We love vistors!

In the Hawaiian tradition, we picked flowers and made leis for the arrival of more family to Oahu from the plumeria flowers in our yard (and on campus).  I was so excited to see my sisters (Michelle and Sarah) and their husbands (Aaron and Chris) on Tuesday morning.

Poor Sydney was started by Michelle's excitement when she walked in the backyard and said hello to her and Ethan. She had her 'eye' on Michelle the entire morning.

We found hidden beach and took the short walk carrying the paddle boards we'd rented and a sea kayak. The trees were beautiful.

 

With my injured knee, I just sat and paddled and didn't attempt to stand up. Everyone else seemed to prefer that anyway.

We ate a quick lunch and Doug stayed with Ethan and Sydney while I went to the Polynesian Cultural Center with everyone.  It was so much fun to laugh with them at many of the entertaining shows.

In the Samoan show, the performer was really funny and demonstrated how to make coconut milk and make fire, etc.  Well, Michelle wanted to take a photo with him. He told everyone where to stand and I ended up next to him.  My left arm felt awkward for the photo so I tried to pull it behind and then realized I was touching his REAR.  Yes, I was getting 'fresh' and didn't even know it.  I quickly moved my hand and ended up touching his (very sweaty) back.  First, it was nasty but I couldn't wait for the photos to end so I could disappear.  SO embarassing.  I think the guy taking the photo had 3 cameras...ugh.

We kept the kids up for the evening show, "Ha: Breath of Life" which they call "SHOW" and they loved it. 

We took a photo with the lead woman in the show.

Friday night, we met them again but this time near their hotel in Waikiki. Man, that place is crowded! We went to dinner without our kids thanks to a babysitter we found in our ward.  It was a little chaotic with her needing to leave and us finding a stand-in babysitter for 3 hours, but other than that we were thrilled to have her help!  We got out without them for the first time in a few months.  It was much needed.

With our guests planning to leave Saturday night, we opted to drive into town again for a short hike.  It was extremely rainy and somewhat muddy, so we walked through the arboretum nearby instead.  We had to duck under trees and a hut to avoid the downpour.

We heard a crazy sound and traced it back to this cockatoo.  This brought back so many memories from my mission where they would waddle in the streets in flocks.

We were sad to see Michelle & Aaron and Sarah & Chris leave, but have some great memories of their time with us.