The Colorado Jeppson Crew

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Waterfalls, PCC, and shaved Ice...oh my!

We did get away from the beach on occasion :)

We hiked to some waterfalls. Here is a picture of the girls at Waimea falls.

We also went to the Polynesian Cultural Center run by the L.D.S. Church. That was AWESOME! Matt played the drums in "Tonga" and won this fancy hat.

The girls fished in "Tahiti". Hannah is the only one that caught any fish...she caught two and then was able to make two wishes.

Learning to throw spears in "Tonga"

I couldn't resist matching them...!!!

What's a beautiful Hawaiian afternoon without a stop for some shaved ice.

Matsumoto's was our last stop of the day!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Spring Break Phase 2

What is a trip to Hawaii without time spent on the BEACH!

We typically ended up on the beach at some point every day we were there. Some of the beaches we went to were Waikiki, Haleiwa, Waimea Bay (not sure if I am spelling any of these names right!), Sunset Beach, and one I can't spell, but the sand was so soft it was like powdered Sugar...beautiful!

this one is not of the beach, but you can see the view from our Balconies pretty well. I posted this one on accident...:) Still it's a nice picture!

This is one of two sea turtles we saw sunbathing on the beaches. We went to Turtle beach and saw another. The night we took this picture, the bay was full of sea turtles. You could see them poking their heads up and out of the ocean at different intervals, and see their shells as they came close to the oceans surface. It was very magical!

Hunter found this hole someone had dug, he climbed in...shortly followed by Jack. They had a ball covering each other's feet with sand.

RUN CORA RUN!

Matt and Anya boogie boarding.

Dad loved following the boys around on the beach. He and Jack found this huge stick that Jack loved. He almost wouldn't let it go when it was time to leave.

This is typically what the boys looked like each night when we got back to our hotel.

We had a blast though!

Spring Break!

This year we spent spring break in HAWAII!!

Our trip to Hawaii has been in the planning/saving phase for a couple of years now. We were supposed to go last year, but then the twins came along and I didn't think I could do Hawaii with two 4 month old babies...so we put it off for another year. Well, we finally went! The timing worked out well, since Matt's mom and dad were able to come along with us. They were a huge help with the kids and the boys!! I don't think that we could have done it without them and still have fun, since most often one boy was running up the beach one way and the other was going the opposite direction. It was nice to have a lot of helping hands.

We stayed at the Hale Koa, the army resort on Waikiki. It was gorgeous, with beautiful grounds, parks and views.

Our first night there, we thought it would be a nice welcome to Hawaii to attend the hotels Luau.

The show was pretty cool, with amazing performances. Seeing Polynesian dances never get old, they are a sight to behold!

Well, much to our ignorance, while we were on the plane, and enjoying the luau and getting settled...Japan had a major earthquake which caused tsunami swells. After settling down for the night finally, we got a wake up call just after midnight. The hotel's sirens were blaring and an announcement was running through the PA system. " This is not a test, a tsunami warning is in effect, all individuals must evacuate from the coast line...". WHAT!!! I remember waking up and asking Matt if it was real, or just in my dream. We got up, got dressed, and were looking out the window, flipped on the news and were trying to decide what we should do. Luckily we do have friends in the area whose home is on high ground, so were almost ready to give them a call and say "can we come stay?". Come to find out, the Hale Koa is built like a fortress, and meets all the safety regulations to qualify for a vertical evacuation. Our room was on the 13th floor, so we were fine where we were, and did not have to leave. A 6 ft wave was expected to hit the Hawaiian shores just after 3 am. I didn't sleep very well after that, expecting a giant wave coming to sweep us all away. I kept getting up and looking out the window. Oddly enough, everything looked completely peaceful. Eventually a wave did hit Hawaii, I slept through it, and it was only 1.9 feet higher then normal. The only "damage" we saw, was that the Waikiki beach was a little more rocky then usual. We were very blessed. The next day, Friday, the whole island was shut down, roads closed, so we just stayed at our Hotel, swam in the pool, and enjoyed Waikiki!

Sunrise, the morning after our arrival. Yes! Our resort is still here!

The boys loved the balcony. The first thing they did, whenever we were in our hotel room, was check to see if the door was open to the balcony so they could go out.

We had a gorgeous view. One direction we had the ocean, and the other we had the mountains, and out straight we had the city skyline.

It was perfect!

Standard Vacation breakfast...Chocolate chip waffles and pancakes!

Mom and Dad Jeppson on Waikiki

The Jeppson crew on Waikiki

Enjoying the beach!

We did so much and took so many pictures during our trip, that I will have to break it up into different posts. It really was a dream spring break with perfect Hawaiian weather.

As we were packing up to go home at the end of our trip, Hannah exclaimed that she already missed Hawaii. I think we all feel the same!