Oh Maui, how I love you! We met up with the rest of the family at the airport and went straight to IHOP since we were all starving. Then it was the waiting game till we were allowed to check into our beach house. The house was beautiful and big enough to fit us all! We stocked the fridge and pantry thanks to Costco (I loved walking the aisles of Costco again. So big. So many options. Man, I love Costco and the amenities only America offers).
Our first full day we went to church, and had a lazy day. We also did our secret Santa exchange. I had Ashley and Kyle had Nate. Blake had Kyle and gave him some nice Cardinals gear including a hat, jacket and socks. Bethany had me and gave me a super cute dress. And of course grandma and grandpa spoiled the grandkids with some fun toys to play with while in Hawaii.
Monday morning, bright and early we had family pictures. Despite the fact that Abby was screaming and Connor was wiggling to get down and play in the ocean, pictures went well. Our kids are just at that stage where family pictures are very very very difficult. I was just worried that my kids would ruin every picture with screaming, crying faces. Luckily we got the pictures back and they turned out great. They will be fun to have and look back on for years to come.
The pool at the house was a bit chilly but that didn't stop the kids from having fun. The hot tub was converted to a kiddie pool so that's where we spent most of our pool time. Abby finally got brave enough to use her floaties and not mom or dad to keep her afloat. I think she liked the freedom it allowed her to play with Austin. Speaking of Austin, Abby and him were joined at the hip the entire trip. They loved running around and playing together. It's sad that the cousins live so far away from each other.
After a couple of rainy days we finally made it to the beach, and it did not disappoint. The sand was so beautiful and the water was so clear and warm (Warmer than the pool). Between building sand castles, getting buried in the sand, and playing around in the waves we had a lot of fun and exhausted the kids out every time we went to the beach. Connor liked eating the sand best, and Abby enjoyed pretending she was Ariel from the little mermaid.
So the main reason we went to Maui was to watch Kansas play in the Maui Invitational... Or should I say Kyle's main reason for going :) Brady, Kaye, Kyle, and myself went to the 2nd KU game where Kansas killed UCLA to make it to the championship game. Then we miraculously got enough championship tickets for the whole family to attend! The championship game was a nail biter, but a good one. Thankfully Kansas pulled through for the win so we didn't have to hear the Benham boys complain the whole rest of the trip lol.
Now back to the main reason why I came to Hawaii... The beaches! It's a shame we live in such a cold place cause my kids are such little fishies. They love the beach and water. Oh how I long to live in a warm place where I can go to the beach whenever I want to year round. Someday these dreams will come true, it will have to be after our F16 days cause all the bases are located in cold destinations, but it will happen someday.
As the week went on Abby and Austin's love for each other grew, as well as their exhaustion. Connor started to get more agitated as the week went on as well. We later found out his whole bowel system was messed up due to traveling. Connor is a a homebody and when his routine and schedule gets messed up he gets angry and his "cycle" gets out of routine causing him to have a big stomach ache. Poor little guy. Good thing he is so darn cute cause him waking up several times in the middle of the night due to discomfort was rough on all of us.
On Thanksgiving day Carly, Gary, Kyle and I went snorkeling out by molokini crater. It was a lot of fun. Only a little drama occurred on the boat. Besides me feeling a little sick from the swaying and rocking, we all witnessed another lady on the boat pass out and fall right in front of us! Good thing Gary used his athletic training skills and jumped in to help her. I was useless cause I literally just stared with my mouth open in shock at the lady lying at my feet.
Besides that we also saw lots of fush, some sea turtles, and the coastline of Maui. It was by far our favorite part of the trip because we got to escape our kids (thanks grandma and grandpa for watching them for us) for some alone adult time, and do some adventurous exploring in Maui.
For Thanksgiving night we all went to a Luau. There was a show filled with hula dancing, fire throwing and various Polynesian culture dancing. The food was great, the sunset was gorgeous, and the company was so fun. Living in Japan really makes us appreciate all the family time we can get. Since we moved to Japan in February we had this trip to look forward to. Yes some unexpected trips popped up, such as grandpa Don's funeral which we got to see family more than what was expected, but now we don't have anything to really look forward to. As of right now we have no more plans to return to the states till our time in Japan is over. Of course weddings and funerals may occur that draw us back home again, but it's kind of sad to know as of right now there are no trips back to America in 2016. We are grateful for many things this Thanksgiving, but most importantly we are thankful for family.
The time came to say goodbye to the beautiful island of Hawaii, and to all our family. Even though the last day ended in lot of drama from getting rear ended, to wasting our time waiting around for others, it still was a wonderful trip. Mahalo Hawaii, till next time. Now it's back to the plane to fly back home with the Japanese "vampires" that never sleep. 9 hour flight or bust! At least we are getting pretty used to the long trans Pacific flights with the two kids.
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