Hawaii

Here are the MUCH awaited pictures from our vacation to Hawaii. My mom bought us plane tickets, got us a rental car, and has a condo on Waikiki that we used for Jesse's graduation present. Jesse and I took just shy of 200 pictures but I'll try to limit the blog to a good round 100. :) We also took several videos but it is taking FOR EV ER to post the pictures so I'll make a special video post tomorrow during Rosalee's nap or tomorrow night when she's in bed. At that time I'll also post the pictures of Jesse's graduation and of our move to Idaho. Stay tuned!!!

Saturday 9 May

We left Lafayette at 4 something in the morning and got to the airport fairly easily. When we got out of the car Rosalee started to cry which broke my heart, but my mom claims that she stopped after just a few minutes. I cried as we walked into the airport feeling like a bad mom for leaving my kid, but I knew it was going to be nice to have a break from being a parent for a few days. The first two flights went fast but the last flight seemed to take forever. Jesse slept like he always does, but I watched the movie and TV shows and kept bugging the attendants for water. When we FINALLY saw land I got so excited I started clapping like a little kid. We got out of the plane, got our bag, and hopped on a tram to the rental car place. The place was out of economy cars so we got to upgrade for free. Jesse picked out our car because he said it is modeled after a puffer fish and when in Hawaii we should drive a fish car. Whatever, he was going to be driving, so I couldn't complain! Next we went to the condo and checked in. The room has a full kitchen, dining area, living room with a couch and Murphy bed, a bedroom with a king size bed, and a bathroom. We joked that it was bigger than our house in Lafayette. After getting settled we went to the grocery store and sadly we were so beat that we went straight to bed at a nice time of 6 pm. We thought about going to the beach but decided that it'd still be there in the morning.

Honolulu from the airplane

Sunday 10 May (Mothers' Day)

We woke up insanely early feeling like we'd slept in. Hawaii is 5 hours behind Indiana so when I woke up at 3:30 am I thought I had gotten an extra hour of sleep. Nothing opened until 6 am so we tried to take our time getting ready. After slowly eating breakfast we made our way east to Hanuma Bay. We got there too early so we drove past and pulled off at the first scenic overlook. When it was finally 6 am we went to Hanuma Bay and expected to pay. We got there before the parking attendant was there so we didn't pay for that. Then when we walked up to the main entrance the man said "happy mothers' day" and let us in without asking us to pay. He asked us if we planned on going swimming and when I told him "no" he said I was missing out on giving my baby a Hawaiian blessing. (I think it was a blessing to everyone else to not have to see me in a swimsuit!) We were the first people on the beach and we walked as far as we could in one direction following a bunch of crabs, looking into all the tide pools. We ate a snack while watching birds and some mongoose playing and then continued to wander around. Jesse found a purple lei for me and gave it to me as a Mothers' Day gift. As we were walking back to the entrance we heard that two people had already been stung by jellyfish so I was happy we didn't go swimming. As we were leaving a huge group of people were starting to show up. I noticed that they all had to pay so I'm not sure what made the man not charge us, but we're grateful none the less! We went back to the condo and had lunch and then made our way down to the beach. The condo is 1 1/2 blocks from Waikiki Beach so getting to the ocean is VERY easy! They were having some sort of festival and Jesse was able to win a sweatshirt because we're from east of the Mississippi River. I also got to hear some ukulele music which was interesting. The man played the Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World song (the one on 50 First Dates) for all the moms in the audience and that made me happy because I love love love that song. Next we made our way down the beach some more and then across the street to a park. We watched some teenage looking kids play lacrosse while we called our moms. Even though it was 5 pm we were tired so we ate our dinner and then went straight to bed.

The sunrising over the ocean at the scenic overview

Our fabulous rental car

Hanuma Bay

There were random chickens and cats ALL over the place!

Some pictures from exploring the tide pools. The last one has the type of fish that our rental car was modeled after. Jesse had too much fun with the camera!

A group of mongoose (mongeese??) that kept us entertained

A tropical version of a cardinal

Happy Mothers' Day to me!

There are a few web cams around Waikiki Beach and one is at the Duke Statue. I called my mom and she turned on the computer. I was talking on the phone to Rosalee while she was watching us on the computer screen. I could hear her yelling "hi mommy, hi daddy!" on the phone. Oh how I love technology!

Jesse enjoying the ocean

Waikiki Beach

Jesse being himself... We thought these trees were pretty interesting. Jesse looked it up and they're called Banyan trees.

Lacrosse in the park

Monday 11 May
Jesse wanted to see the North Shore so we picked Monday as the day to drive up and see it. We looked in our travel book and picked Shark's Cove as a good place to go exploring. I also read that there is a local bakery that everyone LOVES so we planned on going there to get Jesse a cinnamon roll. After exploring we ate some dessert and then went across the street to the beach to play a little more. Next we headed off to Waimaia Valley and spent time walking around looking at all of the flowers and trees. The workers told us we could swim in the falls and we weren't sure if we should because we left our swimsuits at the condo. But after taking a second glance Jesse jumped in. After walking around drying our clothes off we drove to the Dole Plantation and walked around. We found a koi feeding pond and it was INSANE! The koi were jumping over each other and out of the water to get the kibble people were throwing in. Next we went to the pineapple maze and it took us just under an hour to finish it which we were told is a good time. (If it wasn't for Jesse I know I would have been lost and had to scream for help.) Next Jesse was nice to me and bought me a pineapple smoothie. Nothing beats pineapple when I'm pregnant! Then we drove back to the condo, realized afternoon traffic in Honolulu SUCKS, and went to bed.

We enjoyed climbing around the rocks and looking for different types of creatures. I was hoping to see some turtles, but I guess they only come out in the afternoon to feed.

We met an interesting local woman who lives in this "house". She was brushing her teeth in the ocean and telling us all about the baby turtles.

Jesse took a TON of pictures at this quiet beach area. He even took a few videos and just enjoyed watching all the sea life.

We found out why the beach was so secluded... whoops!

Our travel book said Ted's has the best cinnamon rolls on Oahu and Jesse says "they weren't bad, but not the best I've had". I enjoyed my pig in a blanket and chocolate macademia moose pie. (I know, such a wonderful breakfast!)

We found a live jellyfish squirming around on the beach. I wanted to put it back in the ocean but Jesse told me not to touch it because he was afraid I'd get stung.

The sun is in our eyes, but it felt nice to be warm!

Some scenery at Waimaia Valley

The Waimaia Falls

Jesse jumping in the nice cool water

It's hard to tell but Jesse is on the right waving to me

Being gross with algae as only Jesse can be

Not wanting to swim because of the nasty looking algae on the rocks

Once Jesse found out that the boogey boards were free he grabbed me one so I didn't have to worry about getting my hair and face wet.

More pretty scenery. If Jesse were in charge of the blog, you'd know the common name and the scientific names of all these plants I'm sure.

A random sleeping duck Jesse insisted on photographing

The psycho koi feeding frenzy

You can't go to the Dole Plantation and not eat ice cream or get a smoothie. I promise it is worth the wait in the line!!

Tuesday 12 May
We woke up early and headed to the east coast of Oahu. As we drove up the east shore we watched the sunrise and I was in love! I could honestly just sit there every morning and watch that and never get sick of it. Now if I could only afford to live in Hawaii... We got north of the cities and were getting close to Laie. The Polynesian Cultural Center didn't open for a few hours so we decided to stop for a snack at some random park. Across the street from the park is a ranch where the movie Jurassic Park was filmed. We looked in our Lonely Planet travel book and decided the price was too high so we just stayed at the park. After eating we drove to Laie and looked around BYU-Hawaii. We were both amazed at how small the campus is. BYU-Idaho was small but compared to the Hawaii campus it seems rather large! After that we went to the Laie LDS temple which is closed for serious renovations. The temple is 90 years old and was the first to be built outside the 48 US states. We walked around the grounds and then went inside the visitor's center. Next we went to the PCC and began our insane day of being tourists. We started by going on a canoe ride which was nice because it meant I didn't have to walk to the other side of the complex. :) We visited all of the island sites (oddly except Hawaii), saw a dance show performed on canoes, went to an IMAX movie, ate ourselves silly at the dinner luau, and then went to another dance show. I was still on Indiana time so by the time the big night show started I was nodding off. To be honest I slept during some of the more peaceful songs but when it came time for the Samoans and the fire dances... I was WIDE awake! We headed home and decided to drive diagonally down, through the mountains, back to the condo. It was hard to see but what we could make out was amazing. I think next time we'll drive that way in the daylight so we can actually see more of the mountains. The rest is a blur to me. Jesse says I went in, got dressed and went to sleep but all I remember is telling him which exit to get off on. A good day, but a BUSY day!

This island is off the shore from the random park. Someone said it is called Chinaman's Hat, but I'm not sure if that's correct.

This is where Jurassic Park was filmed

I made Jesse lie down for a size comparison of the palm leaf

Even though the temple wasn't opened and it was being worked on, we still enjoyed being on the grounds.

Taken from the canoe ride at the PCC

Jesse caught a fish! It wasn't very big, but since it was the first catch of the day he got his name on the board.

I do not have the same luck with fishing...

Spear tossing

We went to the Tongan drum demonstration and this guy was HILARIOUS!!

Some photos from the canoe dance show

Jesse got to go on stage in the Samoan demonstration about coconuts. The man said he called Jesse up because he looked short but then jokingly told him to sit back down because he was tall. I'm pretty sure that is the first, and last time, a grown man will refer to my husband as tall! He said the fresh coconut water tasted really good.

It's hard to see but there are two people in the tree getting coconuts.

Roasted pig anyone!?

My Hawaiian twin!

Some shots from the night show
Wednesday 13 May
After a busy day at the PCC we decided to have a slow paced, relaxing day at the beach. We went down to Waikiki Beach and swam for a while and then we walked over to the Army Museum. When my dad was in the Army we went to Hawaii on his way to and from Vietnam. It was interesting to see the whole section dedicated to those days. I kept thinking, "I wonder if my dad is in background of some of these..." We also got to see a helicopter that is the exact type my dad worked on in Vietnam. Next we went shopping and then headed back to the beach for more swimming! When we got back to the condo Jesse went outside and grilled us some bratwurst for dinner and I promptly fell asleep after while he stayed up to watch the season finale of Lost.

Jesse playing with our boogey board in the waves. He actually took it out past the rock wall where the surfers were but after a few nice waves hit him, he came back in.

At the Army Museum

More fun on the beach. I laugh at these pictures because Rosalee calls them "naked Daddy" when she sees them.

For those of you counting there are more than five bratwursts on that grill and yes we did eat all of them for dinner!

Thursday 14 May (and part of Friday)

We woke up as late as we could (a good time of 5:45 am) and headed off to Diamond Head for when it opened. We got there about opening time and were surprised at how many people were already there. We found out that several local people hike up Diamond Head every morning for exercise. One man, in his late 70s, walks to the stairs and then jogs 10 sets of the stairs before walking back down to his car. After going up and down once I felt was done, so kudos to him! I hope I'm in that great of shape at his age. After hiking we went back to the condo and packed our suitcases to get ready to leave. As much as we knew we needed to get back to take care of things, graduate, move, etc. a large part of us wanted to "miss" our flight. But after walking around Waikiki Beach and visiting some shops we went to the airport and flew back to Indiana. Every flight was fairly rocky, each worse than the previous so I didn't sleep much but the time seemed to pass by. On the last flight to Indianapolis the small plane felt like a rollercoaster and I thought I might be sick, but thankfully I held it together. We got back to Indiana on Friday afternoon and as soon as we saw Rosalee I was actually happy to be back. We were coming down the escalator and when she saw me she held her arms out and yelled, "MOMMY!" It melted my heart!!! She didn't want me to put her down the rest of the day and I didn't mind one bit. Sadly the rest of our Friday wasn't as pleasant but I'll save that for the next post.