Family Vacation - Hawaiian Style

Every year, around December, my father-in-law starts getting really hungry for a warmer climate. So he starts throwing out ideas for a family vacation. This year he let us choose between a cruise and Hawaii. We all made our arguments and Hawaii was booked within the month. Then we only had to wait 2 months for the actual vacation.

Last Wednesday we dropped Jack off at Grandma Godfrey’s and headed for the airport to meet up with the rest of the family. We arrived in Oahu very late at night and though we were all extremely tired and ready for bed the night would just not end. It started with Andrew’s (my 3 month old nephew) car seat not showing up at baggage claim. Then having a piece of luggage with all of his clothes and supplies disappear and then quite magically reappear minutes later. Then to get lost driving around trying to find the rental house. Once we got on track and were within 5 minutes of the home we saw the blue lights in our rear view mirror. It isn’t hard to speed in Hawaii, what with their extremely slow speed limits and all, but it was past midnight (four o’clock Utah time) and we all we wanted was bed. Once the lady gave us the ticket and told us to slow down while visiting the great state of Hawaii, we were on our way. Finally we made it to Haleiwa, our home for the next four days. Although the rooster next door did a mighty fine job of keeping all of us awake through the night, I think we managed to get some sleep.

The first day there was started with surfing lessons for the boys, a mandatory thing when you are staying in the surf capitol of the world, or so every Haleiwa sign said. They were all successful and did a great job, though the next day they were all pretty sore. We also visited the Dole Plantation for some extremely delicious pineapple ice cream. Had a wonderful dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, and a relaxing evening of walking on the beach and watching Back to the Future.

The second day we drove around and went to the Banzai Pipeline to try and watch some pro’s surf. Next we tried to find Turtle Bay, where according to others turtle are everywhere. Well we saw no turtles but we did get a little beach time and I got a nice burn. That night we drove to Laie to see the Temple and go to the Polynesian Culture Center. Sean got picked to try and start a fire the Samoan way and husk a coconut, it was really fun to watch. We went to the Luau and the program that night to watch the native dances.

The third day started with some shopping at a local swap meet. Sean had been before so we knew this was the place to get all of our souviners for the people still at home. We also hiked up (or if you are 5'2" with a family of much taller people who are more in shape you jogged) Diamond Head to view Waikiki's skyline. Then we got some more beach time in with a nice relaxing evening watching Back to the Future #2.

The fourth day was Sunday and so first thing we tried to find a church. By the time we found one we had missed to first half of Sacrament meeting but we arrived there for some of it. We spent the afternoon going to Pearl Harbor to see the remains of USS Arizona and hear more about the attack on December 7, 1941. It is an incredible story and for those of you who have never been, you should go at least once.

Last night ended our family vacation to Hawaii, so sad. I knew it was officially over when we walked off of the plane and felt, for the first time in 5 days, COLD and DRY air. After a whole day of traveling home I was so excited to see Jack. We made it to Grandma Callie's after he had already gone to bed, so we just got to hold him instead of play. This morning he was glad to see us and all of his toys!! It was such a fun vacation and a nice break from being a mom. Thanks to both sets of Grandparents for everything!!