Hawaii 2011 | Jenn Hoffmann Photography| Personal| Alamo, Ca

In early July, our family flew to Hawaii to celebrate my Mom's birthday.  It was the kids' first time and they were SO excited!  I was so nervous to fly with Ella- as she can be a bit unpredictable, but she honestly did awesome!  We stayed at in Villages at Mauna Lani in this condo; it was perfect for our large group and we would definitely go back again!
We played at the beach and pool, enjoyed a Luau, took in the sites and ate many great meals.  We were there over the 4th of July (our third 4th in Hawaii!), so it was fun to see the fireworks!
Notice how Ella is sitting on a towel? She never got over her dislike of the sand... kind of hard to avoid on an ISLAND!!!

Derek throughly enjoyed playing on the beach.  He collected rocks, played in the water and even caught a fish!

There is nothing better than eating a hot dog poolside on the 4th of July!

The community pool at the condo had a perfect kids pool that they could stand in and play.  It was PERFECT!

Love how you can see the crescent moon...

Since Ella didn't enjoy the sand, she found a better past time.... playing in the shower!  This kept her busy for quite a while!

The view from our balcony...

As a surprise for my Mom, I hired a photographer to take our family photo (all 8 of us!) on the beach.  I'm just waiting to see them and will definitely post when get them!  Can't wait!