Mele Kalikimaka

This year we decided to spend the Christmas break in Hawaii with the Fisher Fam. We had initially planned an international excursion, but with a one year old and a wheelchair and every being so busy lately, we decided a true beach vacation was in order. We flew out on Christmas day hence William's Christmas jammies bringing joy to all the other travelers.

Traveling with a walking paraplegic & baby is NO JOKE. I decided since we were staying in a handicap accessible villa that I wanted to bring my walker. It was a lot of luggage but I don't regret bringing my walker. It just makes it easier for me to get around walking & gives me the independence without having to use my wheelchair. We quickly realized that traveling on Christmas day means almost everything is closed when you arrive. So we finally all arrived & got check in & our little Christmas elf crashed hard.

Dec. 26th -Then we started off the morning checking out the resort with a pitstop at the ocean for a bit before lunch. Now this was during my exhausted sleeping weeks so that afternoon I fell asleep on the beach & then sunset at Sunset beach with Acai bowl and a late night Costco. 

Aunt Tori & Uncle Braden are naturals with Will. We can't wait for more cousins ;)

Will started getting sleeping on our exploration and so he started relaxin on Grandpa's head. It was so precious 💗

We decided we couldn't wait to try out the water & so we stopped by the pool on our way back to the villa & we were in HEAVEN.

This is post beach nap, if you couldn't already tell. 

I'm not normally one to take pictures of food, but man I wish I took pictures of our Acai bowls. But these will do ;) We tried to focus on staying present and enjoying every moment, but we snagged a few pictures. 

Another failed attempt at a group photo. But proof of our Sunset beach sunset Bonzai bowls.

Dec. 27th- We started off the morning with Crouching Lion Hike. I wasn't able to join for obvious reasons once you see pictures of how steep & wet the trail was and of course my limited ability to walk and hike. 

William's fist pumping that they made it to the top. 

Meanwhile, my mom & I went for a walk along a beach park, nearby the hike. When we drove back over I decided I wanted to try and hike just the beginning. My mom was not very happy with me at all & kept yelling at me to come back. But as per usual I was too stubborn & wanted to get a taste of the hike, adventure & mud. At first I thought I'd run into the group on their way down, but they came back a different way and so Trevor came up to get me. I don't regret it, I was pretty proud of myself for making it as far as I did on the slippery slopes. 

After cleaning off we headed back for more pool & beach time.
 My sexy husband makes everything more fun. 

There was LOTS of pool time & lots of nap time. 

Christian and Will were basically on the same 

sleep & nap schedules. But we couldn't leave him in charge because I

'm not sure he would have heard William when he woke up. 

Turtle Bay Resort was completely handicap accessible. It was so awesome to be able to roll along the ocean front & get from our Villa to the hotel to the pool all on my own.

  

We really didn't take very good pictures at sunset beach, but WHY didn't we take pictures of our Acai bowls - my biggest regret of the whole trip. 

A little blurry, but too good not to put in here. 

Oh this is why we didn't take more pictures night. I guess Acai bowls make you remember only the good about the evening, until you see the pictures. We also ended every night with games & cookie dough so every day was a good day.

Dec 28th- We only had one rainy day so a few of us ventured over to the gym, which was crazy awesome. Look at that view & the coolest water cycles rowing machine. 

Since it was raining, we decided we might as well get in the water. A few of us snorkeled & I didn't realize I was swimming outside the buoys & ended up getting cut up by some coral. It was so refreshing to swim in the ocean & much more entertaining than looking at the bottom of the pool. 

Now I know it doesn't look like they're having fun and maybe they weren't. But once again I passed out while reading (a daily occurrence) & woke up to this crew talking like pirates. I could not pick up on the game, but then again I was half with it when I heard them. 

Dec. 29th- Early morning with C.L.I.M.B. Works Zip-Line. This is the same company I worked for in Tennessee. Since then they've opened another location near North Shore. Braden, Tori, Trevor & I have all had the chance to zip & visit friends before. But Laura, Christian & my Dad hadn't been to this location. I didn't join until line six, where Mike drove me up and I climbed up to the platform and met everyone there. 

We brought some deliciousness back from Ted's bakery for Braden & Tori to enjoy on the beach. 

Later on we went to check out Wiamea beach. The waters were pretty rough & the life guards were pretty strict so we just beached it, played in the sand, buried Trevor & some snorkel adventures.

 

Proof that Grandma Kaaren made it to the beach!

Look at those parents in the making. 

The son-in-laws:

we married winners. 

For mainly relaxing the days went by fast. We drove over to the PCC for this Thai food truck. The service was so slow & William fell asleep in Grandma's arms - which is a rare occasion nowadays. 

Dec. 30th We all were showered and put on clean clothes to attend church & visit the Laie Temple. This is literally the only picture we got of everyone all together. Tori & Trevor really take our family to new levels - haha

Then beach & pool time recommenced. Trevor forgot sunscreen so he hid out until someone brought some down so Will & Daddy could play together.

What cute grandparents. But seriously they make 60's look good!

Our best attempt at a picture with the grandparents.

Uncle Mike came over for Sunday dinner & games. Braden & Tori made some bomb diggity carne asada. I only wish I took a picture of the giant cookie dough tub that we ate our way through - and we only actually COOKED one dozen cookies out of the 5 lb. tub of dough. 

Dec 31st- Now I realize why the week went by so fast we really were only all together for 4 full days and it flew by! I packed the night before & early in the morning so I was able to tour the property and hit the gym one more time while everyone else packed. We checked out & then adventured the island for our last taste of the island together. 

Kaaren's eyes were closed & she was swaying so pleasantly in the sun, 

as if she'd never seen the sun before. It was too funny, we love her! 

It was so wonderful to be all together eating cookie dough by the tub, nightly games, 

beach naps & reading, snorkeling and swimming. We were so relaxed we really didn't 

take to many pictures, but enjoyed our time together in paradise.