Fourth of July

We braved the Provo Freedom Parade this year. Not sure we'll do it again. It took FOREVER to find parking and it was cloudy so that was good. If it was sunny I don't know if it would have been worth it...

For the fourth of July we met my cousin Jessie, her family, Katie, Aunt Deb and Uncle Wayne and my parents up Provo Canyon for a picnic. It was fun to catch up!



That night we went to the Nye's for our third annual firework show.

Aloha ~ Last two days

Friday was the “left over” day that we were saving for anything we didn’t get to or wanted to do again.

In the morning we hiked Diamond Head. We did it really quick and it was a lot of fun.



We wanted to head back to our favorite beach, Kailua Beach. We LOVED it there. We actually went there again on Saturday so that makes three times in one week! The sand is so soft, waves are on the bigger side and it was smooth and shallow for a long time. There were trees for shade on the edge of the beach. That beach kept us both happy! Brandon got to boogey board and sit in the shade. I got to lay out, play in the waves and then move to the shade when I was too hot. We loved it!

That night after dinner we went to Ala Moana mall. It is a HUGE open air mall with tons of nice stores. There’s a Lululemon (my favorite store and there isn’t one in Utah) and I tried on just about everything in the store. Then we headed straight for a Mochi place and got some Mochi ice cream and for real mochi with beans. It was actually super good!

Saturday we checked out of our hotel and headed up to Hale’iwa again to exchange a shirt for Brynley and then off to Kailua Beach again. We left that night and had a horrible night’s “sleep” on the plane all night. By Sunday morning we were back in Utah and exhausted! We had such a wonderful trip and came home to a clean house and happy kids! Thank you Mom, Dad, Jeremy and Angie for making our trip possible!

Aloha ~ Day 6 Hawaii Trip

Today was so much fun! We got up bright and early and headed up to Hale’iwa to go stand up paddle boarding. We paddled up the river past a bunch of houses. We even saw a few turtles. They were huge! It wasn’t really that hard in the river. In the little bay were there was a little tide it was a teeny bit harder to keep your balance but still not super hard. He did give us the huge “unsinkable” boards though. ;-)


Then we went to this beach with ginormous turtles. They were so big! We saw one out swimming in the ocean and these big guys on the shore.


After lunch we headed to Sunset Beach. It was super windy but we had so much fun boogey boarding and playing in the waves.

We stopped at a fruit stand and got some fun fruits (dragon fruit and star fruit) and tried some banana, coconut, rice thing. Then we stopped at a shack selling shrimp of the shrimp farms. Oh, it was so yummy! We also went into the macadamia nut farm store. They had samples of every kind of flavor macadamia nut you can imagine.

Tonight we went to dinner at this yummy Hawaiian bbq place called Kenny’s. It is just in the food court of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel but it is so good! It’s the third time we’ve been there in 6 nights, lol. Then we walked to the Hilton Hawaiian Village to watch the how the rich people vacation. ;-). After relaxing there for a bit we walked back to the hotel along the beach. Now we are tired and ready for bed.

Aloha ~ Day 5 Hawaii trip

Today we took our sweet time getting up and working out and headed to Manawili falls. It was a great hike but super muddy and slippery. I’m talking I think my shoes are ruined muddy. It was really hard to walk through parts because the mud was so slippery and thick and gooey. But overall it was really fun and kind of a hard hike which is fun. There was a lot of climbing up rocks and over roots and stuff like that.



Brandon jumped off a cliff at the falls. He likes to do that. To jump off things.


Then we went to Kailua Bay. Holy cow this beach was awesome. It was super gorgeous and had big waves to play in. There was also a nice breeze so we never got way too hot. The crowds were perfect, not too many people. We totally loved it and will probably go back.

Tonight we tried this yummy grill and both got some amazing fish and then walked over to International Market Place to get the kiddos some surprises. It was a great day and I’m pooped!

Aloha ~ Day 4 Hawaii trip

Today we went up to Laie and walked around BYU-Hawaii, the temple and the Polynesian Cultural Center.



This is the green house where I lived when I went to BYU-H. It doesn't look so green anymore though...



We spent most of the day at PCC. The best villages were Tonga and Samoa. They were hilarious! Brandon got called on stage at the Samoan village and the guy had him drink coconut water. I think he was expecting him not to like it but we LOVE fresh coconut water. The guy played around with him and we all had a good laugh. After he drank the coconut he said, "Now tomorrow, you'll look like me." And, of course, I let out a little holler. It was funny. In Samoa, it completely poured rain on us for about 5 straight minutes. And you are left with this wonderful picture. And bad hair the rest of the day.



Brandon actually got this fire smoking.


We ate at the Ali'i Luau and it was fantastic. Very authentic luau with lots of really different foods.




The night show was incredible. All the dances, the fire, the story, it was amazing.

We had a great day up in Laie.