Erekson's Summer Vacation 2008

Our summer trip was Amazing!

Dane Bishop (Jarem's friend) came with us and we had a great time together. We packed exciting adventures into every day - everything was extraordinary and my co-travelers are adorable! Everything and everyone were so ridiculously photogenic that I took a bajillion pictures, it was difficult to choose which ones to leave out of the blog.
Departing Kwajalein...
Jarem, Dane, and I flew to Honolulu where we met Rich at 2:30am. We all arrived in Kaua'i together at 7:00am. Talk about a long day... and night... and day! The up-side was watching the glorious sunrise over Hawaiian waters from the plane. Nice!

Kaua'i

Rich was our trip planner, tour guide, and chapperone. We used The Ultimate Kaua'i Guidebook, Kaua'i Revealed (6th edition) by Andrew Doughty - it was the perfect reference for our Kaua'i experience. We stayed at the Hilton - breakfast in the morning and happy hour with pu' pus at night were included in our free stay for almost one week!

Our first adventure while visiting Kaua'i was an airplane tour...

The plane had bubble windows so we could see all around and headphones with mouth pieces so we could talk to eachother during our flight.

We flew all around Kaua'i, the Garden State. Waimea Canyon and the Napali Coast were the my favorite sights.

The airplane tour was amazing but photos don't do it justice so I'm not posting many of them.

Next - NaPali Kona Forest Reserve Pihea trail...


The trail started out easy but turned gnarly pretty quick.

Mysterious fog wafted around us like a blanket



We finished off the day at Barking Sands Beach...


The waves were perfect for boogie-boarding. We were in the water for hours.




Kahalahala Beach at Lumaha'i on the north side of the island








Mostly Rich and I just had fun watching the boys play...


We stopped at every view area we could during our trip...




Shipwreck Beach - big waves and a nice big cliff too




Hiking on the The Kalalau Trail along the Napali Coast

The boys make hiking look so easy! :) Hanakapi'ai Falls were beautiful. Jarem got in the water a little ways and it was my birthday so of course I took a dip.

We rested briefly at Hanakapi'ai Beach on our way out

Another great boogey-boarding spot was Kealia Beach

Rich and I hiked up the Sleeping Giant - Jarem and Dane opt'd for a movie instead

On our last day in Kaua'i we drove to Wailua Falls to pass the time before our flight

It's no wonder Hollywood loves to produce films on the Garden Island - it's one of the most beautiful places on earth!

We were excited for our next stop - Utah! Jarem and Dane charged their batteries for the long flight ahead.

Utah

First things first - Jarem revved up his go-ped and Dane rode a motorcycle for the first time.

Ashley's baby shower

People came from all over to show their love and support of my expectant grand baby. Ashley is beautiful - she's got that glow!

Hostess Brooke

Jen - the fabulous cake master

Baby Echo's Family Tree... Great-Great Grandma Eileen Erekson, Great Grandmas Barclay and Erekson, Grandma Erekson (ME!) and her mother Ashley. It's amazing how fast the family tree grows with all the young family start-ups and second marriages. ;)

Ashley was happy to see her Erekson aunts

Kesha shows us her melted candy bar while Bonnie and Jean work on theirs during the poopy diaper game!

Isn't my mommy cute?

The kids had fun socializing too...

Presents!

Cynthia helped with the presents and Kale insisted that some of the presents belonged to him. Kate just watched and was as cute as any little person could dream of being!

After mom fell asleep in her chair we decided it was time to finish up this rip-roaring party!

Congratulations Ashley - we can't wait to meet your sweet little baby girl!

While I stayed in Ogden with girls, the boys headed for a 4-day backpacking trip in the scenic Uintahs (Rocky Mountains)

Camp wasn't cold - it was infested with millions of mosquitos, hence all the long sleeves.

Rich swatted at the bugs as he told camp stories

Jarem and Dane had fun exploring

This is my brother Judd... and this is my brother Judd enjoying the mosquitos

It's fun to have so many great brothers and brother-in-laws on both sides of the family. We were glad Robert could make it.

And we were glad Tad Judd and Alan came too

Thanks to Tad - trip coordinator and Alan - trip photographer!

Next on the Utah agenda - Jarem's favorite activity of all time. Little Sahara Sand Dunes, Utah with my parents. Rich took Dane for a ride on the Banshee...

We set up a shade tent to get out of the scorching dessert heat

We climbed Sand Mountain on motorcycles, 4-wheelers, and since we had the place to ourselves we also climbed up it on foot...

Rich offered me a ride to the top - I took him up on it!
800 vertical feet later, under the blazing July sun, Jarem and Dane still had enough energy to run around the sand bowl belly button

The super fine sand found it's way into everything - especially our shoes

Running downhill was much more fun!


We had a great day at the dunes

Thanks to mom and dad!

Erekson property at Mt. Pleasant, UT where Al and Nezla put their construction efforts on hold to visit with us

Sarah's Andrew gave me the tree house tour

 

 

Jackson Hole, Wyoming- just in time to take a little hike and watch the sun set behind the Grand Tetons


White water rafting down the Snake River...

The boys pushed eachother into the cold water

Parent's summer house near Flaming Gorge Reservoir - we certainly felt like VIP at the cabin and while staying at their house in Ogden

We had fun showing Dane the sights

Jarem couldn't resist the rope swing...

Jarem didn't mind being tasked with driving the Malibu

We took a picnic to the beach to spend some time with Brad and Jen's family and Grandma Gundi

Katie and Breanna couldn't get enough of the Water Chariot

Brandon is a handsome little spotter!

We were excited for night time to light off fireworks...

2 weeks in Utah went by way too fast. We were sad to say our good-byes and head to the airport for another really long trip back to Honolulu. As always, as soon as we arrived in Honolulu we started running into people from Kwajalein.

Waikiki Beach - Honolulu, Oahu

Bunch of little beef cakes

Sailboats passing by at sunset - Hilton Prince Kuhio balcony view

Boogey boarding at Maka Pu'u Beach, Oahu

After a few days in Honolulu we took our last flight back to Kwajalein where
Sophie was patiently waiting for us... "meow"