The scenery is here, wish you were beautiful...

That saying will always remind me of my dad. One of his favorite lines. It may have been overcast most of the time we were in Hawaii but the temperature was perfect and no one can complain when relaxing in paradise. I was nostalgic our first night there. I realized I had never been to the beach without Neena or Julie. Not only are they not with me on this trip, but I now have two handsome little beach bums. Every beach vacation I ever took with them we'd always appreciate and were thankful for how lucky we were. And this trip was no exception for me. I am very lucky and thankful for all that God has given me.

Some fun tidbits from our trip.

The airport is mostly open. The terminals were normal buildings, but the walkways and shopping area had no windows. It was so awesome. When you land and get off the plane you do not get a lei. What the heck...why do shows and movies lead you to believe that you will get this?! Pretty sure now I don't believe anything I see on TV. ;) I did get a lei at the hotel when I arrived and it was so pretty, soft and smelled wonderful. But after drying it out I left it there. Awesome. Like a slack I didn't ask for a new one when we left since I didn't want it to be ruined on the flight home.

Steve Harvey was staying at our resort with his family. Of course, he'd walk by when we were in the pool so I never got a photo, plus I don't want to be that crazy lady snapping shots of him on his vacation.

Everytime we'd get towels you'd have to give your family member names and we'd be asked if Jeff Taylor was in our group. By the third day I asked who this person was and they said a host for some show that was being taped there. Googled the guy and didn't find anything so who knows what that was about. I should have learned to say, "Yes I'm with him. Charge it to his room." ...day late and a dollar short on that one.

When we were sight seeing on the island there was probably a mile or two of Shrimp Shacks that had a pond next to them where they caught shrimp for your order and then served it. Very awesome and of course instead of taking a picture I was just riding along holding my camera. Nice! We didn't stop and eat there since Rylan doesn't really like shrimp and Austin only likes fried shrimp (who am I kidding same with me!) and this was peel and eat shrimp.

And the final fun tidbit of our trip. I saw a homeless man drop his pants and squat. Yes, the man took a dump on the side of the road.


Here are some scenic pictures from our trip.


Views of the resort














Views from our room.









Beauty as we drive... There were so many pictures that didn't turn out well (or maybe it was I was too slow taking them).


Awesome trees








North Shore.


The little white crab that the boys chased around the beach.


Surfing competition on North Shore.