Island Park

While I was away in Hawaii, Curtis and the kids enjoyed a vacation with the Cosper side of the family at Island Park.  

 The kids loved going to Bear World and seeing all the animals.  

 They also had a great time visiting with cousins. 

Grandma and Grandpa loved having their kids together.  

The weather didn't really cooperate and it was rainy most of the time they were there but they all agreed it was a fun time and lots of fun memories were made.  

Awesome Vacation

I waited 34 years to get to Hawaii and never imagined I would get to go there twice in a year.  This vacation was one of my favorites.  I missed my hubby and kids VERY much but loved the time away as well.  It was relaxing and adventurous and fun and funny and just an awesome time.  

Our hotel was right by Eggs 'n Things and we ate there a couple times.  

It was DELICIOUS.  

I'm not a huge breakfast person but I LOVED their coconut syrup (tastes like pina coladas) and their strawberry and whipped cream waffles with macadamia nuts were awesome.  

The last day we went to Sea Life Park and interacted with dolphins.  I wasn't able to take any pictures during that event, but it was a super fun time and a great memory.  

We also saw some turtles and played with the birds.  

Luckily none of them pooped on me this time.  

I really love this family and am thankful they have adopted me as part of their family.  They mean a lot to me and I had an awesome time just being with them.  

Aloha Hawaii!!!

Until we meet again.  

Pearl Harbor and Turtle Beach

I was really excited to go BACK to Pearl Harbor.  Just as we were walking in there was a group of Marines walking in as well and we stopped and asked for a picture with them.  

I have a very special place in my heart for those who serve in ANY capacity to keep us safe in this world.  I am very thankful for their service.  

We were really excited to tour the Battleship Missouri, or the MIGHTY MO.  

I loved the patriotic feeling at Pearl Harbor.  

I really love this country.  

The battleship was awesome and it was really fun learning all about the many battles it had been in and all that has happened aboard this ship.  

We loved listening to the audio tour

The view of the AZ memorial from the ship.

It was another awesome day at Pearl Harbor. 

Our next stop was Turtle Beach.  

The turtles love to frequent this beach and it just so happened one was on the beach that day.  We also saw two in the water while we were swimming.  I just didn't get any pictures of them.  

This beach was fun but a lot more crowded than the other.  

It also had strong currents which made playing in the water harder to do.  

We still did it...it just meant a lot of sand down your pants and salt in your mouth.  We had a fun time trying to stunt Mckall in the water and we laughed a lot every time a wave would take us down.  It was a fun time.  

We also just relaxed on the beach for awhile, which is always a favorite thing of mine.  

This beach had a lot of rocks and Mckall and I went exploring on them.  

We also made a quick stop at a spot where people like to cliff jump.  Mckall and I jumped off this cliff into the water many times.  I didn't get any pictures of me doing it, but found these on the web.  It was SCARY and FUN.  

That night we walked around Waikiki and enjoyed the night life.  

Time to get sentimental....

These two are VERY special to me.  

I really admire and respect and love the hell out of both of them.  

They are like family to me and I am thankful every single day that they are in my life.

They are great examples of kindness, unselfishness, patience, and love.  I believe they came into my life just when I needed them most and I am truly blessed to know them. 

Another amazing day.  

Li'keke Falls

It was SUPER awesome starting almost every day with a hike.  I really appreciated Scott being willing to go hiking with me.  I realize it's not for everyone and it was super fun to have my buddy along with me.  When we were looking at what hikes to do there was one that really caught my eye.  Li'keke falls said it was an adventurous hike through dense rain forest with gorgeous views and a 30 ft waterfall with a cliff you could dive into the lower pools.  That totally sounded like my kind of hike.  So we got up early and headed out.  

It was a little rainy and overcast, but still beautiful. 

The start of the hike includes going PAST a ROAD CLOSED sign and other signs telling you to not go any further as there are often falling rocks which can cause serious injury or even death.  Scott mentioned he didn't even see any rocks at all and told me not to worry about it...and then we came around the corner to this big guy waiting in the path for us.  

Needless to say we stayed VERY aware of our surroundings and were constantly looking and listening for falling rocks.  

The trail was beautiful and the view amazing.  

The sun coming up over the mountain was awesome.  

This hike was very adventurous.  

We had to climb under overpasses and crawl through tight spaces.  

It was very exciting.  

The trail would get very dense at times and it was a really fun adventure.  

We were following the directions on a website and somehow missed a step and could not find these stairs they listed on the website.  It specifically said the stairs went down and we could only find stairs that went up.  

We walked along the old road for sometime looking for these stairs and even asked a local and he didn't know where to find them or how to get to the falls.  It was getting late in the day so we gave up and headed back to our room.  

Karma repaid me for laughing at J getting pooped on by a bird. 

The whole day Scott and I kept thinking about those stairs and how we didn't make it to the falls...so we researched the hike some more and found a video of the hike and realized the other website was wrong and the stairs that went UP were the stairs we needed to take.  

So the next morning we got up again and made the hike again.  We wanted to do it super early as to not cut into the other activities we already had planned for the day.  So when we got to the start of the hike it was PITCH BLACK.  A little scary anyway, but add in the possibility of rocks falling at any moment and it added to the intensity of the hike for sure.  

It was super neat to watch the sun come up again

And eventually we found the path that eluded us the first day and we were on our way to the falls.  

I was so happy we went back and did it again.  

The falls were awesome.  

And the view back was even more amazing.  

The sky was clear and the sun was out and it was awesome.  

The hikes this trip were unreal and definitely some of my most favorite.