First, the flight to get here was absolutely insane. We started our day back in Charlotte at 7:00am leaving for the airport. When we finally got to Honolulu, it was 20 hours of changing flights, waiting and being strapped in a plane. 20 hours!! But, luckily we didn't have too many mishaps and the girls for the most part where very good....minus a few meltdowns. Belle slept half-way on the stretch to Hawaii and then slept the other half on my lap because she was tired of being strapped in her car seat. We debated on taking her car seat on the plane and in the end we decided to take it and it was the BEST decision we made. I think it made her feel comfortable and she knew she had to stay in her seat. We also bought a flight harness for her but the car seat worked beautifully.
The luggage that we took to get out here was ridiculous but when traveling with 4, with 2 still in car seats, it's what we had to have. The bad part about it was that we only had 2 working adults that could lug all the equipment and bags. Poor Kyle...but he's such a tough cookie that he made it easy for all of us. He had bungee cords everywhere trying to strap all of our stuff to bags, strollers, whatever he could find to simplify our load. Geesh.
When we landed in Honolulu, it was 3:00am our time and I tell you, everyone was a trooper. We managed to get our bags in our complete slumber, and find our way to our rental car...which, surprising was very easy. We traveled in complete darkness to Turtle Bay which is on the North Shore, a full hour away from the airport. It was 12:00am Honolulu time before we finally threw ourselves into our beds. I don't think I even changed my clothes or shoes for that matter when I got into the bed. The next morning, the girls got up at the crack of dawn....nice. But, we all were so excited that our lack of sleep didn't matter. Looking out in our lenai, seeing and smelling the fresh flowers was completely worth the hours and hours of waiting and riding to get here.
After looking around our place on Turtle Bay, we decided that we would head out to get something to eat. We found this place, called Hukilau Cafe, which had traditional and local Hawaiian favorites. I decided to get the eggs and rice and the girls each got chocolate pancakes. Now, the food here is not for those who like small portions. You come here to eat and to eat food that is not completely healthy for you, but we're on vacation...right? And we have to experience the culture, which I have always admired. Everyone is so relaxed, not in any hurry to go or be anywhere...it's a dream.
After eating breakfast, we got a few things from the local grocery store and headed back to spend some time at the beach. We went to the Turtle Bay Resort beach, which is right down the road from our condo. The beaches here are a dream and the water is beautiful, glittering turquoise. I love it! The girls had fun playing in the sand and snorkeling. The sand here is very different from the sand back home, in that it doesn't stick to you.
After our beach day, we wanted to ride down the coast on Hwy. 83 to see some sights. We drove around the island and stopped to eat at Giovanni's shrimp truck. Giovanni is a famous shrimper of Hawaii and they have this truck that is parked on the side of the road where visitors can write to say they have been there. So, we all had to write on the truck to leave our mark. We came back home for an early evening and are heading out to Pearl Harbor tomorrow. Enjoy our pictures!
The girls met Aaron Watene, a local Hawaiian children's author who has published two books and is currently working on more. We bought one of his books which is titled, Honu Wailoa and Kukui, which is about a sea turtle losing his shell and trying to find a new home. The moral, "Helping someone is always mutually rewarding"
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