We left for Hawaii the day of Halloween. I had a huge amount of anxiety about leaving the two youngest kids. It is always hard organizing kids lives and having to hand that to others that have families and responsabilities themselves... seems rude. But boy do we have amazing friends. Amanda split the time mostly with my best friend Jana's family. She also stayed with some other amazing people. We cut out most of her activities for two weeks and that was good. Brooke we decided to have stay at our house and get the mail, feed the dog and transport herself around. We left money and cars.. and also had a friend Emma that was willing to stay most of the time for the night with her. This was a big step up for Brooke and she handled it like a champ. But I still had anxiety.
We drove Halloween day accross the mountain to see my family in Portland. I have never seen my darling nephew. So we were able to have dinner with my brother, his wife and my parents and watch them dress him up for Halloween and take him trick or treating. Kris and I arrived in costume! My mom made a fabulous dinner and we visited and then went to sleep. We woke up around 4am and then left from the Portland airport. Kris hasn't flown anywhere in a long time so he wasn't used to security and the way that they now make you take everything and put it in bins and go through the xray. We flew to Oakland and then to Honolulu. We arrived around noon Hawaii time... We took a bus to the car rental area and rented a black 2014 Jeep. Talk about a dream for Kris! He loved driving that thing. We almost ran into another car in the rental parking lot, but after avoiding that disaster we drove off on our adventure.
The first day we had a room in Waikiki. We stayed downtown in a nice room that was walking distance to the beach. There were so many people and it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. But the temperatures were a balmy 80 degrees and we spent about an hour walking around people watching and looking at the ocean. There were lots of people sun bathing, surfing and just enjoying the day. We walked around and looked at the shops and then realized we were pretty hungry. We stopped at Jimmy Buffets and had a late lunch. Kris ordered fish and chips and I ate fish tacos. The fish is SO FRESH. Probably literally caught that day. We really didn't do much else that day because we were so tired.
Monday morning the 2nd we got up and ate at the hotel and then we went to Diamond Head and hiked to the top. It was a beautiful view from the top. Then we started our drive up to the North Shore. We decided to take advantage of the Jeep and drive around the coastal edge up to Laie. It was breathtaking driving on the road that was literally RIGHT NEXT TO THE OCEAN. The speed limit in Hawaii is pretty relaxed. Driving around we were only going maybe 45mph, and less if the road was windy. There was a lot of construction, but we enjoyed looking at the ocean and the beatiful foiliage, plants and vistas. We arrived in Laie around 1:00pm. Hailey wasn't expecting us quite that early, but we were able to hug her and I went and looked at her dorm. Her Hale is packed with stuff! She lives with three other girls and they never close their door. Never. She finished up her laundry and then we went to the cafeteria and shared some lunch. Hailey eats every meal at the cafeteria and is pretty tired of it, but we felt like it was alright. We were able to have a tour of the campus from Hailey. She is really happy now at BYU-H and we loved hearing the excitement in her voice. Hailey is such an enthusiastic kid. It was so fun to be around her. She introduced us to all her friends and people we would pass by. It was graduation time for some of the kids there and so we ran into several families and kids celebrating. Hailey showed us where she has classes and also where she attends church. We drove to Waimea beach and Kris and Hailey climbed up on a huge rock. They then jumped off! This is a popular area for kids to cliff jump. I stayed on the beach and enjoyed watching them. I got a pretty good picture of Hailey jumping. We also did a little swimming in the ocean. It is so warm that it really feels good. After enjoying our first real beach experience, we washed the sand off and then drove to Haleiwa. It isn't too far from Laie. Hailey really likes going there with friends and there are several shops. We got sushi at a cute restaurant. Hailey had a california roll and I had a salmon roll and Kris got a huge plate full of varities of raw fish. I really like the Ahi. After dinner we drove to a shop that sells Acai bowls. Basically they are a smoothie like dessert with berries, coconut, mango, and toppings that kindof taste like ice cream/gelato and are very yummy. Then we drove back to Laie and spent the night in the Marriott hotel.
Tuesday we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Hailey has a cute friend Kylee that is a tour guide there. She offered to give us a private tour and got us in for a very reduced price. We were able to do the tour, the luau dinner and also the night show. So we spent 7 or 8 hours there. The PCC is really an amazing place. It is designed to feature all of the different cultural groups that represent the islands of Polynesia. So the Hawaiians, Tongans, Somaoans, Tahitians, Fijians, and New Zealanders. Each area showcases their culture, dance and traditions. We watched several mini shows and then Kylee would tell us interesting facts about the people. My favorites were the Somoan and New Zealand shows. We watched a show on the water where the people danced on boats that were pushed along. After several hours we went to a luau. As we entered the luau the greeters presented us with beautiful orchid leis. At the luau we ordered specialty drinks in hollowed out pinapples. The hostess of the luau put on a marvelous show. We were honored for our anniversary and went up front. We ate buffet style and had really good food! Hailey and Kylee went up to the stage and danced with some of the boys. We went on a tour of the temple grounds and then came back to the night show which featured men fire dancing. It was really amazing.
Wednesday we went zip lining. There is a farm just a few miles from Hailey's school that has a huge zip lining outfit. They put you in mountain climbing equipment with caribeaners? and helmets and a wire attachment thing. We road in off road vehicles up to the starting site and did 3 hours of zip lining. We also did some repelling. I was a little bit terrified the first time I let go and went zipping. But it wasn't a back yard set up where you had to hang on for dear life. The guides are very experienced and 2 of them go first and set up to "receive" the zippers. If you aren't very heavy and don't position yourself just right you don't always make it accross and then actually fly backwards to the middle part of the zipline. Then the workers have to come and retreive you. Luckily I only didn't make it to the end once and because the line was more straight that time I didn't get pushed back very far. One lady had to be retrieved from a long ways and she was embaressed. The zip lining when we got going was awesome. You could see out a long ways and they also provided snacks along the way of fresh bananas, cherry tomatoes and macadamian nuts. The last zip line we let go and were upside down. I guess I wasn't exactly upside down and I looked pretty silly. But I felt like I was really cool. After the ziplining we went to Guiseppe's shrimp truck and got lunch. This is a wildly popular spot to eat. We got shrimp with butter and garlic and rice. Then we got changed and went to the temple. Kris and I did a session and that was really beautiful. We went outside and took some pictures. Wednesday was our check in day for our condo/time share. So we drove out to Wainae which is on the very west side of Oahou. On our way we stopped at Costco and bought some food. We arrived fairly late and got our keys and then explored the condo. It was on the 4th floor and had a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living room with a pullout bed. The best part was it was right on the beach and the back yard was a very private beach area.
Thursday we drove to Honolulu and went to Pearl Harbor. The area is actually a free attraction and for 7.99 each you can rent an audio tour. So we did that. It was amazing to learn about the history of the attack and the actual events of that famous day. We took a boat ride out to the Arizona memorial but that day you couldn't actually get out and walk around. The ship is just slightly visible from the water and you can see a little oil escaping out of it. We really enjoyed the tour of Pearl Harbor. We bought a book and postcards. Shelby loves history so much and I found myself thinking she would really enjoy the tour. Kris had bought some ribs at Costco and the condo had a very nice barbecue area so he ended up barbecuing those and we had a great dinner of ribs and salad.
Saturday, Kris went fishing all day on the ocean. He asked around at the time share and was able to hook up with a local guy on a private boat for the whole day. He didn't catch anything but had a wonderful time anyway. While he was gone, Hailey and I ventured out in the Jeep. First we drove up to Haleiwa and walked around the shops. We bought Hailey a water bottle and got rained on a little. We went to her favorite sandwhich shop for lunch. Then we drove down to the Aloha Stadium where the hold a flea market. We really enjoyed walking around and buying cheap Hawaiian souvinirs. Then we drove to the mall in Honolulu. Luckily Hailey was navigating with my phone, so we didn't do many U turns. We were able to buy Hailey some clothes to replenish her wardrobe. We got in and out really fast too! Then we hit Walmart and bought some necessities that one can't necessarily afford on a college budget. We finished the day picking up a friend from the airport. We bought the makings for chicken enchiladas because Hailey wanted a home cooked meal. So when we got back to the condo, Hailey and I made dinner and then we all went to sleep.
Sunday we drove Hailey and her friend back to Laie. We got there around 2pm and attended Hailey's church with her. Her ward is made up of all sorts of kids from all over. The talks were from girls from Indonesia and the Philippines. It was amazing. The bishop came and talked to us. Everyone was very friendly. Hailey looked anxious to socialize and needed to get ready to start school, so we left her in Laie and headed back to Wainae. On the way home we stop at Hanauma Bay to snorkel. The park closes at 5:30 and we didn't know that so we just arrived at 5:00. We hurried down to the beach area and were able to briefly look at the coral areas and we put our heads under water . My equipment was faulty and I ended up with a nice lung full of water. But I did see 2 beautiful fish. Then we pretty much left. We drove home and relaxed and ate left overs.
Monday and Tuesday Kris and I spent most of the time on the beach in our private area next to the condo. I spent several hours watching the waves and taking it all in. We swam in the ocean, Kris snorkelled and saw a turtle, and basically we really enjoyed relaxing. The weather was so warm and the ocean so blue and beautiful. I stood in the wrong part of the waves and got caught and slammed into the surf and drug back out a few times. We laughed pretty hard because I looked like a rag doll. After I figured out the best place to be (farther out), I enjoyed jumping the waves more.
Monday we went to the Bishop Museum. It has a lot of Hawaiian History and talks about the Royal family. Very interesting. We also went to the part of the museum that features the science portion with a lava exhibit. We drove to Ko Olina which is the ritzy part of the island. The Disney Resort is there and also other resorts. We ate dinner at the Monkeypod which was reccommended and had excellent food. I was very, very, very relaxed at dinner. My time in Hawaii made me realize that at home I never, ever, completely relax. Kris kept looking at me and saying, "you are relaxed aren't you?" I guess I was just really chill.
Tuesday was our last morning on the beach. We extended it for several hours and Kris climbed up on the large rock hill overlooking the beach and called out to me. It was funny to see him up there. We spent from about 8am to 2pm on the beach. Then we drove back to Laie to say goodbye to Hailey Mae and also to have dinner with a local family. One of the missionaries in our home ward is from Laie and he contacted his family and told them we were coming so they invited us to dinner. They were THE NICEST FAMILY. They cooked a huge meal and served us. We told them stories about their son and they gave us some things to bring home to him. The siblings all sat around the table and wrote him letters. It was awesome. We had a prayer with them and then they invited Hailey to eat Thanksgiving with their family and to call them Uncle and Auntie. (We have found out since that the daughter helped Hailey to get a job). It was the perfect ending to our last night.
Wednesday we woke up at the crack of dawn, cleaned the condo and left for the airport. We turned in the rental car and flew home. This took most of the day. We arrived in Portland and 7pm and ate dinner with mom and dad. Then we drove straight home. We were concerned about the girls and so we arrived at 2am back to the cold, Eastern Oregon fall.
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