Seven.One Years

 7.1 Years Old

• Hawaii baby!!! Day1:We got to go to Hawaii for an early Spring break. This trip has been waited for a long time. We drove through the night to get to Grandma's house since we were flying out of Portland. I am glad you kids slept in the car because we had to get up early (4:30am early) to catch our flight. The flight went well. It was a direct flight. Each of you had your own TV. You watched the Paw Patrol movie and played some of the games. After landing and getting the rental van, we droved and found some Hawaiian food. We tried a bit of everything-kalua pork, loco moco, teriyaki chicken, and mac salad. You kids likes most of it. I love how adventurous you are with food while on vacation. We headed over to Pearl Harbor. I knew this was going to be a bit much for you, but we had read about your great Henry Chai's story of watching the bombing so it was special for me to be there. We ended the night with a Costco trip and the drive across the island to our house rental. With the time change, you kiddos were pasted out early. Grandma and Papa Matthews made it in. We were ready to play tomorrow.
• Day 2: With the time change, all of you were up by 5am! Each morning, we let you kids watch TV while the adults slept a bit more. It was nice for everyone to have slower mornings. Today, we drove down south a bit for our family surf lessons. The beach was beautiful, a little cove right next to the mountains with palm trees every where. It was perfect and for the most part, we had the place to ourselves. We hired a BYU student. We had five surf boards and took us each out one at a time to learn. You were able to stand up your first time. It was awesome seeing you ride the wave in. The weather was a bit chiller than we were have liked, but we stuck it out and it was nice to start the week with a beach day. On the way home, we stopped by a stand to get fresh coconut (you definitely didn't like it) and a fresh fruit smoothie (you definitely liked that). We ended the night with burgers from Seven Brothers. You loved chasing the chickens and playing corn hole. 
• Day 3: With it being Sunday, we went and walked around the temple and visited the Visitor center. We were able to attend the local ward. The people there were so kind and welcoming. We came home to a get lunch and let the rain pass. We than spent the afternoon at Waimea Falls. We didn't know what to expect, but the place was perfect. The path for paved so Grandpa could walk it. Along the path was a botanical garden and little booths were volunteers would teach the kids the cultural of their people. It ended at a waterfalls that we all jumped in and swam to. You were a bit nervous to go near the waterfall, but ended up liking it. Walking back, you chose to go up ahead with Grandma and have special time with you looking at all the flowers. We ended the night at the beach, but the sand was steep and the waves were bigger. You kids loved it. Grandma hated it. Hahah
• Day 4:This was one of our snorkeling days. We headed over to Sharks cove first thing in the morning. We were able to see large schools of fish which was so fun to swim through. After an hour, other people started showing up so we head over to Turtle Bay. This was a big hit for everyone. The cove blocked the wind, the sand was perfect, the water was calm (you were able to float in the inner tube), and the snorkeling was fun. Sam and Dad saw a turtle. Afterwards, we went to the shopping market where you were excited to buy a a lava skirt. We tried food from the trucks (kalua pork nachos were awesome). We ended the night with dinner at home and watched the movie Soul Surfer wince it was filmed in the area. 
• Day 5: Today was a lot of driving. We drove down one way to the Dole Plantation. It was fun to see the pineapples and Dole Whips were everything that people talked about. We than drove to try to famous Matsomoto Shaved Ice. We got the everything (which included kidney beans?). It wasn't as good. We than drove all the way over to the PCC (got to listen to the Candy Shop Wars). The PCC was amazing. so many fun activities for you kids. We loved how interactive it was. You ended the night with a thousand tattoos on your body. We choose to eat at the food trucks and then go back for the evening show. I loved how easy it was for you kids to follow along the story and see all the different islands. 
• Day 6: We weren't planning on this but we got tickets to Hanauma Bay. I am so glad we did because that place was beautiful. A lot of people, but it worked. We were able to get a nice spot near the water. You tried snorkeling. I was able to take you out for about 15 minutes. You liked seeing the fish but had a hard time keeping the water out of your snorkel so after a while, just stuck on the beach with JoJo. While everyone was playing, right next to Grandma swam a big monk seal. It was so close, that she could have pet him. It took a while for everyone to realize what was going on. Once the life guard saw, he ordered everyone out of the water until the monk swam away. We ended the day with a hike to Moana Falls and dinner at a Ramen house. 
• Day 7: After two big days, it was nice to have a slower morning. Probably not that good though because while you and JoJo were playing chase in the loft, JoJo was trying to get down the ladder fast and fell the nine feet. This was scary. Luckily, she landed on her leg and not her head. Unluckily, she broke her leg. There wasn't much we could do about it in Hawaii, so we tried hard to carry her everywhere. That day, we had a jeep ride through Kalula Ranch (so beautiful). It was the place where they filmed Jurassic Park so you were able to hold one of the dinosaurs named Timothy. We ended the day at Castle Beach and celebrating Sam's birthday. 
• Day 8: We flew home this day. Since JoJo was still limping, we stopped by a Walgrens on the way to the airport to wrap up her leg. At the airport, we found a wheel chair and was able to push her around and get through security easier. You all were a bit jealous that she got to use the chair. 
• After a week of school, we had our real spring break. We tried hard to fill it with fun activities and friends. We rode bikes around Winchester Lake, had a walk around town day, made crafts at home, cleaned out all your closets, and played with lots of friends. One day, we had the Strassers over. You and Laynee were making volcanoes outside. I was excited because the mess would stay outside. Well, you girls got a hold of the green dye and spread it all over your body. You looked like the wicked witch of the west. It was bad. After a lot of scrubbing, it did come off. But I was nervous and maybe secretly hoping that you would be green for church the next day as a natural consequence. 
• We ended Spring break with Easter. We went to the city's Easter Egg hunt, had our own at home, found your baskets (you got the book Heidi Heckelbeck and read it all that day) and ended the night with a bunch of families over for dinner.