Spring Break!

 We had a great spring break. I am not sure there is a better place to spend spring break than in Hawaii!

We enjoyed a full day at the water park with friends. 

We had our own private tour of the Battleship Missouri at Pearl Harbor. A friend from church works as a tour guide and was so nice to give us a private, and free, tour! 

Our free tour came with one requirement, a service project! The kids were asked to dust the dental office on board. 

 

They were give rags and sent to work! 

This was our little group standing under the huge guns!  

 

 Jake is standing next to the spot where World War 2 ended. This is where the treaties were signed. So cool. 

After all of our touring and cleaning, we went below deck to the mess hall for lunch.  

Beach day with friends. 

This beach day became a little more exciting than usual when Jake got stung by a jelly fish! Luckily there were some people on the beach who were prepared for this kind of thing and offered their help. We learned that meat tenderizer (as well as vinegar and urine) help take the sting away faster. So this lady came running over and offered her meat tenderizer. We dumped it on Jake's feet and then waited. After about 20 minutes or so he was feeling much better. After that we were on the lookout for jelly fish and found so many! They were pretty cool to look at, but made going in the water a little scary. Aaron ran to the store and bought a bottle of vinegar and we ended up using it when Grace got stung on her finger and a few of our friends were stung on their feet. 

Aaron and the kids making a dragon.

Lucy now has glasses and we think she is adorable.

Along with all of the kid's activities, I had a little adventure of my own. A few friends and I hiked Koko Head. This hike is 1048 railroad ties straight up the side of a mountain. It was tough, and we got rained on. But when we reached the top we had a great view and even saw a double rainbow!  

Headed back down.  

 This picture is nearing the bottom. You can see how steep it is. 

We had a great week and by the end we were all exhausted!  

A Visit From Grandma

 We had such a great time with Grandma Bird. She was able to come and stay for 2 weeks! We kept her very busy with sewing lessons, cooking dinner for us, beach adventures, going to the temple, a swim meet, Jake's birthday, shopping with the girls, and we also tried to do a little bit of relaxing. 

At Pearl Harbor.

We took Grandma to our favorite little town on the North Shore, Haleiwa. We ate fresh shrimp from the shrimp trucks, and had shave ice and acai bowls while we watched the surfers. 

Grandma helped Grace make these pajamas. They turned out so cute.  

I can't remember the last time my mom and I went to the temple together. This was a definite highlight for me. 

It was nice having Grandma on the beach taking pictures so Noah and I could go out and surf. 

Noah and Grace had a swim meet and they loved having Grandma there to cheer for them!  

Sitting on the beach in our big matching hats. I think I am sending a text message to all of  my family encouraging them to come visit!!!! 

Lucy decided she needed to take a group photo one night after dinner. First she had us take individual pictures, and then the group at the end.  

Thanks for visiting us Grandma! Can't wait for you to come back and do it all again. 

Lucy

 Can you spot Lucy?

Lucy received an academic achievement award for the first semester. We are so proud!

She is turning into quite the surfer girl!

Happy Birthday Jake!

Jake had such a fun birthday. We went for a morning hike, then to the beach. He had cupcakes made by Grandma Bird with animals as decorations and he spent the whole day with his family and friends. Such a lucky kid!

Jake got his very own boogie board from Grandpa Bird!

 We went for a hike to Makapu'u Point to show Grandma the lighthouse and to look for whales. It is whale watching season right now and so we were hoping to see something great, but we didn't see anything. Oh well, we still had a great hike and beautiful scenery!

Then we were off to the beach. Jake loves it!

 Trying out his new board with Noah.

Jake and his best buddy Claire. They have such a great time together.

Some Catching Up

We are Phineas and Ferb fans!


Lucy and her friend Hannah taking a little boat ride across Pearl Harbor.

We had our first beach camping experience and loved it! It rained a little bit, so Aaron made a quick shelter so Grace could cook dinner for us.


Miniature golfing at our camp site.


Grace and I enjoying the view after a hike to see whales. Unfortunately we did not see any whales this time, but the view was spectacular!

Lucy and I in our big glasses.