Hawaii

We are back from our long awaited Hawaii trip. It was an amazing 9 days in Paradise!!!  We actually went for the annual IL Road Builders Convention (IRTBA), but added a couple of days for ourselves.  We flew into Honolulu and then headed straight to Kaui and stayed at the Hyatt.  As soon as we landed you could feel the warm weather...wow what a difference from Chicago! It was in the 80's the whole time...not one single day of rain! We had such a good time and did a ton of stuff...we hiked a little, toured the island of Kaui, Mountain Tubed, Rum tasting, Ran a 5K(well not me...Brian), Played in the IRTBA Volleyball tournament (again not me ..I laid by the beach, this was Brian's thing), Brian golfed multiple times, watched the sunset and saw multiple whales jumping around on a daily basis, went on a helicopter ride (AMAZING), went to a Luau and drank without a care in the world .. Oh and ate a TON , But Most importantly, Relaxed!!!   We took a ton of pictures of the island...but its not half the same as seeing it in person so I will send those out from Shutterfly...and just put some fun pictures of me and Brian...

This is Brian enjoying the lagoon at the Hyatt..

We hiked up to this cliff that people were jumping off of....this picture is of Brian contemplating whether or not he wanted to do it...lets just say I talked him out of it because all you could see looking down was rocks ontop of rocks...it was a beautiful spot that overlooked the hotel and ocean and a great spot to watch the sunset and rise.

This is the Thelen crew...Christian, Keri, Brian & Myself...on the cliff...don't you love my hiking shoes???  This was one of those fly by the seat of your pants moments...someone said hey do you think we can climb that....and we did right then and there....no need for gym shoes!

We rented a couple of Jeeps one day and drove around the island...the guys in this picture were pretty much our hangout crew the whole week...

As we toured the island, we found a secluded beach. You can't tell from this picture but the waves were enourmous...I have never seen them this big before..they took me down a couple of times and I almost lost my bathing suit bottoms...needless to say I only went in up to my knees after that.

Posing after a day of Mountain Tubing and Rum Tasting...ooohhh a pretty cool tidbit....we found out on our Tubing ride that Johnny Depp was on the island staying at the Sherridan filming the Pirates of the Carribean 4 movie...we went to the Sherridan for dinner one night, but did not see him...but I felt his presence..HA!

Right before the Luau ...Keri, Laura & Me...hate that we all have our name tags on..but look at the view AMAZING!!!

We were hanging out on the beach and noticed something bobbing in the water and followed it...and it was  a Seal...he just wanted to hang out on the beach with us...so we watched him waddle onto the sand and rest.  It was so cute...and we were able to get so close!

Getting ready to board our helicopter with clients of Brians...

Ready for lift off....I have to say...this was probably one of the highlights of the trip..the island is so beautiful when you are flying over it. The pilot showed us TONS of waterfalls, we went inside a half colapsed volcano...and saw a ton of spots where movies were made like Tropic Thunder, Jurassic Park & Raiders of the Lost Ark..pretty cool.

Brian playing Volleyball

On the Beach...

Our hotel

Our last night at the Closing Convention Dinner...boo hoo

The chicks I hung out with while Brian was working...

One last picture before we leave!

 

After a nice long relaxing vacation..we were ready to come home to our kids...it was a long time to be away from them! I HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU goes out to my Parents, Brians Dad & Nell  and my Sisters for all of their help.  It was a little chaotic back home the week we were gone, but everyone pitched in and I can not thank you enough! I don't even think they realized we were gone because they were having so much fun!!!  You all  are the reason we were able to enjoy our trip... We are so lucky and blessed to have you in our lives!!!! Maholo...thats Thank you in Hawaiian...gotta love it!

So long Hawaii...I hope to see you again!!!