Ivy’s turn to play Jr Jazz!

Ivy’s now 7 and in 2nd grade so she can play Jr Jazz!   It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.  They scrimmage for the last 20 minutes and my face hurts from smiling/laughing so hard. 😂 

These three are the only girls out there and they hold their ground!!  

Who knows, maybe one of our daughters will like to play basketball. 

Beckstead Hawaii Cruise • Day #7 • Oahu (North shore, Laie)

Last day of the trip. 😢 

Once off the boat we split up into 2 groups. The snorkelers went one way and Mike and I went with my mom and Jodi to the North Shore. We grabbed some tacos, saw BYI Hawaii and did some shopping.

We got the boys some Kahuku shirts. Aren’t they awesome! They are going to love them. 

Kicking myself for not getting this jersey. I may make a trip back just to get them some. I took this picture to send to Miles and it wouldn’t go through, so we didn’t get them. Then we regretted it and we went back later but the store was closed. I guess we need to go back to Oahu. 

Then we spent a few hours at the Polynesian Cultural Center. This place is awesome!  

We took a canoe ride. 🛶 

We learned to make these fish attached to a vine, when you “cast” the line the fish slides down the vine and stops at the end so it looks like you caught a fish.  🎣 

Then we had a little time left before our flight so we headed to Turtle Bay for one last beach sunset. 🐢 🌅 

I got to wear my new sunglasses.  I’ve never really been a sunglasses girl, but I love them!  😎 

We couldn’t have gone on this trip if it wasn’t for Grandma and Grandpa Dehner!!  They drove up from Arizona and watched the kids while we were gone. They get the MVP awards for the week!!  And Morgan drove home from school to be with the kids the last couple days so Grandma and Grandpa could get a break!  I’m so grateful my kids have such loving grandparents. Thank you Kurt and Shawn!! 

The girls showing me that they did their nails. 💅  

Can’t wait to get back to them! It was a long time to be away.

Little trinkets since they were so good while we were gone.  

Beckstead Hawaii Cruise • Day #6 • Kauai (Lihue & Na Pali Coast)

After our packed day yesterday, we needed a rest day.  My mom’s feet were really swollen and she needed some time off, so we skipped out on our Jewels of Hawaii excursion. Mike was so happy to have one more beach day.  

From the Pier in Lihue, Kauai, Mike and I walked to the Marriott and hung out at the beach, just the two of us. 😍  We also pretended to be guests and used the Marriott pool. 🤫 We liked the pool area and thought it would be a fun place to visit with the kids.  (Tucking that away!)

You can see the ship was within walking distance. That made it nice to not have to rent a car. It was a dreamy morning with my dreamy man! 

Then we were back on the boat by 2 to sail by the Na Pali coast on the north end of Kauai.  The ship slowed down and stopped in the water for a while so we could take it all in.  

I don’t think pictures do this place justice.  It’s jaw-droppingly beautiful.  As the sun set, the shadows showed all the contours of the coastline. 

It looked so fragile and delicate, like you could touch the side and the whole thing would crumble like a ginormous sand sculpture.

This was one of my favorite parts of the entire week.  The beauty was unreal and the only way to see it was by sailing by. 

Then we spent the night shopping on the cruise ship. Since we had such a big group, they gave each room a $200 credit to spend onboard. We couldn’t figure out what to get and now we were down to the wire. Mindy went with jewelry and just before the stores were going to close, Mike decided I should get some Maui Jim sunglasses.  I love them. 😎 Mike didn’t want anything for himself but used it all on me.  That’s Mike for you.

(Mindy picking out her clam for her free pearl with purchase.)

Beckstead Hawaii Cruise • Day #5 • Kauai Island

Today was a full day!!!  We crammed a lot into our day in Kauai.  Mike got up 1st thing and went and got us a rental car.  Then we took off with Brenda and Casey to see Waimea Canyon. It was a long, curvy ride… probably would skip that next time.  It was too cloudy when we got to the lookout to see much, but our best view was down lower at this spot.  

We found this cute fruit stand where we got smoothies and shaved ice. This spot won cutest shaved ice stand on all the islands!!  Isn’t it cute? 🍌🍍 

Then we met up with my siblings at Po’ipu Beach.  

This seal was sleeping on the beach with signs to walk around… who do you think walked right through and ignored the signs? 

Yup- Mike.  See him in the blue swimsuit? He walked right through and got yelled at over the loud speaker. I pretended I didn’t know him. 😉. You can see his footprints getting washed away. 

We also saw a turtle on the beach. 

He was kind of a sickly turtle. He has herpes and sores all over his body.  Poor guy! 

My siblings said the snorkeling was awesome so Bobby and Shara gave Mike and I their masks so we could go out. 

They were right! It was awesome!  Here’s a few of the fish I saw.

Then we went back to the ship to get ready for our evening excursion at the Kilohana Manor House and Luau. 

We took a train ride around the Kauai Plantation.

The train was the train that was used in the movie Jungle Cruise!!  As we drove around we could tell that the scenery looked like the movie. 

We got to feed the wild pigs on the plantation and I really wished the girls were with us! They would have loved all the baby piggies. 

Then we had a special VIP dinner before the Luau. The food was yummy and most of it was gluten free! Yippee. 

Beautiful scenery! 

The Luau was really well done and had some great  talent. By the time we got back to the boat we were beat!!  It was a packed and perfectly fabulous day!!  

Beckstead Hawaii Cruise • Day #4 • Hawaii, The Big Island (Kailua-Kona)

Today we traveled to the other side of the Big Island and went to Kona. This was a fun area to hang and Kona was a great town to walk around.  

Today we went with my mom and Brenda on a glass-bottom boat ride. Since my mom isn’t snorkleing this week, this was a fun way for her to see what the snorkelers see.  We didn’t see too much and it hurt our backs to lean over the window, but it was fun to be together.  Can’t say I’d recommend it or do it again, but we had a fun time together. 

I thought my mom’s window looked like a picture hanging on the wall. 😂. Nope that was the actual view! 

Then we shopped and walk around Kona. We found some shaved ice and some little shops to walk through.  

The trees in Hawaii are my happy place! 😍

Mike and I rented some snorkeling gear and floated around this area for a bit.  Super pretty!  It’s the area where they hold the Ironman championship swim, we missed the race by a week. Dang!!   Kona gets 2 thumbs up. 

Then we met up with the family on the boat and went to dinner and a magic show.  Super fun! I didn't get any pictures from the magic show, but it was hilarious and had some good magic.