Penelope

Just trying to fill her dad's shoes, well socks and shoes.

P.S.

I forgot one of the biggest highlights of my parents' visit. One morning we went up to the North Shore to hit the beach and my dad noticed some people cliff-jumping off some rocks on the side of the beach. He asked the lifeguards if it was safe and they said while they don't condone it, as long as we aren't inebriated and don't jump onto someone already in the water, we should be fine. Now, as some of you know, I have been known to jump off some cliffs in my day but since I had kids, I haven't done anything of the sort. Well apparently I got my adventure genes from my dad because a little later in the morning he said, "Come on, lets go jump off those rocks." So he and I trekked over there and climbed up the rock. It was about 25 feet up according to the lifeguard although it looked A LOT higher from the top! My dad went first and then I was up. I knew I couldn't stand there and look down for long so I counted to three and jumped. It was really fun and exhilarating. I still can't believe we actually did it. I wish I had pictures of it but Tory and my mom were busy keeping the kids corraled so I just have to be happy with the memory. Thanks for jumping with me dad!

Grandpa and Grandma are gone :(

But we had a wonderful time with them. We did tons of stuff and they even survived watching our kids for 2 days and nights while Tory and I explored our new island home sans kids! I won't give a complete travel log, I'll only hit a few highlights of their visit (besides just having them here). One day we went to Hanauma Bay. I had been there years ago but we hadn't gone since we moved here. The trip didn't start that well. The parking lot was already full when we got there and Penelope fell apart when her dad left us to go park the car and we had to walk in without him. It was not pleasant. Then we had to wait around forever to watch an educational video of the bay (it was mandatory). FINALLY, we got to go down to the bay. It was AWESOME!! We took turns snorkeling, the kids played in the water. We broke for lunch and ate sand infested sandwiches, chips, fruit and brownies. Then a few of us snorkeled a little more, which, by the way, was AMAZING. Then we packed up and headed back to the car. While the start of the day was a little stressful, it ended up being so fun.

The only sad thing was the snorkelers didn't apply enough sunscreen on the back of their bodies which we paid for over the next few days.

Another day we hiked up to this lighthouse. I had heard about the hike (really an uphill walk, we were able to take our double stroller) from some friends. You can't actually get to the lighthouse but the view at the top is gorgeous.

*A typical 'family' photo!

Another highlight of their visit was celebrating my mom's birthday. The twins are all about birthdays and were SO excited to celebrate with Grandma. Parker especially enjoys the cake and ice cream.







Another highlight was when my parents graciously offered to watch our kids for a couple days while Tory and I got some time away. We hiked, swam, snorkeled, went to the temple, slept and ate, ate, ate! It was a glorious 49 hours! Thanks mom and dad.

Then the sad day arrived. We had to say goodbye. Here are a couple 'goodbye' photos:

Thanks so much for coming to visit us and for putting up with our crazy family.