Hawaii 2010 Day 3 ~ The Swap Meet and the Bar

One of the neatest things to do in Hawaii is go to the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium. It is HUGE! We went didn't have anything specific we were looking for, except maybe cheap t-shirts. A lot of places you can buy 8 t-shirts for $20! It is a great way to get gifts for people back home! Last year we were able to find an awesome handmade photo album that said Hawaii 2009 and we wanted a new one for this year. We looked ALL over and we could not find one that said 2010 anywhere!

We walked around as much as I could but it was so hot and my ankle was huge and painful! Finally we found some acceptable t-shirts and Geneva found a swimsuit and we called it a day. Last year after we went to the swap meet, we had lunch at Anna Millers, so we decided to make it a tradition! Woo hoo, we have Hawaii Vacation traditions!!!

After lunch we took Gwen back to her house so she could get Ralf from the airport. He had been in California visiting his sick Grandfather. We headed back to the hotel to rest. The plan for the night was to go out drinking after Ralf's band practice, so Chad and I needed rest. While we were at the hotel, Chad noticed there were a couple of sea turtles in the water in Waikiki. They were swimming right along with everybody but nobody noticed them! It was wild. We tried to get a few pictures, I think they turned out pretty good!

After a while we went back to Geneva's house while Ralf went to band practice. We had Jack in the Box for dinner. If you have ever had Hardee's you have had Jack in the Box, but it was OK. When Ralf got home, we headed to Waikiki and went out on the town. We hit some bar that Ralf knew, I don't remember the name of it! We had a few drinks and then headed back to get some sleep. We got back to the hotel sometime around 2am. That is 7am Hawaii time, we were exhausted!!!

Tomorrow, Ko Olina...GORGEOUS!!!

Hawaii 2010 Day 2 ~ The Day of Beaches

Our second day in Hawaii was simply amazing! I believe at the end of the day as we were walking to the elevator Chad said to me "If we left right now, this would still be the best vacation I have ever been on!".

We woke up super early, around 5:30am (which is 10:30am at home though!) and went and sat on the lanai. It was still dark and we could just barely see the waves on the ocean. It was amazing! Once the sun was up enough, I was finally able to get a decent picture to send to the kids! We called the kids and told them good morning! Then we left to walk around Waikiki. Somehow, we had managed to forget our toothpaste, so that was #1 on the list! Unfortunately, the ABC Stores don't open until 7am. So we walked on the beach for a while until 7, went and bought some toothpaste, sunscreen (this is important to remember!) and sunglasses for Chad. It turns out that driving a convertible with the top down is hard without sunglasses!

After we shopped, we headed back to the hotel for breakfast. Booking a room with the breakfast included was one of the best things we could have done! We had 3 choices to eat at for breakfast with our voucher, The Hula Grill , Seattle Coffee , or Duke's all in the hotel. This morning we chose Duke's and we were so glad we did! They had an amazing buffet with eggs, pancakes, french toast, waffles, an omlette station, biscuits and gravy, cereal, bagels, sausage, bacon, fruit, you name it. It was awesome! For the average person the cost is $14.95. We got juice or tea too. For some reason, I decided that tomato juice sounded good and it was so good! I had tomato juice almost every morning we were there!

After breakfast, we packed our beach bag, called Gwen, and headed to the base to pick her up. Since we didn't have a pass to get on base yet, she met us at the bus stop just outside! She hopped in the back and we headed to the NEX to get Chad a snorkle set. While we were there, Chad found an underwater camera bag so that we can take pictures underwater! Then it was off to Kailua!

I love Kailua. It is just beautiful! I think it is one of Geneva's favorite beaches too! As normal, the parking lot was full, but it was Saturday so understandable! We parked across the street and walked over. It was a beautiful day, as they all are in Hawaii! We swam and talked for a while until we decided we were hungry! So we changed clothes and headed into town for some lunch. Gwen thought that we would like Teddy's Big Burgers so we tried there first but they were busy and there was no place to sit! We headed next door to Maui Tacos and they had a free table. It was pretty tasty!

After lunch, we thought we would see if Geneva could get us onto the Marine base with a beautiful beach with a lot of waves. Turns out, she could get us on, we just had to get a visitors pass! The base is called Kaneohe Bay, or just K Bay. In order to get to the beach, you have to drive across the flightline. It was neat! We made it to the beach, but there was a Rimpac party going on, so it was packed and there was no place to park! We stopped a few minutes to take some pictures, but then decided to find one of the other beaches on base.

The next beach was a lot calmer than the last one we were at, but it was beautiful! We didn't swim at this beach, but instead took pictures and had rock skipping contests. Well, Gwen and Chad did anyway. I don't remember who the winner was, but they both had at least 4 or 5 skips, pretty good for the ocean! After we got back to Gwen's house we realized we had picutres of the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribean. It is docked and filming at K-Bay!

As we left the beach, we were headed back towards the flightline when the gate came down and the guard came out of his little "hut" to guard the gate. A plane was taking off! It was so neat to see! I really wanted to take a picture, but I wasn't sure the guy with the gun would agree, so I didn't!

We headed back to the hotel to hang out for a little bit and go to the International Market Place. It is a neat place kind of, but nothing too spectacular. It is really the same stuff you can get at the swap meet, or almost any shop! We did go ahead and get Jagua tattoos. It is kind of like Henna, but supposed to last longer! Chad even got one!

While our tattoos dried, we decided to walk over to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. There was about a 45 minute wait, but that wasn't too bad! Finally we were seated and had a yummy dinner! We decided to get a piece of cheesecake to go, Red Velvet. It was so delicious!!!

We decided to take Gwen home since it was almost 9 and we wanted to be able to drop her off at the back gate. The back gate closes at 9. Unfortunately, we got there around 9:03 and it was locked up and dark so we had to go to the main gate and get a visitor's pass. It was nice to have the pass though, that meant we could get on base without Geneva or Ralf.

Chad and I came back to the hotel and went to sleep, tomorrow would be a big day, the SWAP MEET!

Hawaii 2010 Day 1 ~ The Flight and the Car

What can I say about the flight over to Hawaii. First, I will forever be grateful that my mom suggested we head to Scottsbluff around 9. I was thinking we could get there later since our flight wasn't until 11:30. Luckily, we did leave around 9 or so and got to Scottsbluff not much after 10. We walked in and the place was full of Marines! They had been in the area for training so there weren't many places to sit. We walked up to the counter to check-in and the girls says "You must be the Daltons!". Apparently we were the only "couple" flying that day! Since there weren't many places to sit, my Dad went ahead and headed back to Alliance and we headed to the lounge to get something to drink. As we were sittting in the lounge, a group of Freedom Riders came through decked out in their leather and shook every Marine in the building's hand. It was quite an AWESOME site to see! Those guys (Freedom riders and military!) are awesome!

Anyway, we waited in the lounge until they opened up security so we could board the plane (got to love small town airports!) Some guy asked Chad which flight we were waiting for and then went to find out why we weren't boarding yet, turns out it was the Mayor!!! (again, love small towns!) We made it through security, although they did randomly check Chad's carry-on! As we are waiting with the, oh let's say 14 other people, they come in with bad news. Denver has OVER fueled the aircraft, so it is too heavy, they will have to bump 5 people off unless people volunteer. Since we were barely going to make our connection in Denver, we were not going to volunteer. If nobody volunteered, they would be bumping the last 5 people who checked again. See why I am thankful to my mom??? We were not one of the bumped, thank goodness!

To say the airplane is small would be an understatement. Chad was seat 2A and I was 2C. There is no 2B because that would be the aisle! The flight is about 45 minutes and I think the pilot (or 12 year old playing dressup!) checked the map about 15 times! Luckily, we didn't get lost. We made it to Denver and had to run a little bit to our connecting flight! We made it out of Denver and off to LA! We had a longer layover in LA and were able to get some lunch/dinner before the big flight! We boarded our flight and were actually able to leave a little bit early, we made it to Honolulu 30 minutes early!!!

We called Geneva and told her we were there, got our luggage, and rented the car! We had our choice of a Gold, Blue, or Red convertible Mustang. We took the red with the tan top of course! Tan leather inside, it was AMAZING!!! We finally met up with Geneva at a gas station (there are next to 0 street signs so we had a hard time telling her where we were!) and went to Taco Del Mar for dinner. It was OK, but not exactly Chipotle. Sorry Gwen, I couldn't resist!

Gwen went home and we headed to our AMAZING Hotel! All the details to come!

Summer Vacation 2010

This summer, our family did summer vacation a little bit different. I am not sure we will ever do it this way again, but it was fun this one time!
Chad and I decided that since Geneva and Ralf would be leaving Oahu in the fall, we wanted to travel there one more time. This time, no kids. We were looking at it like a second honeymoon of sorts. We booked an amazing hotel and an amazing car! (Details in following posts!) The kids on the other hand, were going to have a great vacation adventure with Papa Mike and Grandma Mimi, including a trip to the Black Hills! They were so excited! Of course, Braxton mentioned a few times that we were "kicking him to the curb" (His words!) The kids were a little sad that they didn't get to go with us to Hawaii this time, I suppose that is our fault for taking them the first time. :)
All in all, we had a great time in Hawaii, a miserable trip home, and an exhausting week after, and the kids had a great time with the Grandparents, even if it was a few days too long! Stay tuned for a day-by-day account of our trip!

Home From Hawaii!

We are home from Hawaii. Since we had such an interesting trip home, we are all exhausted. I hope to get some pictures up this weekend. Long story short, we had a great time! Thanks Genny and Ralf for spending time with us and thanks to Grandma Mimi and Papa Mike for spending so much time with the kids!!!