"Mahalo"

What do you say when you're presented with a great opportunity to go to Hawaii?
You say "Mahalo" (Thank you in Hawaiian) and accept the offer.

That's just what me and boy's did and in a matter of just weeks, we were on our way to beautiful O'ahu Hawaii. Or "ha-wa-hoo" as J calls it.

We headed early Sunday morning and the boy's were well entertained (Thanks Kent).
The flight was 5 hours and 30 min and I wasn't quite sure how they'd tolerate small quarters for that long, we survived!

When we arrived to Hawaii, the boy's received the lei's! I was so excited for them (and me)!

Soon after, we got our car and headed to the wonderful and highly anticipated Aulani Disney Resort. There really aren't words to describe this place, you can note the fun we had through our pictures to show you just how wonderful this place was. I was really impressed that Disney catered to family and children with activities and all the amenities.  It definitely made me want to go back.

 

This was the amazing view from our room! It was such a refreshing feeling to wake up to such a beautiful view. Made me awe God even more.

This was the fun we had in our lagoon, it was beautiful warm blue ocean water! The boy's are in awe looking at all the exciting things below.
There were water slides, jungle gyms, river pool, beach pools, spa's and I could go on and on....we used our first two days to discover the place. 

 K-loved the water slides! He went down numerous times and could have gone a whole bunch more if I'd of let him. I wasn't to fond of the enclosed tunnel slide (note my face). And well J, he came down booty first on his tummy cause he twisted on his way down, he didn't care to go down that slide again.

 The other water slide was with an inner-tube. This was a blast!!! Note K's smile.

 The rest of that day I just enjoyed watching my boy's being boys and loving brothers. My heart melts seeing K help his little "brudder" with his goggles. "Brudderly love".

 Hawaii is 3 hours behind California time, so the boy's were up early! The first morning there we decided to take a walk, we just found more beauty and more fun. I love the serene picture of a vacant beach.

 We climbed rocks, played at the beach, wrote in the sand and just took it all in. I love K's picture, he's looking out onto the sea, just pondering.  (I love a lot of pictures, I know)
These clouds are amazing!

That evening we went to our first REAL Luau.

 I was so blessed with many compliments on how handsome my little men looked. And I do have to admit, they did look quite handsome.

 We saw the incredible man climb the palm tree to collect coconuts, then we saw them cut it open, it was all really pretty amazing. We're so customary to utensils and tools of today that it's hard to imagine that people at one time had to do this.

 We watched some beautiful ladies shake their hips and witnessed a beautiful sunset.

We took pictures and did the typical tourist things. I love the boy's profiles as they watch the show. The show went a little long, it went till about midnight California time, so we left a few minutes early and the boy's were pretty much passed out by that time.

The next day I woke up and took in this beautiful view.

 Since I have never been to Hawaii I wanted to see all the tourist sites, so our tour guide Kent was so wonderful at pre-booking our day's and getting us to the places that were well known.

That day we had plans to go to Pearl Harbor and see the memorial of the Arizona ship.
 So in the car we got and off we went!

 This was such a beautiful memorial.
On our way to the memorial I was educating the boy's about what we were about to see (the wonderful part about homeschooling is it's done anywhere and/or everywhere). I went on to explain that because of sin in the world we have wars, wars are where soldiers and people fight with weapons. I went on to explain that there was an attack on America from a country named Japan. Shortly after, as we reviewed I asked the boy's about Japan and J said matter of factly "Mommy, we know Japan, that's where Jessie was going to go in Toy Story 2!!" Just so you all know, cartoons can educate our kids in one way or another. That was a precious laughable moment that I'll always remember.

The boy's got toy jet souvenirs and never put them down.

We toured through a submarine and got the real claustrophobic feeling most navy men probably get. We got some silliness out of us also while we were down there.

 My favorite picture is Kent in the fumbled headphone set picture.

 

That day didn't stop there. We headed to Waikiki next.

 Blue beautiful water, it was surreal! Growing up in California, this is unheard of.

 Family picture with Diamond head behind us.

OK, I don't surf, I probably couldn't even if I tried, so pardon me for not know who this man is. But now I do, and we took a picture with him so I remember.

Part of Disney's awesomeness of catering to family and kids was the bonfire story telling at night. We lounged on chairs and listened. The boy's again, didn't make it.

I have to give a lot of credit to my little men J and K, they tolerated a lot of hustle and bustle with vacationing especially with time change.

That next morning our itinerary was planned. We had our character breakfast with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy. What I loved about this was that they actually interacted with us, they didn't just make an appearance. The boy's were hesitant but somewhat warmed up to them.

 After breakfast, we headed off to the Dole Plantation (yummy!) and North Shore.

 The view from the plantation was beautiful! It was a little overcast that day so this picture doesn't even capture it's full beauty.

 Matsumoto's shaved ice was a must, and we enjoyed it till there was a party foul and our cups fell over. Enough was ingested to enjoy though.

 Again, it was overcast that day but still warm enough to enjoy the beach, its Hawaii! I enjoyed watching my boy's build sand castles and play in the sand. They were over the picture taking so that's why I'm posing solo in my North Shore pic (party poopers!).

The sunset that night was the prettiest ever! This picture doesn't even do it justice. Again, it puts me at awe of how wonderful my creator is.

  That evening we enjoyed a little more of the resort and then when we started to dwindle in energy we headed to our last dinner, our "sancy" (fancy) dinner.

 Dinner was scrumptious, especially cause the chief made me something I was craving that wasn't on the menu. And......I had the best company on the whole island!

And again, the boy's didn't quite make it, but they were super sports trucking along with us. And yes, J is a sleep bent over on the chair.

That next morning we had to say goodbye to paradise, and our "2nd home" as the boy's would like to call it.

 Between our Cabo and Hawaii vacations this year my little men have become quite the travelers, knowing the routine of flying and lugging luggage around. I applaud them for being my good little traveling buddies. I would never want to enjoy any experience without them.

Happy little blessed boys is what God's granted me with and I treasure them.

Hawaii 2012 was an amazing trip!

Kent, we couldn't have done it without you and I know I wouldn't have survived without all your help. A big "Mahalo" and Thank you to you!

"Aloha and Mahalo Hawaii! Till we meet again, thank you for an amazing experience and a glimpse of the what heaven has in store for us."