Kauai Island

 We surprised the kids with a last minute trip to Kauai.Grandma Allen prepared a scavenger hunt for them to find out. It was so cute and they were so excited. We wanted to just pack them and take them to the airport and go but Tyler and Amy's family came too and it was getting too confusing to keep it a secret and keep up with the lies!

 This crew was ready and excited to go very early in the morning.

Maverik went over to the window to see the plane. It was his first plane ride and he was so excited. There was around 30 missionaries waiting to get on the plane and Maverik screams. Dad you've got to see this "hairplane". Everyone was giggling at his cuteness. 

Trying to get some ZZZZ's on our 9 hour flight!

 This picture has got to be my favorite. It sums up this awesome family. They are hilarious and such kind people. The cute little blonde boy that looks like he should be part of our family is named Oliver, or at least we think it is! He is the owners boy and wanted to hang out with us all day. This was after a really long, extremely muddy hike and long kayak ride. We had a blast.

There was a cute little village and frogs everywhere. 

 We got to celebrate Halloween in Kauai by going on an amazing boat tour to the Napali Coast and later trick or treating at by Grandpas house.

Has to be on of the prettiest things i've ever seen.

There was food

And some barfing, by me! I can officially say I get sick on boats which really sucks. This was with Dramamine. Those poor people sitting by me. 

Recovering and enjoying the ride. 

We saw sea turtles and lots and lots of spinner dolphins. It was amazing to see so many and be so close. We went snorkeling and Lexi did awesome. Unfortunately, Maverik wouldn't go in and Tess and Bodee only went in briefly and were too cold. Luckily, the next day we snorkeled in Poopoi and they did good and liked it a lot more. 

 We went to a different beach every day. They each had something really awesome about them. The North Shore beach was definitely our favorite and we went back a couple of times. The scenery was amazing and the waves were pretty big which our kids loved. It made me a little nervous at times, but the kids did amazing. Lexi and Jesse got up on a surf board and rode it all the way in. Tess and Bodee did awesome on the boogie boards and Maverik loved playing on the beach.

Hanging out at Grandpas really cool house!

This was on our first night there at the Salt Ponds by Hanapapai

We had some pretty memorable times at Poipoo beach. We got within a couple of feet of 2 seals. The snorkeling was pretty amazing too.

 This beautiful lighthouse is on the North side of the island and the views were incredible.

 Doing a little whale watching.

What trip would be complete without some fishing. These guys would wake up before the sun came out and caught some cool looking fish on the ocean. 

One of our favorite parts was another very muddy and slippery hike to Queens Bath. We almost didn't go because we heard it was kind of dangerous, especially in winter months. Man am I glad we went. Amazing views and some awesome cliffs to jump off. 

Proof that my husband is crazy enough to jump not only once, but 3 times. They had to wait to jump for fear of landing on sea turtles. They were all over the place. Videos of this place were so scary and I wasn't excited for him to "shoot the tube" but it was pretty fun watching him. 

Waihmaei Canyon was breathtaking. They call it the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. 

  I've never seen so many rainbows

  

Grand Hyatt Luau

The girls are wearing the mumus that me and my sisters wore to Hawaii years ago. They looked adorable. 

Maverik, Maverik... his face was rarely not in an annoyed manner during pictures. To say he was done with pictures was an understatement. He really ticked me off!

This was an amazing vacation. Jesse was always not wanting to take big vacations with the kids because its a lot of money to spend when they are happy just camping. After this trip and seeing the kids light up, his mind changed. We LOVE traveling together and experiencing fun times.