Excuse me while I interupt my HAWAII blogging.....

Last week we spent a much needed beach bum week in California.  My friend Alice lives in California and we try to get out and visit her once a year.  She was very accommodating of our request to do a lot of nothing.  Beach, swimming pool, blueberry picking, hanging out and a movie, perfect.

Just the kids and I got away this time and our favorite part was the beach (minus Kindle who hates wet sand).  We went to a beach in Carpenteria, if you swam out far enough there was a platform that you could jump off of into the dark ocean abyss.  The first day I swam out with Matthew and boy we were tired.  The second day I boogie boarded out with Maggie and Spencer, half way out Maggie decided that it was a bit creepy but I persuaded her to continue.  Once we got to the platform they both wanted to jump in but the ocean can be scary.  So we all joined hands and jumped in together, after that they jumped by themselves, again and again and again....  So much FUN!

Alice has two kids Olivia 9 and Adrian 8, Maggie and Olivia get along so well, it makes me so happy.  Not surprisingly Kendal had a blast with Adrian, she can play with anyone and I love that about her.  I hope that our kids will grow up great friends!

 

 

 

This hat was screaming 1960's!

 

 

 I still have a lot of Hawaii to blog about! 

Bishop Museum, Dole Plantation and Polynesian Cultural Center

We, being homeschoolers love to find fun ways to learn about history.  What better way to learn about Hawaiian history then to go to Hawaii and visit some of their most amazing historical attractions (Pearl Harbor will come later).

Our first stop was the Bishop's Museum, a little taste of Hawaiian History.  We were amazed at how beautiful all of their creations were, robes, staffs, hooks, musical instruments, baskets, they are truly amazing with their hands.  We loved learning about the plants, animals and culture of Hawaii.

 

Dinosaurs???  Children's part of the museum.

The dole plantation was full of fun history.  The kids listened so much better than I did, they still make references to the tour that go completely over my head.  I keep wondering, where was I? 

The maze was fun, I wish that we could have made it through the entire pineapple but we barely made it through the bottom half.  The Pineapple Express is where the kids filled their brains with info, we also saw LOTS of pineapples, banana trees, macadamia nuts and other yummy Hawaiian treats.  The best part was the pineapple ice cream!

 

 

We just did not have enough time to fully enjoy the Polynesian Cultural Center, it was busting at the seems with activities and shows.  What we did have time for we thoroughly enjoyed.  We even saw a friend from our ward in Surprise that was attending college at BYU Hawaii (kids grow up to fast).  Our favorite part was the Breath of Life show at the end of the day, no pictures, but take my word for it, it was amazing.

 We were on this boat...

Being pushed by him...

 

History has become by far our favorite subject, I think because it lends itself to so many fabulous field trips.