O'ahu, Hawaii

7/30/17


Day 1: Swap meet, Pearl Harbor, Costco, Backyard beach




May is 6 months old today. She flew to Hawaii and dealt with the long flight better than mom did. She held a bottle for herself for the first time today, and doesn't seem to mind the humid heat. I decided to start the week off by buying myself a mumu to wear over my swimsuit all week. It was definitely a good move. I Also bought the smallest little Hawaiian dress I could find for May, but it was still too big. We made a last minute decision to walk around Pearl Harbor which turned out to be a great idea, and Chelsea and I had a kindred spirits moment when we walked through the old submarine and imagined ourselves in the moment and figured out what every little lever and button did. The museum was something I didn't remember from last time, and dad told his story about how he saw Hirohito on his mission. It was definitely a missing Kenny moment since he probably would have been really interested in all of the little WW2 facts and history like dad and I are. After that we did the weeks haul in groceries at Costco and ate at a fun little Hawaiian BBQ place in Honolulu after some confusion involving a bowling alley and acai "bowls". The boys were impatient to get in the sea so they all went and played chicken in the ocean by our house even though it was totally dark outside.


Day 2: Everyone said we wouldn't have enough time to go anywhere before the PCC at noon, but I talked them into snorkeling at Sharks Cove, and it turned out to be one of the trip favorites. We saw sea turtles, schools of fish, rainbow fish, Emily saw a big red octopus, and Mindy, Rob, and Garrett spent some time trying to swim in a tunnel. We took turns watching May, who was good the whole time. She really is an easy trip baby. After the cove we went to the PCC, and watched all the little dancing shows, and rode the canoe up and down the little river. After the buffet we saw the Ha Breath of Life show that illustrated the love and importance of families. It was nice to sit down.


Day 3: On Friday we all agreed not to do anything that would turn our eyes red for pictures in the afternoon, but of course we all ended up deciding to surf anyways since the boys just couldn't wait to surf for any longer. After asking around at BYU Hawaii, we decided to try Sunset beach, since there are really no good waves on Oahu in July. Jake and Chelsea found a decent wave, but it was really far from shore and difficult to catch so we all just played in the surf and snorkeled around until we had to get back for the temple. Rob and Mindy's sealing was very calming, and the temple sealer, Brother Mo'o was a very kind Hawaiian man. We spent some time on the temple grounds, and then went to take family pictures on Lanikai beach on the southern shore. It was windy but we got some really nice ones. Rob and Mindy ended up soaking wet.





























Day 4 Saturday: We wanted to get as much stuff in as possible before Jake left on Sunday, so we got up and made it to Hanauma bay by 6 am, which also conveniently got us in for free. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side so we had poor visibility and couldn't go past the rough break where the real good snorkeling is. Monkey May was a little cranky under her shade umbrella so we relaxed on a bench while I fed her for a while. We left for Waikiki after since we heard surfing wad better on the south shore, and everyone seemed to have a fantastic time, even though most people only caught one or no waves. Except Kyle of course who inexplicably caught a ton. I don't think anyone realized how intense the sun was out in the water, and we all ended up crisp as toast, and hurting for the next 3 days despite putting on sunscreen all day. We were so exhausted from the morning that we napped for way too long, and realized we missed open hours for the Waimea falls hike. Instead we drove around till we found the Hau'ula loop trail, which turned out to be a very pretty hike through the jungle to a big overlook of Oahu' northeastern side. It was a lucky find. After we had acai bowls at Angels.


Day 5 Sunday: We decided to be rebels and only went to the first hour of church at the La'ie first ward, and then headed north to check out Hale'iwa. Mindy and I needed rash guards to cause cover our crispy backs for the shark dive. After we spent a nice relaxing Sunday making a sandcastle at Punalu'u beach across from our house, and Garrett played with his drone. May slept in the shade and the boys went way out and kayaked in the surf.


Day 6 Monday: Kyle, Emily, Mindy, Rob, Garrett and I all took a little fishing boat out into the open sea with a beach bum looking dude with dreads who told us we were all perfectly safe with the sharks. I still have my doubts. We saw dolphins jumping around the boat on the way out, but didn't see a shark until 15-20 mins into the snorkeling. I got way seasick and went back into the boat. When they said a shark had come I was about to get back in the water when Emily told me not to jump. I looked down and the shark was right below me. I almost jumped on it! After it left I got in the water, terrified because I didn't know where it was but knew it was still close. When I got my goggles figured out it was right in front of me on the other side of the ladder. I had to swim to the rope tied to the boat right next to it with no one close by to save me. I only lasted a little while again and didn't see the other 2 sharks that came, but I did get a good thrill from that. After sharks we went and got some boogey boards from BYU Hawaii and met up with everyone else at Pounders. The boys played and giggled like schoolchildren and Chelsea and I explored the trails through the trees and rocks around the beach.


Day 7, Tuesday: We finally went to Waimea falls on our last big day, and jumped off the falls and swam around. The walk there was my favorite with all the jungle trees and plants that they plant there from all over the world. We wandered and explored for hours. Then Mindy showed us this little cave at Waimea beach that you can swim in and the tide pulled us in and out. We jumped off the big rock with like 7 million other people, and May was a bit needy. She was sandy and hot and didn't get to cool off in the water so I guess I understand. Pounders was such a hit the first time so we went back and spent the rest of the day playing there.




May slept on the floor on this nice little pad and was very cute.