Adventures in Hawaii: Part Two

For those of you who think I have abandoned my blog, I'm sorry. I think about it every day. I just haven't had time to post. But it should get better, and I will carry on. In fact, i have a list of things that have been going on (pre and post vacation) that I will wite about after I finish writing about our vacation. You may have lost interest in our trip, but for my personal history's sake, I am going to write about it anyway. So if you don't care, don't read. :O)

(I just love when you have spent half an hour typing something and you push some fatal key and the whole thing gets deleted. Here I go again...)

Day Four- Monday, April 14, 2008

We slept in after our long day at Disneyland the day before. After eating breakfast, we packed up our stuff and headed to LAX. We gave ourselves plenty of time, just in case. So much, that we had time to kill. We decided to drive through the neighborhood Randy grew up in. When I say drive through, I mean literally, we didn't get our of the car in spite of the fact that it is now a scary neighborhood. We saw his old preschool and the store he bought candy at as a young boy...a liquor store...nice.

We found a Subway in a better part of town and took it to the beach. We were less than impressed, but it did kill some time. We found a long-term parking lot and arrived at the airport two hours early. The security at LAX was a piece of cake. I made everyone wear their Crocs for easy removal. It worked like a charm. We walked to our gate and tried to find a seat...or should I say 8 seats. Our gate was full so we sat in the gate across from it. After an hour, I decided to check the status of our flight. I walked over tour gate and saw the marquee said, "Maui 4:55" Uh oh. We aren't going to Maui. I told Randy and he checked our tickets. They said, "Honolulu 4:55".

What is going on? He left to investigate and returned a few minutes later. "What are you doing for the next four hours?" Wonderful! Our plane was delayed three hours. Nobody bothered to tell us when we checked in. I had just enough food to last for 7 hours...not 10. And I had barely enough battery left on my cell phone to call my parents and let them know we'd be delayed.

So what did we do in the airport for 5 hours with 6 kids?

~went for walks
~visited the bathroom countless times
~rolled pennies across the walkway
~glued quarters to the ground (who knew it would be so easy to find crazy glue at the airport?)

As we were on our way to buy dinner at the airport McDonald's, someone stopped me and told me the airline will give us meal vouchers. It's a good thing, too. Because our little meal at McDonald's cost $60!

We boarded the plane around 8:00 and found our seats. The kids were so excited! Nathan was the cutest. He sat in his seat with his bag on his lap and a big grin on his face. Emma was a little figity but fell asleep on take-off. Depsite using the bathroom just before we boarded, Hannah suddenly had to go to the bathroom- BAD. No more soda for her! The 5 hours inthe airport was probably not such a bad thing after all. The kids slept well on the plane- Emma was out cold the whole time!

We arrived in Honolulu and by the time we got our bags, it was pretty late. My parents wered supposed to meet us there, but we didn't see them. We were afraid the rental car place would close, so we hopped on the shuttle and headed there. Luckily they were still open. I called my parents and they met us there.

It was so good to see them! They have been gone for almost a year. After hugs and kisses and our Aloha welcome complete with leis and kukui nut necklaces, we started the drive back to their house. It was an hour drive and we were tired. After all, our body thought it was the middle of the night. When we arrived, we made our beds on the couches and floor and we crashed.

Day 5- April 15, 2008:

Morning comes early when the roosters crow. We would learn this well over the next ten days. I actually came to enjoy it. I woke up around 6 AM every day....on vacation! How come I can't do that here? Oh well.

Half my family was still asleep, so my dad and I took Casey, Tyler and Nathan to check out the beach. The one where Tyler would be baptized. It was a breezy morning, but it was beautiful. The boys had great fun finding treasures: old coconuts/husks, and nuts.

After breakfast, we all hit the beach- my parents, and all eight of us. It was overcast and a little breezy, so although I packed the sunscreen, I didn't give it another thought. If I had thought about it again, it quickly left my mind as Nathan got stung by a jelly fish. Or 'kissed', as we like to refer to it. Leave it to Nathan. His first time in the ocean, and he gets stung. Luckily, my mom had the foresight to pack some vinegar along....I wouldn't have wanted to pee on the poor kid. We stripped him down, rubbed sand on the wound to get get the tentacles out and poured vinegar on it to neutralize it. Ouch! It was pretty painful for awhile, and I wasn't sure he'd get back in the ocean any time soon. Randy's parents joined us for a little while as Nathan played nude in the sand, and Emma slept on my mom's lap.

We packed up and headed to Chun's Reef to see the turtles that bask on the beach. There, right in front of us, were two enormous Green Sea Turtles! They had the cutest little faces...just like 'Crush' in Finding Nemo! As we were gathered around the rope watching the turtles, Nathan somehow got sand in his eyes....the first of many.

A little farther up the road was the next stop at Matsumoto's for some famous 'Shave Ice'. Mmmmm...so many flavors to choose from....we'll just have to come back!

My sister called to say our momma cat was acting strange. I knew her delivery was imminent, and sure enough, later that day, she called to say there were three newborn kittens. Then four, and finally five!

I'm not sure at what point I realized the extent of our sunburns, but thanks to a local in the grocery store, I was set with my Aloe (a-lo-ay as he called it.) The next couple days would have to be 'non beach' days so we could recover. :)

Day 6- Wednesday, April 16, 2008:

The Swap Meet. Anyone who has been there doesn't need to hear any more. Row after row of tents full of every imaginable souvenir! I was on a mission for some Aloha wear for our family pictures. And whatever else caught my eye.

The kids each got $10 to spend. Some had an easier time than others. Casey learned to bargain with the vendor to afford his mini surfboard. I was looking for white dresses and white shirts...remember this post? Randy and Nathan had expired and I still hadn't found what I needed. My mom found a booth with lots to choose from, but no white ones. I didn't necessarily need them to match, but I didn't want them to clash or be too busy, so I settled on more of a tan one. I found one for everyone. Except me. So after much thought, I decided I would buy a girl's size 14 dress and alter it into a shirt for myself. I would've loved to buy some individual ones just to have- there were so many cute ones. I think I could get used to wearing a muumuu to church! As I was finalizing my decision, I realized Hailey had let Emma out of her stroller. And she didn't know where she was. My heart just about fell out and I panicked. After a few scary moments, we found her. But I was in no mood to do anymore shopping. Not to mention it was getting late and we had more plans. Randy's parent's met up with is once again and we went to Pearl Harbor. We got tickets, but had to wait two hours. My parents weren't able to stay because they had to work at the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) that evening. So they left after we all grabbed some lunch.

Casey enjoyed Pearl Harbor. He was bummed that he didn't have his own camera. Because according to him, I didn't take the pictures he wanted. We took the ferry out the memorial. The kids were all very well behaved. I was amazed that there was still oil leaking from the ship after 66 years. The lady there told us it leaks 5-6 quarts a day! And that the oil on the water represents the tears of the servicemen that died. And that when it runs out in about 10 years, that will be the last tear.

That evening, we were able to meet up with my parents at the PCC for dinner. We got our first glimpse of the place they have spent so much of their time over the past year. We dined at a restaurant called The Gateway. We sampled some authentic Hawaiian food. My favorite were the Kalua pork, purple Taro rolls, and purple Sweet Potato Salad.

By the time we got home, we all crashed-- again! It was a long, fun day!