Spring break Hawaii 2023!
Monday, March 13, 2023
Bucket list item...currently in the process of being checked off. We are one day in, and I'm finally settling to keep up with the blog.
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| That's me...heading off to the beach to keep up with this journal. Just pretend for a week that my shirt says "The ocean is my happy place" not "lake". |
We left Sunday afternoon at 4pm. We drove to Chicago to stay overnight at a hotel before our early Monday morning flight. If we didn't do that, we'd be leaving at 2am...doesn't sound so amazing, so we chose to stay at a hotel near the airport. We squeeze into one room with a king and a sofabed, and we had a rollaway in the room plus an air mattress we brought from home. It barely functioned, but we didn't care much because we only got 5 hours of sleep before we woke up at 5am to get ready and catch a 6am shuttle to the airport.
The morning was actually smooth, except for Violet and I making a mad dash to our van at 5:50 where it was parked 5 minutes away to drop off things we didn't want to take. We huffed it back and forth to meet up with the shuttle at 5:59am. Once we got through security, we had some time to wait for our flight so we had Burger King breakfast sandwiches and coffee. The first flight was from Chicago to Detroit, which was 1.5 hrs. The second flight only had a 15-20 minute layover, and was 8 hours to Honolulu. They gave us two meals, I slept off and on, and watched 2 or 3 movies. I think all of us had a similar experience.
Hawaii is 5 hrs behind Iowa time, so when we landed it was 4:30pm Hawaii time, but our bodies thought it was 9:30pm. It gave us time to meet up with the person who we rented our vehicle from, drive to our rental house, unload, get a tour and info from our rental house person, Geoff, and then drive to Walmart and get our scheduled grocery pick up between 7 and 8pm. Yah...I scheduled a grocery pick up on an island in Hawaii. There's a first for everything.
We debated going out to eat for dinner because all of us were pretty hungry, but by the time we got back to unload groceries, all our brains/bodies were shutting down from fatigue, so we just cooked some noodles and chicken in our kitchen and went to bed.
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
This place is just gorgeous. The house we found to rent is right on the ocean. It has gates/walls around the whole place and feels very secure and private. The kitchen/eating area is separate from two other little buildings that have bedrooms/bathrooms. There is a very cool tree (called a hau tree) in the middle of everything. The buildings form a U shape around it facing the ocean.
Everyone woke up so early...Dave and I were wide awake at 6am, and by that time, the boys had already been up and eaten cereal. We started making coffee and the power went out, so we waited awhile and it came back on. Starting to wonder if that is a normal occurrence around here? Coffee and breakfast happened...we had breakfast sandwiches w/ bacon and tater tots.
I blogged a bit on the beach, then the girls decided they'd like to get their nails done, which was one of the plans. The boys were eager to go out snorkeling, so we split up. Violet picked out a place called Bui808 Nails about 15 min away. We didn't make an appointment so it took a couple hours for them to get through the system.
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| look at how the humidity creates those curls! |
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| We spent the afternoon snorkeling in rather rough water, then decided to go to a beach a little further north of us |
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| Vanessa found a stray buddy |
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| the sand was like small rocks |
For dinner we found a place near us called The Beach House, and we tried some local poke nachos, which is raw fish chunks on chips with a thai sauce. The Beach House had karaoke all night - some were good, some were not, Dave sang "Lady in Red"
We all agreed this day felt like the never-ending day because we started the day so early.
I woke up at midnight, thinking it was the right time to wake up and start the day. Yikes. I struggled to stay asleep until about 7am, tossing and turning for awhile. This time change is messing with me. We had eggs/toast/turkey sausage for breakfast. I guess the boys had been up since 3am.
We had a chill morning, hanging out and planning the rest of the trip.
Today we plan to go to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet and do some local souvenir shopping, hopefully find Giovanni's Shrimp truck before our Luau we have scheduled at Nutridge - both places are in the same proximity.
The drive to the swap meet was about 40 minutes. It used the parking lot around the Aloha Stadium and we only walked through what seemed like about half or a third of the whole thing, it was so big! It was also very, very hot and sweaty. We got some souvenirs, coconut water, sampled some food, and decided we'd had plenty of the swap meet.
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| the girls spent some gift cards they received as Christmas gifts. |
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| this mall was near Waikiki - a gorgeous and very spendy looking outdoor mall. We squeeze in this little visit to LuLulemon because we had 20 minutes to spare |
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| walking back to the car we saw an iridescent tesla |
The drive up the hill to Nutridge from Honolulu was beautiful. The whole luau experience felt very sweet and local. The staff was funny and entertaining, the games were fun, and the food was delicious. Our views from the mountain were amazing. The history of the place was a sweet potato farm and the hill was so steep, the potatoes would just roll down the hill when they were ready to be picked.
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| we all thought this tree looked like elephant skin. I don't know what it is |
We played Jenga, connect 4, and Calvin ate his daily bagel. The joke this week is that Calvin has a bagel every day.
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Today I made coffee and spent a little time on the beach admiring the smooth water-worn rocks. Dave took over the kitchen to make breakfast. I think we rolled into the kitchen area around 7:30-8? I don't know. Eli said "are we going to hike today?" So with our "open" day, we decided to find a hiking location near our house and see the sunset on the west side. I spent a little time researching hikes and was glad to find one not too long and close to our place.
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| these are our steps up to the house and down to the beach |
Oh! We also got "shave ice". It isn't "shaved ice". It is SHAVE ICE. In Hawaii, that's what it is called.
So Dave, Vanessa, Violet and I got different flavored "Hawaiian snow". It was very cold, very sweet, and we also scouted the trail head of the trail I found.
When we got back, Violet and I joined everyone in the water to snorkel. There is a gorgeous reef right off the beach by our house and I saw my first sea turtle!! It looked just like I thought it would...like the pictures and videos. I don't always feel comfortable in the ocean but I was glad for that experience.
We used our day to do some laundry, play board games, play outdoor games, the boys went snorkeling at some point, Violet and I took off to find Leonard's Bakery because we heard they have the best malasadas, which are donuts. But they aren't exactly like mainstream donuts. They are donut balls, soft-fried and smushy and delicious, covered with sugar or cinnamon sugar, or filled with custard or chocolate. We found Leonard's truck, about a 20 minute drive. We felt a little hungry though, so we grabbed some thai food (pineapple chicken with some spring rolls) from a food truck next to the bakery truck...and we shared the meal. We got a little thirsty, so while we snacked on the food, we drove thru the McDonald's drive thru and got a milk and two waters. Because you have to have milk with donuts!
We spent way too much money on malasadas....but they were a hit . We got a mix of original, cinn sugar, custard filled and chocolate filled.
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| playing Apples to Apples - spending some time chillin' before we left for the hike |
Ok...THE HIKE. I'll say before I talk about this that I'm icing my foot in a bowl of ice and water. I am thankful for making it up and down the hill. It was 45 minutes up a strenuous path that was like stair-stepping. We were all dripping sweat. I brought along water, don't worry mom. We were properly hydrated. :)
We got to the TOP...and had a chance to settle, rest, and wait for the sunset. We checked out some pillbox military posts, and took way too many pictures. Dave spotted some whales in the distance!
About 6:30 the sun started doing pretty things. We took about 25 minutes to get down. I had brought a flashlight, and was glad to have it for steady steps. The new shoes I wore had such thick soles it felt easy to roll my ankle, but I made it without any problems. I was so glad to get back on flat ground though!
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| the way UP |
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| maybe halfway through? taking a water break |
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| first pillbox WW2 military station |
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| the famous "pink pillbox" |
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| I love this. I spent too long setting up my phone on a rock balanced on my purse and setting the 10 second time to get this pic. |
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| facing the mountains to the east. My gps said the elevation was only 834 ft. Not a very impressive hike but it felt like it, haha. Considering we literally started at sea level. |
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| the way back down! It got dark SO fast! |
We left our rental house at 5:10. We started up the trail at 5:20, and we got back to our house at 7:30. It was a gorgeous and strenuous 2 hour adventure.
Time to cook dinner...I've had chicken marinating all day, so Dave started up the charcoal grill. It is 8:15 and we haven't even started lighting the charcoal yet, so it is going to be a late night.
Friday, March 17, 2023
Today was a full day. We visited the USS Arizona Memorial, went on board the USS Missouri Battleship, and went parasailing in Honolulu.
We got tickets to see the USS Arizona Memorial at 9:45. We parked at the Pearl Harbor visitors center and caught a boat shuttle to Ford Island to see it. This ship sunk after burning for two days after the Japanese surprised-bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941. A few survivors made it out, some died in the bombing, and about 900 were buried with the ship because they couldn't get out. They are considered buried at sea.
The USS Missouri Battleship is considered the most historic battleship in the world. It is famous for being the site of the end of WWII, where the Empire of Japan surrendered on the quarterdeck in front of General Douglas MacArthur on Sept 2, 1945. We stood in this same place!
The battleship had 51 years of service, built in the 1940s in NY, used for battles in WWII (1941-1945), the Korean War (1950-1953), The Persian Gulf transporting oil tankers during threats from Iran, Operation Desert Storm (1991), and was decommissioned in 1995 and in 1998, was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, HI.
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| The USS Arizona (sunk 40 ft) and the USS Missouri ^^ (both in this pic) are almost touching, tip to tip. They symbolize the beginning and the end of WWII in the same place. |
Pics of the battleship tour:
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| The green is the main deck (also called "The Surrender Deck", we were given a tour that took 30 minutes around those places. The blue is the first level down, called The Second Deck. We were free to walk around the Second Deck on our own. |
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| This ship is 108 ft wide, just enough to squeeze through the Panama Canal. |
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| famous picture of the end of WWII, General Douglas MacArthur is sitting, the Japanese are standing facing him in surrender |
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| "Over this spot on 2 Sept 1945 the instrument of formal surrender of Japan to the allied Powers was signed thus bringing to a close the second World War - the ship at that time was at anchor in Tokyo Bay" |
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| the signed documents ending WWII |
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| going to the lower deck |
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| sleeping quarters |
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| their dental facilities |
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| post office |
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| commander's chair! |
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| navigation - for math nerds |
It was air conditioned on the second deck and I think we spent an hour down there, which was a nice break from the sun. I took many more pictures, but it would be hard to explain it all. Very interesting to get a taste of life on a navy ship from recent history!
After a few hours at these two places, we were all pretty tired and hot from so much walking. We had parasailing scheduled at 4:30 and we left Ford Island around 2ish. We had some time so we drove to the parasailing location and got street hot dogs and water and waited around near a beach.
Parasailing was so cool. We didn't know what to expect. It was like being strapped in a swing in a very peaceful high place. The view was gorgeous! I went with Calvin and Vanessa, and Dave went up with Violet and Eli.
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| We even saw a whale breach and go under with a famous tail flip. Didn't capture a picture of that, but it was amazing to see live! |
The parasailing experience lasted maybe 45 minutes, so we had sometime in Honolulu. We drove to another Lululemon store and found that they had local products, which means a Hawaii map on their clothing. Apparently its only found in the Waikiki Lululemon store and is rare, so we got lucky.
Today is a no-plan-stay-home kind of relaxed day. I was awake again 3-6am tossing around. I moved to a different bed where a ceiling fan wasn't blowing on me. My nose isn't clear enough to breathe through and my throat was getting really sore. I woke up with a sore throat...it got better with a little hot coffee. Dave and Violet made breakfast, Calvin led a family devotion, the boys went snorkeling, Violet, Vanessa and I went to a beach 5 minutes away from our place.
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| Our hosts told us that these chairs and table are made with repurposed piping that was found after Pearl Harbor was bombed. |
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| Vanessa and Violet got tossed around by these waves |
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| Girls and I went to get acai bowls and smoothies right down the road while the boys went snorkeling again |
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| I sat by the beach for awhile |
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| the sunset was pretty |
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| we played some games, started a puzzle, and watched a movie. Eli's sunburn from day 1 started peeling! |
Dave killed a bunch of flies in the kitchen, grilled burgers and I mixed rice with pineapple for a side dish. Violet and I made a quick run to the nearby grocery store called Sack n Save (so many jokes about that) to pick up eggs for breakfast.
Sunday, March 19, 2023
I finally got a good night's sleep. I woke up at 7:30 and made some coffee and continued writing here. We made breakfast sandwiches with the bacon and eggs from last night's grocery shopping. We had some devotion time, showered up, then spent 20 minutes in a time of remembrance of Christ's death, with some bread/grape juice and some songs/verses about Jesus' death and resurrection. It was short time of worship that was sweet and sincere.
I forgot to mention that we ran into some Gideons passing out Bibles when we shopped at Lululemon yesterday. We told them we were believers, so we took the new testaments and ended up with three that we passed out. One to the guy we bought chicken or on Saturday, and two to the people who took us scuba diving today.
We left at 11am for our Noon scuba appointment. We booked a boat to take all 6 of us out scuba diving....no certification needed, only 35 ft depth max. I'm glad we had taken the discover scuba classes in Iowa the Saturday before we left to familiarize ourselves with all the equipment.
We went to two dive sites - one site first with some coral, and the second site had an enormous coral reef with lots of fish. It was great. I had low-level anxiety the whole time. I didn't really enjoy the scuba class at the pool in Iowa. My mask didn't fit well (I think my nose doesn't fit masks well), and this time I had the same feeling. I almost didn't go down the first time. I had to show the three skills before going down, which I was able to do. Remove regulator, clear water from mask, and drop regulator and find it. All the kids and Dave were comfortable doing it. I struggled to feel right doing it. I kinda hated the whole feeling....but went through with it. I kept getting water in my nose and looking down at the bottom of the ocean floor just made it worse so I had to keep my head tilted up. The second dive was a gorgeous reef with tons of fish. The first dive was 27 minutes, second was probably longer.
I just felt relief when all of it was over. I think Dave, Calvin, Eli and Vanessa enjoyed it. Violet said she didn't quite get regulated the second dive and was glad it was over.
It was pretty wild to see everyone in scuba gear under water though. Very thankful for the chance to see God's creation underwater. It is like he is bragging!
After scuba, we found a bathroom and changed into dry clothes, hit a starbucks to spend a gift card balance, then decided we needed pizza. We found a local place called Repettis and got 2 pizzas and a caesar salad. We tried taking a selfie with the beautiful mountain backdrop but kinda failed. We asked a kind person to take our pic, which turned out much better.
We drove back to our place with a stop at Walmart on the way, to replace some broken items from the week (ahem....badminton net, body board, beach umbrella...gosh). We thought we'd catch a sunset but there was 100% cloud cover so we hit a beach just north 1/4 mile and the kids swam til it was dark.
We ended the night by finishing the puzzle Vanessa and I had been working on and played a hilarious game of Scattergories. "Senior Silas" will be forever remembered.
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| drive back....beautiful green mountains everywhere |
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| pinkness was about all we got from that sunset...the two dark blobs in the water are Violet and Vanessa. The boys joined us after awhile til it was too dark to see! |
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| we finished it! 4 missing pieces, but oh well |
Monday, March 20, 2023
Tomorrow we have to leave our rental house by 10am. Goodbye Hawaii!
Violet got breakfast started by putting bacon in the oven and hashbrown potatoes on the stove. Calvin swept up the outdoor area, Eli picked up snorkel gear, I folded a laundry load. We have this last full day here and half a day tomorrow before we had to the airport, and we have some kiddos who want to try surfing.
We headed north to a local surf shop and rented two surf boards. Vanessa held the wax. :) Dave, Violet and Calvin were the only ones brave enough to try it out. Calvin got up once on his feet! Violet caught a couple good waves and got up on her knees. They said it is so so much harder and exhausting than it looks.
We spent a good 4 hours on this beach, and I sat under an umbrella. I drove back at one point to get water, snacks, body boards and snacks.
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| surf boards need wax |
We saw some sea turtles swimming in the water. Violet said one popped up right in front of her while out on the surf board, as if to pop his head up and say hi.
After wearing ourselves out on the beach, we got shave ice and some ice cream, then decided to drive north as far as we could go, which was only 15 minutes or so. We saw more beaches, stopped to look inside a cave, and enjoyed the views.
Back in time for the sunset, we cooked the last meal we had (pasta with meat sauce) and took more pics by the beach. :)
