Hawaii: Day 1

Hello everyone!

I apologize for the long absence. Much has happened over the last year, but for the sake of this blog, I am going to ignore all those events and focus on a current happening in the Walker household.

November 25th, 2014 was my parents 25th anniversary. To celebrate, we all took off from San Jose International airport on December 31st, 2014, to Princeville, Kauai.

We got up at 2:30 am in order to reach the plane at 7:00 am.

Here is Kelsey and me waiting for boarding. It was Kelsey's first time on a plane (and first time out of state!)

Corey and Hannah (the Crazies) waiting for the plane to board.

The Normals waiting...

We were all a little stir-crazy, but very excited.

Hope is a little impatient for the ride to begin.

The face of a tired man (and tired woman,  in the background).

Amy and Ethan. Ethan did great on the plane.

On the plane and ready to go!

Taxi-ing out!

"GASP! We can't believe we're in Kauai!"

Ethan and Kelsey both maintain their pleasant demeanor, despite the 90 minutes we spent waiting for the rental cars!

Kelsey really wanted to take a picture with one of the many wild chickens that inhabit the island.

One of my favorite pictures from the day (actually taken while we were on the road from the airport to our timeshare!)

The peaceful Pacific!

After finally making it to the timeshares at 3:00 Hawaiian time (14 hours after our journey began), we waited for a final 30 minutes for our places to get prepared.

We're all here!

Kelsey says: "Awwwww!"
Casey says: "Moving on..."

"Casey, don't take a picture of me!"

Mom waiting for our place.

Hopers.

Calebud.

Necklace and lei, side by side.

Pops was ready to pack into the places!

The wildlife is very pretty here. This is a red-crested cardinal.

And the plants are very pretty here as well! I have no idea what this is ;P

Picture time! Kelsey and I got a few good pictures.

Caleb and the towering bushes!

After getting settled, we all headed down to the beach for a little bit. Unfortunately, the surf was to high, and there were jellyfish in the water, so we didn't swim, but we did spend some time building a sand-city (and defenses!)

White water.

Towards the center of the island. On day 2, we will be hiking on the other side of that mountain!

It was a bit windy, but we had a ton of fun!

Man the defenses! Invasion in 3 minutes!

"Improve the seawall defenses!"

Our city ended up withstanding some pretty heavy onslaughts of water (although we did find a baby jellyfish in the trenches!)

It will certainly be gone on day 2, but oh well - we had fun :)

Kauai has a lot of agriculture, including these rice fields. The scenery is amazing!

Kelsey and I did not miss an opportunity to take a good picture with the hills in the background.

Day one was fun! We made it to the California new year, but not the Hawaiian - we were all to tired. We made it 22 hours awake, though, which was pretty good.

And that is all for now! Stay tuned for more!

For now,

Casey and Kelsey, for the entire Walker Family

Carlsbad: Final Day

 Today was our final full day at Carlsbad. We've had a great time, but we're all ready to be home.

This morning, we got up, got around, and played croquet! We had nothing on the agenda, so we just relaxed and played games (and in Corey's and my cases, got a few school items taken care of).

Croquet equipment in a fancy pattern that I did not notice or plan for this picture - I'm guessing Corey put them like that, but it's just a guess.

Dad at the bat with his trusty yellow ball (originally Mom was going to be yellow, but dad stepped up to the plate before her).

The croquet mallets were very tiny and we had to crouch to use them.

Corey's still favoring his left leg, but he didn't use his crutches at all today, and was able to keep up pretty well with us all.

Yes - I won croquet :) But Dad was right behind me at the end - I only won by one turn.

Dad - "These aren't croquet mallets! These are hammers of retribution!"

Corey and I working on some school things - I can see Corey's screen in the mirror!

Yes, yes - Corey hijacked the camera again.

After working on a few things, Mom, Dad and I all went on a 3 mile run amidst the hills of Carlsbad. Now, 3 miles is not that long, but for Central Valley-bred people who aren't used to hills, it's tough! It was enjoyable though, even the hilly parts.

Remember the Sudoku challenge? Well, the few minutes of time it took to complete the Sudoku puzzle was worth it, because we got free admission to the pizza/bingo night tonight. Free pizza for us, and four games of Bingo! It was really worth it, because Hope won a pie and ice cream prize, and Mom won a 1-hour massage (worth $70). So, in all, we fed our family and won $75 worth of prizes for the $10 it took to admit Hope and Caleb to the bingo/pizza night!

Hope enjoying her prize.

Time for bed!

And that's all for our trip! I hope you enjoyed it!

Stay tuned for more events in the future!

Until then,

Casey

Carlsbad Day 4

Well, I said that the activity would be a surprise - but now that it is over, the secret can be told! This morning, we headed down to San Diego/Point Loma to watch part of a debate tournament that several church families participated in. We left Carlsbad at about 9:30, and made it down in time to watch a couple friends do their speeches. Before we headed off to lunch, though, we ran into Nick Kjeldgaard, who goes to school at the university that the debate tournament was being held at! It was a very pleasant surprise, and it was great to see him.

After lunch, we returned to the university to watch one more debate before we headed off.

The campus backs up right onto the ocean!

Hope and Caleb played on the playground while Dad, Corey, and I all watched a debate.

Hope and Caleb.

"How does this wheel thingy work?"

Caleb's obviously driving a British car, with its steering wheel on the left side :)

Swinging!

Sitting.

Talking.

Sean after his debate.

The Otto's little guy.

After we got back to the apartment, Corey hijacked the camera.

Nothing like a home-cooked meal!

Sittin' at the dinner table.

After dinner, we went to a ping-pong tournament that the resort held.

Dad and I were on a team.

It looks like I'm hitting Dad in this picture. It also appears as though Dad and I have the same concentration face (compare this picture to the one above it).

Corey and Mom were on a team (no, they did not play Dad and I, they played another duo).

Whack the ball!

 Hope and I decided to rest on the couch afterwards.

After ping-pong, we went to the fire pit to enjoy the fire and some hot chocolate.

"Burn, burn, burn; the ring of fire; the ring of fire."

Sitting at the fire.

We ended our game by playing Pinochle.

And there you have our day! We have one more day on our vacation, before we head back home on Saturday.

Until tomorrow,

Casey