Hawaii Revisited

Since we never really gave any glimpses of our Thanksgiving trip to Hawaii, I thought I'd post a few now. Cause really, what is a blog for if not to include a bit of a travel log? I'm sure Jen won't mind.

So where to begin...
Most of you know that we were really excited to book some great deals for this trip. Great flights, great car, great condo. So much of the burden of traveling was lightened by knowing that by golly, if you are going to do Hawaii, you can't get a better deal.

So this is where we came from just the week prior to Thanksgiving. Leaves were down, jacket weather was upon us. Jen was feeling pretty good in her second trimester and food was tasting good again. That was all well and good. Just according to my plan. We had slotted this vacation before the pregnancy began, actually, so we were rather fortunate that the timing of it all lined up. So anyway, Monday came, and off we went. We stopped in LA for the night. It was up for debate whether to take two 5.5 hour flights back to back or break them up with an overnight. I think we did the right thing with an overnight.


Tuesday as soon as we arrived Ian and I had to get to the water as soon as we could, so while we left Jen to rest in the condo a half-block form the beach, we hit the sand and surf.

The night we arrived, we were pleased to have dinner with my mission president and his wife at a nice Italian family eatery. It was SO good to see them! We hadn't been to a mission reunion since moving to Boston, and actually that same time frame was when they were leaving Boston for the west, before taking a position at BYU-Hawaii.



Wednesday we did Pearl Harbor. We have lots of pictures, but most of them look like everyone else's pictures of Pearl Harbor.







Thanksgiving we went to Hanauma Bay for some nice snorkling. I did several donuts through the bay and saw some fantastic fish. I was even pleased to be within feet of a sea turtle. I think he said his name was "Crush." Jen didn't take too kindly to seeing what was swimming with her, so Ian and I ventured out on our own. And when I say "Ian and I," I mean Ian was in his tube and I was his motorboat with my snorkel and fins on.
We had Korean food for our Thanksgiving dinner.


Then Friday we did the Polynesian Cultural Center. Since it didn't open until lunchtime, we stopped at the Laie LDS Temple visitor's center in the morning and took in the ambiance. Ian loved that the pictures on the pass-along cards "matched" our view, and that there were flowers to wear on our ears.
The PCC was fantastic. We honestly could have spent several days there. As it was, we only got to see the cultural presentations, and basically had to skip many of the demonstrations of cooking/crafting/playing. I think Jen was happy about that part, because those type of activities give me open opportunities to embarrass her.




Saturday we did North Shore. We went to Waimea Valley, had Matsumoto's Hawaiian Shave Ice, and also spent several hours watching folks surfing in preparation for the big wave competition.





Sunday was a reverent day at the Punch Bowl. They had monuments to all the soldiers lost in the East who were never retrieved, as well as displays illustrating the conflicts. I thought it was a very reverent atmosphere there in the extinct crater. In the evening, Ian and I took a walk down the boulevard among the tourists and the Jehovah's Witnesses who had gathered for their big convention. Admittedly, we felt fairly safe amongst so many god-fearing tourists!


Monday turned into a shopping day because the weather in the morning was so sour. The rain had come and scared us away from the beach until the afternoon. It was very windy and drizzly, so what better day to hi At least we could go deal hunting! After our attempts at deal hunting we hit the beach again before going to dinner with Jen's Auntie Jean and Uncle Hugh. They were wonderful hosts to us. We went to a famous Hawaiian restaurant.


Tuesday we went to a playground, because that's all Ian required to have a fulfilling vacation. I think it was on our plane ride in that we asked Ian what was on his list to do during vacation. Honestly, all he said was, "I think I'd like to play on a playground." Throughout the week as we ventured and would pass a playground, Ian would ask, can we go to THAT playground? But really, either we weren't dressed for it or we had somewhere to be. The times when we had nowhere to be we were sitting on the beach!

And now we are back home. Finished with sand for the time being, content with snow, ice, and rock salt covering to feel between our toes. New England has much to offer, I'll give it that, but it is severely lacking in the Spirit of Aloha sometimes.


There are TONS more pictures of the trip, but really, I'm fairly certain that very few folks are still reading after such a lengthy outline. So with this picture of my Hottie at Christmas dinner, I bid you adieu.