Easter Trip to Utah

So my beautiful wife got me the most amazing Christmas present she ever has...VIP tickets to SLC Comic Con and this was our trip to Utah for said event. It was a blast, and I will cover it in the next entry, but this will be the added bonuses of a trip to Utah.

 getting to see Great Grandma

 helping their uncle with exercise

 barefoot in Utah grass

 like nowhere else

all of the blossoms in bloom

 at her parents

 This peach tree in the back looked like the Japanese cherry blossoms.

 Grandpa A made a gift of boots and spurs (not to be used on the child's father)

 still barefoot in the back

 until it got cold. And all who know my packing will laugh that my kids didn't have coats with them (why would we need them? Its the rockies in Spring...) so we had to borrow. Oh, by the way, I think this is modified Quidditch.

 Don't fall off your broom, Harry!

 Then my gracious cousin had us over so my kids could play with their second cousins.

 watching the Pirate Fairy for family night

great friends on their trampoline

 We got to meet up with more great grandparents to go to the airplane museum. This is in front of Popper's plane.

 our youngest was the most excited

 It was cool for the kids to see all of their relatives' planes in the same place.

 a great experience

 pointing out Popper's name on the wall

 getting their photo in front of Grandpa E's plane

 little pilots

 our human totem-pole up to Grandpa's cockpit

 Both grandpa's planes were in line for this great shot. The muscle cars of fighter aircraft!

 Uncle Bob-wa was up at the base for a physical and finished in time to meet up with us.

 too cool

in front of Popper's other plane...the one with his name on it

 such a blessing to have him tell the kids what it was like to fly on these before GPS

 Then photos in front of their dad's plane; mine looks older and worse than most of the others in the museum...I've flown a couple recently that look like this...

with GG

Then it was off to the dinosaur park.

 Don't eat me!

 It's ok, Kid, it's a veggie-saurus.

 Easter morning egg and jellybean hunt

 grandma in the background

And I leave you with the blossoms. It was such a pleasure to see the colors in Utah in Spring.

Hawaii on the way home

To ease our transition from our tropical island back to the central time zone we stopped off in Hawaii.

 We stayed at the Disney resort Aulani

 It's next to the Marriott in Ko'olina

 while we were waiting for check in we drove around Oahu

 The beach was nice, but after Okinawa and Thailand we couldn't help but compare.

 We were able to be on the beach without dive shoes, and that was nice.

 a present from me to me was snorkeling with spinner dolphins and green sea turtles

 the morning was dark and stormy, but as is usual for Hawaii, it cleared up nicely

 there is the pod underneath us

 they played around the boat, jumping, spinning (hence the name) and surfing in the wake

 so many of them, slapping the water, swimming upside down and playing

 they are good size

 racing along side

 surfing along the bow

 approaching the turtle cleaning station

 right above it

 then back to the marina

 the height of the mountains and the drop off of the water was such a contrast to Okinawa

 At the turtle cleaning station they came in to have the fish eat the parasites off them.

 The snorkeling was excellent, but it made me miss my regulator; I just can't hold my breath long enough to stay down with them as much as I like. Needing to breath, such a chore...

 from the balcony we could see humpback whales surfacing

 beautiful sunsets

 the kids favorite part was the pool area

 they had such a good time playing together

 and seeing the special guests

 poor kid was so sick at this point

 I just went round and round the lazy river to let him sleep.

 Hanging with Chip 'n Dale, we were wrapped in towels because 80 degrees felt cold

 

 

 Our youngest loved their aquarium.

 

 those fish are fun to watch

 Plumeria!

 Menehune - the Hawaiian playful dwarfs

 rainbows on the way to the PCC

 the dinner was fun, but we were all crazy sick

 putting on a good face nonetheless

 Mele Kalikimaka

Then it was time to trade in the sand for Utah snow