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.

Priest Lake Girls Weekend [Jan 22 – 25]

I am always game for a weekend away with my girlfriends.  This is the third year Andrea has hosted a January weekend at her house in Priest Lake, Idaho.  It’s a solid six hour drive, but when you’re with friends and loaded with snacks the drive flies by.  We had intended on watching the second season of Virgin River (we watched the entire first season during last year’s trip); however, we had technical difficulties so instead we watched the Hunger Games series which was super fun.

 

Four of us went cross-country skiing on Saturday which was a blast.  I enjoy it so much and could have kept going even after two hours of skiing.  

I fell on the first downhill partially because I got spooked about the speed but also when you have your skis in the parallel tracks and try to point them inward to slow down that doesn’t go over very well.  It was smooth sailing from then on although I will say I am not comfortable going full speed ahead on the downhills.  I’ve become a cautious old lady and that’s ok.

I had been eating healthy-ish throughout the month of January – up until this weekend where I completely let loose. Kari took this picture of me eating a full-on after dinner sugar meal.  This was basically me all weekend.  My gut didn’t like me that first night, but it thankfully adjusted quickly. 

Our treat stash

So much fun chatting, snacking and sharing with these amazing ladies - time to head home… 

Week 3: January 18 – 24

Monday [1/18]:  MLK Day - We have a few days of reprieve from the rain this week so I was excited to get on the tennis courts with Jason and Carly.  We were a little rusty but still had a good time – at least I did.  Dusko, our tennis instructor, will have his work cut out for him Wednesday when we are finally able to resume lessons under the current covid restrictions.  Our neighbors arrive home from their vacation to Hawaii so Drew and Katie spent most of the day playing with them.  I love that they have friends right next door and hope that even though Katie is a few years older than the rest of them, she still enjoys playing with them for a least a few more years. 

 

Tuesday [1/19]:  Justin’s deadline was today – he’s been working 16+ hour days for weeks.  It seems there’s always another deadline just around the corner so we won’t get too comfy having some time with him in the evenings.  A momentous event this week was that Justin started wearing headphones on his calls.  He’s been working from home for 10 months now and we’ve been able to hear all his work calls and in order to be heard he’s been using a loud outdoor voice.  I’ve mentioned headphones in the past to him but he had zero interest – when I said something over the weekend I guess he decided to give it a go and WOW! What a difference.  No longer to we hear all sides of each and every convo, but Justin can talk in a normal voice and be heard without a problem.  Crazy that it took nearly a year.  

We also recently got him a chair mat so he doesn’t wear down our new carpet rolling around.  I don’t love that my bedroom has morphed into an office space, but such are the days were living.

 

Today was also a big day for my elementary kids as the schools shifted to an AM/PM schedule.  My kids are on the PM schedule which means they are online in the mornings doing mostly independent work and then in the afternoon they have live zoom calls with their teacher until 4pm.  The schools are hoping that next month they can bring in the 2nd-5th grade students and then their afternoon instruction with be in-person.  The kindergarten kids started this schedule with the in-person instruction today.  Drew flew through his independent work and was done before 10am so he had 3 hours before meeting with his teacher online.  Ever evolving!

 

Justin surprised me by coming into the office around 3pm and asked if I wanted to go on a walk with him.  We walked over 6.5 miles and included a trip to the library to drop off books.

Wednesday [1/20]:  After two months we were finally able to resume tennis lessons today.  Dusko worked us hard – apparently so hard that Jason got light headed and fell to the floor when making a hit, possibly tripping over his feet.  No harm done, but Dusko was quite cautious and got Jason a Gatorade and settled him with legs up on the bench for the last bit of the lesson.  Today was the first time we’ve worked on strategies for playing doubles.  Jason did the best with that which is not a shocker cause he likes to play the net.  Nothing comes naturally to me so it will take me some time to get the hang of it.  So fun though.

 

We got news today that Abigail’s roommate tested positive for COVID.  So far Abigail and her roommates are all negative, but we won’t know for sure if Abigail’s dodged the bullet until some more time has passed.  BYU moved her roommate to an isolation room so she’s no longer in the apartment, but Abigail and her roommates still need to quarantine for at least a week.  I teased her that is she went to Vegas last weekend she might be kissing her chances of joining us in Hawaii in a few weeks and she didn’t believe me.  Joke might be on her.  Hopefully she can stay clear of the virus and we all can test negative and on vacation all together.  Everything is totally refundable on the trip since it’s so chancy.  Fingers crossed!

 

Thursday [1/21]:  I chatted a bit with Abigail this morning about school, applying for the business school and her current quarantine status.  Shortly afterward she texted Justin and I that she was going to reach out to her bishop to start the process to serve a mission.  Just like that she’s decided.  We are so happy for her.  She heard back from her bishop quickly and already has a zoom appointment with him on Sunday.  So exciting!!

 

I ran some errands this afternoon to get ready to head out on my weekend with girlfriends to Priest Lake.  I’m so looking forward to it!

 

Since Justin started using the headphones Drew had been using for school we needed to get Drew a set for himself and these Pikachu ones were too tempting to pass up.

I occasionally watch the Instagram stories for Brigham Young University.  Every once in a while they had the account over to a student and they do a “day-in-the-life” type series.  Today there was a student from the accounting program and I couldn’t help sending a few screenshots to Abigail.  

She knows I’d love for her to study accounting! 

 

Friday [1/22]:  I took a picture of our menu board as I headed out for my weekend with girlfriends!

Saturday [1/23]:  [According to Justin]  

 

Justin was finally able take a 3 day weekend after working 2 weekends in a row and working the MLK holiday as well after a very long and busy year-end close.  He and the kids decided to get out in the sunshine on Saturday.  After a quick bite to eat from Wendy's, they headed towards Dash Point State Park in Federal Way to explore a bit.  Unfortunately the tide was in which left little room to explore along the beach.  They spotted Dash Point pier in the distance and decided to drive in that direction.  A few pictures were taken and then they drove south to see if there might be something more interesting.  They happened upon Browns Point Lighthouse Park which has a tiny lighthouse and rocky beach.  As is the custom at this type of beach, there was some rock skipping and rock throwing contests. It was coolish but sunny and just nice to be outside somewhere different than home.  

A quick stop to Costco in Covington for some fast food and a small box of Crumbl cookies rounded out the trip.  Of course any complaining about the drive times was minimal with plenty of Nintendo and catching Pokémon in the car.

 

Sunday [1/24]:  This memory popped up in my Facebook feed today

Fingers crossed we’re back in Hawaii in soon!