was Travis's favorite thing we did while in Oahu, and he got the sunburn to prove it. Dayton also is a natural at snorkeling and loved looking at all the fish and he had a sharp eye for other creatures on the ocean floor as well. (some that made mom head for the beach quicker than I would like to admit.....I was sceeeered.)

Sadie Ann loved the sand, she just cruised around looking at stuff and playing, she was a natural beach baby.

This was the end of our day at Hanauma Bay. It's hard to tell in this picture but if you look closely you will see a sleeping Sadie Ann and a sleeping Reece, this was becoming a tradition.

We ended the day with dinner from Taco Bell, $2.50 for a bean burrito, I think this was our cheapest meal coming in around $25 for the family, apparently Honolulu is the second most expensive city in the states with Manhattan taking the first place.....still, I could live there, it was a great day. :)

The Polynesian Culture Center

Thursday the 11th we made our way to the North Shore and spent the day at the Polynesian Culture Center. This was the day that I learned that thick denim levi's and Hawaii don't mix. I could live in Hawaii but I would need a whole new wardrobe. Despite the heat it was great. One thing I noticed is that all the buildings and grounds that the church owns are some of the nicest on the Island. I'm not surprised I think that is true many places you go but it did stand out here in Oahu as well. You also drive through the "mountains" to get to the PCC from Waikiki and Travis and I are so use to seeing pine trees that we were really loving seeing the hills covered with green but instead of pine trees they were lush tropical trees. Very cool. Along those lines, when I was running the other day I kept seeing all this white on the ground and at first I thought it was pieces of paper or litter and then after looking more closely they were flowers that had fallen off the trees. Is this for real? So cool. Anyway, I digress, back to the PCC.

I loved learning about all of the islands and they are similar in many ways but very different also. My favorite Island that we learned about was Samoa. Did you know that in Samoa the men do all the cooking! It is a sign of respect, cooking is very hard work and they don't want their women to have to work so hard so the men do the cooking.....HI!!, how could this not be everybody's favorite Island. Travis thinks I was "in like" with the guy doing the little fire demonstration which is partly true, every old married lady needs a young twenty something to build her fire and pick coconuts for her, am I wrong? The boys also loved Samoa because the fire building guy was pretty funny and would say things like "I am so handsome" (had to be there).

These coconut trees are TALL and he shimmied up it like it was no big deal.

On the "Island of Hawaii" we were learning how to hula and little Reece just jumped right up on stage with the demonstrators and started showing everyone how to shake their hips. It was very cute!
Below is a picture taken from the "Island of New Zealand". This is a game they play called the stick game. You basically throw sticks back and forth to each other in different patterns. Warning: Do not try this at home or have your 9 and 7 year old be partners, could result in bruising, yelling and tempers flaring.

Also, in New Zealand they dance with these balls that are attached to strings and they swing them around all fancy and stuff. I guess they use to be weapons in time of war but since they are not at war they are now just soft balls used for dancing and celebration. One thing about New Zealand is they are very formal and things are done certain ways. They are also "scary" in some ways because they yell very loud and use a lot of facial expressions in their culture.

Most of the Islands use coconut leaves to make a lot of things: hats, bowls, roofs, mats, flooring, walls....here the kids are learning how to make little fish toys.

We had our own personal tour guide and her name was Park. She was very cute and took little Reece under her wing and made him her little helper. She, like many of the people that work at the PCC is attending BYU Hawaii. All the money they earn at the PCC (minus expenses) is used for scholarships for students in all the surrounding Islands to be able to come to BYU Hawaii, in exchange the students are able to work at the PCC and share their culture with all those around the world. The PCC is the most visited "attraction" in Oahu and I think all the Islands.

This was the end of the pictures for the day but we finished the day off at the PCC with a Luau dinner with traditional Hawaiian food and the Horizons night show which has all of the Islands together putting on a fabulous show for everyone. The favorites of the show for us were the fire dancers and fire walkers from the Island of..........you guessed it--Samoa! (Why no pictures you ask?? Well, mom was holding a sleeping Sadie and dad was holding a sleeping Reece)

Waikiki Beach and Pool Day

After a long travel day we spent our first full day in the water. We are lucky that our hotel is right on the beach so we started there. I wasn't sure if Sadie would like the sand or not but SHE LOVED IT! Dayton was born to be in the water, he never hesitated about diving right in and we kept having to usher him back towards the shore. Landon loved the water too but got into it more when there was a competition of finding stuff on the ocean floor. Mom even ventured out and played with the kids in the salty water and floating with Landon.

After being at the beach for a while we did what every good hotel guest does, we headed to the pool to semi-clean off the sand. Of course we showered down first but I think we all know there is sand EVERYWHERE after going to the beach. Dad and the boys sportin their muscles.

Sadie had enough of the beach and conked out on the way to the pool, mom graciously offered to sun bathe....I mean, take care of Sadie while the boys and dad took to the pool and slides.

Running in Oahu

On a side note, the morning after we arrived in Oahu Travis and I went for a run. Travis ran about six miles which is pretty normal for him. He runs several times a week. I on the other hand haven't found my running groove for a while. I use to run a lot but I get bored and have been doing other workouts for quite a while. I might run a mile or two here or there but nothing too long. So after Travis got back from his run, I took to my run and was really enjoying myself. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village which is right on the beach so I started there and just ran along the beach crossing running by all the beachfront hotels and then I made my way over to beachwalk street which is downtown Waikiki, I felt pretty good so I kept going on and found the Aquarium and Honolulu Zoo, after I passed the zoo I noticed some other runners heading up a hill towards a neighborhood so I decided to follow them assuming they must know some cool running trail. I continued running up hill for about twenty minutes and found the most amazing look out. I don't remember the name of the lookout but it is on the way to the Diamond Head Crater. It was so surreal to be there early in the morning when most of the city is still sleeping and look out across the ocean and see the beaty of this Island. I decided it is more fun running when you don't have a purpose or a certain place you "have" to run to just to turn around and run back. I also decided it is a great idea when you are visiting a new city to take a run your first morning there and you will find all the places you want to visit and some you didn't even know you wanted to visit. Later on that evening I wanted to show Travis and the kids the lookout so we took a drive up the route I ran that morning and come to find out it was an eight mile run.....funny how when you aren't paying attention, things like getting in a good workout just happen all by themselves. (Coming from Denver--high elevation, to Oahu---sea level probably helped a bit too!)

Oahu Hawaii

Tuesday June 9th came too slow and June 17th came too fast but our Hawaii Family vacation was wonderful. Time away from phones, faxes, work, the gym, computers, and daily responsibilities is always welcome. In case you don't know what it's like taking a six and a half hour flight with 4 kids in a huge plane we posted a picture for you. Some of the highlights include Landon spilling his drink all over his shorts, Dayton in turn spilling his drink all over his shorts, many (too many) hours of DS (video game) playing by Landon and Dayton, one Nemo movie on dad's laptop for Reece, one airline provided movie of "He is just not that into You" followed by Landon asking some questions and dad giving Landon the "Birds and the Bees" talk when we arrived home. (By the way, we didn't want Landon to watch the movie but when it is right in front of your face it's hard not to look), some short naps for Sadie Ann and and even shorter nap for Reece......but we made it. This was the Jensen row in the middle of the plane, 5 seats across, you can see a bit of Reece's head and mom took the honor of taking the picture. (By the way, going through airport security is a whole other blog, suffice to say we were the spectacle of the afternoon and mom almost had to strip down to her scivies to avoid the beeping, Travis who is a pro at airport security was a bit stunned at how ridiculous it was with the whole crew of kids, 7 carry on's, two carseat, and double seated stroller, and I packed light)After arriving in Honolulu, securing our rental mini-van, checking into our hotel, we took a walk on the beach and it was beautiful. Mom was still a bit high strung and kept telling the kids to just get their feet wet but once Dayton "slipped" and was soaked it was all over and the kids were loving the waves.

Dayton turns 7!!

I can't believe Dayton is SEVEN years old.  Time goes by so fast.  We celebrated at home and then later with friends for a Boondock party. 

 Some things I love about Dayton:

*Dayton has a terrific sense of humor.  He always makes us laugh with his funny faces, crazy jokes and laid back attitude.

*Dayton is the "milk chugging champ" of his school!  I'm so proud.  Apparently all the kids see who can drink their milk the fastest at lunchtime and he is King.

*Dayton is tough.  He has pulled his own teeth out in order to get money from the tooth fairy and the teeth were not wiggly yet!!  

*Dayton is a great big brother and tolerates sharing a room with little Reecer who usually talks and talks while Dayton listens patiently before he is able to go to sleep.

*Dayton is the kid that makes you go hmmmm.  For example, he will be the kid that comes home from somewhere with only one sock or one shoe and you ask him where the other one is and he says "uhhh"  with a big grin on his face that you can't get mad at him.  

We love you Dayton and our so happy to have you in our family.  Happy Birthday!

Clothes and a new video game for his new Nintendo DS.

As you can see we are quite formal and get all dressed up for Birthday dinners!

Boondocks with a bunch of Boys!
They all decided to make a goofy face, shocking I know, they are all usually so serious.

Mitchell Maddox, Reece, Bodhe Melver, Jude Toy, Landon, Michael Hughes, Dayton, Parker Remund and Gavin Hill.