She's free!

We are done with quarantine but we are still trying to take it easy.  Courtney, however, was ready to get out and be free!  She and 2 friends decided to go up to Pine Valley to play for the afternoon.  One of her friends wanted to tube while they were there but the other friend didn't want to.  So they went up and took pictures and played in the snow.  They are cute girls and have a lot of fun together.  When the finished in the snow, they went to the Larsens and had hot chocolate to warm up.

The "Three Amigos": Hayley, Kooper, and Courtney

Stanley

Courtney's Christmas money was burning a hole in her pocket! She couldn't wait to clear the things off her Christmas list that she hadn't gotten.  The first thing she ordered was a Stanley Cup.  She got the huge 40-ounce one and it came while we were in quarantine.  Luckily, it was dropped at our doorstep so we didn't have to go anywhere.  She was super excited!

Christmas

Because we were in quarantine, Christmas was pretty quiet and laid back.  Courtney insisted on everyone waking up at 6 am to open presents.  She put one of the Google dots in Ethan's room with an alarm set for 6 am.  Poor guy! They woke us up a bit after 6 and we went into the living room to see what Santa had brought and to open presents.

Santa brought Ethan a new bike rack for his car and Courtney got some new Converse sneakers.  They were excited!

Then we opened presents, one by one until they were all gone.  They got money from grandparents, clothes, books, and other things from their wish lists. 

Courtney got a Cotopaxi backpack (I don't know why she needs another one but she asked for it) and was thrilled!

When we had finished opening presents we went back to bed for a while.  I was exhausted.  But we woke up in time to log in and watch church via Zoom.  I felt bad because I wasn't able to do the duet but Sister Leslie still played her part of the duet and it sounded beautiful.

We made dinner and had our usual Christmas treats.  By this time, I had realized that I couldn't smell or taste anything.  So I donated my Christmas candy from my stocking to the family so anyone could eat it.  What a bummer!

It was a nice relaxing day with naps and lying around in our new Christmas pjs all day. We watched some Christmas family movies and played games.  It was nice to be in our little cocoon for a while, although we were sick.

Christmas Eve

Since we had arrived home so early that morning, we all slept in.  Bryan was up around 9 am, I woke up around 10 am, and Courtney was up around noon.  I wasn't feeling very good. I had a stuffy nose, clogged head, plugged ears, and just wasn't feeling good.  I was going to call the doctor and get something for it but decided to take a Covid test just so I could tell them I had.  It ended up being positive. I didn't trust the test so I took another one that was a different kind. It still came back positive. We had Covid.

I was supposed to play a duet in Church Sunday so I called the woman to tell her I couldn't.  I called my parents to tell them they couldn't come for Christmas dinner.  I put half the ham and their presents on our doorstep and Leigh Ann came over for the front porch exchange. Then we stayed in the rest of the day.  Bryan left to get our grocery order and to get medication to help us feel better.  Ethan wasn't feeling too great either.  Courtney had a little sniffle but that was it.  Bryan had been sick when we were in Hawaii but was a trooper.

So we spent Christmas Eve resting at home.

That night we ate pizza (which tasted weird to me), read the Christmas story, and opened our pajamas.  We watched movies and then went to bed.  We were exhausted.

Day 7

We checked out of our condo and prepared for our last day in Hawaii.  We had tickets to the Iolani Palace and I was excited.  We drove there, found a parking spot, checked in, and waited for our tour to begin.  They give you headsets to listen to the narrator through.  So we began in the main room and worked our way through the palace.  It was beautiful.

We learned a lot about the history of Hawaii.  It was a really cool tour and I'm glad we took the time to do it.

We then went to eat lunch and headed for the airport.  The rental car return was simple.  We parked it, took a picture of where it was parked, texted it to the owner, and then left the keys inside.  It was really slick and easy.

When we walked up to the airport terminals there was a long line outside.  We got in line and then Bryan walked around to make sure we were in the right place. Turns out, we weren't.  So we walked down to where we needed to be and there wasn't a line.  So we quickly checked in, got our luggage checked in, and went to the gate.  Again, we didn't have seat assignments.  Well, Bryan had a seat assignment but the kids and I didn't.  We thought it would be the same process as it was in Las Vegas so we sat down to wait for our names to be called.  Soon, I noticed a line starting to form.  I wasn't sure if we should get in the line or not so I stayed where I was.  When it was only about 45 minutes before our flight I decided to get in the long line.  The woman in front of me said that they didn't have seat assignments either and we figured out that, if you don't book directly with the airline, they didn't give you seats until you get to the gate.  So we stood in the long line.  The woman in front of us was told that she and her husband couldn't get seats together so I was gearing up for a fight because I didn't want us to sit all over the plane.  Turns out, they gave us seats together.  Well, the kids and I were together and Bryan was in the row in front of us.  But we were at the back of the plane without much room.  It wasn't as fun of a flight as the first one had been but we were on a plane.

The flight home was long.  Ethan and I weren't feeling too great.  Bryan had been feeling sick during the week but I thought it was just a cold or allergies.  Ethan and I had runny noses and our ears were plugged.  It made for a long flight home.

We landed around 11:30 pm (Vegas time) and found our luggage then loaded in our van for the drive home.  We arrived home around 3 am.  I took some NightQuil and we all went to bed.  It was a long rip and we are glad to be home but we had a lot of fun in Hawaii!

Day 6

The original plan for today was to go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.  Tickets are really hard to get and you have to be quick with the internet to get them.  We tried but didn't end up getting them (plus they were $25 per person). So we drove to the Blowhole to try and see it but there were way too many people so we couldn't find any place to park.  We kept driving and decided to do the hike to the lighthouse.  I had thought we did this last time we were in Hawaii but it didn't look familiar and it was a lot harder than I remember it being.  It was a warm day, we were tired, Courtney claims we didn't tell her we were hiking, and Bryan forgot his water.  So we weren't really prepared.  We made it almost to the lighthouse when Courtney, Bryan, and I decided we had seen enough and stopped.  Ethan kept going because he wanted to take pictures.  It was a beautiful hike, just steep, no shade, and in the full sun.

 

Then we went to find out more about the luau at the Sea Life Park we would be attending that night.  We had tickets to the Sea Life park but the woman told me that you only need about 2 hours to see the entire Park, so we decided to go back to the condo and have a relaxing afternoon before the luau.

When it was time, we loaded up again and went to the luau.  While we were in line, waiting to go in, a man told us that he has been to a bunch of luaus on the island and considered this one in the top 5.  Having been to the Polynesian Cultural Center, we were wondering how this would stack up. We went in, found our table, and got ready to see what food they had.

Honestly, it was quite the disappointment. The food was the same as you would find at a cafeteria and it wasn't all that great.  We ate one plate of food, had something to drink, and then left before the entertainment started.  I am glad we got to experience a second luau but it was a disappointment.

Day 5

We checked out of our condo and made our way down to Waikiki to go on a catamaran.  It was a beautiful day.  We were there early so we could check in. The company had sent an email saying that parking was a problem so to get to the dock at least an hour ahead of time so you couldn't find a spot.  We were there about 40 minutes early and there were a ton of spots so I don't know what they were talking about.

We went to check in and no one was there so we waited.  Another couple showed up when we did because they had received the same email.  We all waited and when it was time, we checked in.

We then loaded on the catamaran, had our safety briefing, and were off.  It was a beautiful day for a sail.  The only problem was that, since it had rained Sunday and Monday, they had to reschedule all those people so they had overbooked.  That meant the catamaran was crowded.  But we still got to see amazing views.  We didn't see any whales or dolphins, but it was a nice day to be on the water.

We did have some fighter planes fly over us, so that was cool.

When we finished on the catamaran we needed to get something to eat.  Courtney gave the smoothie she got a thumbs up. Ethan and I got chicken quesadillas and Bryan got some pineapple.  It was yummy.

Then we decided to go back to Pearl Harbor and go to the airplane museum.  We had time before we needed to check into our next condo.  We drove back to Pearl Harbor, loaded on the bus to Ford Island, and went to the museum.  It's crazy because there are still bullet holes in the buildings from the attack on Pearl Harbor.  They kept them there to remind the soldiers of what could happen.  We watched a movie and then explored around.  We even went into a hangar and saw some of the airplanes.

By this time, we were ready to check into our condo.  That was a treat.  It was a unique place!

We quickly had to make some ground rules.  The bathroom door was a slat accordion door so if anyone needed to use the bathroom, everyone else had to go outside on the balcony so they would have some privacy.  It was crazy.  The cupboards, which I didn't get a picture of, looked like they belonged on a camper trailer.  It was wild but a very nice place.  We had air conditioning and Netflix, so we were set.

We spent the rest of the evening watching movies and relaxing.  We came to the conclusion that we are a 5-day vacation trip family.  After 5 days, it gets to be too long and we get grumpy.  But we had a lot of fun.

Day 4

We woke up, ate breakfast, and loaded up to go snorkeling.  I was really excited because there was a place, not too far from our condo, that was supposed to be beautiful snorkeling.  It was called Kuilima Cove. We drove to the beach (after having to ask directions) and it was too chopping.  The rain had made it so the waves were huge and it wasn't safe to snorkel.  I was sad but we stayed on the beach for a bit and were soaked by a sneaker wave (we were looking at it when it hit us but we didn't realize how large it was).

We went back to the condo and waited until it was time to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

This was such a fun day!  We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and checked in.  We had made the reservations using our GoOahu card so I thought it was entrance to the Center.  However, we found that it was actually a group tour of the Center.  They directed us to our group and we were off on our tour.  It was great because our guide took us to all the areas and we were able to learn more about the history and play games.  It was amazing.

We learned to play the ukelele.  This activity was taught by senior missionaries and one couple was from St. George.

We were taken to different countries and learned more about the warriors and the games they play.

We went on a boat ride, ate poi (which isn't very good), and learned so much.  It was a great day.  But it was only going to get better.  We had tickets to the luau and to the night show.  We were tired (Bryan wasn't feeling too well) but were looking forward to all the food!

Our guide took us to the luau so we were there on time and ready to go.  She told us that the pineapple pina colada was refillable so to ask them for a second.  We didn't understand how valuable this information was until we got in and saw the pina colada. It was so yummy!!

The food was amazing and the entertainment at the luau was great.  The Center really knows how to get people through a line, how to make yummy food, and how to entertain people.  I was taking a picture of Ethan when the MC of the luau was walking by.  She ducked behind Ethan and told me to take another picture.  He is a good sport. 

We stuffed ourselves and then went to the night show.  We were exhausted but I was so glad we went.  It was a fun day and a great night!  This was the highlight of the trip.