Day 3

The power went off during the night so it was really dark.  It continued to rain really hard but it was very relaxing to hear the waves and the water.  

We got up early, got ready, and drove to Kualoa Ranch for an excursion. We were going to Secret Island's Hidden Beach.  I was so excited. We checked in at the ranch and given a map to the dock.  We drove ourselves there and the rain stopped. The beach where we were going was the location of the TV show "Lost" so we had to take a picture next to the sign with Bryan looking lost.  

But by the time we were ready to get on the boat to go to the island, it was raining again.  Some people wanted to back out of the excursion but we were game to go and see what would happen.  

We loaded on the boat and went to the Island where we were given a tour.  There were bathrooms, changing rooms, kayaks, paddle boards, all kinds of games like ping pong, and beach toys.  We were on a beautiful beach. The rain stopped and it was sunny for a couple of hours.  We swam, the boys kayaked, and we relaxed in the sun.

The beach was beautiful, there were only about 20 people with us, and we had a lot of fun for a couple of hours.  Then the rain rolled in and we were asked to move back from the beach to protect us.  There was lightning and the tour leaders were getting nervous.  The rain started to get worse and they had us all move under a shelter for protection.  It kept getting worse and they told us they were waiting for the lightning to stop so they could take us back to the shore.  As we were waiting, Ethan made a friend with a man from Portugal who told him a bunch of jokes and stories.  He really talked Ethan's ear off.  Another worker had been making them soup for lunch.  When it was obvious that the weather had turned bad, the man shared his soup with all of us and it was really good.

After about 30 minutes, they decided it wasn't safe for us to stay on the island and that they were going to have to take us all across as quickly as they could.  It wasn't safe but they thought it was the best timing.  So we grabbed our stuff and all went to the boat.  They loaded us quickly and we went to the shore as fast as they could get us there.

We went back to the condo and found that the electricity was off, again. We showered, the hot water was gas, and got all warm.  We played games and relaxed while watching it rain.

The power was out for quite a few hours.  When it came back on, we hurriedly put in a load of laundry.  After the rain let us a bit, we loaded in the car to find food.  Since the power had been out, the food trucks weren't out and the grocery store wasn't open.  We aren't a family that runs well when we are hungry.  No one could decide on what to eat and places weren't open because the electricity had been out. We finally were able to find a burger place to eat.  It is called Seven Brothers. Courtney approved of her burger.

After eating, we went to the grocery store to try and get food for the rest of the week.  Since the power had been out for so long, the grocery store had their freezer and fridge sections shut so they could get back up to temperature.  It was really frustrating,  We ended up getting Ramen, pop tarts, and things that didn't need to be in the fridge or freezer.  

The Kualoa Ranch, where we had spent the morning, was also the site of the filing of Jurassic Park.  Since we had spent the morning there, we decided to watch the movie.  We found it on the TV, cuddled, listened to the rain, and watched the movie.  The laundry was finally done and we decided to watch Jurassic Park 2.  

As I was looking through our bags, I realized that our spray sunscreen hadn't made it in one piece.  There was a huge hole in the side of it so it wasn't an aerosol anymore.  We had to get another one while we were at the grocery store. 

Tomorrow is supposed to be rain-free so we are excited!

Day 2

We woke up to rain.  The day before, we had bought some breakfast items so we wouldn't have to go out for food.  We ate and then we decided to drive north to look at the beaches. The kids had their cameras and were excited to take pictures.

We found a couple of beaches to stop at and take pictures.  One of those beaches usually had a lot of turtles.  There was a woman there who asked if we were looking for turtles.  I told her we didn't know there were turtles there and she told me that she was a "turtle guardian."  They take shifts sitting at the beaches to make sure people don't get too close or disturb the turtles.  Because it was rainy and windy, she said the turtles weren't there but that there were a couple she had seen just off the shore. We didn't see them but the kids got some nice pictures.

We then drove to the Dole Plantation.  It was still rainy and there was a lot of water on the roads. But it wasn't raining too hard when we got to the Plantation. 

We ate lunch, which Courtney thought was so-so.

We then went to the Pineapple Express for a tour around the plantation.  Ethan has the longest arms so I asked him to take our selfie picture.  I didn't realize until later that he had fun with my phone. ;) 

We then had Dole Whip and it was so good but it was too big for us.  I think we all got sick off it.

We then drove to Hauula to the condo we were staying in for a few days.  Now, the woman we were renting it from warned us that there was a lot of construction going on but I didn't realize just how much construction there would be.  It was insane!  We got on the elevator and I wasn't so sure we were going to survive.  We did and we got to the condo.  It was in a building right on the beach and it was a nice place.

This is the beach that was outside the condo.  Not too shabby and it was a great place to swim. We went down to the water and saw a sea turtle, which was cool.

When we got back to the condo we found that the power was out.  We decided to take the chance to get some groceries but there weren't any stores with electricity except for a gas station.  So we bought what little food we could at the gas station.

When we got back to the condo the power was back on but it went out again a little bit later.  It finally came back on right before bed.  It was raining really hard by that time and we were exhausted.

Day 1

 After our long light, we were ready for some breakfast.  We grabbed our bags and then waited for our rental car to show up.  We used a service called Turo, which is where private individuals can offer their car for rent to other people.  It's like Airbnb for cars.  Once the car showed up, we drove to IHOP for breakfast.  This was the only time we took a wrong turn and had to make a U-turn, which is amazing!

After breakfast, we drove to Pearl Harbor to start our vacation. Our first stop was the bus that would take us to Ford Island and the USS Missouri. 

We went on a guided tour of the Mighty Mo.  It was interesting to hear about the history.  We then took our time walking around the inside of the ship.  We spent so much time and could have stayed for another hour or so because, when it was time for us to go, we still weren't finished looking around.  I was 

We then had to wait a little while until it was time for us to load up to go to the USS Arizona.  I was excited for this part because I wanted the kids to see the USS Arizona. They didn't have you watch the video before loaded up, so we just got on the boat to go over.

We were a little frustrated/disappointed because we were only at the USS Arizona for about 10 minutes before they loaded us back on the boat to take us back.  We would have liked a lot more time to spend there.  When someone asked why we were being shuttled off so quickly, the guide said "The Navy needs their lunch."  Apparently, it was lunchtime for them.  I think they should have taken that into consideration when selling tickets because you only get one shot to go to the USS Arizona. Oh well.

After Pearl Harbor, we went to see if we could check into our hotel early.  Luckily, they let us check in.  It was the Pearl Waikiki hotel located not too far from the beach at Waikiki.  We went looking for lunch and found a food truck.  Courtney was skeptical and not sure if she was going to find anything she would like.  She had me order her a hamburger with ketchup on it.  Ethan got garlic shrimp.  I got a banana smoothie which tasted like a banana cream pie. I shared it with Bryan.  Courtney said it was the best hamburger she has ever had!

We changed our clothes and went to the beach in Waikiki.  We played in the waves and watched the crabs play on the rocks near the water.  By this time, we were pretty tired and a bit grumpy. Bryan took a nap on the beach while we relaxed near the water.  We went back to the hotel to shower. 

For dinner, we found another food truck that had hotdogs in Hawaiian bread rolls that you could get all kinds of relishes added to.  Courtney and I had regular hotdogs while the boys were adventurous.  We also got 4 flavored lemonades that were SO good! There was strawberry, mango, pineapple, and something else we couldn't pronounce.  They were so good.

We went back to the hotel to sleep because we were exhausted.  At about 3 am, we woke up to a disco outside our bedroom window.  We were on the 2nd floor but some guy had driven up in his car with his stereo at full blast.  It was crazy and woke us all up.  After 3 songs, he closed his car door and drove off.  The concert was over but it was hard to go back to sleep after that.

Flight to Hawaii

We were going to Hawaii!!  This was the trip that we had originally planned for Spring Break 2020.  But, because of Covid, we canceled our plans and decided to go at a later date.  We had until December 31, 2022, to use our plane tickets and our GoOahu card.  So we decided to go the week before Christmas.

Ethan and Courtney finished finals and Ethan drove home on Thursday.  We packed and then waited until it was time to drive to Las Vegas to catch our red-eye flight to Oahu.  Our flight wasn't set to leave until after 1 am, which meant that we didn't need to leave our house until around 10 pm.  Bryan was set to take a nap and I was trying to check us into our flight when I discovered that we didn't have seats assigned.  Our confirmation had seats assigned so I was a bit confused.  I called Hawaiian airlines to find out what we needed to do.  They told me that we couldn't be assigned seats until we were at the airport and that they couldn't guarantee that we would sit together because we didn't have seat assignments.  

I was a bit worried because I didn't want us all over the plane for a long flight.  The woman on the phone told me that we needed to get to the airport and get our seat assignments as soon as we could to help our chances of getting seats together. So we decided to leave for the airport really early in the hopes that we could get seat assignments.

We got to the Las Vegas airport about 5 hours before our flight and...the Hawaiian Airlines customer service desk was unmanned.  We didn't know what to do but we wanted to be the first in line so Bryan started the line.  I asked a customer service person at the next desk and they said that Hawaiian Airlines people don't show up until 2 hours before the flight.  So here we were, with 3 hours to spare before they would show up.  Bryan took one for the team, put in his earphones, listened to his book on Audible, and waited in line for hours.  He made friends with the other people in line while he was waiting.  

At 11 pm, when they were supposed to show up, no one had come.  At 11:30-ish they finally showed up and we were able to ask.  We were told that we wouldn't get seat assignments until we were at the gate.  So all that time had been wasted!  But we checked our bags, went through security, and found our gate.  The woman there told me that they wouldn't do gate assignments until right before the flight. Once again, Bryan started the line and stood there.

At around 12:15 am, they announced that we didn't need to stand in line because they would call us up to give us our seat assignments.  By this time, there was a long line behind Bryan, I was vowing to never fly Hawaiian Airlines again, and the kids were tired.  They finally called our name around 12:30 am and I went to the counter ready for a fight.  The woman calmly handed us our tickets.  I asked if we were together and she said "Oh, did you want to be together?" I said "yes" and she said, "Good, because you are."  

Finally, it was time to load onto the plane.  We had been in the airport WAY too long and were ready to get on with our vacation.  Imagine our surprise when we got on the plane and had been assigned seats in business class! We were right behind first class and had tons of legroom.  We had the row together and there were blankets on our seats. It was nice and I decided I didn't hate Hawaiian Airlines anymore.

First class was behind that curtain.

We were finally on our way to Hawaii!  We napped off and on during the flight.  Courtney had a hard time getting comfortable.  She was hoping to sleep on the tray table but it was too small.  So she leaned on me and put her head on my lap.

Then we got close and arrived in Honolulu.

Courtney has figured out, from her trips with her soccer team, how to carry her luggage with style. Her carryon is on her back and her backpack is on her front.  Efficient!