Hawaii Trip Part Two

September 30, 2015~ TRAVEL

The last blog post of our Hawaii trip from January! Aren’t you glad there’s no part 3, 4, 5, and 6?

Pill Box Hike!

The observation stations a.k.a pillboxes were constructed in 1943 and equipped with high-powered telescopes to fix positions of possible enemy ships. The job of the soldiers working in the structures was to transmit target information to artillery batteries on the Mokapu Peninsula, and later to serve batteries at the Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station and Puu Papaa.

Yes. this was my idea. 😀

Now the kids turn! Showing them how it’s done.

the cousins adoring on my sweet little nugget!

You don’t want to know how many jumps it took to get this shot. 😀

Jay and his darling sister Kat

About to ride the submarine!

About to go inside the ‘Iolani Palace. The monarchy was overthrown in 1893 & the Provisional Government of Hawaiʻi took control of ʻIolani Palace. So fascinating learning about the history of Hawaiʻi!

Before she was overthrown, Queen Liliʻuokalani was imprisoned for nine months in a small room where she spent her time quilting. A lot of the fabrics she used came from her own wardrobe.

Nico’s Pier 38. A must go sea food restaurant!

And that’s it folks! We are going again in a few months, and I can’t wait! What are some must-do’s in Oahu?

Parasailing in Waikiki

September 23, 2015~ TRAVEL

We went parasailing in Hawaii and I have to say, it was my favorite activity of the whole trip! Everyone went except for Jay who refused to go since he’s scared of heights. Just like when he wouldn’t go zip lining with me in Alaska, remember that(see the post here)? Haha, but he came on the boat and watched us while his mom watched our boy.

just a tad nervous 😉

this is one of my favorite pictures of my girl!

papa was more scared than Ana. 😉

Parasailing was surprisingly so peaceful and serene, once we went 750 ft. up in the air. I expected strong winds and the parasail swaying a lot by the wind but it felt like we were floating still in the air! There was no wind and it seemed we weren’t moving at all and it was just super quiet and calm. I wanted to go again!!!

For those of you wondering, we chose Paradise Water Sports because they have a perfect safety record and I was getting a little nervous after hearing about some accidents that happen while parasailing. They were so friendly, fun and took pictures for us and even made a video from the go pro they let us use. After parasailing, they gave us the memory card straight from their camera so we’d have photographs immediately! Then just a couple weeks after, they sent us the video. If you want to go parasailing in Hawaii, I highly recommend them!

Our Hawaii Trip…from January Part One

September 22, 2015~ TRAVEL

Since I am just so on top of things, here are the pictures of our trip we took back in January! We had no plans on going to Hawaii but Jay found a crazy deal and asked me if we could go surprise his parents(something he’s always wanted to do since his parents just showed up on our door step several years ago and surprised us) so I said sure and we booked it that day and then arrived in HI a week later!

I used to be a very spontaneous person. but since I’ve been married, the only spontaneous thing I’ve done until now was go to Shoe Carnival unplanned on our way to a restaurant 3 yrs. ago. Most wild & crazy family of the year award, I know! So this trip by far surpasses the Shoe Carnival trip, don’t you think? We surprised the kids and pretended we were dropping them off at school and handed them their backpacks filled with snacks and toys and pictures of HI. Best surprise ever!

We arrived! Waiting for our ride at Honolulu airport.

We gave them the biggest surprise! First we went to his house where we knew his mom would be there, we tried to quietly park down the street, skitter our way across the street to the back of his house, go through the garage and go upstairs. But you guys, with 3 kids 7 and under trying to be quiet? HAHAHA. Biggest joke! We were SO loud! The kids were snickering so loud, stomping up the stairs, so we were sure his mom would hear us and come by the stairs but no, she did not! She was only about 10 ft. away from the stairs in the living room using the computer. We tried to send our boy out and have him walk up to her but no matter how many times we told him to go or gave him a phone and told him to go give it to grandma, he just stood there right where we left him on top of the stairs and just kept starring at her and back at us. It went on for 10 mins. and then all of the sudden she got up and turned around and saw Aiden standing there and she paused then said, “What? Where are you from?…………….. wait, Aiden???” Then Jay started screaming and jumped to her and we all screamed and went and gave her a hug and she started to cry! She was so happy. But guess who started crying harder? Jay! Haha, he was so happy and excited he had tears coming down his face. It was such a cute, happy moment that I got to capture on video.

We then went to Jay’s dad’s work along with his mom and we just stuck Aiden’s head out to the side of the door of his office and he was talking to another co-worker when he did a double take and then his mouth dropped open and he just sat there starring at Aiden without saying a word. It was so funny!

Our must-go place to eat: Giovanni’s.

A chicken living in the back of the truck. She had chicks!

It was our son’s very first time at the beach!

It’s safe to say he loved it!

The second night we got in, we were on a hunt for my favorite ice-cream in the world; Roselani’s haupia ice-cream. I would have gotten it the first night but we got in super late. But this ice-cream is HEAVEN. I crave it everyday. By our 3rd grocery store, we had found my treasure!

He loves his papa.

Part two is coming!

Have you been to HI? Which island? What are your must-see’s or must do’s while in Hawaii? I’ll try to write a list of all the food places you must check out in Oahu, since people ask us all the time.

Spontaneous family vacation

January 30, 2015~ TRAVEL

I used to be a very spontaneous person. but since I’ve been married, the only spontaneous thing I’ve done was go to Shoe Carnival unplanned on our way to a restaurant 3 yrs. ago. Most wild & crazy family of the year award, I know! Well, that’s forever changed because we booked our flight to Hawaii several days ago and we are now here in Hawaii! we surprised the kids and pretended we were dropping them off at school and handed them their backpacks filled with snacks and toys and pictures of HI. Best surprise ever! Follow along our trip on Instagram!

Our very first trip sans kids

October 27, 2014~ TRAVEL

We finally did it! Until this trip, we’ve never gone somewhere just me and Jay without the kids, not even for one night anywhere. But the timing worked out perfectly and Jay’s best friend was taking a trip to Vegas with his wife and Jay was to MC his cousin’s wedding a few days later so we decided to take a trip sans kids to Vegas and California for 5 days! Jay’s mom flew down from Hawaii to watch our 3 kids and we are so grateful she was willing to do that.

And what’s the very first thing we did when we arrived in Vegas at 3 a.m? Go eat at Pho Kim Long. Because it’s been a Pho Kim Long time since we’ve eaten there. 😀 If you’ve never been to this Vietnamese restaurant, you must go. They have awesome calamari & boba(coconut and melon are my favorite!).

The next thing we did the day after was go see a movie! We hardly go watch a movie together and it’s always kid movies with our kids so we were so excited. We watched Dawn: The Planet of the Apes, a movie Jay wanted to see and it was pretty good.

We then met up with Jay’s best friend Nash and his cute pregnant wife Amber for a lunch buffet where we stayed for over 5 hours because we were so busy talking to each other. Then we went bowling. It was so nice doing whatever we felt like doing! I love being spontaneous!

they like holding things together. Precious.

Then we went to Crown Bakery, a second must stop when we’re in Vegas. Delicious Korean bakery goods!

We went to Pho Kim Long again for dinner.

The next day we ate at Monta(It was pretty good, I would give it a 3.7 our of 5) with Amber and Nash, then walked around the city.

thank you, photo bomber!

genius, why didn’t I think of this? the finger spins! my mind is blown.

It was my first time meeting Amber and she was so much fun and such a sweetheart. She reads my blog and I love meeting people that read my blog so I can find out more about them! I feel like since I talk about myself so much on the blog, I love getting to know the people who read my blog. Too bad Nash and Amber live far away from us! (Amber, if you’re reading this, hello! 🙂

they like sipping from the same milkshake while starring into each other’s eyes. I told them to share one straw together but they wouldn’t do it.

Jay and I went shopping and this was the first time that I can remember where Jay bought something and I didn’t. There’s been times when I bought something and Jay didn’t, or we both didn’t buy anything but never a time where Jay bought a ton of stuff and I didn’t buy a single thing! It had to be documented but Jay kept refusing to be in a picture so I had to sneak this one ever so sneakily.

My husband’s gotta hit Jack in the Box at least once when he sees it! On our way to California!

The first thing I did was meet up with my awesome sister in California. This restaurant is my go to place everytime I’m in LA, the food is amazing.

Then my sister and I went to meet up her girlfriends at this cute Korean place. And I posted a few years ago about why I love visiting California(see the post here), people here make you feel so young! Her friends all thought I was going to College here in California. When my sister told them I had 3 kids, you should’ve seen their faces, they were so shocked and couldn’t believe it. You know you’re 30 when compliments like that just make your day! 😀

Jay’s dear cousin Alvina got married at the LA temple! We were there for her sealing(we believe with the right power and the authority from God, a man and a woman can be married for eternity, not just until death do us apart) and it was beautiful.

Then we went to the best Korean BBQ place I’ve ever been to in Beverly Hills called Genwa. Look at all these side dishes!

the aftermath of our lunch.

Jay MC’ed their wedding and did a wonderful job as always. This was his 8th time MC’ing a wedding so he’s practically a professional now.

don’t know where this halo effect came from. 🙂 Congratulations to the perfect couple!

then we went and watched If I Stay. My choice and Jay managed to watch the whole movie with me.

We ate at Pho King Long again, before we had to head back home. Yes, we ate there 3 times while we were in Vegas for 2 1/2 days.

Stocking up on Korean bakery before leaving!

We met Jon and Ruby through Nash & Amber and they’re such a fun couple, we fell in love with them! Thanks for all the laughter and for meeting us for lunch! And It seems like all we did was eat, and it’s because we did.:)

This trip almost didn’t happen because we didn’t realize this was the week when our oldest started school and Jay was going to go to Vegas and California by himself but everything worked out and we were able to go! So grateful for Jay’s mom for flying to UT from HI and watching the kids for 5 days. It was so nice spending time with just my husband and it was so nice being spontaneous and doing whatever we wanted! Not waking up in the middle of the night and sleeping in was so nice too. 🙂 But when we drove home, we were so eager and antsy to get back home to see our babies. Right when we parked in the garage, we fought over who could open the door into the house first(Jay pushed me to the side so he could be the one! tsk tsk) and it was such a sweet reunion to see our kids and give them a ton of kisses and hugs. It’s good for the parents to miss the kids once in awhile, I think it makes us better parents.

Our next trip sans kids is to Paris. Right honey? 😉