I now have my very own high quality camera and I'm not afraid to use it! For Christmas, I bought myself a Sony NEX-7 and I am loving it. About half the pictures below are the Sony and the other half are split between my iPhone and the GoPro. Hopefully, I will be better about blogging in 2013 than I was last year. I deleted my Facebook account and Linkedin account. I'm still hanging on to Instagram but probably not for long. I miss blogging and the opportunity to do some journaling for my family. So hear is goes.....if you leave a comment, it helps encourage me to continue blogging. Then at least I know someone is actually reading. :)
We were lucky enough to jump on a plane headed for sunny Hawaii two days after Christmas.
I don't know why this picture on the emergency instruction card was so funny but it made the kids and I giggle.
We were greeted with hugs, smiles, and of course, a flower lei from Grandpa Ron. After dropping of the luggage at his house, we went straight to our favorite beach called Rest Camp. I went right to work with my new camera and got this beautiful panorama.
Aden caught some small waves with the body board before braving some bigger waves with his Dad. They surfed a few waves together and Aden was even able to stand up on his own! Not bad for a little desert rat.
He was very proud of himself and he and his Dad couldn't stop smiling.
I wish we could say that we sculpted this but we didn't.
Again, not our handy work but really cool! This turtle was about as big as Aden!
Taking self portraits with the new camera proved to be more difficult than using an iphone but at least we are both in the frame.
We stayed at the beach until sunset and it was worth the wait!
The next morning, Tom and I were able to leave the kids at home and do "dawn patrol". I guess that is slang for looking for good waves before sunrise. We settled in at Makaha beach just down the street from Grandpa Ron's house. I thought this hotel/moon/Christmas lights shot was pretty cool!
Getting ready to surf...
While Tom was surfing, I was able to keep working on my panorama skills.
I also got to geek out and program repeaters on my Ham radio. By the way, I accessed the manual and repeater directory by tethering my iphone to my ipad for Internet access (without Tom's help). Be amazed.
When we got back home it was time for vacation practicing. Ally is such a good girl for practicing on her Hawaiian vacation!
The kids have had a great time driving RC cars around the yard for Ron's dog to chase. The little dog will run up to the car and start chewing on the tires as it is moving. Hysterical!
Back to Rest Camp Beach for some more fun! Ally was able to try out the mermaid tail she got for Christmas. She was swimming just beyond the shore break when she stunned and scared a local guy snorkeling. He popped his head out of the water and said, "What the BEEP is that?!?" Too funny!
The photos in the rest of the post might not be in chronological order. I just took too many awesome pictures and now I can't keep them all straight! :)
One day we went to the North Shore and visited some of our favorite places on the island. We always eat at the same Mexican restaurant called Cholo's. They have the BEST Mexican food. Might be my favorite Mexican restaurant. Only problem is that I think a lot of people agree with me. The wait is always crazy and we tend to get a little goofy when we have to wait too long for anything. We took some cute and not so cute pictures to pass the time.
The silliness is starting to take over.....
And now it is time for an ugly face contest....
And the winner is......Tom!!!!
We also stopped by the Artis house to hear some amazing music. This incredible family plays music together everyday and records everything they do. Good people and even better music. If you don't know who they are you need to look them up!! www.ronartis.com
While on the North Shore, we were able to see some HUGE waves and some people crazy enough to surf them. These waves were between 25-30 feet. You can't really see that from the photos but if you look close and find a surfer they are pea size compared to the wave. This was quite an experience. The waves made a continuous thundering sound. Watching was both terrifying and calming all at the same time.
I think Ally could have sat there all day. She was so focused and calm. We went to Wiamea and Pipe. This photo was taken at Pipeline.
Sunset at Pipeline, North Shore
For New Year's Eve, Ron treated us to a night at hotel in Waikiki. After we arrived, we quickly checked in and went to have some fun at an early dinner. Good thing we beat the dinner rush because things got a little crazy (as they tend to do with our crew).
Aden and Grandpa Ron made menu castles.
Grandma Dee had some of her relatives visiting from Iowa and they joined us. Aden loved having more kids to play with and boy did they have more....5 more. That night and next day there were 7 kids and 6 adults in our group.
Our lovely hotel courtyard complete with pool and spa.
After dinner, the kids all jumped in the pool but quickly migrated to the warmer spa. To me they look like kid soup! Only one or two kids are missing (Grandpa Ron for sure and maybe Tom too).
We also did a little shopping at the International Market. Ally worked on her haggling skills and ended up driving some hard bargains! We came home with some treasures and some pretty funny pictures.
One of my new favorite stores....
The following two pictures are of t-shirts. :)
You can't really read this but it says "Spork, I am your father." Good stuff.
Aden and a few of the other kids decided to get some fresh ink for the night's festivities.
More funny Stupid Factory finds
Sleepy boys
The next morning we checked out and all went to breakfast. Check out my kids sporting their sugar hangovers.
A highlight of the trip for was a trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center and night show called Ha. What an amazing place?!?! We loved the presentations and mini shows. Most of them were not only educational but funny too. We were able to try fishing, make some crafts, play games, learn to make and taste coconut bread, learn skills such as how to break open a coconut and how to start a fire.
We also learned some new dance moves although I don't think we are brave enough to try them out here on the mainland.
Ally really liked fishing. We will have to make it a point to take her fishing this spring and summer.
We explored some interesting huts.
The parade was a fun way to get to see some of the dances and clothes from the different Polynesian islands. The weather was perfect too! Just a bit of warm rain on and off through the whole day and wonderful cloud coverage. We never got hot or cold.
We were lucky enough to find someone to take our picture together. We have very few photos of all of us together.
On the canoe ride...
We each made a fish toy out of coconut palm leaves.
We were able to paddle a canoe ourselves too.
After a very yummy dinner, we took a bus tour to BYU Hawaii and the temple grounds. We had some cute sister missionaries as our guides and we learned a lot from them. I had no idea how much the LDS church helped the people of Hawaii settle and prosper.
This is the entrance to BYU Hawaii and possibly the future collage of my daughter. She is pretty sure this is the place for her! Recently she has been talking about going to BYU but she doesn't like the cold too much. BYU Hawaii offers warmer weather and a fun place for her parents to come visit!!!
When the bus turned the corner to come up the street that the temple faces, I was left breathless. I have NEVER seen a more beautiful place in all my life. They way that the temple sits on a hill and is lit is absolute perfection. I know all temples are beautiful but for some reason seeing this particular temple almost brought me to tears. My heart stopped and all I wanted to do was get as close as I could. Thankfully, the bus tour included a stop at the temple grounds and some time at the Visitors Center.
The Visitors Center has a Christus just like the one in Salt Lake but it is slightly smaller. The walls behind the Savior are also similar to those in Salt Lake except they are pastel colors.
Aden found Hawaii on the HUGE globe.
Tom stole the camera and went around the temple grounds and took some pretty shots like the one below.
Sadly our time at the temple ended but we were on our way back to the PCC for some more fun. Here the kids decided to pose with one of the many statues
Once again, we can't keep our sillies in. I'm pretty sure they didn't find anything in his nose.
Ally was kind enough to take a picture of us....
and of Aden too.
Then we went to see Ha which is the evening show at the PCC. All I can say is WOW! So much talent. We all loved the fire dancers the best. That takes skill and courage. We were exhausted when the day was over but it was worth it! By far one of my favorite days in Hawaii so far!
Grandpa Ron will usually take us out one day on the boat but on this trip we were able to go twice. Going out on the boat is a highlight of each trip to Hawaii. We are able to see amazing wildlife while enjoying the adventure of boating in the big scary ocean. I'm not sure which pictures go with what day so here are all the boating pictures that we have.
A FULL RAINBOW!!!
We had to pause the adventure for a quick coast guard check (and yes I even took a picture of that).
What you can't see in this picture is a large and beautiful see turtle in the center-left of the photo. But never fear....the GoPro is here. We have plenty of good turtle pics coming up.
More of that amazing rainbow...
Aden and I couldn't be happier! One of our favorite places in Hawaii is on Grandpa Ron's boat.
And here is crazy Captain Ron.
Captain Ron and his first mate, Tom.
And Grandpa even let the littlest Schiemer have a turn driving the boat.
Of course, no boat trip would be complete without some snorkeling.
Ally was brave and jumped in with us even though she was scared to death.
Even puppy joined in the fun!
Maybe the first dog to do deep sea body boarding!
Tom went back first off the boat and took this picture in the process.
And here are the turtle pictures I promised. Tom was swimming next to them so close that he could touch them.
I, on the other hand, have not mastered the art of holding my breath for more than 10 seconds and had to stay near the surface and observe from afar.
Thankfully, Tom is brave and can hold his breath for a minute at a time so that we can see these great photos.
Below are some more fun and random pictures from our trip.
Tom introduced us to Hanara's the last time we went to Hawaii. This place has great food. I don't know about this pile but Tom seems to love it because he orders it each time we go. Rice, hamburger, eggs, and gravy. I don't even know what to say about that.
Aden body boarding at Rest Camp beach.
Sunset at Makaha beach
This is Ally and some new friends body surfing the shore break.
Gotta love the waterproof iphone case! Only way to get great pictures in the water and check your email while swimming with the fish.
More fun at Rest Camp Beach
The kids worked enough courage to try their luck at Makaha beach where the waves are a bit bigger. They liked it but I think Rest Camp is still their favorite.
Tom and Aden walking out on the reef,
Black Rock Point (where we were married 9 years ago). Always a beautiful sunset to be seen at this beach.
Great family picture!
Tom buried Aden in the sand up to his neck and then took a video of him trying to get out. So funny!!
Hello gorgeous!!
Sadly, our trip had to come to an end but little did we know that we still had a little adventure ahead of us. After our flight was delayed several hours, we finally boarded and were in the air headed to Las Vegas when all of the sudden we were informed of a mechanical problem with the plane. We were told that we had to turn around and go back to Honolulu because it was not safe to fly any further. We landed in Honolulu safely and after about an hour wait in the terminal were told that the plane could not be fixed and we would need to stay in Hawaii another night. Many people were stressed and disappointed but our little crew smiled and saw the silver lining...one more day in Hawaii!!!! The airline was giving out vouchers to put us up in a nice hotel. Since our luggage was some of the last to come off the plane, we were almost last in the line for vouchers which was moving VERY slow. I convinced Tom to pay some people at the front of the line to let us "cut". These very nice young people, Wendy and Matt, let us in line and didn't take the money. We paid for their cab to the hotel and took them to dinner to say thank you. Well worth it because the people at the back of the line were are the airport for 5+ hours after we left. We had a great time at dinner and it turned out we had a lot in common with these two cousins. It was like we had known them for years. We exchanged info and I know our paths will cross again. Wendy is even planning on coming to Aden's upcoming baptism. Turned out that they are LDS too.
We had a great room at the hotel but Aden was a bit worried that Ally might toss him off the 28th floor balcony. :)
The kids said they had never seen a hotel with a 13th floor and insisted we take a picture.
To top off our already crazy airport experience, Ally's flip-flop broke and we had to rig it with a rubber band to stay together.
Aden hitched a ride on Wendy's back on the way back to the hotel after dinner.
The view from the hotel balcony the next morning.
Right below our room was the hotel pool which Tom, Ally, Aden, and our new friends Matt and Wendy took advantage of in the morning before we went back to the airport.
Dinner at Islands with Matt and Wendy.
This was our most adventurous and jam packed trip to Hawaii yet. We had plenty of excitement and plenty of down time too! We are of course grateful to our hosts, Ron and Dee, for always allowing to share our yearly vacation with them. We are so blessed to have family in Las Vegas that take care of things here at home so we can enjoy these types of experiences. This was an incredible start to 2013!!!
