Hawaii Day 13-14

Catching the spray while sitting on the turtle

Day 13 was Amanda and James' 11th wedding anniversary. We started the day with a Starbucks coffee, bagels and cream cheese. Amanda found a type of cream cheese that was made from almond milk that I could eat too. It was great. I will try to find that same kind at home.

Making beaded bracelets 

Then we walked to the beach. This time, we walked the other direction. The older kids took a swim in the ocean. The younger ones stayed close to shore and the in-between kids did some body surfing! The swells were big enough that I opted to stay close to
the shore. Nicole spotted a turtle from the shore so that was cool for all of us to see. While snorkeling, Nicole saw fish and an eel.  The water at this beach wasn't as clear as at the previous beaches where we did snorkel.

Potato crusted fish entreé

After our beach experience, we went to the pool. The older kids went down the slide numerous times.  James took a couple runs too! Miss K and I hung out at the dive pool. She practiced a kneeling dive; she practiced lots of pencil dives and feet first surface dives. Her front crawl with side breathing has improved a lot! She even has a foundation for elementary backstroke.

Heke cooked in a casserole

Miss J would only practice what she already knew. I wasn't popular at all when I "encouraged" her to be like a cork screw and swim front/back/side or a deep sea diver to be on the bottom of the pool. She wouldn't do more than a couple deep water bobs or a couple bob for safety. She wouldn't try getting a breath on her own. Why bother when there will be a hand there to lift her up to the surface when she needs a breath. I sure get how she thinks!

Herb encrusted fish and scampi/shrimp fettuccine

Penne pasta with butter and parmesan 

For lunch we had salami sandwiches and most of the girls made a bracelet for an activity. Nicole and I made one too! We had an afternoon pool session too and then we came in to shower and get ready for our first and last dinner at the resort.

We went to the Humble Kitchen for dinner. We started with calamari, roasted cauliflower and broccoli and the steamed dumplings as appetizers. With a large group, it is fun to order several appetizers and have a taste of each! Miss K had a cheese quesadilla and Miss J had an avocado quesadilla.

Chicken wings

For the main entree, we all had something different. James had the ribeye steak. Bob had the shrimp and scampi fettuccine. Amanda ate the potato encrusted fish. Nicole ate the terrine cooked fish. I ate the herb encrusted fish. Miss J ordered the chicken wings and Miss K ordered the penne pasta with butter and parmesan cheese.

For dessert we ordered the chocolate soufflé and the pineapple upside down cake. The restaurant gifted us the chocolate cheesecake and a chocolate fudge cake because four of us were celebrating our anniversaries! (Amanda and James celebrating 11 years. Bob and I celebrating 38 years.)

Miss K ordered the ice cream cookie sundae and Miss K ordered the raspberry sherbet. They enjoyed their desserts!

Cheesecake and pineapple upside down cake

It was all good. I thought that the chocolate soufflé was the best! We even had a front row seat to watching a beautiful sunset.

After dinner, we went to the movie. Lilo and Stitch was playing which the girls thought was a big deal and they enjoyed seeing it.

Raspberry sorbet

Fudge cake topped with berries and chocolate 

Chocolate soufflé 

We spent day 14 with one more romp in the ocean.  We did have a turtle sighting on our walk to the ocean.

We had one last slide at the pool and then we packed.

At the pool, Bob actually was able to stay in a flat position coming out of the slide and touched his toes on the rock wall on the other side of the pool. He did it two times in a row! All the staff gave him a thumbs up! They also told him that they had only seen one other person do the same touch! He made the best splashes of all of us although Nicole and Amanda had some great rooster tails too!

Ice cream cookie sundae

We had a late check out on of the rooms and then we enjoyed the grounds for a few more hours. Miss K played more chess and Miss J watched the koi swim in the pond in between sessions on the swing.

Last time playing in the ocean

Catching a few more zzzzs between flights

We flew from Maui at 9:30 in the evening. We arrived in San Francisco about 6 in the morning. Both the kids slept on the plane. Miss K was asleep before the passengers were seated on the plane! Luckily, we had long layover in San Francisco and there was a bench that was perfect for some extra nap time! After about three hours, they both woke up and it was time to board the plane for our final leg of the journey.

Off to board the airplane for the last time

The girls were well rested. The adults. . .well, we could have used some sleep like they had! We returned to Portland a few minutes ahead of schedule. The two week vacation was over quickly!  The memories will last forever!

Bye until our next trip