During Christmas 2012, my parents excitedly informed my brothers and I that they would be taking the family on a vacation somewhere using money they had saved from my Grandpa’s inheritance. The destination and time were up to us. We had a budget. The offer expired on December 31st 2016.
Between my brother getting married, my sister-in-law being pregnant, and Simon being a baby among other life events, it was actually more difficult to find a time than we had thought to get everyone together. The place, though, wasn’t quite as hard. We chose Oahu because we have so much great family to visit there.
Sunday morning we got to relax at the beach and pool, but in the afternoon, we had a huge barbeque with all the Hawaii people. My Aunt Cathy and Uncle Vince, three of my cousins and all of their families, and the Bartle/Smith’s all gathered together. It was a blast.
The day started out a bit anticlimactic. We went to the pool for the first time, but since it was in the shade, the boys were actually pretty cold. They had some fun, but we had to get out to warm up in a very short time.
We noticed that the beach was all sunny so we went there to warm up. We smartened up the rest of the week, and went to the sunny beach first, and the pool only after it had warmed up a bit! Here is Elias warming himself with a snack.
Here is the whole crew relaxing while the boys ate their snacks and warmed up.
After awhile, some of us went swimming. They boys enjoyed playing on the shore. Elias loved swimming deeper, and throwing pieces of coral and nuts into the surf. The way the lagoons were built made the water calmer than the normal shore which was perfect for having two young children.
I got used to the view really fast.
Nathan and I even got in some reading time.
Then it was time to head inside to get ready for our family barbeque. It was great catching up with all of our Hawaii ohana. Here is my dad with his great grand niece.
And we had to take a picture of the cousins with their spouses or spouses to be. My cousin Chuck and his wife Eurlyn had left earlier so they are not pictured, and we also missed the Bartles from Idaho, and cousin Vince who now lives in Vancouver.
We spent the whole afternoon together, and packed up right as the sun was setting. Another beautiful Oahu sunset!
Simon and Elias enjoyed watching the waves as the sun set with Uncle Greg and Auntie Shaina.
And Uncles are always good for teaching the boys how to entertain themselves. The boys loved throwing nuts and leaves at the ocean.
It was another great day on Oahu!