Prayers are often answered in strange and unexpected ways – at least to us mere mortals! I had one answered early this spring that told me that I needed to do a couple of things for my mom’s upcoming birthday – go on a trip with her to Hawaii and throw her a birthday party. Who am I to question the workings of Heaven? We went to Hawaii…
The timing wasn’t exactly ideal. We fit in the trip in early May, so the boys were still in school and I needed Kevin to get them where they needed to be (for instance, Billy was invited to 3 birthday parties the 4 days we were gone!). Kevin might have been just a bit jealous of my opportunity and I promised him I’d make it up to him.
Also, because of timing, we were only able to be gone for part of 5 days. We had a hotel right by the beach with a lovely view … if you leaned just right.
We chose to spend our time on Oahu. Mom wanted to do all the tourist-y things and see the places she’d seen before. So, Waikiki Beach was our home for those few days.
I sent Kevin a lot of pictures and texts while we were gone, including this shot of me with Diamond Head in the background.
There was a smoothie and crepe place in our hotel lobby. It was an open lobby so we were joined by these little birds every time we ate there.
We were tourists. Our first full day we hopped on the shuttle and did a Circle Island tour. We would stop at look out points and snap a picture before moving on.
At one stop, there were more people taking pictures of the greenery than the view. I went closer to see why and realized that they were taking pictures of this chicken! With all the chickens our neighbors have a home, I found this quite funny.
The beaches on the north shore are some of my favorite places. I had to send Kevin some love!
Traveling with my mom …
My feet were just happy to be in the sand!
The boys have enjoyed the Disney movie “Moana” so when I saw this carving at the Polynesian Cultural Center, I had to send a picture home for the boys. Tommy recognized it right away – Maui capturing the sun!
Love from Hawaii!
We took a break from the PCC to ride the tram to the LDS Temple.
And then we got caught in the afternoon downpour! Nothing better than dripping at the Luau for dinner!
I think the statues were watching me …
The next day we played tourist at the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.
There is such a reverent atmosphere at the Memorial. It seemed particularly so when a volunteer was telling us how few survivors are left. I think there were just 3 or 4. Once they are laid to rest, the myth is that the Arizona will finally stop leaking oil…that it is crying and waiting. True or not, it is touching when you are standing there.
A bus tour around Honolulu … King Kamehameha statue.
The hotel had a cultural center. We took a ukulele lesson …
And learned how to string leis …
Our last day we headed for the flea market at Aloha Stadium…
And got in some beach time!
It was a quick but delightful trip. Hawaii is beautiful and good for a person’s soul. I didn’t do a lot of souvenir shopping, but I couldn’t resist this outfit for my littlest man!
Aloha!