Bye Bye My Sweet Island Family

Bye Malia!

Mahalo and Aloha to my sweet Hawaiian family.  Our final day, the girls and I piled in the car to take the cousins to school in the morning.  I was the embarrassing aunty taking their pictures as they got to school.  I love my nieces and nephews!  Jayden went to school with his mom, so I didn't get his picture.

Bye JJ and Maizie!

Bye beautiful green mountain of Manoa valley!

When we got back to Joe's home to pack our things, Joe pointed out these beautiful white mushrooms that pop up overnight in his woodchips.  They don't last long, like only a few hours, but they are beautiful, tiny, delicate and intricate!

Joe took us to a beach near Diamond Head so we could touch the ocean one last time.  This beach was a perfectly peaceful scene, where the sky meets the sea.

The waves come from two different directions.  Cool!

My footsteps in the sand

Amara found some coral.

Beautiful beach!

Family selfie with the ocean!

Some of the shoreline was actually rock, not sand.

I don't know what this is, but it came from the sea and it's very intriguing.  It is to me a testament of God's glory, imagination, and creativity.

Look!  The bushes here are all flowery!

Joe took us to Nandings Bakery to enjoy some fresh Filipino delights.  There were many gorgous offerings and we ended up purchasing a half dozen of them.

Look at all those confections!

I loved the ube silang.

These were so very good and a great snack for the airport and for our flight, too.

 I wasn't sure I was going to like them as much as a donut, but honestly, they're way better.  The bread is so tender and delicious!  You gotta eat it fresh for that heavenly experience though, otherwise it reverts being on par with a donut (which is still good).

For lunch, Joe took us to Steve's favorite place on the island, Costco.  Steve legitimately loved the ice cream there which was wonderfully creamy.  He also legitimately could enjoy his food knowing it didn't cost a premium.

Hawaii was the perfect family vacation.  Hanging out with Joe's family was bliss. Seeing the tropcial landscapes, tasting the local flavors, paying the supreme prices (ok, not that), added charm to our experience.  I'm so glad we were able to make this happen!  

We said goodbye to Joe as he drove us to the airport after lunch, and ended up flying across the ocean in the evening and arriving in Sacramento at 11pm.  We pretended to sleep at the airport, then boarded our plane to Vegas at 6am and then we finally boarded our flight back to Salt Lake around 9am.  

It was A LOT of traveling and a bit annoying to have that many stops.  And we were exhausted.  I'm so glad my sister picked us up from the airport and drove us back to her house where we picked up some burgers, ate, and took a bit of a nap before we hit the road back home.

The snow by Strawberry Reservoir, so different from the sand along the ocean.

💗💗💗💗