A visit from The Collins Family

Our good friends Dave, Holly and Michael came to visit us last week in Hawaii. We had a wonderful visit but for some reason I took very few pictures. Half of these are from my iPhone. (That Mason shattered the screen on while they were here! Thanks Mace!) Despite my lack of photos we really had a great time.

These 3 got along great. Michael called Mason "Andrew" most of the trip which I was thought was so cute. Andrew is his cousin. Also a blonde. So it must have been confusing. By the end of the trip he knew his name was Mason but always wanted to "go see Mason at Andrew's house." haha Julianna enjoyed her time as ringleader.

Thank you Dave and Holly for coming to see us!!! :)

Somewhere...

...over the rainbow.

Isn't this beautiful? This was a the top of my street. I was heading out and saw this and had to turn back around to get a few pics. We are so blessed to live here and experience all of the beauty that Hawaii has to offer. We're soaking it up while we can!

Take a hike!!!

Last weekend Ike and I did an amazing hike over in Hawaii-Kai with some friends. The hike was along the Kuliouou Ridge and it was incredible. It was an "intermediate" hike and I have to agree. It was a doozy but so worth it once we got to the top.

More fun for little boys

Ike took Mason up the street to see the surfers at Pyramid Rock beach.

Then they saw some USMC F-18s fly by.

And what do you know... another one of Daddy's helicopters came flying by too!

Watching Daddy Fly

Just one of the perks to living on base is watching Daddy fly around. It's especially cool to a 2 year old boy!

Look Mom! There's Daddy's "hopter!"

That looks fun.

Watching very closely. Even standing on his tip toes! How cute.

There's Daddy! I can almost see him in there.

Daddy's got a cool job. :)

Big Island Trip - Last Day, Kailua-Kona

We checked out of the resort and drove in to Kailua-Kona for lunch and to look around.

It was a neat little town. Lots of shops and restaurants. We didn't walk around much because the kids fell asleep in the car. We we just drove around and took some pictures.

We got to see some petroglyphs before we left. This was one thing that we missed out on while we were saying at Volcanoes National Park due to rain.

We had lunch at Kona Brewing Company. There was a big group of older men eating there and we realized it was their weekly group meeting. Here was their sign. Hilarious. I would like to start this club for women. We don't have to wait until we are old. I already "Don't give a ____!" HA!

This was Kamehameha the Great's personal temple in Kailua-Kona. Kamehameha the Great was the first king to rule all the islands. He had this temple, 'Ahu'ena Heiau, restored in 1812 and it was here that he spent time until his death in 1819.

We made one more stop here and then it was time to head to the airport. We had a wonderful trip. We were ready to get home thought because we had to get home and prepare for Christmas Eve. Only a few days until Santa's arrival!

Big Island Trip - Exploring the Resort

We spent some time just wandering around the resort. It was beautiful.

Hello Mr. Turtle!

Peace sign?

The lagoon where the kids went swimming.

Dolphins!

Mama and baby dolphin. So cute.

Cheese!

Play time with brother.

They were so good to each other on this trip and had a ball together.