Vacation Part Deux: Oahu

**Note to reader, this is a looonnng post, therefore, I have highlighted various points of interest to allow for a summarized reading. Please also note, they are not at this time hyperlinks to other sites... in the future, they may be.**

So after a luxurious, relaxing week in Maui, we jumped over for a quick jaunt of the island of Oahu. Once we landed, got our rental car - goodbye convertible chrysler, hello bright red ford focus - and got out the GPS and headed toward our hotel. Our choice was to follow the instructions given by the rental car agency or GPS (we call her "Lola" and she has a soothing british accent). Lola gave directions counter to directions previously given. Do we trust Lola or the local?? We chose the local and chose wrong. It took for-ev-er to get down Waikiki to our hotel. Once we got to the hotel, we unloaded our luggage and checked into our hotel, we headed out to the International Marketplace. We stopped to have a picture in front of the statue of Duke. I was amazed at all the hype about the marketplace, yet it seemed to be the same stuff 100 times over. We did have a guy try to sell F a lovely Kimono for me...where would I wear it? What would people think if they stopped over to find me lounging around the house in a purple kimono? I do like kimonos, in general, but not for me. We ate dinner in a little treehouse cafe in the heart of the marketplace. Then we walked down "the strip" of waikiki. I felt like I was in Vegas, only I was being solicitated coupons in Japanese. We found a Puka Dog stand which F just had to have. While he waited for his order, I sat back and watched a couple who were completely smashed (mind you it was about 7:30 pm). Great fun! We also found a poster announcing all the fun to take place Saturday night for SpamJam! The poster was translated into several Asian languages. We found the translations funny....look closely.

Saturday began with the Pali Lookout. It was sooooo windy, but we knew it would be. Next stop was the Hawaii Laie Temple. The temple is currently under construction, but the visitor center was open. We spent most of our time walking around the grounds. We loved being at the temple and also filling time until the Polynesian Cultural Center opened.
At noon, we headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center (aka: PCC) Here's what we did in the PCC:
* Watched as many presentations we could.
* Ate lunch
* Watched the Canoe Pageant
* Saw the Imax about corals reefs
* Ate an authentic dinner at the Ali'i Lu'au
(including rolls made with taro)
* Saw the night show, "Horizons"
I wish we could have spent more time at the PCC . Because of Spam Jam, the road to the hotel was closed, so it took us about an hour to travel a mile!! We made it to our hotel and the end of another day.

Sunday, we trekked north today. On our way through the center of the island, we found and stopped at the Wahiawa Botanical Gardens. We walked on the paths and trails through unimaginable trees and plants. Mosquitoes also ate us while we wandered. It was gorgeous to see all the different plants and trees. Our next stop was the Dole Plantation. They have a huge gift shop with all things pineapple, a garden filled with pineapple variations throughout the world, and tour of the plantation. F and I enjoyed pineapple ice cream, which is more like a sorbet, very delicious and very pineapple in taste and color.
Our next stop was Haleiwa and North Shore. For lunch we stopped at a small pizza joint called Pizza Bob’s. The pizza was good, just pizza, and a little over priced. The best part of this stop was the bathroom. A group of people were heading out and one girl went into the bathroom. She didn’t see, but heard me come in. She began talking to me. Her: “That was good. I’d forgotten how good the pizza is here.” Me: Nothing Her: “Sierra?” Me: Nope. Her: “Oh, sorry.” (sound of toilet flushing, hands quickly washed, and laughing as she closed the door) Was I supposed to say something?
F paid the bill and we walked down the street to our destination: Matsumoto’s Shave Ice. Apparently it’s the place to get shave ice. We waited in the long line, had our picture taken under the store sign, and ordered our shave ice. Yummy! The shave ice we got had ice cream in the bottom with the shave ice on top. It was a refreshing and delicious treat. With the help of Lola, we found Pipeline and watched the enormous waves with a few surfers and sat on Sunset beach. We wanted to stay and actually watch the sunset on the beach, but it was taking forever for the sun to set. Therefore, we witnessed the sun making a descent into sunset on sunset beach. We stopped for dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise and back to the hotel to pack and grab some shut eye.

Monday morning started bright and early at 4? I think. Today we started with Hanauma Bay. We got there before 7 am. Hanauma Bay charges for parking and requires snorkelers to watch a video about coral reef preservation, but they don’t start those until 7 am. The man at the entrance said, “Lifeguards won’t be out until 7, don’t touch the coral.” Not verbatim, but the idea. Sweet, we saved $15 by coming early! The water was cooold. We did see a number of fish; I was more impressed with the fish we saw in Maui, but was great to have this experience. We were finished snorkeling before 8, and walked out, while many people were heading in. After a quick stop to shower, we loaded up our bags into the car.
First, we trekked the trail and hundreds of steps to the top of Diamond Head Crater. Beautiful, but exhausting. The trail does not have shade, so we were really hot by the end. Next stop, Pearl Harbor, which doesn’t allow any bags, so I traveled with my camera, F carried the video camera and both of our wallets. We got inside just in time to catch the next ride to the Arizona Memorial. It was sobering to see the battleship under us and to see the names of those who lost their lives that day. What a tragedy. Close by is the Bowfin Submarine. When we got there, they were close to closing time and there was an admittance fee to walk around the submarine, so we walked around the grounds and played around until we had our fill. F and I hopped back in the car and drove towards the airport. We loaded onto the airplane and made our redeye flight to Seattle, Washington. After grabbing breakfast, we headed on our last plane home. That last flight couldn’t have been any longer. I was so anxious to get off the plane, get our luggage and home to see our children. My brother picked us up from the airport and back to our children. They apparently had so much fun, they didn't even miss us. We had a fantastic trip! I am so glad to be home with my family, but I miss Hawaii already. Someday down the road….until then, here are more pictures of Oahu.

Canoe Pagent and F at the PCC

Laie Hawaii Temple

Pearl Harbor

Bowfin Submarine and Hanauma Bay

Sunset Beach and view of Waikiki from atop Diamond Head

Yummy Eats and Cool Treats

Some varieties of Pineapples found at the Dole Plantation

The happy couple with surf legend, Duke.

Vacation Part 1: Maui

First off... a big THANK YOU! or MAHALO! to family for taking our two children for almost 2 weeks!! We had a great, and fab-u-lous time in both Maui and Oahu. Here are only a few pictures of our trip, that I think will say it all.

It took us forever (or so it seems) to get to Maui. We left on a Thurs. afternoon to Seattle, had a 2 hour lay over, and then a grueling 6 hour flight into Honolulu that was longer than scheduled because of headwinds. We made it and took the shuttle to our little hotel, with a little room, inside the little room was a little t.v. and a little bathroom, with a little shower. Even the walls were little (we could hear everything outside our room). But it was only for the night. Friday morning, we jetted back to the airport and jumped to Maui. When we went to pickup our car, they were out. The manager said, "SUV or Convertible," we said, "Convertible." We hopped in our large Chrysler Sebring, made a stop at Costco and headed to our hotel, which was luxurious! This first picture is the view from our room, the second is a waterfall/koi pond at our place. I wish I could still see it now.

That evening we hung around the hotel, visiting the beach and watching people learn to surf. Saturday morning, we drove down the coast toward the southern edge of Maui. We found a little bay where people were snorkeling, so we jumped in. We saw some big fish, but we also forgot our underwater camera. We stopped in Lahaina that night to walk around and eat dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Sunday was spent driving the road to Hana. We drove with the top down and enjoyed being surrounded by all of the greenery. We stopped at a little roadside stand and had smoothies made with real sugar cane juice (we watched them press the juice from the cane). We ate our lunch at the Wai'anapanapa State Park famous for the black sand beach. This picture below at the state park. There were some kids jumping from some of the rocks. Crazy! After we reached Hana and onto the seven sacred pools, we continued the non-recommended portion of the road. The road is narrow, winding around corners and up & down many little hills. I had to lay down because it became too much for me.

Monday, we rose at 3 am, packed up and hit the road. We drove up to the top of Hale'akala (dormant volcanic crater) to see the sunrise. This was my first sunrise to actually see. The road is filled with switchbacks, which by the way, is more daring when it is dark and you have never driven the road before. We reached the top with time to spare. By the way, the drive to the top covers one of the greatest elevation gains in the shortest distance in the world. Beginning at sea level and reaching just over 10,000 ft. The sunrise was beautiful, but it was coooold and really windy. Not many people stuck around after the sun had made it's appearance. Neither did we. We huddled in the car, blasted the heat, and ate breakfast. While driving back to the hotel, we detoured to the Iao Valley for a stop at the Iao Needle. I couldn't believe how green it was, and also the fact that as you drive through the city, all of a sudden, you are in the lucious Iao Valley. After all of that we got back at 10 am, and took a nap.

That afternoon, we snorkeled at Black Rock, just up the beach and saw 2-3 sea turtles!

Tuesday morning brought in more snorkeling. We signed up to take an excursion out to Molokini crater to snorkel, but weather kept us away. We did still snorkel at a few other places which were awesome, filled with sea turtles and fish. Some people we know took the exact same boat the day before to the crater and said they didn't see much. So, I guess we got the better deal.

Just off the back of the boat, people were feeding the fish. This was the best picture of the fish. On the excursion, we also saw quite a few sea turtles, and even 8-10 whales (while we were riding to our destinations).Overall, it was a great time. Our boat made two stops for snorkeling. A portion of the people didn't snorkel the second time around, they were wanting the crew to open up the bar and get them drinking. We on the other hand, snorkeled the time away and enjoyed endless Coke. Later that day, we drove north and explored. We found a little path and followed it around. The trail was muddy and each step produced layer upon layer of thick mud. Our feet were getting heavier each step. Do you like the self portrait? We've been perfecting it. Wednesday morning, we attended a timeshare presentation. Because we have done one previously, we were able to get a "summarized" version. We talked with a rep, visited the Maui Ocean Club's newest two bedroom villas, and declined purchase. Both F and I would love to have a timeshare (hopefully in the future) but not right now. After that, we headed back down to the great snorkel spot we found, this time we took our camera (I need to pick up our prints). This place is literally off the road. You can see the road pass right next to it. Second time around, we saw an eel (just after we finished our roll of film) and some crab. The rest of the time on Maui, we bummed around, going wherever the wind took us. The weather was perfect. Friday, we checked out of our hotel and jumped back to Oahu. We had a wonderful time in Maui and looked forward to a few days on Oahu. A couple years back we visited Kauai, and loved it. I would say, this was just as great. I'll get our days in Oahu up soon!!

Random Things...

I am first excited to announce that.....lil' K has done incredible awesome with her habit breaking. We stopped the gloves and have had no recurrence. Yeah! It helped that she is now 5 because 5 year olds don't suck their thumbs.

Second thing to announce....lil' L has been bribed with 6 lbs of Costco gummy bears to use the toilet! We have bought diapers once this year and still have most of the package left. He loves being a "big boy." Of course, it is not all said and done yet, but he has had great success.

Third....we had quite a weekend a few weeks ago. F went to do the dishes after dinner (he's a wonderful husband) but the water was cold. The water heater had shut off. After many attempts to relight it and the smell of eau de natural gas, we packed up the kids and headed out to my parents for the night. Since F had to work the next day, I had to go to the plumbing shop to get the piece to fix it. F tried that night, but had to have some help early Saturday morning. The changed out the part, started to relight...and nothing. The supposed cause was not the cause, therefore another trip, this time a new part. When F took the broken part out and compared with the replacement, there was 1.5 inch difference in the pipe length...once again, back to the shop. The piece is actually a "specialty" piece, costing, oh, 2/3 the price of a new water heater. Long story shortened. F installed a new water heater! Boy did I take a long hot shower that afternoon! Thanks for the long day and hard work, F!

Fourth...F found something for me for my birthday. He took the kids to go pick it up in the store, but they didn't have it. When he got home, he ordered it online (5 days before my birthday), but the est. date it would arrive was 2 days after, no big deal. The order ended up being filled 2 days before my birthday, with now a est. arrival of 7 -10 days. F kept track of it as it crossed the country, with small 2 day layover in Indiana. It finally arrived 7 days after my birthday (nearly 2 weeks from its original order date). The kiddos and F sang happy birthday and I opened my package. It was an iHome! It was something we had talked about "looking" at. It was a great present from the kids and a surprise!

Last...F and I have 17 days until we fly out for a week in Maui and a few days more in Oahu. We are really excited, but I hope the kids still know who we are when we get back!

5 YeARs oLd!

At the end of last month was lil' K's birthday! She is now 5 years old! (am I old enough to have a 5 year old?) Since her birthday she has exerted much independence, and asked if she could make all her own decisions. I replied not yet. She then asked if she could at 6...nope...7...nope...8...nope, when she got to 18...closer. I told her I still need to listen my mom, not exactly the answers she was looking for.

For her birthday we had a Princess Tea Party with friends from preschool and primary. The princesses came dressed up and my mom was kind enough to come and help out while the boys deserted the place and found cover where pink and sparkles were well out of sight. The girls decorated princess bookmarks with stickers and glitter, then they colored Princess Bingo cards. After that they dined mini sandwiches and pink or raspberry lemonade served from tea pots into their very own princess cups. After the snack we played Princess Bingo then to presents. lil' K was so excited to open presents followed by mini strawberry bundt cakes with lemon glaze. They played with the new gifts and we read a few stories: Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious. The princess had a fun time being princesses, but who doesn't.

lil' K chose to go to Wendy's for dinner that night. She and lil' L love that place, even though she could choose anywhere. The next day we had grandparents over...which meant more presents, more cake and ice cream. She got barbies, high school musical stuff, clothes, and more littlest pet shop toys. What a lucky girl! lil' K loved having two parties and getting dressed up.

Here are a few things about my girl:

• She recently changed her favorite color from pink to red.
• She carries everything in her purses.
• She loves to get dressed in skirts that twirl.
• She loves suckers and gum.
• She loves to play with Play-Doh.
• She loves being a big sister
• and playing with lil' L.
• She is kind and loves to cuddle.
• She loves to look at books.
• She loves to laugh.
• She loves to dance and sing.

HaPpy BirThdaY, lil' K! We love you!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

And the Package Goes to....

Tuesday morning, my mom called. She told me she had ordered some clothes online, but saw the site had my name in its database. Mom said that I might be receiving a package of hers that day or the next. A few hours later a knock at the door. I opened the door and found a package on our doorstep...but low and behold...it was not the package my mom said would be coming. It was a package from another site and I had not ordered anything.
The next day, I took the mystery package to my parents and we opened it up. It was a book my dad had accidentally ordered twice. He received one and thought the other did not go through. Later that same day, mom got her package at her home with my name on it of course. I guess there are a few sites that need to updated. Thankfully everyone got their packages and more!

FACT!!

*This goes out to Mare and Alisa*
First a confession: I was a thumb sucker until the age of about 6-7. My mom went to lengths to break my habit. (I am happy to report that I don't suck my thumb) To add in, I have eczema which has been a problem of scratching at night. (This however is still a problem) The lengths, you ask, were tube socks. Yes, regular old socks, up past my elbows. This was to keep me from scratching my hands or sucking my thumb. Occasionally, the socks were safety pinned to my pajama sleeves. At the time, it was cruel and unusual punishment. These days? The answer.
Here comes the FACT! lil' K found her thumb at the ripe ole age of 2 months. Bye bye pacifiers, hello thumb. She only sucks her thumb when she is tired or really bored (such as long car rides). Now that she is almost 5, we are trying to kick the habit. Our deal was she could wear gloves, but if they come off, the next night socks, once again, yes, socks. Mom's wisdom. Here is how the first night went....

She managed to find it. She hated to wear the socks the next night, but kept them on, so back to the gloves. She has been doing quite well. We'll see how it goes when she is no longer wearing the gloves or socks.

Certification!

So the hubby has been working on a certification to help him out at work..you know...status stuff and the added benefit of three more letters behind his name. It has been a long road, but within the last 6 months, he passed 3 of 4 of them and took one today. He passed!!! He is now certified! He is officially CIA*. Yeah! He couldn't be happier, and I couldn't be more proud of all the hard work he has done to get through this.

*Note the term CIA stands for Certified Internal Auditor. I know what you were thinking!