Hawaii Day 8--4th of July!

I can't believe how fast this trip is going by! We were talking about moving here, but we've talked to a couple of people who said they've had neighbors who've done that and after a few months, they leave. It's a great place to visit and vacation to, but probably not so much to live. We're staying in Waimanalo, which is about 40 minutes north of Honolulu. We're renting an apartment hooked onto a couple's house, separated by a garage and patio area. We're about a block (a long block) away from the most beautiful beach! We spent the morning there. This couple is so sweet! They have boogie boards for use and the kids (and Jon) put them to good use. There's also a grill, so we had a cookout for lunch. They have these things called Hawaiian Winners--red hot dogs with a kick to them. So good! Jarren wants to bring some home, but I don't think they'd be good without refrigeration. We wanted to see the fireworks, so we went downtown, along with at least a million other people it seemed like. We went to the huge mall and then I decided to take the three younger kids to Waikiki Beach. It's not far from the mall, right? Well, maybe not, but the way I took them (by guessing) was at least 2 miles. We got to the Beach and it was so crowded! We only stayed for about 30 minutes, before we had to trek back. I found a shorter way though. Thank goodness, since our feet were on fire! Jon and Kendall had saved a bench on the Beach for the show, which was great because it got so crowded! Everyone hauled down their grills and shade tents. They had music blaring, food, games, etc with each group of family or friends. The fireworks were amazing! A local radio station played appropriate songs and someone had that blasting. Of course, traffic was bad getting out of there, but we made it! I'm very disappointed--Hawaii isn't how I remembered it from 20 years ago. Honolulu smells like a big city and is so much more crowded. I remember how good it smelled--like flowers and the ocean. I dreamed about it for years after my last trip. I'm hoping it'll be good again up north, where Day 9 will be...

Hawaii Day 7

Today was a travel day. We had the morning to spend at the beach and then we flew back to Oahu, where we'll spend the rest of our trip. Kendall left his wallet in the seat pocket on the flight from Honolulu to Hilo. We called the airport list and found and they didn't have it. We decided to check in Honolulu when we flew back in and they had record of it being found and logged, but it wasn't in the claims area. We spent at least 30 minutes trying to deal with it with no luck. How can it have been found but just disappeared?! He had some money in there, but my biggest stressor is his driving permit. He's supposed to take his road test two days after we get home and I really don't want to deal with trying to get a new permit just for that when he'll get his license 4 days later. They're going to try and track down the person who logged it to see where it was placed and I have a number to call to try things on my end. Tomorrow is a holiday and then it's a weekend and we leave later in the day on Monday, so... It'll be cutting it close. Anyway... The Big Island is interesting. It's full of lava rocks and there's a lot of brown, gray, and black, unless you get up in the rain forest. The beaches are mostly black sand and/or lava rock. Oahu is so much greener. We're staying in an apartment connected to a house about a block from an amazing Beach! I'm happy to have a kitchen again. Yes, groceries are expensive, but it's a lot cheaper than eating out for every meal. I heard that milk is expensive. Yes, Meadow Gold is $9.99 a gallon, but the generic is $5.98. We're gearing up for the last few days of our trip!

Happy 40th!

Day 6 also happens to be Jon's 40th birthday! It's a hard one to swallow, so we decided to make it a fun one and celebrate in Hawaii! He didn't want a big deal made, but we did what he wanted to do, had some cake donuts, and gave him or love and attention. Love you, Jon! Happy Birthday!

Hawaii Day 6

There's a great place South of where we're staying called Two Step. You walk out over some lava rocks and literally take two steps before you're about 10 feet deep. A little more out, and it's 25 feet. Just past that, you can't see the bottom. The snorkeling is great! Jena and I played in the tide pools (lots of little fish, butterfly fish, eels, krill, crabs, etc) while the others went out. They saw a lot, including an Eagle Ray. After several hours, we tried a natural local fruit smoothie and then came back to swim at the hotel and get laundry done. We went and find the LDS Temple here in Kona before heading for a traditional Hawaiian dinner. Holy Cow! A plate of white rice, topped with two eggs, your choice of meat, and brown gravy. It's a Loco Moco. We leave for Oahu tomorrow, so we're trying to fit it all in.