Hawaii

We finally took our first vacation without the girls, and we decided we would like to make it an annual tradition! We spent 4 days in Waikiki, enjoying the sunshine, reading books, sleeping, and eating at beach side restaurants, actually finishing a meal and having a full conversation too! It was a great time to truly relax and catch up on the past 3 years:) With the 3 hour time difference, Joe and I were wide awake at 5:30am our first morning there. I wasn't quite sure how relaxing the vacation was going to be, as Joe suggested we go work out at the 24 hour fitness down the road! I was a good sport, though, and it did remind me of the spontaneity that is missing when you have two little ones. When do I get to enjoy? a 5:30am workout at home???!!! I followed it up with sipping my latte and reading a book while watching the waves roll in, though.

Waikiki beach is pretty busy and crowded, but also beautiful. We enjoyed being able to walk to all the restaurants and shops, and I found a favorite coffee spot right away! Adding whipped cream to my drink was an extra 60 cents!!! (everything was way too expensive) but it was whipped cream unlike any I've ever tasted!

If you look hard, you can see Joe in the middle of this picture heading off for his surfing lesson! He is the really white guy from rainy Seattle:)He was able to get up on the board on his first try...I think snowboarding helped him get the hang of it quickly. Also, the tide was coming in, so the waves weren't too daunting:)

We spent a day at Pearl Harbor, viewing the Arizona Memorial and the Missouri battleship. I really should have Joe write this part because I tried to pay attention, but history and battleships are honestly not my strong subjects! Joe used to watch the history channel on his days off when Clara was a baby, while she napped on his chest. I could tell that he was envisioning being part of that day while we toured around. I tried to find a nice sunny place to sit and wait while he read EVERY single exhibit!

Joe "exploring/playing in" part of a submarine. He truly loved this day!

This is the Arizona Memorial. The actual ship that sank with close to 2,000 people on board is just beneath this memorial. You can see it when you look down into the water on both sides of the memorial. The ship was left as a grave for all who died. See, I did learn a few things that day!

We hiked up to the top of Diamond Head, with some incredible views from the top. The hike finishes off with a tunnel, 168 steep steps, and then you crawl out through a hole in the top. It was used as some type of lookout and housing for guns during the war.

We were flying out on a red-eye flight, so we headed to the airport early that day and rented a car to explore the rest of the island. We stopped at the Dole pineapple plantation and had the most incredible pineapple ice cream! We also stopped at a shrimp truck that served all kinds of jumbo shrimp and shared fried coconut shrimp-also incredible! The next picture is a beach on the northern end of the island, which had gorgeous white sand beaches and far fewer tourists.