Absolutely Awesome Eight: Family Vacation

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. I'm committed to hanging out in 'blog catch-up mode' for a few days so I can capture the changes that have taken place around here.

Tanner has experienced a lot of "firsts and lasts". Above is the last HCP luncheon as Tanner concluded his employment with an awesome team. Everybody at the office loved working with Tanner and appreciated his contributions. Tanner and I chuckled as we listened in on the great debate - Cafe Rio vs. Costa Vida. Apparently, some people have strong opinions on this topic.

Tanner has done a lot of this lately. No surprise but every last possession has been packed up and accounted for. I am entering the beginning of the 'storing stuff for your older kids' phase of life.

Tanner always made the lemonade.

It was Janene that brought to our attention the fact that THIS (August 7) was Tanner's last family Sunday dinner at her house. Of course, we didn't want to consider that sobering reality quite yet....

G-pa LaVerne & Tanner

Elsie, Greta, Faye

For the past month, Brinley has been nanny for cousins Greta & Faye (M-F 3:00-5:00pm). Just before we left town for our family vacation, she brought them over to our place for the kids to play (while we packed). When Breanna returns for fall semester, she will resume her nanny responsibilities and Brinley will focus on cleaning HCP 3x's a week. That will keep her busy enough.

Abigail, Jantzen, Anna - at the Alamo in Texas

A few more pics from Jantzen and Anna's week spent in Texas (Aug. 2-9).

After making the decision to cancel our east coast trip in June, Aaron and I scrambled to put together an alternative final family vacation before Tanner left for his mission. Through a series of miracles, everything lined up perfectly for us to spend a week in Laie, Hawaii. Except for one hiccup. Just as Aaron was heading out the door for a 2-hour bike ride, Tiffany called at 5:30am (Aug. 9) from the airport informing us that the return flight for Jantzen and Anna had been cancelled. Delta was experiencing a major electrical problem which affected thousands of flights around the globe. Not cool. Fortunately, more miracles ensued. Aaron is the savvy traveler with connections and computer skills so he went right to work looking for some way to get Jantzen and Anna home that day. Our family had a 6am flight to catch the very next morning out of Boise so we didn't have the luxury of waiting around for Delta to fix their problems. Aaron ran a million and one scenarios and miraculously found two seats on a SkyWest flight leaving San Antonio for Salt Lake. Original travel plans were arranged so we could pick the kids up in Idaho Falls. But, G-pa P came to the rescue! He met the kids at the SL airport and drove them to meet us in Tremonton where we continued the another 3+ hour drive to Boise. Besides the ridiculous cost of their one-way tickets - we were grateful to have the kids back with us.

For the first time in all our travels, this hotel offered a family suite that slept 8 people in one room. Nothing fancy but we enjoyed spending a little time watching the Olympics together before turning out the lights. As I laid in bed, I thought about the simple fact that this would be the first/last time all 8 of us slept in a single room together. I felt so grateful for the incredible people I was surrounded by.

Though we got to bed later than usual, everyone did exceptionally well getting out the hotel door by 4:30am. Too bad we couldn't enjoy the free continental breakfast (not offered that early).

Walking from long-term parking into airport.

Waiting at terminal in Boise to board flight (Seattle to Oahu).

After an already full day of travel, we arrived in Hawaii around lunch time. Another miracle awaited us at the car rental lot. We booked a 7-seater SUV online weeks ago because it was our only option. We didn't know how we would fit 8 bodies and luggage and food (a trip to Sam's Club in Honolulu for a week's worth of food) in a 7-seater but hooray that we didn't have to put that puzzle together. The rental company randomly happened to have one 8-seat Suburban on the lot so we paid a little extra and were happily on our way to Sam's for lunch and food.

We drove to the other side of the island and arrived in Laie just as the cousins were getting out of school. A short time later, the group of us walked to Hukilau Beach and Jared joined after work.

Isaac, Alison, Tanner, Brinley, Jantzen, Grant

Isacc, & Alison riding in

Brinley, Tanner, Jantzen

The kids had a blast riding the waves until sunset. It was the perfect evening.

Housing arrangements could not have been better. A couple from Jared & Stephanie's old ward had purchased a distressed property they planned to gut and fix up to rent out. When we searched for places to stay, this wasn't online yet but arrangements were made for us to rent it out. The owners worked like crazy to complete the renovations just before we arrived. We were literally the first family to stay in this lovely 3-bedroom duplex a block away from Jared & Stephanie's house.

The owner is a craftsman and did the work himself. He even made some of the furniture and kitchen table.

With a set of eight, everyone was responsible for washing their own dishes after meals. I think I would like such an arrangement in my own kitchen!

Front of rental property

Aaron loading up Suburban.

The next morning (Aug. 11), the kids were anxious to return to the beach before our afternoon activities.

Brinley made a friend from UT at the beach

Anna & Elsie

Quinn could play in the ocean for hours.

After the beach, we cleaned up, ate lunch then met Jared and Lisa (his co-worker) at the Polynesian Cultural Center where they worked a deal for us. Due to the cost, we didn't plan to stay for dinner/evening show, but the ticket guy threw that in...even Jared was surprised by the "deal" we received. The BYU-Hawaii employees used to be able to extend their benefits to family but not so much anymore. We were really grateful it all came together so well!

Tanner, Jantzen, Elsie, Anna, Brinley, Quinn, Aaron, Heather

The Samoa presentation was a favorite.

It was a hot day so we appreciated the shade and cooler temperatures in the Laie Temple Visitor's Center while riding the tram tour. We also watched dancers from the various countries during the river parade, enjoyed an IMAX about the island/volcanoes and took a tour-guided canoe ride through the cultural center before dinner. We only had time to visit a few of the countries.

At the temple grounds.

Aaron, Anna, Brinley - canoe ride

Elsie, Quinn, Jantzen - canoe ride

Dinner revived our tired travelers.

The all-you-can-eat buffet style dinner worked well for us and then we were on to the evening show. Adjusting to the 4-hour time difference was challenging at times but the fire-dancers kept us awake. The next day (Fri. Aug 12) the cousins took a day off from school and joined us for swimming, snorkeling and playing at a few different beaches.

Waimea Bay - where Aaron found go-pro a few years ago.

Quinn - demonstrating the sand-boarding technique

Waimea Bay has its own sand dunes where the fresh-water river meets up with the salty ocean. The kids had fun sledding down the hills on boogie-boards into the warm river water below.

Elsie and her goggles

Quinn

Jantzen - covered in sand

Isaac & Quinn

Jantzen, Sariah, Brinley, Anna, Tanner, Alison, Isaac, Quinn, Elsie and Grant on ground.

Aaron & Quinn - snorkeling

Next up was snorkeling at Shark's Cove. Everybody tried it out and really enjoyed it, especially swimming with sea turtles! I was surprised by how much Quinn and Elsie snorkeled. The shallow, warm waters were the perfect place for first time snorkelers. We brought along Bob & Janene's snorkel sets and borrowed a few from Jared & Stephanie's family so we didn't need to rent any equipment while in Hawaii.

Alison & Brinley at Shark's Cove

Jantzen, Jared, Stephanie, Grant, Tanner, Sariah, Alison, Brinley, Anna

A late lunch at Ted's Bakery en route to Laie.

Quinn, Elsie, Sariah, Alison, Anna, Heather, Brinley, Jantzen

It's a process to clean-up and shower eight people after beach days. Later that evening, Alison and Sariah wanted to take cousins to their favorite ice cream shop in town - Angel's.

Saturday morning we got an early start on the Waileilei Falls hike. Not known to many tourists, this is a hike Jared & Stephanie's family has done several times. It's pretty intense. Ok, really intense. Especially in the rain.

Elsie was a little discouraged on our way up because the slick mud made it so difficult to get solid footing. All I could think about were the roots and branches and how they fortuitously anchored our efforts. We really could not have made it to our destination without the stability the roots and branches provided. I shared with Elsie how our families are like the roots and branches in our lives. Definitely a Sunday School lesson in that one.

Anna

The waterfall and swimming hole were our destination. Everybody took turns jumping in - including Quinn and Elsie (without life-jackets). Yep, even me. We were a wet/muddy mess trekking back down the mountainside and that's when the rain began to pour. It felt like an Indiana-Jones adventure.

Stephanie

Jantzen jumping

Tanner jumping

Quinn & Grant - waiting their turn

Jantzen & Sariah

Brinley

Anna, Jared, Quinn

Brinley, Jantzen, Anna, Aaron, Elsie, Quinn

Brinley, Alison, Sariah, Anna

After the morning hike, we sprayed down, ate lunch and headed to the calm, relaxing Kawela Beach. Jared took Aaron ocean spear-fishing. Stephanie and I hung out with the rest of the kids. Tanner decided to stay back at the house for a little quiet time so he could start working on his Sunday talk.

Front: Anna, Jantzen, Brinley, Elsie, Quinn
Back: Sariah, Alison, Grant, Isaac

Besides floating in the calm ocean bay, the cousins played hide-n-go-seek in the nearby banyan trees. Trees provided an awesome playground with the ultimate hiding places. Until mosquitos found them.

Our fisherman were successful and they got quite the work-out. Aaron enjoyed the challenge of spear fishing and Jared enjoyed having a partner. It would not be wise to do this sport alone.

After an action-packed day, everyone worked up a hearty appetite. We cleaned up and frequented the local favorite Kahuku Grill (now called Seven Brothers) before calling it a day.