Hawaii {Day 3} – Pool Day, School Day

This is our second full school day so we were up by 6:30am. Once we got the kids settled Justin went out on a run.  He took some pictures of some petroglyphs nearby which the rest of us never did end up show the kids.

I went to the complementary 8am yoga class. I enjoyed the relaxing stretch to start my day. I decided since I was already in workout clothes to head to the gym. This is the first time I’ve been in a gym in 335 days. I did the elliptical for an hour and then some weights. It actually felt good to work out and wasn’t nearly as difficult as I would’ve imagined after such a long break. I guess all these walks that I’ve been doing over the last many months have kept me in decent shape. 

Katie and Drew were able to swim for a couple hours before their afternoon classes started.  We’ve strapped a life-jacket on Drew for years even though he has passed a few levels of swim lessons – it’s much more relaxing at a pool when you don’t have to worry about keeping anyone alive.  However, we wanted him to get more comfortable with actually swimming, jacket-free, so we encouraged him to go without the jacket as much as possible at the pools.  He did great.

After we all had lunch most of us headed down to the pool leaving Jason, Katie, and Drew to finish their school day.  I started one of the books I brought along and am enjoying it so far.  

We stayed at the pool until we were hungry enough to head up for dinner. Costco chicken alfredo and caesar salad for the win. I was exhausted from a day in the sun and all that exercise this morning so Justin took Jason with him to the store to pick up some more bread and Abigail took a mid-term after the littles went to bed.  A nice relaxing day!

Hawaii {Day 2} – Mauna Kea & Hapuna Beach

We decided that we would have the kids catch school at least a few of the days and today was the first. It wasn’t too difficult to be up at 6:30am for the kids to get on their calls before 9am PST. Abigail decided to attend her mission prep class outside and sat at a table near a barbecue station. Pretty picturesque if you ask me. 

Jason had calls until the afternoon and stationed himself out on our balcony. Katie and Drew only had one call in the morning after which all of us (except for Jason) went to Mauna Kea beach for a few hours.  

Then we came home for lunch to get Katie and Drew on their afternoon classes. Abigail realized when she started her homework that she needed a calculator for her midterms so she and Justin headed to Walmart in the afternoon to get that and a few other items.  Our plan was to head to the beach when everyone was done with school but Abigail had a test she needed to take so it took us longer to get out the door. We wanted to try some dole whip before hitting the beach and after Justin waited in line for 15 minutes he found out he was in the wrong line and during that time the place where he should’ve been (next door) had closed. Major bummer but we still had malasadas to pick up and enjoy which were delicious. 

I just think this picture is funny with Drew in the background

We got to Hapuna beach in the late afternoon, too late in the afternoon to get any sun. Justin and the kids had lots of fun catching waves. Drew loves to play in the ocean as well, but he wasn’t really into the boogie boarding today so I spent most of my time trying to keep him from going too deep as he jumped and played in the waves. Near the end of the evening he spent some time on the beach with the sand toys that we bought at Costco.  We stayed until the sun set.

We had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner back at our room. The younger kids went to bed shortly thereafter. It’s easy to get to bed early when it’s already dark outside and we’re waking up so early in the morning.

Hawaii {Day 1} – Getting Settled

We decided to ease into vacation life today and instead of trying to do a big outing just enjoy some things near our hotel. Justin and I went into town this morning to get some groceries. We bought a lot of ready-made and freezer meals from Costco to last throughout our stay. We also picked up two boogie boards that our friends left at their hotel when they were here on vacation two weeks ago.  So thoughtful of them to do that so we didn’t have to rent or buy them ourselves.  

The kids went down to our pool while we were out and then met up with us to help us unload the van and eat some lunch. 

Abigail shared this picture on snapchat

We then decided to go check out the sister hotel of the Hilton resort that we’re staying at which is much larger and is well known for its pools and activities as well as being beachside property. The beach there is rocky so it wasn’t one that we could get into but we did spend several hours at one of the many pools and the kids particularly enjoyed the waterslides there. We walked around the resort a bit – it is huge and has a large lagoon for guests to use on water toys and also a pool for with dolphins.  Very commercialized so I’m glad we didn’t stay here, but it was fun to check out and a nice perk to have access to.  

Abigail and her pencil jumps

We were able to see many whales in the distance which was cool. 

We came back to our room for dinner and to have our sacrament meeting before cleaning up and heading to bed. Check out the beautiful sunset from our balcony.

It wasn’t difficult to get to bed early tonight at all. We have two bedrooms and a pull out couch that Abigail used.  Justin and I had a king sized bed in our room and the second room had two doubles.  Carly shares a bed with Katie and Drew allows Jason a little space in the second double.

Hawaii {Day 0} – Arrival

Our flight was completely uneventful. Only small hiccup was that I’d packed some unfrozen ice blocks in Drew’s suitcase without thinking they would be considered liquid so they should have been in our checked bags.  So we lost those.  We were given a pre-clear wristband at the gate after showing them our QR code from our negative tests.  

It felt good to be traveling again.  I haven’t flown since last February when Justin and I traveled to Maui and they kids (except Abigail who flew home for Christmas) hadn’t flown since Costa Rica in December 2019. 

We each were on a row where the center seat was open so there was plenty of space. Abigail was the only one that shared a row with a stranger. 

Drew and I spotted several Amazon Prime planes – I had no idea they had their own fleet but I guess that makes sense.

It wasn’t a big deal at all to wear our masks throughout the flight and Alaska Airlines still offered us drinks and snacks. The kids enjoyed unlimited tech time during the six hour flight. Jason and Katie apparently played with the Nintendo most of that time while Drew watched a couple movies and played some games on my iPad.  

I was surprised to find that we were all required to be tested again for covid when we landed in Kona. Since we were in the back of the plane we were the last to get tested. This test was much less uncomfortable than any previous test that I’ve taken. They told us that no news was good news and if they were we didn’t hear from them within 24 hours that we were in the clear. After getting through all that we picked up our rental car and headed to our hotel to check in and get to bed. It was a late night with us getting to bed after 2am PST. 

 

Week 5: February 1 - 6

Monday [2/1]:  I’m trying not to think too much about Hawaii, but it’s tough.  I’m so ready for some fun in the sun so it will be super disappointing if we aren’t able to go for some reason.  It was a busy, productive this morning at home which continued into the afternoon with running some errands with Jason. I decided this evening to try and start putting together a photo album for last year.  That will be quite the process!

 

Tuesday [2/2]:  I woke up when I heard the trash trucks on our street around 7:30am and couldn’t fall back to sleep so I started my day much earlier than normal.  By noon I had studied scriptures, started two loads of laundry, listened to a podcast, chatted with friends on Marco Polo, logged a near four mile walk and showered.  That felt good.  The rest of the day/night I spent working on that 2020 album.  I got a kick out of this text I got this afternoon from Abigail’s Kalli as they watched Morgan open up her mission call.

We chatted with Abigail tonight on FaceTime and she had a little fun with the filters while we chatted.

Wednesday [2/3]:  The kids have short days on Wednesday so Katie and Drew were already ready for electronics at 10am.  Ugh!  Regulating tech-time is the worst Mom job!  I encouraged them to find something else to do and thankfully, Katie pulled out her dot markers and that entertained them for a little while.  

They also had some time outside this afternoon with the neighbors.  It was a nice, dry day – even a little sunny today – which is a nice change.  We decided not to play with them on Monday and Tuesday just to limit our exposure prior to getting tested.  I figure if they were exposed today the likelihood of it showing up in our tests tomorrow morning are slim.  The likelihood of exposure is super slim anyhow - they played outside the entire time.

 

Our tennis lessons lasted early 2 hours today – we’ll see how much we get charged for that.  These lessons aren’t cheap but we really enjoy it.  I was sure exhausted afterward though.  I got together with some girlfriends tonight to celebrate Kari’s birthday.  We watched Wild Mountain Thyme, a quirky movie together – fun times.

 

Thursday [2/4]:  Our much anticipated COVID tests were this morning!  We went with Walgreen’s who does the rapid test through drive-thru.  You stay in your car and they pass test to you which you self-swab and then you pass it back through the window.  I ended up doing the tests on everyone including myself.  Poor Drew had to go first and he cried.  I may have stuck that swab too far up my little guys nose.  Justin teared up too though so maybe not.  Ha!  

By 10:45am we had negative results for FHACD and by 11:45am we had negative results for KJ so we are Hawaii bound!  What a huge relief.  We are all SO excited!  Now we have two days to get ready for a trip we hoped for but didn’t necessarily plan for.

 

While we were anxiously awaiting KJ results KD and I played with some filters on my phone.

Friday [2/5]:  Massive trip-prep day!  I also fit in a workout and a pedicure.  I tried a new local nail place and was pleasantly surprised – they were super friendly and slightly cheaper than my usual place that has raised their prices.  I will definitely been returning the next time my feet will be seeing some sunshine.  They had safety shields made from pvc pipe and plastic sheeting that they put between clients.  Quite innovative.

We can check bags for free since we’re flying Alaska and we are taking full advantage of that – lots of snorkel gear, life jackets, hiking backpacks and shoes.  We’ll be prepared for whatever comes our way!

Saturday [2/6]:  I woke up at 5:30am this morning and knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep so I got up and finished saving all my 2020 photos to my iPad in case I get around to working on that album while on vacation.  I went back to bed at 8am and slept for a little while – hopefully long enough to have enough energy for our long day.  Hawaii bound!

Week 4: January 25 – 31

Monday [1/25]:  Today was a teacher in-service day for JKD so they didn’t have any school.  Justin took the day off.  When I got home from this evening from my weekend away and asked Drew what they did all day he said the Nintendo.  They must have done some cleaning as well because the house was in pretty decent shape.

 

Justin sent me this picture of Drew’s haul to the mailbox.  Days later when I revisited the mailbox our key was still sticking out of our lock.  Apparently Drew had so much mail to worry about getting home that he’d left the key.  Justin’s done that recently as well so I guess it’s a thing?

While I was on my way home Abigail texted me to see when I’d be getting home.  She was working on her mission papers and needed some help with all of the medical stuff.  We probably spent a couple hours tonight going through all her medical history.  They ask you to list pretty much ever medical issue you’ve ever had so we were listing her early childhood eczema, asthma, allergies, etc…  Abigail is about as healthy as they come, but it was still a process.  I hope that her allergies aren’t something that would raise concern over where she is assigned.  Yes, they could be serious, but I feel like it should be easily managed.

 

I noticed this new sign in the kids bathroom.  Looks like Carly is tired of Jason not flushing the toilet – ha!

“Each tally mark = $0.25 J owes C for not flushing”

Tuesday [1/26]:  The day after any vaca tends to be busy with catchup.  I spent the morning helping Abigail finish up her mission papers.  We were able to get her dental visit from Christmas break to count and she was able to get an appointment for tomorrow for her physical.  Abigail tends to procrastinate with most things but getting her mission papers ready is not one of them.  Less than three days after “opening” her papers she’ll have them filled out and be ready to meet with her bishop and stake president.  

 

I accompanied Carly this afternoon at her passport appointment at the North Bend post office.  I’m so glad to finally have all the kids passports in the process of renewal.  Our fridge is empty – I’m not feeling particularly motivated to get groceries when I’m hoping we’re leaving on vacation next week.  Justin was happy to order pizza tonight – apparently, he suggested it several times throughout the weekend but they never followed through with it.

 

A member of our bishopric called me tonight to ask me to speak on Sunday in our virtual sacrament meeting on Sunday.  Ugh!  So much of me wanted to say no, but it seems quite hypocritical to be asking the Lord for specific blessings but not be willing to serve.  My topic is “What does "home centered church supported" look like in my family? How has this blessed me as a parent and spouse? How have I come closer to the savior?”  When he said it over the phone I immediate thought he was specifically asking me to talk about Come Follow Me and I was relieved to see that it can be broader than just that.  I feel very ill-qualified to rave about our CFM as a family – recent evidence being that my family didn’t even do it this past weekend when I was out of town.  So much for it being an integral part of our week.  So that will likely be a bit of a stressor for me this week.  Speaking does not come naturally to me.

 

Wednesday [1/27]:  Baking day today.  I haven’t used my sourdough in over a month so I started a batch yesterday and baked two loaves this morning in addition to a loaf of banana bread.

 

Tennis was really great today. We spent a lot of time working on backhanded volleys and correcting our form overall. We all struggle with using our body in our strokes and remembering to bend our knees. We had taken two cars so that Jason and I could stay and he could go to the orthodontist and the pediatrician for his well child. The pediatrician expressed some concern over the seizure/fainting that Jason experienced in the summer. Part of me regrets even putting it on the paper of health history because she was unwilling to sign his physical until we get it checked out by a cardiologist. Odds are it’s just something about standing up too fast or not being hydrated. It probably also doesn’t help that he’s going through so much growth lately.  Today is technically his half-birthday – 13.5 – he took advantage of that small detail to make himself a pizzookie cookie tonight for dessert.  He’s become quite the baker!

 

Carly got her hair colored for the first time today.  She’s been looking at pictures for MONTHS and decided to some highlights via balayage.  She has such long beautiful hair!

She actually came home with one side over an inch longer than the other so she made me trim it up.  The color looks great but to pay that much and come home lopsided was a little frustrating.

 

Thursday [1/28]:  My P90 workout from Tuesday that was rescheduled to today was cancelled and I wasn’t a bit sad about it.  I spent the morning unpacking my weekend bag, doing some laundry, and straightening up the house a bit.  I finished up my Week #2 post and got that up on the blog.  Once I felt a bit more on top of things I sat down to work on my talk and after several hours feel much better about it.  I’ll revisit it tomorrow and Saturday to tweak anything, but it feels great to have it under control.

 

I still haven’t been to the grocery store so it was pancakes and bacon for dinner tonight.  The kids love it – I passed and ate my yogurt/cottage cheese combo that has been a regular for me since Kari introduced it to me two years ago at our first Priest Lake weekend.  Katie joined Justin and I on a walk tonight – they both played Pokémon as we chugged along.

 

Friday [1/29]: I spent hours on the phone this morning trying to figure out the best way to get our pre-travel COVID tests for Hawaii next week.  I’d love to get them covered by insurance or use one of our local free testing centers, but the timing and coding of it all is tricky.  I was also figuring out stuff for Abigail’s mission papers, Jason’s cardiologist appointment and seeing if there was a possibility to change our flight to Kona to the earlier direct flight.  We booked a late flight cause Carly was supposed to be taking the ACT test next Saturday morning but that has been cancelled.  No go on switching flights so we’ll just continue plowing forward with our fingers crossed.

 

Justin and I went out to lunch today to MOD Pizza.  We had two free meals to redeem by the end of the month.  Indoor dining has been closed for two months so we had to eat outside.  It was cold, but not raining so totally doable. Yesterday it was announced that indoor dining can reopen on Monday, February 1 at 25% capacity – still sounds quite restrictive, but we’ll take what we can get!

 

The last of our furniture arrived today for the bonus room – we had everything except some chairs for our game table. All that’s left now is to sell the old table and chairs up there and then it will be 100% complete!  I’ll post some pictures of that transformation soon.

 

Justin had a $15 reward he needed to use today at Red Robin.  Because restaurants are still closed for indoor dining we just picked his meal up curbside and then he ate in the car before we headed into Costco to pick up a few things.  Katie happily joined us on this little excursion.

 

Saturday [1/30]:  Justin and I spent this morning helping his Dad get vaccination appointments for him and Linda.  It was a process!  We struck out initially and then later in the morning we realized we needed to put in a different zip code in order to qualify.  They are all set up for this coming Thursday.

 

Our primary hosted a drive-thru event to pick up some handouts and other fun things for this coming year.  They are going to try breaking out the kids into separate zoom classes starting tomorrow which should be nice.  I can’t believe Drew is in senior primary now.  While we were in North Bend we picked up a dozen donuts at our favorite bakery.  We’ve enjoyed having 15% off coupons on the back of the Safeway receipts and they expire tomorrow so we simply had to do it.

Today seemed long, probably because I was up at 7am to help Mike which is very early for me – Justin ended up working most of the afternoon.  Jason and Carly watched Maze Runner in the afternoon and another movie after KD went to bed.   Drew and Katie played with the neighbors all afternoon.  I was on the computer most of the day.  Editing some pictures, finishing my talk and stressing about snagging our pre-travel covid tests.

 

I’m still closing my circles every day, but tonight was evident that I am really getting burned out.  I proposed to Justin that we go on a late night walk that would span over today and tomorrow so I could have my effort fulfill both days.  He was slightly reluctant, but not enough not so join me.  We watched an episode and a half of FNL and then headed out around 11:30pm.  It was actually a nice night for a walk and it didn’t end up feeling too late even after needing to shower and do my hair afterward.

Sunday [1/31]:  I felt a little anxious this morning making sure we had everything ready technology-wise for my virtual sacrament meeting talk.  I was nervous but not enough not to speak clearly.  I got a little choked up right at the very end but overall I felt good about it.  I’m grateful that it came together easily so I didn’t have to stress about putting it together over the weekend.

Terrible still shot courtesy of Justin – I had no idea my face was that close to the camera – yikes!

Katie noticed some “sticky-notes” on our van this morning.  We thought maybe someone had left a note asking us to move it – we don’t drive it much anymore.  Justin went out to investigate and discovered it was cheese.  Apparently we’d been “cheesed”

Carly received her patriarchal blessing this afternoon which was so awesome.  Being able to hear the blessings that await her was a special experience – she’s such an amazing young woman!

 

We had CFM tonight led by Jason – we had last week’s CFM lesson last night led by Carly so that’s two nights in a row for us.  I’ve decided to make this week easier by keeping our meals simple with minimal groceries and eat our dinners from the freezer.  This will also help me eat healthier since I don’t really like much freezer food – ha!  The kids used my “eating from the freezer” mantra tonight to treat themselves to ice-cream.  

Justin cut the boys hair tonight which was LONG overdue.  We didn’t plan on cutting the top short on either of them, but Justin’s not very experienced with cutting hair with scissors and in the end a long buzz cut was necessary.  Even after that Drew needed to come back for a second cut after his shower when we noticed that the back of his hair and a super short strip of hair right across the middle – oops!

FCJK watched part of the second Harry Potter movie before bed.  Justin and I both finished reading a book tonight which felt like a luxury.  I’d like to make more time for reading.