Oahu -- The 9 day synopsis

Day 1: Monday
Traveling. Really this day began the night before. We spent much of Sunday getting ready and packing. The packing lasted well into the night, and I finally called it quits at 1AM. We headed to bed (Megan went to sleep at 8PM talking about going to “Hawaii!”) to catch a few Z’s before all of the Monday morning.

Monday morning we got up early. Chris took Zoey to her kennel while I packed up snacks at sandwiches for the 8 hour plane ride ahead. We got in the car and then drove up to meet a friend of ours who was nice enough to take us to the airport (Donna) and wait for us to unload our MANY MANY bags from the car. We only checked three bags total, but must have carried on DOUBLE that. I was so nervous about how Megan would do on such a long flight that we had a movie player, ipod, coloring books, computer, ANOTHER computer just in case the battery ran out, a cooler, other misc snacks, and then a whole backpack full of random dollar store toys or surprises to keep her entertained.

She did well. She did NOT sleep at all on the flight, so neither did we. But she played and watched movies and ate snacks, and arrived without creating much of a disturbance. She then passed out completely asleep on the way to the hotel, and could not be revived to life. So we gave up and put her on the roll away as we made tons of noise around her unpacking. She was pooped.

Day 2 Tuesday:
Started terrible. Megan woke up promptly at 8:45 AM TEXAS time, which was 3:45 AM. Breakfast downstairs. Off to get some groceries – Megan still terrible, visited Denny’s. Megan still terrible. Time out, finally some ok behavior. Back to the hotel to get GPS and then driving about the island. West coast across the south to Honolulu. Quick venture to shops in Waikiki, and then up to the Diamondhead crater, which was unfortunately mostly closed for the week. Megan wakes up, still grumpy. We call it a day and drive back to the hotel for a quick swim before an early bed. Time change is a killer.

Day 3: Wednesday
Started well, we went down to feel the fish at the shore. They have a 7:30 AM fish feeding for the kids, and the fish just swim right up to the shore at this time of day. Somehow there was a swimming incident at the lagoon, Megan said that it happened when she put on her goggles -- but I missed it. Anyway, she ended the day with a large forehead scratch clearly visible in all great photos. Oh well. vacation is a time of activity. Then we set out to see Pearl harbor. We took Megan to the USS Arizona. Very moving location, and we even learned a lot from the movie that you see while waiting to tour. I learned more than Chris, who took Megan out of the theatre after she began to get annoyed and pitch a fit. Fortunately she settled down in time for the boat ride out to the memorial, and liked seeing the exhibits. She said back to us -- "the boat sank and made people sad?". So somehow, she understood a little of what she saw. We then came back to hotel, and Megan and Daddy played at the pool after dinner. Mommy worked on pictures. We then drove up the west coast of Oahu. Saw different scenery. This is the dry side of the mountain. There are beautiful beaches, but some poorer sights on this the side of the island. Lots of tents where the poor live on beachside property with long term tents set up – some even had shopping carts and other materials around. We talked to a few locals who said that every few months the police force the vagrants to at least move and camp somewhere different on the island. Although I must say that if you are going to be homeless, this is the place to do so! Consistent comfortable weather is a real feature, especially coming from the miserable DFW area (there is hot, hot and humid, cold and icy, and a few nice days in between).

Day 4: Thursday
North Shore. We drove up to see the sea turtles at the north shore – it was really amazing. The surf was quite big even in this calm weather, and then out in the surf we saw them. They weren’t onshore as they sometimes are, but were right where the surf breaks just swimming and presumably eating. Then we headed for lunch in Halewai, before heading to the Polynesian Cultural Center for a very full day. We arrived at 1PM, and left at 9:30. Megan made it to 9:15 – almost!! Luau, evening show, firedanceers, etc. She say through an Imax film and really liked it, went to the luau and watched the Horizons evening show. Only one incident -- she fell forwards out of her IMAX seat and hit her face on the back of the seat just in front of us, so this added a small black eye mark for several days of photos, which complemented the day 2 face scrape just perfectly in photos.

Day 5: Friday
Lazy day. Lounged in the morning, went for donuts (the first thing Megan said when she awoke) and then came back to the hotel. Sitting on the balcony watching a bit of rain. Then, Megan and Daddy headed out to the pool for swimming and a poolside lunch. Mommy got to go to the spa for a massage and hair treatment. So relaxing.. I came back and Megan was sleeping so well, on the 3rd hour of her post swim nap. Apparently, she told Daddy she needed a rest, climbed in our bed at the hotel (she normally sleeps on the rollaway) and then requested jimmies and a pull up. When she woke up, we went for great dining at the Sushi place. Afterwards, Megan and daddy had another swim while Mommy watched poolside. At 8PM we called it a night and headed up so we could all take a rest. Tomorrow we go to the timeshare proposal.

Day 6: Saturday
Timeshare day, with a visit to Marriott Vacation Club at Ko Olina. Megan went to the nursery room and had great fun playing with Legos and then making things with glue and shells. Her Mommy and Daddy almost bought the timeshare. Really, almost. If it was a little more in our planned budget right now we would have – maybe in a few years. After this, we spent the day at the timeshare vacation property with our free pass. We checked out their pools, had lunch and then headed back to our hotel. We all took a nap, and then went to the Seafood buffet downstairs before swimming again. It was nice to have a calm day, and Megan really had fun.

Day 7: Sunday
Visited the Dole pineapple plantation. I never knew how pineapples were really grown. It was amazing. They are all planted by hand, and one plant will yield only two pineapples – one on its first season (after 20 months) and the second after a second season of 15 months. I also learned that as good as fresh pineapple is, there is easily such a thing as too much! We had fresh pineapple, pineapple juice, and pineapple ice cream, before declaring that there could be no more pineapple. My tongue had no protective coating left.

Then, we drove the whole north and east coast of Oahu. The north shore has some great waves and beaches, and the east side is just beautiful and green. We were staying on the dry side of the island, so this lush tropical view was really breathtaking.

Day 8 Monday:
A really fun day. We started this by getting up early to take a shuttle down to the marina for a snorkeling cruise. We were going to go Sunday, and the weather was bad (gray and lightly rainy). So we scheduled for Monday even though the weather looked like it would be the same. Wow were we lucky. First of all, it was a beautiful day. Second, everyone else thought it was going to be bad, so there were only 7 of us total on this snorkel cruise (two Japanese couples and Chris, Megan and me). So we got a lot of attention and a boat all to ourselves. We weren’t going to snorkel with Megan but the guides felt comfortable, and since there were only a few of us, we took her off the boat with us and swam around above the reef. We had several sea turtles around us (we got a few good pictures) and the fish at the reef even ate out of our hands. Several dolphins swam right up to the boat. It was fantastic. Megan didn’t like the idea of a snorkel, so she missed a lot of the great underwater views, but had fun swimming with us in the ocean anyway. We went back to the room to clean up and rest and then swam again that afternoon for about two hours in the hotel pool. She loves to swim. Really if her vacation had a pool and a rental car bus, she’d be set.

Day 9: Tuesday
The last day. We had the whole day to spend in Hawaii before leaving on a 7:30 PM flight – catching an overnight back to Dallas. Our entire goal was to tire the child out so that she would sleep. We got up, finished packing and went down to swim at 9AM. We swam for over two hours until it was time to shower and check out. Then we headed into Honolulu (you really have to emphasize the “lu-lu” to say it like Megan. She napped a little, but we had lunch and went shopping before heading out to the airport late in the afternoon. Megan did great – she went to sleep about 30 minutes after take off and slept almost the whole 7 hour flight. ONLY if she was laying on me in some way, so needless to say her parents didn’t sleep all that great. At 8AM, our friend Donna picked us all up and then we headed to pick up Zoey and go home. Everyone got naps. Chris and Megan did well and slept a enough to be rested and still go to bed. I slept way too much and now have time to stay up and blog.

So I will update this later with some photos and memories from each day, this is my first pass to make sure that I don’t forget.

Aloha!

What a week! I have lots of blogging to do to catch up so that I can share many of the great photos and fun that we had in Oahu over the last week or so! Mostly fun. Traveling on an 8-hr flight with an almost-three-year-old to Hawaii probably doesn't make the "fun" list. Oh and since we are heading to the airport in a few minutes, the trip back may not make the "fun" list either. And Megan doesn't like sand, which is a tad inconvenient since we are staying at a resort on the beach. But, her favorite part so far is the rental car bus, and we get to ride that AGAIN in a little while. She is swimming for like the thirtieth time right now so that we can get her good and tired for the plane ride -- so please pray for a sleepy kid for us, ok?

Party Time

Today, we went to a baby shower for a friend of ours who is having a little girl. They have a daughter Megan's age (Emily), and therefore had the shower more like a kids party. Megan and I were running a little late and missed the cake, but got there just in time for all the fun in the gym at the Little Gym (where they had the shower). It was a lot of fun -- maybe we will check it out for Megan's upcoming birthday (which is talked about ever so frequently!) Here are a few shots capturing the fun events.


The diaper cake that Megan helped me make


some fun climbing and on a balance beam


Megan and her friend Emily

Setting up the inflatable tumble track

Conservation Day and Health Fair

Today we went to the conservation and health fair that our company put on. Since we were the official "unofficial photographers", we got lots of extra pictures (and at least a few of Megan) and wanted to share:

Here, we have the ballrooom with the conservation booths with details on how to reduce your carbon footprint.

Everyone got a small starter kit to plant a tree (bottom left), as well as a reusable grocery bag, a compact fluorescent lightbulb, tire pressure gauge (fuel efficiency is important!), and a few other goodies. Upstairs at the health fair, there were fun activities for the kids, flu shots, cholesterol screening, blood pressure checks, and snacks!



Mom and Dad got their flu shots while Megan played. She had fun in the kids area with her new buddy Lily. She really liked wearing the firehat backwards though, and it took some convincing to get it to stay on "Frontways!"




This picture is a little overexposed, but I think it is interesting. I always think Megan looks mostly like Chris, but here I think she resembles me as a kiddo -- mostly her eyes here I think. Awwww, isn't she a cute fireperson? (do firepeople usually carry balloons?)

National Night Out (Sort of)

Tonight was National Night Out here in Texas. It sounds so funny since National Night Out is in August for all the rest of the NATION, but this year Texas decided to pilot a different day for NATIONAL night out (isn't that really just like TEXAS?). I have to say that spending an evening out with your neighbors IS much more pleasant in October rather than August, so maybe they are onto something! We had a lot of fun. Once it got dark, there were glow sticks for all the kids and creepy green glow things continued to run around our cul-de-sac until it was time to say "night-night." Megan had a lot of fun and was sad to have to call it a day, but she went to bed almost immediately! Poor kid, being back at school full time is really exhausting her!

UNDER your tongue!!

So after Megan's flu shot (See the Broken-leg-itis Post below) we thought she might be running a little fever. We decided to try to teach her the big girl way of using the thermometer (under her tongue). After two attempts, I had to go get the camera as it was so darn funny. I missed at least a few of the tongue attempts which were hysterical, but still captured a few. Video one is Megan's traditional "under the armpit" temp method which she insisted on showing us. Video 2 is her attempt at "under the tongue" I guess this is a skill which takes some practice!

A Broken leg....!

Now today is gymnastics day, and this may leave many of you with worry of Megan's gymnastics. Don't worry, gymnastics went great. Megan loved it even more than usual and is getting much better at the exercises. She had a real workout and left exhausted. No pictures today, as I figure I won't go crazy at everything she does... [not likely!]

But afterwards, Megan had her appt for her flu shot. She was not fond of this, even though we watched another round of "Elmo goes to the doctor" and then promised to go get ice cream afterwards. She was a big girl and got her shot, but now her leg is broken. Daddy had to carry her to the ice cream place, through the library, and even around the house.

I don't think we have any REAL worries, since the leg seems to be working perfectly fine when something exciting happens, when there is a toy nearby (at the library) that another child might get, or when she just forgets how much it is supposed to hurt. Poor little girl.......

And WHATEVER you do, don't let the seat belt touch the band aid or it sets off another wave of broken-leg-itis.

Megan's first visit to Six Flags

Some fun photos and snapshots from our day at Six Flags. This is the first time that Megan has been to Six Flags, and Chris and I hadn't been in five years. But today was season pass holder appreciation day, and all season passholders could bring a friend for free. Our neighbors have season passes, and invited all of us for a fun filled day. We hadn't looked at Six Flags as I thought it was too big for Megan, but she had a blast. We were there for over five hours, and aside from the lunch break rode rides the entire time, and never really repeated any (one or two that they loved we stayed for a second ride) and still never rode all of the kid rides.

It was hot and by the end of the day we had a hot tired cranky kid with hot, tired, cranky parents, but some good photos and video to show for it! She rode on a few small roller coasters, and I am afraid we might have a thrill seeker on our hands. She rode on one (last video below) and then on the mini-runaway mine train twice. Although she wanted to ride the mine train again, by the second time she emphatically declared that it was "too scary for her" so we stuck to lighter rides (she also noted that it made her tummy hurt!)

I posted a few pics below, and here is the link to all of the pictures on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/homanhouse/sets/72157607574510689/

Mom and Megan on the carousel


Megan, Grace and Gwyneth pose for a "head-shot"


Grace takes Megan for a "spin" in a tea cup (blech, better her than me!)



A video of Megan on the carousel (press play in the box below)


A video of Grace and Megan on the spinning tea cups (press play in the box below)

A video of all three girls swing ride (press play in the box below) They weren't really supposed to be attached to each other, but Megan grabbed Gwyneth's swing to form a train.

The first roller coaster. If you look closely, Megan and her Daddy are riding with Grace and her Daddy (press play in the window below).

Another FIRST

Today, or rather tonight, Megan got her first bloody nose, poor kid. A bit of a fat lip too.

She was swinging and crying out "Faster, push me faster. Higher, higher.....[giggle giggle] faster [laugh] higher....{THUMP} [lots of crying]....[little crying]....Push me faster, faster, higher higher!"

She fell off the swing as high as you can and landed in a bit of a faceplant (or "really hard" as she tells the story) But she does enjoy it so, and is such a big girl. We had to stop swinging for awhile to help with her poor nosebleed.

Another fun Saturday!

Today was fun and busy. We started the day with Megan getting up extra early (she is back in school this week, and apparently this broke the "sleeping in feature"). Since she woke both of us up, we got up, watched some cartoons while Daddy set out making pancakes. We had pancakes and bacon and then got ready for gymnastics.

Megan did great at gymnastics. It is abolutely adorable and hysterical to watch these little kids (Megan is the youngest at 2, and there are two other 3-year olds in the class) run around in their leotards doing gymnastics. She did more hopping like a bunny rabbit on the tumble track trampoline. We had stretching, and balance beam again, and then today also had bars. She went across a high bar, hung from a low one, and then bear climbed across a parallel set. For you grandparents, aunts, uncles, or anyone else who needs an adorable picture to remember, just come visit for a Saturday and we will show you.

When this was all over, we walked just own the street to Rose Park to see the Mansfield Pecan festival. It was a lot of fun. We got the usual vendor info, promos, etc. Then we followed that up with fair food and some kid fun (mostly bounce houses!) Megan doesn't like getting her hands messy, and this almost (I say ALMOST) made it impossible for her to eat the cotton candy. It was upsetting to her, but after a few bites she decided the addictive pink melt in your mouth the stuff was worth the mess. Here are a few snippets from gymnastics. They look A LOT like last weeks, so I just added a few of the new things (bars, bear crawl) and a cute one or two. We didn't haul the camera to the festival, so we didn't get the bounce house photos but it was cute anyway!