Just like that, our Hawaii trip has come and gone. I have always wanted to take my kids to Hawaii, and I wasn't sure if it was in the cards for us. When John and I were trying to decide when and where to get married, we decided to do it on a family trip to Hawaii. I really didn't want to have a traditional wedding again, and I would rather spend money on the cost of a wedding and take a family trip instead. We thought about eloping at the courthouse, but my kids wanted to be there, and Hawaii is the perfect place to elope. We found a company that had an à la carte wedding menu, and you can pick and choose what you want. We picked the simplest package. The wedding was already in a gorgeous setting and taking place on an epic trip; it takes care of itself. A minister and a photographer showed up, and within 20 minutes, we were married. It's a good thing, too, because Piper woke up with the flu and was dying during the ceremony. She basically spent the rest of the trip in the hotel room. Poor girl!

Let's back up. We flew out on Sunday around 1:00 pm. We arrived in Hawaii around 7:30 pm Hawaii time. We got our rental van and headed to the hotel. The hotel was a little annoying in that it charged us $50 a day for a "free coupon" to use at the hotel restaurant. Even though we were super tired from a big day of travel, we ordered some food off their menu that night to use our voucher. We crashed after that. On Monday morning after breakfast, we drove to pick up our marriage license, and then we went to Walmart to buy snacks and supplies for the week. After that, we went to the beach and played for a few hours. Monday was one of the only days it didn't rain. I think had we known that, we would have stayed at the beach even longer that day. Later, we went to an early dinner at Lulu's. 

On Tuesday, we got up early and went on a hike to Monoa Falls. I heard it's best to go early, and that was correct. On our way back, the trail was packed, and I was glad we didn't have to deal with all of the people. The hike was 1.6 miles round trip, so it was perfect. The hike was pretty slick and very muddy, but no one fell! After the hike, we went to Goofy's Cafe and Dine for brunch. We waited FOREVER. It was at least 2 hours so that was kind of awful, and I don't think any of us would do that again, but it was very good. After that, it started raining, and I didn't want to go out in it. The kids swam in the hotel pool for hours. Ryan rested in the room. We had dinner at Marugame Udon place across the street from our hotel. The line was always long, and it had really good reviews, but we all agreed it was the worst dinner we had. People love it, I guess!

Wednesday was wedding day! It was the only other day that didn't rain. We got so lucky. We had breakfast, and then we got ready and drove to the wedding spot. Getting ready on time is always tricky, and right after we left, I remembered that we forgot our marriage license, so we had to turn around and go get it. Luckily, we were early enough that we still ended up on time to the wedding. We got married at the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens. They were SOOO beautiful. It looked like Jurassic Park. Like I already said, the ceremony was short and sweet. After the wedding, we had lunch and went on a snorkel trip. Originally, we had that planned on Monday, but it got rescheduled for Wednesday due to the weather. Right when we got there was the only time on the trip I was actually hot for a few minutes. The sun came out, and it was warm. We took a short boat ride to a spot to check out the sea turtles and fish. Piper was sick, but she rallied to go. After about 15 minutes, she was done, so I joined her back on the boat. I was okay to go back. It freaks me out to try to breathe through the snorkel, and I couldn't handle it. I felt very claustrophobic and was not into it. I was happy to get back on the boat with Piper. We could still see the turtles from the boat. That night we got Cheeseburgers in Paradise, and they were okay. Not my favorite burger. 

Originally, we were going to go to the North Shore on Thursday. I wanted to show the kids where I went to school for a couple of months and just be at the North Shore. It has a totally different feel than Waikiki, and I love it over there. We decided not to do that since Piper was sick, so we stuck to Waikiki so we would be close to her, hanging out in the hotel. It rained off and on all day, but we went to the beach anyway. John and I went first for a few hours, and the other kids didn't want to go. After lunch, Ryan wanted to go to the beach, so Gabby joined him. I couldn't talk Corbin into it. It is not appealing to go the beach in the rain but it was pretty fun. The upside is the beach was practically empty. It wasn't too cold, and we played for a few hours. (It wasn't warm either, haha, I had to rally). That night, we went to a fish market for dinner near our hotel. It was very good!

On Friday, we had breakfast, and it was pouring rain. I forced Corbin to join us, and everyone but Piper went to the beach for several hours. It was not warm, but it wasn't terrible. It rained pretty hard the whole time we were there. We were supposed to go to a luau on the North Shore that night, but it got canceled because of flooding. I'm really glad we didn't book our hotel at the North Shore. They were experiencing more of the flooding issues on that side of the island. I was bummed we didn't get to go to our Luau and we didn't get to go to the North Shore, but I was glad we didn't get flooded out, and we still had fun at the beach despite the weather. We went to an early dinner at Earl's that night and got ready for an early morning. 

On Saturday, we got up at 3:30 am and by some miracle, were able to get all of our things to fit in our suitcases. On the flight from Hawaii to Seattle, Ryan barfed right before we landed. I was several rows behind him and didn't have any idea. I guess he wasn't feeling well and just barfed in the aisle. Yikes! I'm glad it happened right at the end, so people weren't dealing with barf for very long. He now knows where to find barf bags and will never live this one down. The flight attendant was trying to talk to him, and he wasn't responding. At one point, she asked if he spoke English. Oh, Ryan, love ya buddy! We got back to Boise around 7:30 pm. Today I was able to do laundry all day and get some groceries. I'm trying to gear up to wake up early for work tomorrow. Gabby slept in until 1:00 today. Tomorrow will be rough!

Waiting on the floor at the Boise airport on route to Hawaii. There were no seats.

Walking to the beach

Sisters, cute!

This was our only rain-free beach day. Had we known, we may have stayed even longer that day.

Dinner at Lulu's.

Monoa Falls hike (Ryan was sick and was STRUGGLING, he did it though!)

The trees were so cool!

Ryan's face! haha.

Waiting for breakfast at Goofy Cafe & Dine. We had to wait 2 hours, it was really good, but was it THAT good? 

Ryan was trying not to die after the hike and waiting for breakfast.

Night beach walk.

On the boat to go snorkel with the sea turtles.

Dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Piper was sick at the hotel.

A couple of my friends made our Just Married sunglasses and gave me that sign at my bachelorette party, so we had to take a picture! 

Our last dinner at Earl's. Piper was at the hotel.

Our dogs were so happy we came back! We were happy to see them too!