Hawaii (2-25 April 2013)

This past April we had our RAT (Return Agreement Travel) trip back to Hawaii.  What a great benefit it is that we get a trip back to our home of record every two years.  When we lived there I didn't appreciate the beauty of Hawaii.  I didn't want to be there.  It was hot and I missed Alaska and my family.  However, now that we live in Germany and get to go back every couple of years, I really look forward to those trips.  We usually try to go in March or April so we can work a visit with Sam's parents in as well. 

Two years ago we rented our own condo next door to Sam's parents and that was especially nice, but this year we didn't want to spend so much money so we stayed in with his folks for the first half of our visit.  At that time they were heading back to their home and we stayed on for another 10 days or so.  My Mom and Dad joined us which was really nice.  I love seeing my parents whenever I can and it's nice to be in Hawaii together.  I've come to the realization though that visits are never enough.  No one is as relaxed as if we were just at home.  Everyone is out of place and it's just not as nice as if we lived in the same area, but this is all we have right now so I'll take whatever time with family that I can get.   We had a nice time and Elly LOVED getting to spend time with all of her grandparents.  There are lots of pictures, but I really tried to just pick the highlights :)

I am never excited about the flights to Hawaii.  There is no other way to describe them than "miserable".  I'm so thankful that Elly's such a great little traveller though.  She's wonderful on the flights.  Always has been and she's done her share of flying so she's used to just settling in for the long haul.  This year we flew from Stuttgart to Amsterdam (2hrs), Amsterdam to LA (11hrs) and LA to Honolulu (6hrs), so we were looking at 19 hours of flying.  Of course, that does not include any of the layovers.  Then when we get to Hawaii it's a 12 hour time difference from Germany.  There are times I really wonder why we do this to ourselves.  Elly has always been a great traveller, but has never been one to sleep on the plane.  She made it this trip until we got to LA, where we had to stand in line forever to clear customs and then make our way over to another terminal.  Through all that she started getting really tired and was falling asleep sitting on our luggage.  I don't think we were even in the air before she fell asleep and slept the entire way to Honolulu. 

Needless to say, we are always so happy to finally land in Honolulu and be done with travelling for a few weeks. 

Standing on the balcony of our condo in Ko'Olina

 

We wasted no time in getting ourselves to the beach.  I think this time it was the very next morning after we arrived.  I was ready to get some sunshine!  I love going to the beach there.  It's so relaxing.  Elly, Daddy and Opa were having a fight with the swim noodles before we headed out. 

 

 

 

This picture is where Elly's fear of the turtles started.  We were at one of the beaches in Ko'Olina where 3-4 sea turtles live.  It's a wonderful experience to be right in the water with them.  They come right up to you and it's really neat.  Anyhow, we were talking to Elly about the turtles and showing them to her, but she was afraid of them and didn't want to get close.  So I was standing behind them and saw this turtle get close to her.  I really thought it would just swim on by her and she would be none the wiser....and I could get a picture of her and the turtle together.  Bonus! 

 

Well, it didn't turn out quite that way. The turtle got just close enough for it's leg to just barely touch Elly and she had a meltdown.  It terrified her and she wouldn't stop yelling and crying about that turtles for the rest of our time there.  Every shadow she saw had to be a turtle coming to get her.  We couldn't even get her back in the water that day. 

I had a terrible mommy fail that day :(

We got back from the beach, but were locked out of the condo, so Elly and Daddy were playing to pass the time.

 

Another day....another beach

 

There was going to be a mermaid show at one of the lagoons one evening so we took Elly.  They sang and danced out on the raft for awhile then came in to shore.  All the little kids gathered around as she gave a talk on being kind to the earth...blah, blah, blah :) BUT...Elly got to see a mermaid and get a shell from her, so she was happy. 

 

Taking pictures before church one Sunday morning.

 

We always like to go by the place we sold when we left for Germany.  We had nice times there and it's fun to go back and see it.  Our life has changed so much since those days.  Taking our almost 4 year old back with us is evidence of that :) 

 

 

Another of Elly's pictures :)

 

I was really looking forward to my Mom and Dad coming.  I love to spend time with them and was really happy that they could join us in Hawaii this year.  Sam's parents were leaving the next morning, but for that one night it was all of us in the condo.  Sam, Elly and I slept on the fold out couch.  I had never slept on a mattress where you could literally feel the springs pushing into your back. 

We didn't have a great night's sleep :)

 

Anyhow...here we were at the airport waiting for them to arrive.    

 

 

 

The next day, before Sam's parents left for the airport, we got some pictures of Elly with all of her grandparents.   

 

While Sam took his parents to the airport, the rest of us headed to turtle beach.  Of course, my mom loved the turtles.  One came up on the beach to get some sun.  I wouldn't normally have allowed Elly to touch them, but since she had such a fear of them I was happy that she was willing to give it a try.

 

I was telling Elly to kneel beside the turtle, but she couldn't figure out what I meant....this was the result :)

 



My little beach baby.  I LOVE her so much! She's such a joy!

 

This particular day was really nice.  Sam and Dad didn't go to the beach with us...I can't remember why, but it was just Mom, Elly and myself.  Mom and I laid out on the beach and Elly had the best time playing.  Usually, when Sam is with her she wants him playing with her constantly.  It's nice that he plays with her, but I think it's great for a child to know how to have fun on their own too.  She had so much fun this day just playing in the water and in the sand all on her own.  Of course, we were right there, but she was a busy little girl doing her own thing.

Dinner out one evening

Something we've always enjoyed doing that is very unique to Hawaii is going on an island drive. When we lived there we used to love going on long drives around the island, so when we go back we try to reserve one day just for that.  We started out by going up the middle of the island through Mililani, where we used to live, and out toward Haleiwa and the North Shore.  We stopped by Dole Plantation for Dole Whips.  We love them!

Elly was trying to get this rooster to eat her cone.

When we drove by Kane'ohe Bay and Mokoli'i Island (Chinaman's Hat) we couldn't resist stopping so Elly could see the real Chinaman's Hat from her book of the same name.  We had brought the book along so she could see that it was the same island, so she wanted to hold it in the pictures.  She liked seeing the real thing and she keeps telling us now that she wants to go back there next time we're in Hawaii.  

It was so windy out there!  I love all those curls my girl has!

 

One morning we went to one of the lagoons for paddle boarding.  My goal is always the same...don't fall off the board.  I don't swim, so even if I wouldn't drown I would still make a scene...which is almost as bad for me :)  Anyhow, I was successful at staying on the board. Elly took turns riding with all of us.  We had a fun morning. 

 

One evening Sam borrowed a golf cart from one of his parent's friends.  We all loaded up and took a tour of Ko'Olina.  Elly loved it!

 

 

 

 

This was a very familiar scene.  Daddy and Elly walking to the pool.  I love it!

 

Getting slathered with sunscreen for another day at the beach.

This Monk seal was in the lagoon a lot. She was pregnant and whenever she was around volunteers would put up ropes around the area to try and keep people away from her.  I was amazed at how close people would try to get to her. 

 

One day we went down to Waikiki to walk around and get some lunch.  Some random lady stopped and gave Elly her lei.  Elly wanted it off after about a minute, so Sam and I shared it before throwing it in the water.  The idea of a lei is nice, but I really don't like wearing them in that heat.  

Elly loved these little hula girl sculptures that are all over the Aloha Tower Marketplace.  She had to stop at every one of them for a picture.

 

 

 

Our last day in Hawaii turned out really nice.  We all had to fly out that evening and had lots of packing up to do, so I didn't really want to go to the beach. I didn't think I would be able to relax and enjoy it with so much left to do, but we did end up going to turtle beach for awhile and I'm so glad we did.  It ended up being one of our favorite memories from this trip. The turtles were there and we were able to feed them seaweed off of a rock.  They kept coming up to us, sometimes 2-3 at a time trying to get something to eat.  Elly loved it....as we all did.  It was really fun.  

 

 

 

I hope my mom forgives me for posting all of these photos, but it shows you just how difficult it is to get one good picture of a 4 year old.  All I wanted was one (nice) picture of Elly and Mom.  Simple??  NO!!

Finally!!

 

Love my Mom and Dad!!  Hate saying goodbye to them though.  It's so hard living far away and all we get are visits.  Visits are nice, but they are not enough.  I wish we could live closer.  They were on their way to the airport and I was heading back inside to finish up our packing before we had to fly out.

 

And that was the end of our time in Hawaii.  We made lots of nice memories and can't wait for our next trip back.