Visit with GG and Gramps

Who would have guessed that my parents just needed one little trip to Hawaii to become wild and crazy vacationers? They were here for the third time since we have moved here (fourth for my mom who came when Ridge was born). They have so much fun together. They rented a car and on their own they went to the Kalalau lookout at the top of Waimea Canyon, on a helicopter tour , to the coffee plantation, and on a Na Pali coast boat trip. The captain of their boat was a man from our ward who let my mom drive the boat which she was pretty excited about. They also bought a video of their helicopter tour so we got to see what they saw from the air. My mom's goal was 6 beach days and we made it. We spent two Saturday's at Hanalei Bay and the most amazing thing happened. MY MOM GOT IN THE WATER, ON A BODY BOARD, AND CAUGHT A WAVE! My mom loves the beach but not the water. She actually got in the chest deep water, layed on a board, and jumped right on to a wave and rode it to shore. Holly jumped up screaming and ran to give her a huge hug. We were all so excited. Our other beach days were at Kalapaki, Lydgate, and Poipu Beach x 2. My mom and dad always bring or buy good treats for beach days so the girls are extra excited to go to the beach with Geeg and Gramps. My Dad loves golf, but you will only understand how much when I tell you how many holes he golfed in two weeks. Are you ready for this..... 112 holes! When he got here he had a case of gout in his elbow but he played golf through the gout the very next day and just kept going. On my mom's birthday Holly and I got a babysitter for the kids in the morning, sent my dad golfing, and took my mom on a scavenger hunt. We gave her clues for each stop. The first stop was island soap and candle works where she had to spend all of the money that was in the envelope. She got a lava rock foot scrubber, some lotion and some chapstick. The second stop was the jungle girl, where she had to pick a necklace. The next clue led us to the Kalaheo flowers farm. Luckily the owners of Kalaheo flowers are in our ward and I was able to set up a tour of the farm. First we did a walking tour of one part of the farm, then I kept Ridge in the car and Holly and my mom did the rest of the tour in a golf cart. Holly told me it was like a flower Disneyland ride. When we left they gave us a big bunch of beautiful flowers. I think it was a highlight for my mom. Last but not least, we took my mom to Keoki's. We made her get a fancy drink with her lunch and introduced her to the best desert in Hawaii, Hula pie. Other fun things we did were check out the lighthouse by the Marriot in Lihue, walk on the "turtle path" in Poipu, walk on the Kukuiolono golf course, and visit the Kamokila Hawaiian village (a mock up of a traditional Hawaiian village). It started to rain on us at the Hawaiian village so we took cover under some trees . The trees happened to be right by some pig pens. The pigs started snorting and scared my mom to death. It was really funny. I'm so glad they got to come to see us. I know they think it is more fun to visit us in Hawaii than Boise, Utah, or New Mexico. As for the next time we venture out of the state... I think traveling gets exponentially harder with each kid. Especially when you have to travel across the ocean, have several layovers, rent a car, sometimes with a hotel stop, and drive to wherever you are going. I'm not sure when we will be back on the mainland next. I am sure that we miss our families like crazy and HOPE to see them soon.