Hawaii: Day One

We finally did it! We went on the trip we have been dreaming of for years--Hawaii! The stars all aligned when we had the vacation time, were not pregnant or breastfeeding, and had the disposable income. The final catalyst was realizing that my mom is getting to the point that it might be too hard for her to watch our kids for a week soon. She has been having a ton of problems with falling in the last six months or so and hasn't been able to get any medical answers. 

We took our 10 year anniversary trip a little after our 11th anniversary. Better late than never. We went March 13th - 20th. It was our girls' spring break from school so it was a better time for us to be gone. 

We took a picture of our house from the plane and had a thoroughly relaxing flight direct to Honolulu. We read a book together and ate and napped. It was one of those times we realized how easy it is to travel without children. My goodness, just entertaining yourself,  only being responsible for your own bladder--what a cushy week. :) 

Our first stop was Pearl Harbor. What a solemn experience. We went through different exhibits and watched films about it. Unfortunately, we didn't plan ahead well enough to get tickets to go out to the sunken USS Arizona, but it was still a humbling and thought provoking time.
The photo above is a model of a Japanese aircraft carrier. I didn't realize that the Pearl Harbor attack was in tandem with attacks all over the South Pacific. The ships had to sail from Japan in radio silence for 12-14 days I think.
This is a model of the USS Arizona pre bombing.

This is post-bombing. It was unreal to see blood stained artifacts in the museum.

Looking out across the bay. In order to get tickets to go see it, you have to order them the exact day they come available, or they are all taken.

There were touching quotes around the memorial. 

John's shirt says it all. "Treat others the way you want to be treated."

I loved this poem by Eleanor Roosevelt.

Even at this first stop it was fun to see the Hawaiian plants. Cool trees!

This submarine was so big!

In front of the sub was a memorial walkway area with many plaques listing numbers of casualties on different vessels. It was humbling to say the least.

Anti aircraft guns like my grandpa used in this very war. 

Model submarine interior.

After the Pearl Harbor Memorial we drove to Diamond Head State Park. It was about 4 pm when we got there and the park gates get closed at 6 so we hurried up the trail to the look outs. I really enjoyed this hike. It was been a long time since John and I just hiked together. Holding hands and going as fast or slow as we'd like. Dreamy. There were many steps up to the top where it was windy and a little rainy, but still warm.

Honolulu and Waikiki beach.

Looking down over the crater's edge. We could see the lighthouse and the ocean just stretching on and on.

I love him. He's my everything. 

The crater was so cool! A perfect inverted dome. 

We loved seeing all of the different plants and animals too. These cool birds with bright red faces were everywhere. And so was this tall thick grass. Thankfully our allergies didn't give us any grief while were were there.

There weren't very many people there, which I kind of love. 

Tall grasses with trees sticking out. 

One of our favorites was the plumeria trees we saw throughout our trip. Different colored blooms clustered at the end of branches with few leaves on the tree. That's what it looked like to us.

Gorgeous!

We ended the day with eating some yummy food at a local favorite grill. It was delicious, but we just ate in our car because it was raining. Then we headed to the other side of the island in the rainstorm to our rental in Kaaawa. Here are some photos from the listing. It was gorgeous, but the mountain views really sold it for me. 

 A cute little studio--just what we needed. 

Unfortunately when we got there it had been rainstorming and the wind blowing. I was cold so John tried to close a couple of windows and actually broke a window panel. Turns out the windows don't really close. Fortunately no injuries or extra charges.

 Super close to the ocean. We were in the green little house and had a washer and dryer and a ton of beach gear, which was awesome! We loved the heated outdoor shower, the pretty view, but didn't love getting woken before dawn by the roaming roosters.

 Those mountains though! They were spectacular.

Butterfly Festival

 One of our family rules (number 6 actually) is that we work together and then we play together. Well, John and I are quickly finding out when it comes to taking care of a home the work is really never done. Our Saturdays quickly fill up with cleaning, maintenance/repair, and upgrade to-do items. We typically don't try to do everything that would be good to do, but the most pressing things get done.
What we are discovering is that if we are going to do fun things as a family on a Saturday, we have to make time for it. By the time we have finished our to-do list for the day we have either run out of energy or time (most often both!). That is why when we found out the botanical gardens was doing the Butterfly Festival a few weeks ago we decided we were going to make it there even if we didn't have our work done. And I am so glad we did. Butterflies+crafts+little girls=happiness. We went to the butterfly house first. Check out these fun shots with the nice camera.

This little one wanted more than anything to have a butterfly land on her. Unfortunately it didn't happen this time.

I love these pink flowers.

This is what happens when I tell her to smile and wave at me for a picture. Hand right in front of her face.

 I loved this bright orange butterfly on the beautiful flower. I also love that adorable little girl watching it.

Eliza put her hand down on the floor where a butterfly was crawling, and it crawled on her hand! She was thrilled. Then a volunteer came over and talked to her about it, and took the butterfly from her. It made me a little irritated.

After the butterfly house we went over to the crafts and music section. They had fun playing with the fun entertainers.

One of my favorite parts was seeing the girls get their faces painted. Some people are so talented, and they have probably put a lot of effort into getting good at it.

Even Holly got some painting done, but on her arms where she was more comfortable.

 Beautiful girls. It was quite the debate, trying to decide what design to get.

This cheesy face is gold.

Honestly...

There were lots of fun crafts including scarf decorating and butterfly and chrysalis making.

One of our favorites was this entertainer group that made music on recycled goods. After their performance they invited kids up to play on the drums too. They all got in on the action.

Such a happy day. Definitely worth taking some time away from house maintenance.

One last things, they all wore butterfly shirts. Gosh, little girls are cute.