Hawaii 2011

June 2, 2011 marked 10 years of marriage for Collin and I! To celebrate we took the boys and Auntie Delta to Hawaii. Collin was on a business trip to Argentina the previous two weeks, so we were going to meet up with him there. I'm sure glad that I had the extra help so that I didn't have to fly by myself with all three boys!

When we got to the airport we were all upgraded to the first class section of the airplane. Latham's and Finnian's first flights were first class.

Auntie Delta and Ronan sat infront of Latham and I. The extra leg room was great since then Finnian could lay down and sleep for part of the six hour flight.

For the most part Latham loved the flight. Before take-off he kept saying, "I'm ready to fly, I'm ready to fly!" with a huge smile on his face. Then he got a little scared and starting shouting, "We're going down, we're going down!" When we were approaching Honolulu he saw the ocean and thought that we were going to land in the water; he was so scared until I reassured him that we would touch down on land!

The boys loved the complimentary personal media systems that we got.

Delta and I loved the dinner and beverage service! Mai tai anyone? Yes, please!!

We arrived rather late at night and after a fiasco getting our luggage at the airport, catching a shuttle to the rental car company, and driving to the house in Waimanalo, we were exhausted.

The next morning we were delighted to check out our surroundings. The backyard...

...the wildlife...

...and the view from our lanai!


Our first full day was lazy - the boys needed naps to make up for the late night before,

and the three hour time change.

Daddy finally arrived! He was stuck in Buenos Aires for a couple extra days due to the volcanic eruption in Chile - all flights were cancelled.

Daddy jet-lagged but happy to have arrived.

The boys were equally excited to see him again too.

The Honolulu Zoo was on the adgenda the next day, so the six of us piled into the mini van and drove the scenic route back into the city.

Beautiful!

Upon arriving at the zoo my hat disintegrated - ya gotta love WalMart!

The boys loved all the animals.

The monkeys were my favorite,

but it's always neat to see animals that typically live in far-off exotic places.

Ronan - age 5

Latham - age 2.5

So happy there was a fence separating us from this big guy!

Giraffes always look so goofy!

We took the Pali Highway back to Waimanalo, so of course we stopped at one of the lookouts.

Collin and the older boys went to the lower level to get a better look.

After the boys went to bed we found this little guy on the wall.

Tuckered out! Finnian wore nothing but a diaper the entire trip.

A few mornings Collin and the older boys took off to the beach which was only 2 blocks from our rental house.

Ronan loved the ocean.

It's no secret who Latham gets his blue eyes from!

Delta and I attempted to get certified for scuba diving while on the trip. I say "attempted" because neither of us succeeded. It was a three day course - the first day was the written test and pool dive, and the second & third day were two ocean dives each. While I did well on the written test (96%) and first day of ocean diving, I was not comfortable on the second day and aborted the first dive. However Delta and I completed enough of the course to receive our "Intermediate" scuba certification.

While Delta and I were away during the day at our course, Collin had to take care of all three boys at once - a first for him. They spent a lot of time at the beach which was fine by me - I just wish he would've changed them out of their pjs first.

Latham inspecting a crab that Daddy found.

Sand + Shovels + Buckets = FUN!

Ronan tried a mask and snorkel for the first time, and he was hooked! He loved that he could see and breathe underwater.

The boys had a lot of fun with Daddy - it was great since he had been away for two weeks before our trip and the boys missed their Daddy!

Latham helped feeding Finnian his bottle. Note that he's wearing Finnian's swim shorts on his head.

Collin and Ronan had tickets to go on a submarine ride one day, so we all headed into Honolulu. Before arriving at the submarine dock, we stopped by Da Kine Bail Bonds so that Delta could get a picture and buy a t-shirt. And nope, Dog the Bounty Hunter was not there.

Months ago when we were planning this trip, we mentioned to Ronan that he could go on a submarine trip. Every week leading up to the trip he would remind us of this, so of course we had to follow through with our promise. He was so excited!

Ronan's boarding pass

Collin and Ronan boarded the ship that took him out to the submarine.

What a special father-son activity - unfortunately Latham was too young.

Descending into the submarine.

Along with a lot of interesting fish, they also saw some huge sea turtles!

Latham and I spent time on Waikiki Beach while waiting for Daddy and Ronan to return. Auntie Delta and Finnian went shopping.

It was a hot day, so after the boys returned from their excursion we found a beach side restaurant for some mai tais.

Mommy & Baby Boy

Creative hairstyle or too many mai tais?

We also visited the Dole Plantation where we too the Pineapple Express Train tour. The boys loved the train ride.

Latham looked at the plant and said, "Ewww, gross!"

It was so nice to have an extra pair of adult hands around.

We were in the hot tub almost every night.

The boys would ask to go everyday.

Collin and I hiked up to the Waimanalo lighthouse. It was a pretty easy hike.

We were able to hike above it to explore the concrete gun stations that dated back to WWII.

We took the red-eye home and were again upgraded to first class! This time after taking off Latham starting saying, "The wings are breaking off! the wings are breaking off!" - where does the little guy come up with this stuff?!?!

We had a great time and have many fond memories of our first vacation as a family of five!