Hawaii 2023!

We were so excited to go to Hawaii after Maxine got home! We used COVID stimulus money to buy the plane tickets and we had a good time and we had some bumps. We reserved an airbnb on the North side, right by the temple.

A friend recommended Giovanni's shrimp truck. It was good. A lot of starches. Rice or macaroni salad.

The Polynesian Cultural Center!

They had a killer buffet for dinner! We were so jetlagged that I was sleeping through the night show. Maybe we shouldn't have planned that on the first evening.

Maxine and I did initiatory at the temple, early in the morning.

Later in the morning, Merril took Jack and Juliet to do baptisms.

We purchased a lei at the grocery store and the girls took some pretty pictures.

We met Sister Langi for lunch. She's from Maxine's mission and she's home and attending BYU Hawaii.

And we hit the beach! Our Airbnb had a ton of beach toys and chairs.

We've missed veggies so we found a grocery store and bought a ton of fresh veggies. We might have gotten food poisoning from the veggies. 

After the beach day, Merril and Juliet started to feel queasy. Then me, and Jack for a second, and lastly Mikayla. It went through us for a few days. But we still managed to have some fun. The girls had to ride the bus because the boys were getting mountain bikes.

Jack found this bike. He was ready to take it home.

We hiked to Manoa Falls.

Jack fell in the river.

Mark got a cold coconut. I don't think it was as good as he thought it was going to be.

Maxine and Merril did some hikes because some of us didn't feel very good and the boys were tired from mountain biking.

Our Airbnb ended up having a scheduling conflict so we had to leave early. We ended up getting a little hotel by Waikiki. It was pretty divey but Waikiki is so beautiful. 

We went to the Arizona Memorial. On the ferry back, Mikayla still wasn't feeling well and needed to throw up as we left the boat. We only made it to a garbage can by the visitor's center. Then we bought a drink for her, poor girl. She threw up again on the way back to the hotel. She was in the front seat and we were in traffic. I just had her roll down the window and throw up again. 😭

Maxine tried the pool at the hotel but it was cold. 

Merril and Maxine went to find some live music. Maxine never felt ill. Blessings from serving a mission? Mikayla got it the worst. Most of just felt queasy but she actually threw up. 

And then we flew home.

Thoughts about the trip? It was great to have all my people together again. Some of us had a bit of a tummy ache but my family makes me laugh. I love them. 💓