Warning~This post will be long~
Although this was our last day in Hawaii, it was one of my favorites. We started the day by checking out of our hotel. We stayed in the greatest hotel! It was the Waikiki Resort Hotel. It was about 1/2 block from Waikiki beach and it was awesome! They didn't even have a front door, it was just open!
Although this was our last day in Hawaii, it was one of my favorites. We started the day by checking out of our hotel. We stayed in the greatest hotel! It was the Waikiki Resort Hotel. It was about 1/2 block from Waikiki beach and it was awesome! They didn't even have a front door, it was just open!
The beds in our hotel, not made of course! 
The view from our lanai. It didn't look to the beach, but instead behind us. =(
Standing at the front entrance of the hotel. See, no door!
The walk to the beach. Just across the next street was the Waikiki beach!
After we checked out of our hotel, we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise one more time. It was so yummy! Since my Aunt Sue had left us her receipts for the ABC store, we were able to get a free coffee mug, Thanks Aunt Sue! (You had to have $100 worth of receipts, you got a free mug.) Finally we left Waikiki for the last time (that trip anyway!)
We headed out to meet my family at Ko Olina. This was by far my favorite beach! It is located in a resort area. There was a guard house that we had to stop at and tell them where we were going (Lagoon 4) so they could kind of keep track of what people were doing. This was so beautiful! My dad was snorkling, so Chad decided to try it. It is amazing how much life is under the ocean that you don't even notice. I finally got brave enough to snorkle and I loved it! Next time we go to Hawaii (note the Next Time...) I would spend every day at Ko Olina and snorkle and swim. It was amazing!!! Thanks for sharing your special place with us Geneva!
Ko Olina!
Daddy Snorkling!
More Ko Olina
After the beach, Geneva headed to class and we headed to Jack in the Box. They are everywhere on the island, and I wanted to try one. If you have ever eaten at Hardee's, you have eaten at Jack in the Box. :) Next was the USS Arizona. What an interesting place! We had expected there to be a line, so we thought we would get tickets, head to the beach, then come back. (It is free, but they give you a ticket with a time on it to go out to the memorial). Much to our surprise, it wasn't busy and we were able to get right in. I didn't really know what the movie was going to be about that you watch first, and I didn't really prepare Braxton. Luckily I found out later that my mom did. Thanks Mom! Braxton was fascinated. I thought he would be scared, but he sat forward in his chair and soaked up every word. When we left to get on the boat he was talking about how these bad people came in and hurt us. I always wonder, what story do they tell the Japanese that come to the memorial? Does it have the same feel? Anyway, the memorial is very moving. You take a boat across to the actual ship. They have built a memorial over it. Parts of it still stick out of the water and 3-4 quarts of oil still seep out every day. After we left I talked to Braxton about why it is so important what Ralf and Geneva do in the military. They keep us safe from enemies. In case I haven't mentioned it, Ralf is an airplane mechanic in the Air Force and Geneva is Russian and Urdu linguist in the Navy. It was pretty interesting driving back into Hickam Airforce Base where they live, the entrance signs look almost exactly the same as they did on the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed. Ralf mentioned that there are still holes in some of the buildings from the attack. Talk about bringing history to life!
Part of the USS Arizona
After the Arizona we headed to Geneva's house, (got locked out, Thanks Ralf!) did some laundry and got ready to leave. We got some pizza from base, it was pretty good!
Leaving was maybe one of the hardest things I have ever done. It wasn't just leaving Hawaii, although the physical location was amazing! It was hard to leave my family. This was the first time that I had actually been a part of Geneva's "adult" life. I got to see where she lived, the car she drove, the places she went every day. I don't get to see my sister everyday, or sometimes every year. I wish we could live closer and be more involved in eachother's every day life, but I think we do a pretty good job for being over 3000 miles apart!
Around 9 o'clock we headed to the airport. I could not believe how long of a walk it was from security. It took us probably 10 minutes to walk to our gate! Once again, the kids were amazing! Braxton had a hard time getting comfortable and kept kicking the lady next to him in his sleep. Finally I took his seat belt off and held him on my lap so he could have a little more room! Lilly slept until Phoenix also! We had a short layover in Phoenix and then got on the plane for Omaha. Interestingly enough, it is a shorter trip from Phoenix to Omaha (2 hours) than it is from Omaha to Phoenix (3 hours). We did notice that nobody had on face masks. When we flew in there were a lot of people with face masks because of Swine Flu.
Coming into Omaha, they told us there would be turbulance. I mentioned to Braxton that it would be like driving a dirt bumpy road. When we really hit turbulance, he clapped and laughed. He loved it! Me, I almost wet myself! He is going to be my roller coaster kid. Lilly slept through the whole thing. We landed, rode to our van, and drove home. I think at this point everyone was exhausted! The next week our sleep schedules were all messed up! Nobody was tired at 10pm and everyone slept until 11am.
All in all it was a wonderful trip! I cannot wait to go back!
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