Lunch - Yummy!!!
Our big event for the day was a visit to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. This plantation is 28,000 acres and produces over 220,000 tons of pineapple yearly, which are all planted and harvested by hand. The kids were excited to go ride the Pineapple Express Train, which would give us a short tour of the plantation along with lots of fun facts on this yummy fruit. Hosanna was the only one who discovered she did not like the train, as all of its noises scared her. We learned that it takes about twenty months for a pineapple plant to produce its first fruit and within five years you can hopefully get three harvests off the plant before digging up the plant to start over. For lunch we splurged by getting two huge pineapple splits, which are three huge mounds of pineapple ice cream on large chunks of pineapple.
The best part of the whole day was, as our family feasted on ice cream, a precious older lady in a wheel chair sat watching us with tears of joy in her eyes. We started a conversation with her and learned that she was a mother to eight children, so our family had brought such sweet memories to her that she just sat their crying while saying, “the Lord bless you and your precious family. I know how much work it is but this time is priceless, and you will remember it always.”
Pineappley Goodness
After our lunch we needed some down time, so it was back to the house for naps (we love naps). Once the little ones were sleeping the older kids asked if we would finish “True to the Last,” the latest Lamplighter book our family is reading and crying through together. It was such an amazing character building story that as we all cried, we discussed the characters and the attributes we would like to work on in our own lives. We cannot say enough great things about Lamplighter’s redeeming literature and “True to the Last” is our new family favorite.
Once we all got some rest, it was back to the beach for a refreshing afternoon swim. Our island schedule is so laid back and relaxing that we could definitely see doing this again! By keeping things simple the whole family gets to have fun, enjoying this beautiful place together.
Chuga Chuga
Choo Choo
Time for a recharge
Beach Please
{ 2 comments }
You guys are so lucky to be travelling with your children and making such wonderful memories…and to document everything so you can revisit all the sights and sounds. Didn’t know Cousin Diane and Leon were out there….guess they missed the Harvey-Spence-Carter reunion, too. Take care.
Cheryl and Sarah
Thanks Cheryl. We love family, adventure, and travel, so it is a blessing to be able to do all three. It is really fun having the grandparents with us to celebrate our last state too!