Hawaii 2016 - Tuesday

Pearl Harbor Day

We packed up our rental car drove to Pearl City.  It was bitter sweet to drive along the highway past all the beaches and towns we had come to love. It was funny, we didn't turn the radio on once the whole time we were in Hawaii. At first it was because Darin and I needed to concentrate on the GPS, but then I think there was just always too much to point out to each other.  That is one of my favorite memories, talking in the car as we drove from adventure to adventure.

We had prepared the kids for this visit by reading 3 or 4 children's books about the Pearl Harbor attack earlier in the summer. My dad had given Byron a book from his childhood about planes used in the WWII so Byron was excited for the war machines. 

We each got a set of head phones and walked along all the Memorial sites learning more about the political history, the people, the stories and the machines of WWII.  It was all very interesting...it even kept Soren's attention the whole time. 

We watched a film about the attack and then loaded onto the ferry that would take us out to the USS Arizona. I loved getting insight on the Japanese as well as American point of views.  The Japanese leadership were clearly motivated by power and resources, but they also believed (and sold this idea to the Japanese people) that they could improve life for all the Asian countries if they were placed in charge.  It wasn't right, but I can see why they would want to push back from the European colonization that had been happening for years.  At the end of the day we are all so very similar, motivated by basically the same human desires, all of us bringing destruction as well as beauty in our wake. 

The USS Arizona Memorial feels like a temple. 

I was glad I was wearing sunglasses because I couldn't help crying when the men and women who had gone through the attack would tell their own story in their own words.

We had left all our leis from the luau in our rental, I wish we would have brought them to lay by the names of the men who where buried in the ship.

It was a sobering experience for all of us.

We then walked over to the Bowfin Submarine.

It was the same self guided audio tour...but much more lighthearted.

 

A lady who worked at the Bowfin told us the best place for lunch was the Pacific Aviation Museum so we got off the shuttle there.  This turned out to be kind of a mistake because we didn't realize that the Missouri Battle ship had shorter hours off season.  We missed that museum completely.  Not a huge mistake however, because the kids and I can only handle so many audio tours and museums in one day. 3 is pretty much my limit, but I do feel bad the kids didn't get to see the battleship firsthand. 

We loved the Pacific Aviation Museum however.

This is where Byron finally found his hat, and the boys were able to play the flight simulator.

The restaurant was great, and Soren found one last tiki....he fell in love with all things tiki on this trip.

After a long and stressful drive to our hotel, and then cleaning and returning our rental car, we were absolutely spent.  Those are the only parts of this vacation that made returning home sound good.  Driving our own car, sleeping in our own bed, not worrying about returning things to anyone.

Miriam had been telling us that Hawaiian McDonalds serve specialty items like taro pies.  I had told her that even something that special wouldn't make me eat at McD's while on vacation. Buuuuut there happened to be one right next to our hotel, and I was so done with adulting by this point I walked the kids over for a late dinner.

Our very last meal in Hawaii consisted of egg mcmuffins or cheeseburgers, fries, fresh pineapple and taro pie. By a stroke of luck (and food chain world domination) Miriam's culinary requests were 99% granted on this trip...only missed Leonard's Bakery.

We were up by 5:00 am the next morning to make our early flight.  

Our flight back to the mainland was a small miracle since the aircraft was newer and nicer than the flight out. We all had our own monitors with games, movies and tv at our disposal.  So even though it's always hard to fly home (notice there are zero excited, happy, photos) the flight went by very quickly. 

We were home by 11:00 pm. with work and school on the docket for the next morning. 

We brought home fantastic family memories we will cherish forever, and a huge case of vacation let-down.  I will deal with let-down any time if I get to keep the memories.

For so many many reasons I will forever be grateful this vacation happened.  

Hawaii 2016 - Monday

Waimea Bay Beach Park

Mark and Esme were off on their honeymoon by this point, but the rest of us met up at Waimea Bay for hours of fun.  Boogie Boarding, playing in the sand, and swimming past the waves out to the ocean.  So beautiful and so fun.

Madison and I ignored the warnings and jumped from the rock.

Tons of people were doing it...it wasn't as treacherous as the sign makes it seem. Others were jumping from higher parts than we did.  It was fun, I wish I would have jumped a few times. I wish I could have done lots of things at least one more time...I wonder just how much time I would need to feel like it was "enough". 

We were getting fried after a couple of hours, and the granola bars just weren't cutting it so we decided to break for food.

I had read that we had to try Giovanni's shrimp truck.  So back to Haleiwa to the food truck spot.  

Awesome graffiti on the truck. I only know cool Byron's. 

Shrimp was great...but we had picked up some amazing fish and chips from a truck that was waaaay less crowded and I think at the end of the day us shrimp eaters wished we had ordered the fish.

Wish I knew the name of the truck, I would send some love their way...

Still....fresh shrimp...can't complain.

We had to end our last day on the North Shore with one more Matsumoto's.

Then back to our condo, unfortunately to do laundry, cleaning and packing.
Had to be done, and I was glad we had done it when we got our deposit back with a note that we had taken "precious care" of our rental.

That night my brother offered to BBQ at my parents beach house. So we had one last dinner together,  and one last trip to "Hermit Crab City".

Hawaii 2016 - Sunday

Paddle boarding and kayaking at Tsue's Farm.

You know those awesome photos of people paddle boarding out on ocean. Yeah, not happening with us newbies plus young kids.  We did want to try it though! So instead of paddle boarding on the open ocean, we opted for paddle boarding on a river that runs into the ocean. 

So fun, and no anxiety about anyone drifting off too far or falling off. We could let the older kids off on their own while Darin, Jared, Julia and I could help the younger ones with no problems.  We paddled down the river, under two bridges to where it empties into the ocean and then back. Byron was with me, he loved it so much I pretty much go to be the Queen of Sheba while he paddled me around. We all had a blast, and the 3 hour time slot was perfect, our feet and arms really couldn't handle more than 2.

They had a food truck at the farm so we opted to eat there instead of caravanning somewhere else for lunch.  I was 100% delighted with my coconut shrimp. There was a giant tortoise milling around the grounds, and the kids found a coconut they pried open survivor style.   

 Just down the way from Tsue's Farm is Waimea Valley Botanical Garden.

It is a beautifully preserved hike through conservation land that has been sacred to native Hawaiians since the Hawaiian Monarchy ruled.  It is a gorgeous trail that follows a stream up the valley.  So full of colorful vegetation and wildlife, I could have meandered through all the break off trails for hours.  

The kids however, knew about the gem that was at the top of the trail so most of them booked it.

Byron and Soren stayed back with my dad, Darin and I.

We got to swim (with required life jackets) in the waterfall.

The water was so powerful it took all our strength to swim to the falls and then grip the slippery rocks while the water was pelting down. We all made it to the falls, and dragged the little ones out to go jump off a low rock to feel the force of water push us away.

Another activity we had to drag the kids away from. 

We all wanted to try Matsumoto's Shave Ice so we drove down to the surf town Haleiwa (about 15 min away) for a treat and shopping.

The line was insane but moved fast.

I thoroughly enjoyed my tropical flavors (plus ice cream of course) but Darin's green tea Ichiban creation was amazing. Green tea flavored with sweet beans, mochi, ice cream and sweetened condensed milk in an edible bowl.

We shopped around the shops of Old Haleiwa for an hour or so.  Byron was on a mission to find a baseball cap, and Soren was on a Tiki key chain hunt.  We all found tons of stuff to ooh and ahh over.  My Jr. high years came flooding back when I saw the T & C Surf Shop.  In the end I had to get the kids each a t-shirt.

We were pretty worn out by that time, but didn't want to go watch TV at the condo so we grabbed some dinner at Foodland on the way home and called my parents to see if we could stop by their beach house to watch the sun go down.

Miriam looking lovely in the surf.

Byron, so happy to be exploring, and treasure hunting.

Hawaii Saturday - The Wedding

This is why we came...

To see Mark and Esme get married.  It was a gorgeous wedding! I am so glad we got to meet Esme's family, and so incredibly happy we got to spend some time with Mark and Esme. 

But.....the wedding wasn't until that evening so we had time to get some more fun in.

We got up early (of course) and ventured out to Shark's Cove for snorkeling. 

Shark's Cove is very close to our condo.  It's a perfect first time snorkler's paradise.  The cove is enclosed by a rocky outcropping that allows sea water and fish in, but keeps waves out, and you never had to go to where you couldn't touch the bottom if you didn't want to (important for my sense of comfort since the kiddos weren't in life jackets). We were careful never to step on any coral.

I had never been snorkeling in nature before, so I don't know what it's like in other areas, but I was blown away by what we saw! Totally unexpected success in my mind. Near the shore there were tons of these little silver fish, but you didn't have to go very far out to start seeing more colorful and interesting sea life.  We saw Long-Spined Urchins, Mushroom and Cauliflower Corals right away.  Lots of varieties of Butterfly fish, Aha needlefish, Yellow, Convict and Sailfin Tangs, Porcupine fish, Unicorn fish, and most importantly...the Humuhumu Nukunku Apuaa fish (Hawaiian State Fish).  Luckily Byron had purchased a reef creatures guide at Kualoa Ranch so we could identify most of what we had seen....if we could remember, hard to keep track. 

The kids would have stayed on the beach forever making sand creations but the cove started to get crowded and we were getting hungry. We were lucky we had the whole thing to ourselves for a good chunk of the morning.

Another food must for Miriam and I was Ted's Bakery, which is very close to Shark's Cove. 

We stopped by Foodland and picked up sushi (which we thought was amazing) and orange chicken for the boys from the deli.  We bought a whole Haupia cream pie, each had a slice, and then took the rest to our condo for the next day's breakfast. 

We got ourselves gussied up at the condo and then met back at my parents beach house to hang out with Mark while Esme was getting ready in their beach house next door.

Mom and baby Hazel.  So fun to have Hazel around! Babies just bring all families together.

The cousins ran around the beach until it was time to gather.

Wedding Miracle...no one got wet before the ceremony.

When it was time to gather, we enjoyed fruit and lemon aid while listening to a Hawaiian ukulele soloist. Such beautiful music, and he had a huge range of music.

The cutest ring bearer and flower girl started the procession,

then the beautiful couple walked to the song Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Izzy K.
I love that song....

The couple went down the the beach for a sunset photo shoot.

While we ate hors d'oeuvres and had a photo shoot of our own.

Tried out our new selfie stick....a gift from the bride and groom.

 The kids went back to the beach...to "hermit crab city" until it was time for dinner.

 Dinner was prepared by a chef in their beach house and was served on the porch.

We enjoyed good food, and each other till the sun went down.

The End.