One morning, Brody woke me (too early), and requested a bottle. (He still enjoys a bottle with oatmeal baby cereal, and requests one on occasion). I tried to put him off, but he was persistent, so I said to him, "OK, go see if you can find a bottle." Brody took off, and I figured he'd get distracted and start playing with his toys, then eventually wander back into my room, and possibly snuggle up, and fall back to sleep (so I was hoping).
A few minutes later (I must have drifted off to sleep again) he came into my room frantically saying, "Spilled down!" It took me a moment to recognize what he was trying to tell me. He beckoned me to come, and see.
Sure enough, Brody did exactly what I told him to do. "Go see if you can find a bottle."
He found one alright, and opened the fridge, retrieved the milk, and attempted to pour his own bottle, while spilling 1/2 gallon of milk on the counter/ floor. However, I was impressed that he managed to get some of it actually in the bottle!
We started out the day by going to the swap meet at Aloha Stadium. It was HUGE, and wrapped completely around the stadium with endless vendors, and any type of Hawaiian memorabilia, or souvenir you could ever want. Had we known, we would've gone at the beginning of our trip because here, we found 1/2 price on some of the excursions we went on. Oh well, live and learn.
It rained off, and on most of the morning, but it was such a pretty, warm rain with rainbows, and pots of gold
(almost that good).
I had always wanted to drink from a coconut, so I did.
Lets just say, fresh coconut water tastes like dirty, swamp water.
I was not impressed, but hey, at least now I know!
We spent most of the morning at the swap meet, then it was off to the airport to catch our 1 o'clock flight.
It came all too soon. Our trip whizzed by, but we truly had a blast, and loved every minute of it.
We were thankful for the opportunity to go, and while we were sad to leave, we were anxious to get back to our little man.
Farewell Hawaii. . . until next time.
It was 6 hours of flying, plus we lost 3 hours with the time change to Vegas, so it was nearly 11 pm when we got to Vegas (we also had a delayed flight). We stayed the night on the strip in Vegas, and had a nice surprise when we arrived at our hotel. We were given a complimentary upgrade to a suite!
The next morning Brent awoke in Vegas on his birthday! Jaime tried to convince him he needed to ride the roller coaster at New York, New York, but Brent thought otherwise.
He was ready to get home to his cows, horses, and especially his buddy, Brody.
When we walked in the house, we were greeted by the pitter-patter of little feet running toward us, followed by Brody jumping in our arms, hugging us. He was saying, "Mommy's home, Daddy's home!" It was a good feeling. Brody missed us after all, but I do know he had a good time with Grandma, and Grandpa as well.
We are so appreciative to my parents for watching Brody, and taking such good care of him.
Thanks, Mom and Dad!
The following day, Brody wore his surfer boy threads to church.
I was trying to get Brody to look at the "bird!" It was a ploy to try to get him to hold still for 2 seconds for a picture. Fail.
Success. . . well sort of.
Even Brody has caught the "hang loose" bug!
We celebrated Brent's birthday as a family, and I even whipped out some domestic skills, and made Brent a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (his favorite).
Brody helped him blow out the candles.
This swimming frog was one of the souvenirs we brought home from Hawaii for Brody.
Initially, he was afraid of it, and wouldn't hold it, or touch it.
(but he would spit on it).
Then he got brave, and got in the bath tub with his frog.
I'd have to say Day 5 was my favorite day in Hawaii.
We went out to sea. . .
(Ok, so the"Hang Loose" sign became way worn out by the end of our trip. Everywhere we went, and each time someone took our picture, we were prompted to flash "hang loose," yet again. Bear with us.)
And then under the sea. . .
with the turtles, and fish, and other sea creatures.
Tom, Tara, Brent, and I rode on THE coolest contraptions down in the depths of the ocean.
They reminded me of something off of "The Jetsons."
They were underwater scooters, and we were able to cruise around on them under the sea.
You stick your head inside the bubble, sit on the seat, and drive around. The idea is based on the bell theory (Remember Jr. High Science? If you tip a cup upside down, and put it in a bucket of water, it won't fill with water- same concept. Oxygen is filtered into the bubble, so you just breath normally, and your head stays dry- other than when getting in, and out of the scooter).
They were like our own, personal submarines.
Cool, huh?
The rope you see is just attached to a buoy that floats on the surface so you don't get lost.
They took us to a crater in the ocean that attracts all types of fish, turtles, and commonly dolphins (we didn't get to see dolphins that day, however :-(
The fish would swim right up to us.
We found out what a rip current was while on our expedition, and since we don't have the opportunity to be in the ocean often (living in Idaho) it was a first for me. I was surprised at the strength of the current-- while trying to drive my scooter one direction, the current would pull me back another direction. I guess I always thought rip currents occurred closer to the shore.
Do you see the turtle above me?
I look mad in this one. . .?
There were divers that followed us around and took our pictures, and videoed us (and made sure we stayed safe)--- I have no idea why there are so many pictures of me, and so few of Brent.
Tom took a picture of one of the divers who was with us (our babysitter).
Brent-- really!
We all made it back safely on board!
This was a blast, and I would highly recommend it!!!
While we were out on the boat, we saw some people doing this. . .
(and check out those gorgeous mountains!)
I'm not even sure what you call it, but it looked pretty dang fun! Superman!
These guys had jets hooked to them on a back pack, and they blew out air/water which propelled them, and they hovered above the water, in the air!
Maybe that's next on my adventure list??
It's hard to see from the picture, but the house on the shoreline, on the right side of the picture is the Kaiser Permanente estate, and it's on the market if you're interested. It's only priced at something like $40 million.
Brent may have looked a little green.
After our scooter excursion, we headed back to the house for some beach time.
Another one of our little friends back at the beach house.
This is what happened when Brent tried to stand up in the kayak!
Are you ever too old for floatie tubes? I think not.
After wearing ourselves out on the beach, and in the water, we cruised around in style, and spent our last night on the town.
We were leaving for dinner, and Tom found a dead gecko in the garage, and pulled a prank on Jaime- he threw it in her lap while she was sitting in the convertible and scared the day light out of her.
We dined at Haleiwa Joes-- ocean front.
I ate the prettiest crab salad.
They guy we rented the house from made custom surf boards for a living, and had several of his creations on display throughout the house.
I could totally get used to the Hawaiian lifestyle. I've been trying to convince Brent we should move there, and try it out just for a couple of years. So far I haven't been successful.
Maybe a future return trip will have to satisfy me (I'll take that, too).
