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Our Ohana Vacation:
August 18, 2007- August 25, 2007

Well one day Sandy came home and announced that we were going on a family vacation. He said, “Anyone that wants to know meet me in the pool!” It was freezing. I certainly was not getting in! Hannah got in quickly and found out where we were going. She wasn’t allowed to tell me though. This was Dad’s orders. She gave me a hint and said “this towel” We were sitting on my beach towel that we bought last year at Haunama Bay. I said “HAWAII???!!!” “Really?” Hannah said, “Can I still go?” I guess Sandy swore her to secrecy. I said, “Of course, you didn’t tell me. I guessed!” A second later I felt myself being pulled into the freezing pool by Sandy.” I was screaming as I was pulled into the pool against my will.

The Saturday before we were in Mount Pleasant for a White Family reunion when we heard about a potential Hurricane that was headed toward Hawaii. The weather reports indicated that Hurricane Flossie was approaching Hawaii. I constantly checked the weather to find out about any updates. The next day there had been an earthquake 4.5 earthquake on the big island and some volcanic activity.

The next day or two the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm. WHEW! Major relief. There were reports of tourists canceling their plans.

Friday, August 18

We were all pretty excited to leave that night. We were finally packed and ready to go. We left at midnight for a 2:30am flight.

At 5:30am we arrived at Honolulu. From there we rented a car and got some breakfast.

From there we found ourselves @ the Aloha Tower Marketplace. A man was filling up the bird/fish food and gave some to the kids to feed the birds & fish. He also did a few silly magic tricks for the kids.

We drove around until we found the Queen Iolani’s palace. We walked around and took a few pictures from the outside.


Then we went to the Dole Plantation. The girls got to open some pearls. We were all pretty groggy at this point. We were too tired to do the world’s largest maze.

Next we went to Nu’uanu Park to Pali Lookout. We were trying to buy time before we could check into the beach house. The kids didn’t enjoy this at all. We were beyond groggy. We were EXHAUSTED!!!

We checked into our "rustic" beach house. We made our way up a narrow ricketty set of wooden stairs to check everything out. It was a little different than I imaged-a bit run down but doable. The girls found an old wooden ladder that went straight to the loft where they would sleep. We decided to check out the beach. Before we left we saw a gecko in the kitchen. EWW!

The kids played @ Sunset Beach for a while. The waves seemed strong for the kids to be playing in and the sand was full of large grains of sand that looked and felt like bird seed.

We were done playing at the beach & came to wash up at the house. As we walked in Spencer noticed 2 more geckos in his room. GROSS! Then I went to my bedroom and a gecko greeted me there too! I didn’t want to say it but I officially had the heebie jeebies!! I didn’t know how I could stand it there for a week. The girls were scared of the attic too. Sandy & I agreed it wouldn’t work out and packed up and left. Sandy went back inside to find a few more geckos as well as gecko poop everywhere. YUK.
After a few phone calls we found a place @ Turtle Bay that had been totally renovated. It was only a one bedroom and a loft but it had 2 bathrooms and enough space on the couch to sleep a few kids. We took it.

That night I had a hard time getting to sleep thinking that maybe there were geckos in this place too! With that thought I fell asleep.

DAY 2 SUNDAY

Life was good. We all woke up about 5am in the morning. The kids were in there church clothes and ready to go by 6am or so. We had breakfast and went to a ward in Laie. It was high council talks in sacrament. Spencer’s cough was so out of control. We had to leave several times for water.

From there we went to Pearl Harbor. First, we went on the USS BowFin a submarine that was used in war that had torpedoes on it. It was pretty cool. Makes you feel kind of claustrophobic!I couldn't imagine actually living in there for months at a time! It really makes you appreciate the men who served our country. One gentlemen tourist behind us said that it brought back so many memories for him. He had served on a sub similar to this one many years ago.

Next we got some lunch. Natalie was feeding the birds a hot dog bun. A lady that worked there approached her and said, “Can’t you read the sign!?” Nat just looked at her blankly. She pointed to the sign that said “PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS! MAHALO!” Sandy and I just laughed! Of course she couldn’t read the sign. She’s only FOUR YEARS OLD!

Next we got to see a movie that explained what happened in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 and all the events leading up to the attack. It was pretty interesting. I never knew all the details. We pondered the lives of those courageous men. Some were fathers and sons. Some were brothers on the USS Arizona. The movie said that after the attack on Pearl Harbor, America fought back with a vengeance. Our citizens united in the war effort. I felt proud to be an American.

Anyway, Natalie fell asleep during the movie so Sandy carried her to the little boat that went to the memorial. She woke up in the middle of the boat trip and said, “Did I fall asleep, because I don’t ever remember getting on this boat!”

The little boat took us to the memorial that was placed above the USS Arizona. It was a very solemn and reverent experience. We could still see all the oil that was leaking out of the ship below. Towards the back of the memorial we looked at all the names of the men that perished that day. They were etched in the marble wall. We could also see the USS Missouri the battleship where the Japanese officially surrendered.

I’m wasn't sure how much the kids understood. On the ferry boat back I asked Maddie (10 years old) what she learned. She said in a loud voice, “That the Japanese are very BAD!” I glanced around to see if anyone had heard since we were surrounded by Japanese tourists. I corrected her.....

I didn't get very many pictures taken that day. I forgot to charge my camera. BUMMER!!

DAY 3 MONDAY

It already seemed like we had done more on this trip in two days then we had done when we went last time for a week.

Waimea Valley Audubon Center was next. We took a beautiful three-quarter mile walk to Waimea Falls. To me this is the closest thing to the Garden of Eden. Incredible scenery. Birds everywhere.

The kids got on their swimsuits. They had to check in with the lifeguard. The “pool” at the falls was 35 feet deep! They were all weighed and given life jackets. The kids started to get in and Maddie changed her mind last minute. Nat, Spencer & Hannah loved it. It started to rain a little bit. I got bitten my mosquitoes big time. I didn’t realize it until that night.

On the way out a peacock followed us and just about jumped into our car! The kids laughed hysterically.DAY 4 TUESDAY

HONOLULU ZOO: Spencer, Natalie & I did this while Sandy took the girls to Diamond Head. I didn’t think Spencer was well enough for a big hike. Natalie would have probably had to be carried the whole way (and maybe me too...) so we split up. Sandy was right. Honolulu Zoo was the coolest zoo I’ve ever been to. It was like a park with animals! The kids especially loved the KeiKi (Children) Zoo. The Keiki Zoo had a wonderful fish tank, llamas, horses, pigs, roosters, chickens & goats. Inside the fish tank was a little area kids could crawl through without being in the tank but from the outside it looked like they were the backdrop for the fish. It was pretty funny.

The goats liked Spencer’s shorts. I had to pull Spencer’s shorts out of their mouths. Next they went for the flowers on Nat’s dress.

It was mating season for the rhinos so there was a sign that asked us to be quiet. Also the sign said that their gestation period was sixteen months. I thought nine months was a long time!

Next we got some ice cream treats. It feels so good to have ice cream when your throat is burning and mine was!

Anyway, back to the zoo. There was a playground there too!

We met up with Sandy & the girls at the playground. Sandy reported that not only did Maddie and Hannah make it to the top of Diamond Head but that Hannah RAN the whole way up. I was surprised to see them so soon.

Natalie was excited to show the girls everything she had seen in the KeiKi Zoo. She was Little Miss Zoo Guide.

After the zoo we went to Bubba Gumps at Ala Moana Mall for lunch. Maddie & I shared the Shrimper’s Heaven. Super Yummy. On the way home we checked out Kekela Beach. It looked like a

good beach to spend the day at.

DAY 5 WEDNESDAY
We got up early to go to the Aloha Stadium swap meet. The first thing Spencer found was Yugi’oh cards. The girls bought some necklaces. I bought a placemat of Oahu and also a picture frame that is being shipped to me. It’s says, “OUR OHANA” and it has 8 spaces for all our pictures in Hawaii. I can’t wait. Sandy bought Boogie Boards. Natalie got a necklace and a hat and some little Dora the Explorer goodies. I found some Hawaiian children’s books. I refrained from buying them. Some were about King Kamehameha and another was about a Hawaiian princess. I have so many books I’m running out of room. Plus, they make my luggage heavy.

The children’s book section at every store had the same books about gods, goddesses, rainforests, geckos, whales and the famous aloha spirit. I learn a lot from children’s books. It’s an easy way to get a quick overview and give simple history lessons for the kids without them even knowing it!

We had 45 minutes to rest up for the Polynesian Cultural Center. Ahhhh!!!!

The PCC was fantastic. The only bad part was that Spencer didn’t seem to be enjoying himself. It was like he was sleepwalking. We got there around 3pm. First we started in the Samoan village. We learned that the men cook. We learned how to make rain,and husk and cut a coconut! We also watched a man climb a really tall coconut tree. We were taken to another village where we learned how to weave a fish out of palm leaves. The spear throwing contest was next. I have to admit I was a little more than scared to see all of the kids including Natalie with spears that were twice their size. Somehow spear throwing reminded me of golfing. We were all trying to get our spear closest to some kind of target on the grass.We also got to go on a canoe ride and listen to corny jokes. By the way, our tour guide Kee’Tu was a beautiful girl from Tahiti. She said she spoke French, Tahitian and English. She’s a BYU Hawaii student!

It was time to say goodbye to Kee’Tu and have dinner that went along with the Ambassador package. It was a buffet with a little of everything including sushi and crab legs (my favorite). Natalie didn’t like the Guava juice.

We took some pictures while we waited for the finale of the evening which was the

Horizons show.

There was music and dancing from the islands of Hawaiii, Tonga, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti and Samoa.

OK. At this point I just want to mention that my next dream vacation would be to go to the South Pacific. Hopefully it wouldn’t be hurricane season. OK that’s dreaming big. I’ll start with renting the DVD of the musical South Pacific with the Partridge Family lady.

By the end of the show, three out of four kids were completely asleep.

DAY 6 THURSDAY

This was the day I was just ready to relax. In the morning Sandy took Maddie snorkeling at Shark’s Cove.Then we went to the beach.

We noticed some people hanging out in the parking lot when we got there. As we were getting out of the car Sandy said, “make sure you put your purse away.” So I took out Nat’s pink shirt & laid it on top of my clothing bag and purse.

As we were leaving the beach I noticed my clothes bag and my purse were gone. I was hoping that I just misplaced them. I started looking frantically through the car. Someone had punched out the lock on the drivers side! Thank goodness they didn’t take my camera!I wished I could rewind time! I just didn’t want to get my purse dirty at the beach. We ended up filing a report at the police station.

OK. At this point I was ready to go home. Well, all the important things were still with me, my family. To make ourselves feel better, we went to the visitor’s center at the temple. We watched a short movie. I think we all felt a little better. I think we felt comforted. I tried to be talkative with the sister missionaries but I had a hard time. Plus I forgot my camera to take pictures.

DAY 7 FRIDAY

We were scheduled for a 9am Heli USA Tour on a helicopter. What a beautiful day it was! We all had headsets to talk and listen in. When we got in the music was playing. I thought they had cute music on the radio. It sounded like children's music. It was really Natalie talking in her headset. Natalie had more comments than the pilot! Maddie looked a little nervous. Right as we got back there was a pretty big rainfall. We just missed it. We had perfect weather. The pilot said that it was pretty rare to be able to see the other islands!

For lunch we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory. Yummy.

Later the Framptons ame over with Subway sandwiches to swim and hang out. They have 4 kids including 9 year old boy twins that Spencer really liked. Debbie and I got to talk about books. I lent her 12 year old daughter the book I just finished which was the Secret Journal of Brett Colton. The next day she stopped by with a little stack of books including Walk Two Moons for me to read on the plane. Debbie is a literature/drama professor at BYU Hawaii. It is fun to talk about books. I am going to read fast so I can mail them back soon.

DAY 8 SATURDAY:

“I’M GOING HOME”….(Insert American Idol’s Chris Daughtry song here!) I could here this song playing in my head when I woke up in the morning. I was so excited to pack up and go home.

There was a lot of walking and waiting in lines to do more walking and finally we got to our gate to board the plane for an almost six hour flight on Hawaiian Airlines. Spencer and I read “Tonight on the Titanic”. Then Sandy and I switched places and I sat with Nat. Our kids are really good travelers. Maddie and Hannah sat next to each other for six hours without even getting up once or fighting with each other. That was a miracle! They showed Shrek the Third on the airplane. We couldn’t rent earphones because they only took credit cards. We canceled our cards after my purse was stolen. The flight attendants came back later and gave us some earphones and said it was on the house. The guy in front of us heard our sad story and gave our kids a box of Twix. I guess we were one big pity case. I just wanted to get home.

Day 9: SUNDAY

We arrived home safe and sound. We picked up Sophie. We were all exhausted. Vacation was awesome but we sure were happy to be home!