Hawaii Trip Continued

As part III of our Hawaii trip, we take you back to Oahu. This last week was really all about cramming in all our favorite things. Talk about happiness overload! We went to our favorite family beach- Hukilau, visited our favorite Hawaii friends, ate our favorite snacks, reminisced our old stomping grounds of BYUH, TVA, Temple, etc. Mat and I visited our old office at BYUH: Human Resources and were so happy to see familiar faces. Good ole Travis is still there and I was so happy to see him and that he's doing so well. He's a big part of all my favorite memories of BYUH. Katrina- I saw Johnson Mak! Remember him? One of my old teachers, Bro. Kaanga, remembered me and I was so happy. Especially considering that I wasn't an outstanding student in any way. I think Mat was the popular one cause it seemed like he was running into old friends left and right. We had a nice time hanging out with the Bybee Ohana and catching up on all their little adventures. Their kids couldn't get any cuter. Dave and Mat were cracking up at all their old memories and I have to admit that the bear-spray-dog-attack was a great one. Great times in Laie.

We even went back to our favorite movie rental place which is now called "Ohana Video." Lana and I took a trip back out to the North Shore and went for a nice stroll and hung out on the beach where we spotted a turtle. Hawaii beaches are the best!

The biggest Mahalo goes to David and Carol and Aaron Yuen. How much sweeter can you get: they met us for dinner, played a bit, took us for Cold Stone ice cream, met us at the beach, let us shower at their place, took us for L&L's, and then met us at the beach AGAIN and then lent us their house to shower and get ready while their out of town. We got a huge kick at how Aaron and Lana hit it off. They gave each other a kiss and it was cute and then they just kept kissing so Carol and I had to hold 'em back! One time Aaron even tried to crawl onto Lana's car seat! Carol, you are such a great friend and I've loved every second of our friendship. It's so wonderful to see how we've grown, and changed, and in a lot of ways stayed the same. It's also wonderful to see how we (and the boys) have morphed into parents and are enjoying this stage of our lives. We love you guys and really appreciate your friendship!!

ENOS CAR SPOTTED

Mat and I got so excited when we saw our friends car in Maui. Then we were like, "oh...I guess it can't be them." But it would have been so cool if it really was. We were following this car for a little while to get a good picture. I wonder if we freaked them out. HA! We were thinking of you guys Jeff, Jackie and kids!

Maui Wowie

Everyone should have a place that they can go to where they just feel relaxed, refreshed and can appreciate the beauty in the world around us. For me (and I'm pretty sure Mat will agree) that place is Maui. Not only is it the most beautiful place ever, the people are super nice and friendly. We eagerly hopped on the plane to head over from Oahu to Maui. I especially love these little trips because it's one of the rare times that the three of us travel together. Usually Lana and I are together and I feel like sometimes I barely survive those trips. So, on these trips with Mat I make sure that he and Lana get the seats close to the window and let them spend some quality time together while I get to relax...for 30 minutes! Haha, too bad for me that the Maui flights are the shortest ones! I think the longest trip I've been on with Lana was from Maryland to Hawaii. Whew. Now that one was killer.

When we arrived in Maui, we got our luggage pretty quick and found Dad's car in the lot. It was so nice of him to let us borrow it while he was out of town. It's pretty much tradition now to visit Mat's mom at the bank where she works. She is so sweet and always so excited to see us. We got to have the bank's VIP treatment and hang out with her after they closed. I actually have an aunt that works at the very same bank and it was nice to visit her too.

Lana was getting very excited to see her cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's house up-country so we made our way up there next. I don't think Lana could be any happier than when she saw her cousins: Kama, Noa, Avei and little Amira. She had the best time playing with them, running around and doing whatever they would do. Avei was so good with her (she recently became a big sister and you could tell because she took such great care of Lana). She gave Lana a tour of the house and toys and was just talking story with her. We were warned about how big Kama got since the last time we saw him but we were still amazed! He's was so tall! Noa showed us all his really great drawings and we have to admit- they were awesome. Avei impressed us with her Wii skills and we couldn't believe how much little Amira has grown! I just loved the fact that even though Amira was the youngest of the group, she certainly knew how to hold her own! We got to go to Noa's soccer game and see his sweet moves and then we got to cheer for Kama and the "Bears" for his football game. U'i turned 17!! She is such a lovable sister and the coolest auntie to Lana. (SAY, "SWIPER NO SWIPING!") I'm always so happy to hang out with her and sometimes I wish I were back in High School with her. We had so much fun celebrating with her and going to dinner and then we took all the kids to Fun Factory. Tickets, tickets, tickets everywhere! Dad and Mom were great and it was fun seeing Lana have a blast with her Grandma and Grandpa. Lana got to have an elite tour of the backyard by lawnmower! I would just crack up at all of the funny things that Mom got Lana to say in their little conversations. It was so nice to see Kaulana and Tali and what great parents they are- good role models for us!! And Mat had a lot of fun with his brothers and sister! Mike was off to Oahu for a few days for a jujitsu tournament (which he did pretty good in for his first time) but we did get to spend some time with him too. He's so patient with Lana when she makes him really work for those hugs! Of course our trip to the beach together was another great highlight. I'm glad that we're all a bunch of beach-bums! Oh- U'i thanks again for taking us to get the best shave ice in the world. YUM. I'm craving some right now...

Mat's mom was so nice to take off of work to hang out with us and take us around. Lana loved her time with Grandma and Uncle Chad. We got to go out to Iao Valley and Chad took us on a short little hike to a place where you can jump off a rock and into a little pond. I didn't have my bathing suit but I'm not sure if I would have jumped off even if I did! It was absolutely gorgeous and I loved every second of this trip. We then spent the day shopping and Lana lucked out with a pair of pink Crocs from Grandma. It was complete with "Minnie mouse, wall-e, and the bee from bee movie!" Thanks Mom! We couldn't get enough of our time together and enjoyed going for a walk through up-country Makawao and through Maui Mall- oh that GURI GURI was so yum. And we even were treated to a fabulous lunch out in Lahaina. Lana was chasing the birds for the most part of it, but we went for a nice stroll along the beach and saw some penguins at the Hilton! It was the perfect day and we had such a great time. I loved talking to Mom and hearing all the funny stories about the boys growing up.

Before we left we got to have one last get-together with Grandma, Grandpa, U'i and the Silifaiva's. We had an ono dinner and the best home-made fudge sundaes. We had a Wii challenge and also a jumping contest- the winners were Mat and Kama. Runners up: Avei and Noa. Honorable mentions: Lana and Amira. We even got to hear Tali's "internet song" which thanks to Avei's back up singing, we got stuck in our heads for the longest time. Noa was such a sweetheart and let Lana hug him pretty much all night. It was so cute. We love you guys!

Thank you everyone for making us feel so at home. Now Mat is counting down until we can move back there for good and hang out all the time. WE LOVE YOU!!

Pau Hana- summary of our 1st week in Hawaii

We finally made it back "home" to good 'ole California after 3 long wonderful weeks in Oahu and Maui. Yes, we had a pretty much perfect set-up being able to stay in Oahu for Mat's work the first week and then visit our family in Maui and spend a week there before going back to Oahu again. Each day was a blessing and we tried to make the most of it.

Every day Mat worked I would feel so guilty but grateful at the same time. I knew Lana and I would have a fun adventure while he'd be off working and we'd miss him but at the same time it's what made our trip possible so work on Mat, work on! haha. About three seconds after we got in our rental car Mat proceeded to reprogram the stations that we've missed for the passed couple of months. We stayed at the Marriott hotel in Waikiki and loved that we were so close to the beach! We'd swim at the beach and play and a few times when it got too dark to go to the beach, we'd swim at the hotel's pool and hot tub! There were two teenage girls in the hot tub with me and Lana one night and Lana was convinced that one of them was Ariel. She pointed to her and said, "Mom! It's the little mermaid, look!" I think it's probably because she was wearing a bikini top but what do I know.

We ate out A LOT at Zippy's, Like Like Drive Inn, Boston's Northend Pizza (personal family fave), Sumo Ramen (Tanigawa fave), L&L's (authentic kine- right Yuen's?) and even hit up the infamous Leonard's Bakery. SOOO good. But I do have to say the original malasadas are the best- don't be tempted by the one's with the fillings.

Since we were so close, we did get a chance to visit the Honolulu Zoo and Aquarium. They were fun afternoon trips and we got a kick out of watching the chimpanzee's eating their snack! Mat and I couldn't get over the fact that they were acting just like humans would. Their zookeeper was throwing food off a ledge to them and some were clapping their hands trying to get him to pay attention and throw some in their direction. Another chimp was watching where the zookeeper was going to throw it and threw himself in that direction to block the other chimp. Then there were those that just gave up and were laying on the ground in desperation. ANYWAY it was funny.

This is a very sad confession- I am from Oahu, but I am terrible at finding my way downtown Honolulu. Mat knows the island better than I do! But after this trip I can proudly say I am about 85% more confident. One of my favorite places to drive is from the Leeward side over to the Windward side. There's just something very powerful about coming out of that tunnel and taking in the stunning Ko'olau mountains. Ever since I was a little girl I've always felt so at home there and would look forward to that drive. Lana loves the mountains and I was so glad that she got to see the mountains I grew up with.

Around the end of this first week Lana was getting really lonely for some friends. She'd say, "I want to see Ronica!" (Veronica) or "I want to see Starlet and Beena and Lyssa!" (Starlet, Davina, Alyssa). So I was very excited for her to go to Maui and see all of her awesome cousins again! I know I was dying to get over there cause I really missed Mat's family and couldn't wait to see what everyone was up to. Sooo...I'll continue that story later!

TOURISTS!

Yes, we're in Hawaii and we're staying in Waikiki. We're shopping at the ABC stores, taking pictures of Diamond Head, paying $1 to get a picture of Elmo with a lei on and spending about $5.oo more for everything than we usually would. But, we're having a great time and it's fun to be back home! I can't wait to go to Maui next week. Sorry Oahu, but Maui's my favorite now!