Hana Highway

On our last day in Hawaii, Andy and I went and drove on the Hana Highway. It was super pretty, but we decided that there is NO REASON to drive the whole way! It's too long! And then you get to Hana, and there is nothing there!
On our way there, we saw this view, and thought it would be nice to take a photo. Then right after that, we came around a curve and traffic was stopped due to a fallen tree. Everyone got out of their cars and took pictures. We decided if we had to get stopped, this was definitely the place to do it, because it was the prettiest spot on the whole drive.

This is just another view of the same place.

The reason this drive is so pretty is because the road is narrow, and you're surrounded by rain forrest. The trees all had plants growing all the up their trunks. Everything was really green.

On the way back, we stopped and hiked to this waterfall.

Seals & Lava Rock

On our way back from the Hana Highway drive, we stopped at this overlook because it looked cool. The waves were HUGE, and they kept crashing over the lava rocks.

Some other people that were there said there were seals playing in the waves, so Andy went down for a closer look.

If you look really close in the middle of the photo, about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom, there is a seal in the water.

There were also a bunch of people wind-surfing. It looked really fun.

Finally...some good sunset photos!!

On our last night in Hawaii (a few hours before we had to get on our plane), I had Andy stop at a beach so we could watch the sun go down. This worked out great for two reasons: 1) I finally saw the turtles I'd been searching for all week (they were playing in the current a little ways out from shore), and 2) I finally got some good sunset photos. Of course photos never do the real thing justice, but they're nice memories to have!

Stewart Falls

On July 31, my mom and two of my sisters (Tiff and Con) and I decided to take Kylee and hike up to Stewart Falls in Provo Canyon. It's a really pretty hike, and the waterfall is really nice.
Kylee thinks her life is so hard...riding in the backpack the whole way. She wore me out! It was hot!

Here's Tiff, Mom, Kid and Connie

Connie looks kind of creepy here (sorry, Con!), but I thought Kylee looked really cute.

You can tell we had a wetter winter and spring, because everything was extra green.

Here's the top part of the waterfall.

Mom, Kylee and I

On the way back, Kylee wanted to walk for awhile. She made it about 10 feet before she found a flower she wanted to pick.

When she got to the steep part, she told me, "No, Mommy! It's my turn. You wait right there. I go first." So I would walk, and when she was starting to turn around, I would stop and act all innocent like I hadn't moved an inch. She looked really confused, but since she never caught me moving, she couldn't say anything!

Hiking the "Y"

One hot afternoon in the middle of July, my sister Connie thought it would be a great idea to go hike the Y. Sugi, Connie and I packed Kid's backpack in the trunk and headed off.

You'll notice there are not any pictures of me carrying her up the Y. That's because I DIED. For those of you that have never hiked up there...it's pretty much a 60 degree uphill slant THE WHOLE WAY. I underestimated how much effort it takes to lug a 28 lb. kid up there on your back. Luckily, when I really didn't think I could possible take another step (maybe 1/2 way up?), Sugi volunteered to carry her. He gave her this big piece of grass to keep her entertained, and it worked!

Her she is screeching as she attacks that poor grass and bends and smashes it together...

...then she laughs her head off when she straigtens it back out...

...then all of a sudden, in her sweetest little girl voice she says to me, "Look Mommy! A triangle!" She was so excited! What would it be like to have the innocent life of a 2-year-old?

Here's us chillin' on the Y. I would like to blame the redness of my face on extreme sunburn...but that would be a big fat lie!

On the way back down, the sun rays coming from the clouds looked cool. I actually did manage to carry Kylee all the way down the trail.

Here's all of us. Andy hates these "Hey, I'm going to take a group shot of ourselves"-type photos, so good thing he wasn't there!

We were almost to the bottom of the trail when Kylee suddenly said to me, "Look Mommy! A snake." She was sure right! That thing was HUGE!