Hawaii

HAWAII

October 2013

I've wanted to go to Hawaii with Justin for a long time. Last year we decided that we would get some friends together and go for our 15 year anniversary. I guess we'll find a new place to go because the 2013 Ellsworth family (adults) trip was to Hawaii. It was long but so wonderful! I felt pretty guilty at the end of our trip when I completely would have felt fine staying longer instead of coming home to our - wonderful- kids.

We flew into Honolulu for just a few hours and then on to Kauai.

Stopped for some scenic pictures on the long drive up the mountains to Wai'Ale'Ale, one of the wettest spots on earth (I only remember that because we took a picture of the sign, lol).

Don & Dad making their pictures a little more interesting (Dad is using a cane now)

Rachele in background. We were all planning to hit the beach after this so most of us were ready to go in our swimsuits.

Beautiful spot, definitely in several movies. Jurassic park included.

Testing our panoramic functions on the camera.

Full panorama, gorgeous!

There was a short mile hike along the ridge we all took.

What Justin?

I wasn't posing for this

Trying to get a good picture framed by all the foliage.

Duane & Angie

Hitting the beach for our surf lessons. Justin did great, me not so much. Waves were tiny as well.

 

I think Marisa or Dia caught this picture of me for the split second I was up on my board (right before I fell)

L-R Marisa, David, Audra, Justin, Don

Duane & Justin

On a different day we hit another beach closer to the hotel with just David & Marisa. The waves looked fun, but it turned out the water was just incredibly rough.

We started with boogie boards but Justin & I opted to switch to surf boards and try to catch some more waves. Justin was able to successfully bet passed all the breaking rough waves, I was not so fortunate.

He fits the party pretty well doesn't he?

I spent most of the time doing this after getting the crud beat out of me over and over again by my surf board as I tried to get passed the break. David just sat on the beach and laughed at me as I rolled and rolled and was hit by waves and then my board, get pulled back in by the returning waves, just to get hit again by a new wave and my board. I'll admit I'm pretty sure I cursed in the midst of it all.

This snap is payback for all of David's laughing.

Justin really, REALLY, wanted to do the long hike of the famous Napali Coast (pictured from above at the beginning of this post). It's a really long hike, a day trip for most. I wasn't sure I wanted to do it, and I think Justin didn't want to wait for me to make the hike in my casual manner (and I was pretty sore and had a killer back ache from being thrashed at the beach the day before), so he advised me to sleep in. He went by himself, had a fantastic time being alone with nature, actually referring to it as "life changing". I thanked him for encouraging me to sleep through it (don't miss the sarcasm there). But it's okay, I'm still glad he had a great experience. These are his pictures.

Hanakapi'ai Falls,

Justin was glad he woke up super early to make this hike, because he was able to enjoy the entire trail and falls to himself. As he was heading back he said more and more people were on the trail.

That's some nice coast line for sure!

As I write this, Dale keeps pointing to the pictures and saying "Mom we go there?" ;)

Justin loves hanging with my Mom, mostly because she puts up with his antics.

Jelly fish on the beach, nasty Man of Wars, luckily nobody was stung. This was on the beach at our resort (The Kauai Beach Resort, great prices, lovely place, I recommend it!)

On our last night we flew back to Oahu and were able to hit the Polynesian Cultural Center and then the Laie temple the following morning. Great way to finish off our trip!

Unfortunately for me I came down with a UTI this day, so I did not enjoy the Cultural Center like I would have liked. We had tickets for the Luau and fire dance in the evening too, but we didn't get to stay through the fire dance because I was so uncomfortable. So thankful for Dr. Duane who was able to call me in a prescription at a pharmacy close by!

Feeling better the following morning, we hit a session at the temple.

My attempt at our first selfie, had to include it, lol.

Justin did it better.

Sexy man, blurry picture.

We took the long route home up along the north shore and down the west shore, stopping by the Dole Plantation. Why not take the train ride tour?

This was probably the only activity that I felt bad for not having my kids on, they would have loved it.

We took this picture for Brighton, since he's the SpongeBob fan (when he's allowed to watch it)

Pineapple Macademia nut cheesecake, yummm!

Highlights of the trip was the almost daily pool volleyball with the siblings/spouses (and Mom, I think Dad may have even joined us once), especially when we were able to get multiple strangers to join in on our sober fun. You can't walk by all that hooting and hollering without wanting to join us. Funniest was when a totally wasted guy joined us and we just kind of took turns laughing at the things he would blurt out to be a part of the trash talking. We had almost daily trips to get Shaved Ice, I think we may have gotten twice a day a few times. We played some games at night, but overall just had so much fun. It was such a great trip. I don't have close emotional relationships with my brothers, and I miss the bond I might have had with sisters, but I am grateful that we enjoy being around each other have fun when we're together. My parents are awesome to want to share their wealth and time with us on trips like these, even when most of the activities aren't ideal for them (they did take a helicopter tour of the Napali Coast though!). We got home and our babysitter (one of our 'daughters' from the Trek) had done a great job and they enjoyed their time with her. It was a Win Win vacay for sure!