Home from Hawaii!

Well, as you can imagine, we are quite jetlagged around here (Hawaii time is 6 hours before us), so you will have to excuse me for the typos and nonsensical writings that are surely about to come. I can honestly say that Hawaii was one of the best experiences of my life and I think its one that our whole family will remember forever. Well, maybe not Lily, because she's so young, but I know the adults will!

Since we flew standby, the trip was sort of hectic. We got to the airport at 4:30 AM and were unable to make the first 2 flights to Atlanta and the ones for the rest of the day were looking awful too. We took a chance and drove to the Greensboro airport an hour and half away, hoping for a better chance of making to atlanta and that gamble paid off. Once in Atlanta, we weren't able to get the first Honolulu flight that stopped over in LA, but we were able to snag seats on the second flight that flew directly there. We made it to Honolulu late that evening. Here's a pic of Lily sleeping in the Atlanta airport before the flight:

And how she entertained herself on the 9 hour flight from atlanta to honolulu:

Since we arrived earlier than previously planned, Devin booked a room for us at the Hotel Ilikai, which apparently is the hotel where Hawaii 5-0 was filmed (beats me). We stayed on the 23rd floor and got an amazing view of the harbor. We slept for awhile but ended up waking up at 4 AM and finding an all-night diner to eat breakfast in. I actually asked them if they had grits (I forget everyone doesn't eat them!). We made it back to the hotel just in time to see the sunrise over Waikiki:

We had originally booked a condo with 2 bedrooms, but the renter called us at 11 AM that day to say he'd accidentally double booked the condo. Devin didn't take kindly to it and insisted the guy come to our hotel and return the cash immediately. He hooked us up with another real estate person who rented us an amazing condo at the Waikiki Banyan, which worked out wonderfully! The room was smaller, but it had an incredible view and was right on the main street (kuhio st) and was just a block from the famous Waikiki beach!

Here are pics of our view:

After we got settled in, Devin and Lily and I took a drive around the island to explore. Here we are halfway up Diamond Head:

Late that night, Dev's Dad, Dan and his sister, Deanna arrived. Lily was so excited to see them that she woke up immediately and played until everyone passed out from exhaustion. The next day, we packed our schedule full! Deanna and I rode horses on the North Shore, then we stopped at Waimea for the two crazy Thompson kids to jump off a ridiculously large rock (see pics below for both of those things).

The next morning, Devin, Deanna, and I headed to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling. I will have to say that was the highlight of my trip! I have never seen so many amazing fish in one place. I got a bad scrape from the coral and had a close encounter with a blowfish, and that was so incredible! The water is so beautifully blue and the fish are so bright and unique. We took pics with an underwater camera, but have yet to get them developed. Of course, we blew all the film before we found the coral reef where all the good fish hide, but I'm interested to see how they turn out! Here is a pic of Devin and I enjoying our day there:

After a yummy lunch, we went parasailing! I am usually a wuss about such things, but its hard to be a coward around Devin and Deanna, who are up for any adventure. Devin and I went up first at 300 feet and then Devin and Deanna went up at 600 feet. The water was so blue and so clear, we could see a sea turtle swimming below. What a rush! The pic is in the previous post.

That night, we headed to a luau at Paradise Cove.

Dan and Deanna got up on stage to learn the Hula (I stayed back to photograph the event) and then Devin was pulled up later to dance with a hula girl -- boy did he shake it! The most romantic part came when they played the Hawaiin wedding song and invited couples to dance. Devin pulled me over near the stage, right next to the ocean, and slow-danced with me. It was very romantic and Dev's sis even snuck up on us and got a pic!

The next day we headed to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona Memorial. Dan is a huge history buff and its something we were all interested in seeing. It was pretty sad and pretty moving to think of the tragedy that happened there. What was really amazing to me is that the sunken ship is still leaking oil. I cannot imagine what 60 plus years of oil leakage does to an ocean, but it can't be good. Lily ran around like a crazy woman on the memorial, but liked to see the few fish that managed to swim by.

This is my favorite pic of that day -- Lily holding tight to her Grandaddy

Late that afternoon, we took Dan and Deanna to the airport so they could head home. It was really sad to see them go because we had such an amazing time as a family. I know Devin and I aren't married legally, but I consider his family as part of my own and the look in my daughter's eyes when she sees them just makes my heart melt. She loves her "Gwandayyee and Deena" so much!

The next day, Devin and I took our little sweetie to the Waikiki Aquarium, which was a short walk from our condo. Our favorite part of the visit was seeing the Monk Seals swim around. On our way out, a jogger passed by and told us that a Monk Seal was laying on the beach outside, so we got to observe one in the wild as well! Well, I say "wild" but this one was completely exhausted from his journey and had passed out in the sand. The lifeguard put up cones and signs to leave him be (doubt he would've cared as he was practically comatose), but we were able to watch him sleep soundly.

We decided to take the rest of the day to drive around the island of Oahu. Devin wanted to drive back the North Shore anyway to jump off that big rock again (which he did while Lily and I snoozed in the car) and then we jaunted off to explore the rest of the island's beauty. We stopped at this cool overlook for some pics. This one is my favorite of the bunch, it makes me laugh everytime I see it!

And on our way that night, another rainbow to take our mind off of rush hour traffic

The trip home went well, but was so incredibly draining. We left Honolulu at 12:30 PM their time and had a 5 hour flight to LA. Once in LA, we were deplaned and had to wait an hour and a half for the layover there. We were very close to not making the connecting flight to Atlanta because there was only one seat available, but a very nice man gave up his place so Devin and Lily and I could fly home together. It was such a thoughtful gesture and I hope that nice man got to ride in First Class on his next flight! Anyway, it was a four hour flight to Atlanta and we got there at 6 AM eastern time. Then we had a 4 hour layover there, in which time we ate breakfast and Lily played on the playset they had set up there. After that, we barely made it on the plane to Greensboro, but at the last minute, we were allowed on. That flight was another hour and then we finally landed! After we managed to locate our car, we drove the hour and a half home, with eyelids very heavy. Devin and I tried our best to stay awake when we got home, but failed miserably. Our sweet baby entertained herself for about 3 hours while her parents slept, only waking to hand her a juice, turn on Finding*Nemo, and change a few diapers. Good thing our house is relatively baby-proof!
So, today we are closer to being on schedule and hoping tomorrow will go well. I start my new job on Wednesday and am more nervous than anything else. Wish me luck!

In other news, I have to throw in Lily's milestones this week -- she can count to 10 in the right order and to 3 in spanish and to 1 in German. Also, she says "No, Thanks!" all the time -- even when she's angry. She also says "C'mon guys, let's go!" which never fails to crack me up! That kid is a talker!

I have tons more Hawaii pics, in case anyone is interested (they are in reverse order, newest to oldest)-- here is the link: http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k247/srwomenbeachtrip/hawaii/