Aloha Hawaii

(Warning: very long post below, feel free to skim.)

The last week of January we spent a sunny week in paradise!  We left on a Tuesday morning and took a direct flight to Honolulu.  Coleman was so excited and when he gets excited he talks even more than usual.  He started conversations with every person we came in contact with.  Once there, we rented a car and Coleman said, "Car -- get ready to be sandy!"  Then, we drove straight to ... Costco.  We ate pizza for a late lunch, then went to Ko'Olina in time to play on the beach and watch the sunset.  We saw whales jumping and splashing, which was so thrilling.  We washed off the sand in the hot tub then went right to bed.  Ahhh, this place feels like home to us!

The next day we were up in time to see the sunrise on our way to McDonald's for breakfast. They serve "Hawaiian style" breakfast platters, Portuguese sausage and rice, or spam and rice.  Jono and Coleman love the Portuguese sausage!  Bud asked Jono this burning question every pre-pubescent boy wants to know, "Dad, do you choose not to grow chest hair?"  After laughing our heads off, we wanted to know where that question came from. Apparently at a recent scout camp-out, the men leaders took off their shirts to sit in the hot pots at Crystal Hot Springs.  The men had hairy chests, Jono does not; thus the question. So funny!  We shopped at our favorite Hawaiian grocery store before hitting the beach.  The kids played in the ocean with tubes and a boogie board.  Rosie and I swam out and touched the buoy.  For lunch we had ham sandwiches and papaya in our room.  

That afternoon, we drove 30 minutes to the North Shore to see the big waves.  There were turtles in the surf, which is so exciting to see!  Bud, Rosie and I took turns boogie boarding. Bud was impressed and said, "Mom you're good for a 41 year old!"  Rosie especially liked boogie boarding.  Coleman dug a deep hole and Jono supervised.  (I think Jono is the only visitor to the Islands who never gets in the ocean.)  Bud dared Jono to get in the water. Jono took off his shirt, stood at the edge of the waves; but couldn't (or wouldn't) do it!  We went back to the resort, went down the water slide (Coleman had to go down 6 times because he was 6 years old), then sat in the hot tub.  Jono and Coleman grilled Oettli hamburgers for dinner, they were yummy!  Jono and I went shopping at the nearby Polo outlet while the kids watched a movie.  We found so many good deals, I was very happy.  

On Thursday, we ate breakfast in our room before hitting the beach.  We were the only ones on the beach!  We took a long walk along the different coves to see all the resorts and the tide pools.  This was a perfect study of the different personalities of my children.  Coleman and Rosie are daredevils and love to stand where the waves hit the rocks and get sprayed, Bud is much more cautious and is always hanging back behind them.  We saw the sharks and stingrays at the JW Marriott.  Back at the resort, the kids and Jono jumped in the hot tub to wash off the sand before lunch.  Unfortunately, Jono forgot to take his cell phone out of his swimsuit pocket before getting in!

After lunch, we went back to Costco to get Jono a new phone, then the kids swam in the pools and went down the waterslide.  Jono and Bud left to play 9 holes of golf before dinner. Bud had 2 pars and beat Jono on a hole.  Coleman and Rosie had a consolation shaved ice and we all watched the whales and the sunset at the beach.  Rosie and I were the first to return to the room to start dinner.  Coleman said to Jono and Bud, "I bet mom gets lost and we beat her back!"  (I didn't get lost, just for the record.)  We had papaya with our dinner and Coleman couldn't remember the name so he called it "clam linguini".  Another great day!  

On Friday, the first grade was celebrating 100 days of school.  Coleman celebrated in Hawaii with 100 new freckles that he got on our trip, despite sunscreen and a floppy hat.  He said delightly, "I could be a cheetah, I have so many spots!" as he ate all of Jono's Portuguese sausage at breakfast.  He eats so much food, yet is the skinniest of all the kids.  We spent the morning at the North Shore.  Today the turtles had crawled to the shore and because the turtle protectors had not yet arrived, the kids got to touch them.  The waves were much bigger today and we saw whales, surfers and fishermen.  We drove a little farther to Turtle Bay and Coleman and I swam.  We said good-bye to Turtle Bay and Coleman's crocs, which were never seen again.

After lunch, Jono and I went to a mandatory time share presentation, leaving the kids to do make-up school work.  Rosie cranked out 7 worksheets, Bud cranked out 0.  Bud and Jono went golfing again, Bud got to drive the cart.  Rosie and Coleman cried hysterically at being left behind and played basketball in the pool to feel better.  We had our favorite lamb chops for dinner, and Coleman won the covented "Carnivore Award".  He had Portugese sausage for breakfast, pepperoni pizza for lunch and 2 lamb chops for dinner!  Jono was the first one asleep.

On Saturday, we fed large white bone fish in the surf at sunrise, then ate at McDonald's again for breakfast.  We drove to Aloha Stadium for the swap meet.  We bought t-shirts, flipflops, a backpack for Rosie, swimsuits and presents for friends at home.  The highlight was sneaking onto the field and playing a pretend football game with a pretend ball. Coleman went deep, caught and protected the ball, and ran it into the endzone to score. Then he kicked an extra point to win the game!  (Just as an aside -- the entire Hawaiian newspaper was filled with Norm Chow; Norm Chow quotes, Norm Chow interviews, Norm Chow sightings, Norm Chow recruits - which he stole from the U.  We love Norm Chow and wish he had stayed at Utah, so we are very jealous!)  We continued on to the North Shore for the last time this trip.  Jono and Rosie had a daddy-daughter hike to the point of the shore and watched the big waves.  She is very mad at being excluded from the afternoon golfing.  

We had the best lunch- hamburgers and grilled fish sandwiches in the darling North Shore surfing town.  Bud won the carvivore award today; he ate his lunch and Coleman and Rosie's leftovers.  We had krispy kremes and pineapple ice cream for dessert.  Back at our resort, Jono and Bud went golfing again.  Coleman, Rosie and I met them for the last two holes (Coleman almost got hit by a car crossing the street to the golf course because he was so excited).  Then we had putting contests before dinner.  We ate all of our leftovers for dinner and are so sad to go home tomorrow night!

On our last day we took lots of pictures and played at the beach all morning.  We gave away our sand toys and tube and waved good-bye to the whales.  We swam in the pool for a while and the kids had one last shaved ice.  We had already checked out of our room, so we showered in the locker room and got dressed for golf.  We played 5 holes of golf before it got dark.  At the airport, we got all checked in and waited for our flight to start boarding. They finally called our zone to board, but Jono was nowhere to be found.  We found him asleep on the ledge by the large windows.  We said one last good-bye to Hawaii and flew home all night.  Coleman was asleep the second he sat down on the plane.  He slept all the way home, in car ride home to our house and in his bed for hours more.

We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back!!