A few months ago, we received notice that Zachary won second place overall in the state for his Reflections photography submission. The PTA offered to fly Zachary and one parent to Oahu for the banquet, and since it had been nearly a year since going off-island, we decided to take the whole family for a weekend getaway.
Owen was excited to go on a plane for weeks, with no recollection of flying before. He kept his eyes glued out the window.
The escalators were equally exciting, and all weekend, the kids got off the elevator a floor early so they could ride the escalators down the final floor of our hotel.
Owen could barely stand it when he found out we were also riding on a BUS!
On our way to the first adventure of the day, we spotted this parakeet hanging out in a tree.
We went straight from the airport to hike Manoa Falls. The visitor center/restroom facilities were so beautiful with orchids, tropical flowers, and tiki displays.
We had to remind the kids that they like hiking. The anticipation of this sub-two-mile hike had them questioning our "fun" family trip. Once we got moving, they were energized and excited.
So many places to explore along the way.
This hike was lush, green, overcast, and a little slippery. Owen did the entire thing.
Kate was the first to put her whole head inside this log.
Then Zachary:
Owen's version. "I put my head all the way in, huh?" Ha!
The day's forecast looked rainy and windy, so we expected poor weather but instead had ideal, cool conditions for our little hike and the kids talked about how fun it was to climb in the trees and explore the bamboo.
I stayed in the car with a napping Owen while Brady and the kids stopped at Arby's. Our rule on trips is we do not eat anything we can eat on Kauai. Zachary loaded up his roast beef with curly fries and declared it his best creation yet.
We surprised the kids by meeting up with Vicki and David at the trampoline house. I anticipated watching the kids from the sidelines like we do in Utah, but Vicki convinced me to purchase a ticket and join them. For me, it was the most fun of the trip. I cruised around with Owen and Kate, watched Zachary make his own obstacle courses, practiced flips into pits, and laughed as Kate and I choreographed jump routines and tricks. Kate had several girls begging to play with her, and Zac had kids attempting to do his tricks (I tried and didn't come close). Owen was so happy to bounce around like a big kid and I was glad he had our trampoline to learn on before attempting something this big.
Say, "UKUS!" I mean, "CHEESE!"
Pre-sneeze:
This is the picture that will make me and Vicki famous.
Off to the main event! We checked into the hotel 20 minutes before we needed to register for the dinner. 20 minutes. We raced in, ironed clothes, combed hair, and wiped off mud from the hike. Brady and I are the king and queen of cutting it close with these sorts of events. I remember years ago attending a formal event in Oahu with him after washing mud off at the beach shower.
David and Vicki showed up to surprise Zac with a homemade lego lei--the coolest lei I've ever seen.
Here's Zachary's photograph of his "Everyday Hero." She is Mrs. Dame, his 5th grade teacher.
As the ceremony continued, Zac built the legos from his lei.
Zachary with Mrs. Kobayashi, the principal at Koloa Elementary, and his friend Ella who won for musical composition.
The state PTA director giving him his award:
All the state winners for 2019:
After the banquet, the kids wanted to swim at the hotel pool, but after changing, we discovered it closed at 6pm. Owen sobbed, wanting to swim in the (awful, cold) pool. Instead, we took a night trip to the mall next door, exploring the Disney and Lego stores.
The next morning, the kids woke up early and sat on the tiny lanai overlooking Honolulu. Kate was in awe, counting the floors on skyscrapers. The kids cheered on half marathoners on the street below.
We learned about an ice skating rink in Honolulu so we changed our north shore hiking plans to do something more local after attending church. This marks the last time I will do Diamond Head and and walk with massive numbers up the exposed crater. The kids thought the stairs were so fun but didn't care for the rest of it (same, same).
The tunnel freaked Kate out--she saw someone with red sunglasses that reflected light and made her eyes look red. Her imagination was hopping with ideas of vampires, ghosts, and otherworldly creatures.
Looking out over the "lush" crater:
"Are we done?" "Can we have a snack?" "Is this hike over?" "How much longer until we go ice skating?"
Owen demanded that we carry him the entire way up, but on the way down he said, "Wait! I remembered my hiking legs!" and walked/jumped down the crater.
The walk down to the car was more fun than the hike. We found a fitness park and played on it for a half hour.
Brady doing pull-ups with a kiss between each.
It was finally time to ice skate! We were the most raggedy group of ice skaters there, with only pajama pants for me and Kate and shorts for Brady. None of us had long socks so we doubled our trampoline socks and hoped for the best. Vicki saved us with socks for Owen and pants for Zachary. Owen had been moody and emotional for the previous hour and we wondered how this was going to go--a loud, crowded rink on a short nap. Vicki saved the day, helping him ease into the crowd.
I figured out that I needed to support him under his armpits and he would stay steady on the ice. We cruised around for 20 minutes. I could not hear him or see his face, so I kept stopping to check on how he was doing and he said, "No, Mom! Don't stop! This is so fun!"
Vicki taught Kate to skate, and within a few laps, Kate was skating independently. Kate and Zac used their roller blading prowess on the ice.
David came over after the first ten minutes when we still were not on the ice and said about Zachary, "He's of course already to there, schooling everyone." Zac and David have been best friends since kindergarten and understand each other so well.
David is such a nurturer, and loved helping Owen and skating with Kate.
Kate periodically came in the kiddie section to "go fast" with the supports and skate with Owen.
Zac's final tally: 113 laps and 13 wipe-outs. Brady and I both took turns zipping around with him and he was hard to catch.
Kate was confident but still liked holding hands. She even tried a few tricks I learned from my ice skating class at BYU (the class that saved me from losing my scholarship when I had mono!).
After skating, the kids begged for more time at the mall. Kate discovered a $3 hat at Target. She also landed earrings, legos, "real crystals," and magnetic putty. She showcased shoes and walked from store to store, gazing in windows and saying, "Oh, this would look so good on you!" She was entranced by the whole experience.
At Target, Owen picked out several matchbox cars to be his potty training prizes. He asked to hold them and every time we looked down, a little more of the packaging was missing. "I won't play with it, I just hold it!" he kept insisting as it "accidentally" fell out of the package again and again.
A picture outside our hotel.
We put our name on the list at Cheesecake Factory at Waikiki and waiting for over an hour to get our table, walking into more shops, snagging samples from Honolulu Cookie, and trying to keep our cranky preschooler from bursting with rage.
We were seated at 9:10pm and the dinner experience was magic. The kids anticipated Cheesecake Factory for a month so we couldn't escape it after learning the wait was so long. Kate did not make it to the check.
Our final day in Oahu. Kate kept sighing and saying, "I will really miss these buildings."
We went to Wet 'n Wild for a chilly day at the water slides. Owen was officially done with car naps and late nights, and our expectations for the day were low when the kids declared they were too cold to play much longer (after about 3 rides). I went back in the car and found wetsuit jackets we intended to use for snorkeling and Brady rocked Owen to sleep while we took turns, saving the day. There were no lines for any of the slides and we jumped from slide to slide. Even Owen joined in the fun, taking a kiddie slide at least 25 times at the end of the afternoon.
There was a Cheesecake Factory nearby, and we stopped for round 2 before we left for the airport after skipping lunch at the park. Zachary ordered the Bacon Burger for the second time in a row while Kate opted for salmon. I never vary--always the Santa Fe salad.
We ate and compared favorite moments from the trip, reminiscing about the elevator that stopped working, the escalator fun, Kate walking to the wrong car multiple times, slow motion videos of the trampoline house, Owen falling down the side of the inflatable at the trampoline house on purpose, Zac's tricks no one could replicate, and his burgers stuffed with fries.
It was only three days but felt like a week and we came home exhausted and ready for normal life again.
