"there are no stoplights in hawaii." -max

"there's no 

STOPlights in hawaii." 

-max

...

DAY 1: WEDNESDAY JANUARY 29th

we traveled for 15 hours.

everyone completely broke down, including me, 

over a cup of spilled bath water at the end of the day.

we all went to bed at 8pm.

ok, i stayed up until 9.

this was still a world record for me.

i don't think i've been to bed before 11pm in 10 years.

maybe 15.

true story.

also, i have already taken the time to unpack my toiletries and underwear.

into drawers and cabinets.

this has happened never in my entire life of traveling before.

note: by the time i was 16 i had been to 16 different countries,

and probably spent over half of my life in airports or on airplanes.

i'm not kidding.

i tell you this so you will know what a big deal it was 

that i unpacked my toiletries and underwear into drawers and cabinets.

BIG TIME.

my mom was the only one who remembered to bring her toothbrush.

our house is in the middle of the jungle.

out of this world amazing.

we picked an orange off of a tree in the backyard 

and found everything growing from bananas, to avocados, to lemons, to coconuts, to papayas.

i can't wait to go to the local fruit stand to see what else is growing around the island.

it poured on us three different times while we were unpacking the car.

and by poured on us, i mean we looked like we had taken showers.

and not dried out hair.

my favorite things about hawaii:

you don't need lotion.

it's in the air.

the air smells like flowers.

all

of

the

time:)

the trade winds are the earth's air conditioning.

if only we could bring them home to utah.

there would be no such thing as an inversion.

or colds that lasted longer than 3 days.

humidity and trade winds.

vwallah.

all winter problems solved.

you're welcome.

chase loves the roosters and chickens.

they freak brennan out.

my peak of the day was teaching brennan 

how to play my favorite childhood card game on the airplane, "31."

just like the good ol' days.

i once won a ridiculous amount of money in quarters one humid iowa night playing that game.

and by ridiculous,

i mean something like $15.

hitting the jackpot when you're 11.

dream come true i tell ya.

he has about 10% of the game down,

but he for sure thinks he's got it 100%.

i love that he's old enough to play cards with me.

almost.

he also beat me twice,

and so i owe him shave ice and a quarter.

and he told me he gets to go first every time when we play.

because the winner always gets to choose.

and so then i showed no mercy and beat him blind.

yes sir:)

that's true love right there.

my hair is curly and "dampy,"

and so i will be wearing braids and buns from this point forward.

10 days of braids and buns, and free beach wavy curls.

no hair dyer.

no curling iron.

BLISS:)

goodnight from woodrose plantation.

the roosters will be waking us up with the sun.

P.S.

everything must be refrigerated.

by everything i mean even the fruit loops and crackers.

my mom says if we don't then it will get soggy, 

and then the bugs will be in them next.

the life of the hawaiian jungle.

my skin is softer already.

signing off.

emily

i just wanted you to see our bags from the front angle so you could really get the full experience. my dad's response was 

"you look like you're going to europe for an entire summer!"

my response to him was that if there's one thing i've learned about traveling with three kids 5 and under,

it's that once you're there you can never have packed too much.

it's always better to have what you need and be prepared.

we fit everything but the kitchen sink.

ok, maybe we fit half of that in too.

below:

san francisco sunrise on an airplane.

below:

chase entranced by the airplanes.

we lost him once on the way home in the LA airport.

after a few minutes of searching we found him hauled up behind a ticket counter staring out the windows at the airplanes.

my favorite was when the boys watched the planes together.

they were so cute and cuddled up together.

i will never forget the flight we all cozied up and watched nemo together. with the fishy blanket.

on the way to hawaii:)

teaching brennan how to play 31.

my "peak" of the day.

we played for shave ice toppings.

i also think i lost a quarter to him.

grandma carol teaching us about banana trees.

woodrose.

{see the orange tree on the side of the house?

i now know what REAL oranges are supposed to taste like.

WOWZA.}