Last day and coming home

I'm finally coming to an end of our Hawaii vacation.  While we were very happy to go and had a great time, we were ready to come home by Friday.  The hotel beds were very uncomfortable and the week of sleeping (well, attempting to sleep on them) were catching up with us. We were tired of eating out and lazing around.  Plus I missed my dog and cats.

But with one last day in paradise, we might as well enjoy it.  A little before lunch I took the kids down to the beach and the pier to wade in the surf, hunt for seashells, and watch the surfers a bit.


Carus hunting for seashells.


Surfer girl

Surfer guy

Pretty shell Carus found

Posing with Prince Kuhio (Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Piʻikoi).

Wave crashing on the wall.

Surfer

Falling

Another surfer.

There were tons of surfers and body surfers and it was fun to watch. There was a time when I wanted to learn to surf, but then I would remember my balance issues and I'd wake up from that dream. You never know, I could still learn....someday...

Adam. One of those times when I look at him and think holy crap, when did you get so big!

After we finished watching the surfers we went back to the hotel and went swimming one last time. We preferred the hotel pool to the ocean because it is closer to the room and there is no current pulling on you. My kids aren't great swimmers and neither am I, but we are working on that.

Carus swimming.

Later on we all headed back down to the beach/boardwalk with the intention of catching the Hilton's firework show, but we didn't go far enough down and didn't get to see them.

147/365 - It was still nice to watch the sunset on the beach though.


* * * * * * * * * * * *
Saturday I guess doesn't really count as another day in Hawaii since it was the day we came home. Our flight was at 11:30 so we didn't have to get up super early, but still early enough.

I had found an ad for limo service from Waikiki to Honolulu airport (or vice versa) for $35 for up to 6 people and since our taxi ride upon arrival was $37 we figured why not. The limo was more comfortable and quick, just 12 minutes.

It was the first time I've ridden in a limo, as well as Adam and Carus's first time.

I'm always in the back of the group...probably cause I'm messing with my camera. Or I walk kinda slow, which is so I can mess with my camera. Adam, Robert, and Carus in Honolulu airport, just after we finally got through security. The lines were incredibly long.

Hawaii seemed to have a lot of interesting trees.  This one DOES grow here in Oregon. They are usually the last ones to get their leaves and flowers in the spring - but they're pretty here too.

Even with the long security line, we still had time to find a restaurant, eat lunch, hang out for a bit, get me a Starbucks, and hang out some more before we boarded the plane.

Carus and I on the plane.

148/365 - Goodbye Hawaii. Hope to come back soon!


And one last shot of Diamondhead from the plane.


I didn't get any photos of PDX or Portland, or coming home. I should have. But after sitting on the plane for 5-1/2 hours and being the last off when exiting (we were in the last row) I was tired and ready to get out of there.

And there ya go, our Hawaiian vacation. Hope you enjoyed seeing/reading some of what we got to see and do and I didn't bore you too much.

Now back to the regularly scheduled, really boring, day to day programing.

What day are we on? Oh yeah - 6. Zoo day!

Thursday we started out at the zoo with the hopes that we would get through before it got too hot and that theory almost worked.  We got most of the way, but were fairly wilted by the time we got back to the hotel.  Oh well - back to the pool!!  Have you noticed how much we were swimming? If not, I'll give you a hint - a lot. A lot a lot.

I took over 400 photos.  Lots of birds and flowers, some monkeys, turtles, peacock, giraffe, zebra, rhino ass (he wouldn't face me - well Robert had the camera at that point and he didn't care that I didn't really want a picture of the rhino's ass SO I have a picture of a rhinocerous's ass! Lucky me).  Let's see - um, Oh I attempted to get a picture of dragonflies but they wouldn't hold still. Fast little bastards.  Oh and more flowers cause I was really enjoying the flora of Hawaii.

Anyways I'm not sharing all of them right now cause that's a lot of pictures and they need editing cause I was shooting through windows and fences and the stupid rhino wouldn't turn around but I don't think I could fix that. I could meld Robert's face with it. Hehehe. 

But how about some highlights right now and I'll share others here and there later on. 

We explored the gift shop and were playing around a little. I love Carus's pose in this picture. Carus tried on the hat and Robert then did so I quickly snapped a pic cause he doesn't always let me catch his goofiness. But I begged and he said yes. 

And I got this one! All three goofballs.  Yay for good sport Robert!  Maybe I will get him one of those hats for his birthday.

So now!

Some of our favorite animals:  And just some because we are big animal lovers over here (example - the amount of pets we have) and loved all the animals. Even the ugly ones like komodo dragons. But they're not really ugly, just reptile-y which makes them cool. 

The monkeys. Monkeys are always amusing.

146/365 - Tiger at Honolulu Zoo.

The tigers.  They were cleaning the main tiger cage and we were worried we wouldn't get to see them, but then we found that they were in a smaller cage on the side.  This guy was just chilling, but the other one was pacing back and forth and every time one of the trainers or zoo workers came near the gate he/she would get so excited and run and jump.  It didn't seem aggressive.  It seemed excited to see them or excited that they would get to go back in the main cage or something.  Either way - PRETTY KITTY!!

And this little fox.  We came up on this guy and Carus squealed.  EEEEEEEEEE squealed. I might have too.  And then he started digging a hole and she squealed again.  He looks like a cross between a chihuahua and cat and isn't he is freaking adorable!



Day 5

Wednesday.  Kind of the day our whole Hawaii trip was planned around. Mine and Robert's 10th wedding anniversary. 

We were going to go to Hawaii last year so I could visit my awesome cousin while she still lived on the island (they now live on the east coast) BUT we bought a house instead because I needed out of our rental.  Plus 10 year anniversary is a nice round, even number to celebrate that big.

To top it all off we renewed our wedding vows too.  We decided to renew our vows because it hasn't been an easy road to get here and there were times where neither one of us thought we would make it. Sometimes saying being 10 years seems like nothing, like a drop in a hat, easy as pie. But other times being married 10 years seems like a desert we crossed without water.

We started out the day with Carus and I getting pedicures so we had pretty toes. 

I had braided Carus's damp hair the night before and this is how it came out the next morning.  I love when she lets me play with her hair. I loved how pretty it was and it would have stayed like that all day except she wanted to go swimming again and there was no time for a redo.


Still pretty without the waves in her hair.

We arrived at Waialae Beach for the ceremony early so we could check it out and enjoy it.  It was a gorgeous, quiet beach.  There were a few other wedding ceremonies going on too.  One couple was just leaving as we were arriving and two others married while we were there.  I could see why it was a popular spot, it was gorgeous!


Not long after we arrived we found a few crabs and this one stood up to us walking by him (or her?) which Carus found extremely funny and interesting so she followed him and harrassed him (not much) all the way down the beach until he finally stopped and buried himself in the sand.

He looks like a rock in front of her here.  We kept warning her not to get too close or he would latch on with his claws and she wouldn't like it.

Do you see him standing up to her? He still sorta looks like a rock... 

Don't worry, she didn't harrass him too much, never touched him, and after he buried himself she put a rock next to it so she wouldn't accidentally step on him and then moved on, going back to wade in the surf.


And we watched this guy head out to windsurf.  He was out on the water at least an hour and he got pretty far out there.  Probably lots of fun.  It was fun to watch, not sure if I could ever try though. I don't have much balance.


Our family*

After our little ceremony we took a few pictures.  The wind was blowing really hard and it was difficult to keep the hair out of my face, and the sun was going down and was at the perfect height to be in our eyes. But I'm still pretty happy with the photos.


Brother and sister.* 

They were at our first wedding - Adam was ring bearer and I was pregnant with Carus - so it's fitting they be at our second.

With the little ceremony package I found (that included the photographer WOOHOO!) we got sparkling cider to celebrate (champagne/alcohol isn't allowed on public beaches).

Robert and I*

145/365 - Happy 10th Anniversary to us!*


We've made it this far, here's hoping we make it even further.

*These photos are not by me or my camera. They are by the photographer, unfortunately, I can't remember his name right now because I occasionally have the memory span of a goldfish.

Day 4 - Pool day!

145/365 - Going swimming! WOO!


Tuesday was a scheduled relaxing day. We visited the pool a lot and we went shopping down at the International Marketplace in Waikiki.  It was there we found the surfboard we were required by Granny GG to get a picture on, which we did.  It was unexpected to find the surfboard there because I forgot where I was told it was at and I didn't have my camera with me...camera phone to the rescue...maybe?


Robert surfing.

Carus surfing.

Adam surfing.

Robert got one of me with his phone, but he hasn't shared it with me and I'm not sure if I would share it with you anyways. I don't want to show myself looking like a dork. I have a reputation to uphold.

After shopping for souvenirs we hit up the pool again.

And that was our lazy day.  We were on vacation after all.

Day 3 - Pearl Harbor

Monday we decided would be the day we would visit Pearl Harbor.

Since we didn't rent a car we rode TheBus. It was less than $10 each way for all four of us. And it took us an hour and a half each way, but it allowed us to just sit back, relax, and see the sites and not worry about traffic.

I don't know if it is the tourists or the residents, but drivers in Honolulu (not sure about the rest of Oahu) were freakin looney! We saw quite a few accidents, more near accidents, many red lights being ran, pedistrians nearly getting hit. There was once we started across the street (with the signal at a crosswalk) and then Robert grabbed me and pulled me back a step as a red car came zooming right in front of me. The car ran the red light, and not just a little. It had been red for quite a bit and he was going fast.

Anyways, back to Pearl Harbor. There are quite a few photos so with minimal words...


Learning about the torpedos.  I've been getting a lot of "looks" and comments when people find/found out we pulled the kids out of school for a week to go to Hawaii.  So yes, we did.  The school year is almost over, they both do really well in school, I had their teachers hold their homework (which they have already made up today after school), and they learned a lot some of which they learned at Pearl Harbor.



Very large anchor.

Going up into the command center of a submarine



Oohh, what do these switches do?

Daddy getting in on the fun.

Meanwhile I'm fascinated by the flowers in Hawaii. I LOVED these trees with these flowers!

Ooh, big gun!

Happy hubby. No Robert, you can't have one of your own.

Carus manning the other gun.

Adam's turn.

The type of gun it was and the stats on it.

144/365 - Family photo courtesy of a bench and the camera's self timer.



Carus with one of those flowers in her hair.  (What kind of tree/flower where these?)

Retired submarine that you can go aboard and check out (for like $30 per person for a guided tour, we did not do the tour).

Another gun, actually I think this one is a missile launcher.







Miniature of the U.S.S. Arizona.  In this little museum there was a video about what happened December 7, 1941 and after watching it Carus asked (with tears in her eyes) "Why did they attack us?" The video didn't really explain and my explanations weren't enough to satisfy her. Thankfully the video they showed before the ferry ride out to the sunken ship explained it further and answered her questions. 

Adam on the ferry ride out to the U.S.S. Arizona.

Carus on the ferry out to the U.S.S. Arizona.





U.S.S. Missouri. We also did not visit this one - but we should have. Excuse to go back, right?

Sunken ship

Sunken ship

"To the Memory of the Gallant Men Here Entombed and Their Shipmates Who Gave Their Lives in Action December 7, 1941 on the U.S.S. Arizona."

Wall of names.

Adam and Carus in front of the wall of names.

Ferry ride back.

Our Navy drivers.

The other ferry.


Pearl Harbor - Just can't find the right word to describe our visit. I'm so glad we went, so glad we taught our kids about such a monumental moment in our country's history...