A couple months ago, Emily contacted me and let me know they were coming to Oahu. We knew it was a must to get together and enjoy a few surf days. There are some people in life that you meet and you know for a fact you will be lifelong friends. Itʻs wildly convenient that our girls get along so well, and Milly leaving left a huge hole in Kateʻs heart.
The night before we left was Zacharyʻs birthday. I was concerned about overshadowing his big day, and said nothing to him or to the kids about this trip. I finally told him around 10:30pm that night as Brady and I wrapped up boards in moving wrap and pool noodles for protection on the flight. (A surfer in Oahu said it was maybe too much of a good thing...I was only on a 20 minute flight. I wonder if heʻs ever watched luggage loaded onto planes???)
The morning of, Brady went in to get Kate and told her to quietly come downstairs. I looked at my phone feigning bewilderment--for some reason, I had two boarding passes on my phone and we had to leave for the airport in 20 minutes??? She caught on right away and could not believe we were going on a day trip to Oahu. When she heard it was 4 days and included Milly, she was ecstatic. Milly had told her they were coming to Oahu and Kate begged me to take her over for the day, but I gave her reasons it would be awkward to join their extended family vacation. She was disappointed but when I showed her the boarding passes, it all came together.
That morning, Milly jumped into line at Leonardʻs Bakery so she could show up to the airport with fresh, hot malsadas.
We did a quick run to Costco for a chicken and trip snacks, dropped bags at the hotel, and rushed off to Waikiki for our first surf session. Getting the boards assembled at the zoo took a solid 45 minutes: one fin would not fit into any fin box and we cheered when we finally jammed it into one of mine (this would later bite us in the behind).
Yay! First group selfie. There is no taking phones to the beach anywhere in Oahu, so we locked them up and have hardly any pictures from our days in the water.
We paddled out past all the surfers to distant, less crowded break. Sadly, the 1ʻ surf report was accurate so it was mostly just a frustrating experience for the girls paddling over and over into tiny "speed bump" waves that had no energy. After an hour, we decided to try our luck at White Plains, a break I loved on my last Oahu surf trip. It can be windy and blown out, and the surf report looked bleak, but it seemed worth the 45 minute drive to check it out.
We scored, and the 1-2ʻ wave forecast for White Plains was an understatement. There were three breaks like I remember, with bigger waves further out and plenty to play as you approach the shore. It is a huge break and can support even a Saturday Oahu crowd. Also, every crowd seems less daunting after the combat surfing of Waikiki. The girls caught countless waves and so did we.
At Kateʻs request, we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. The 50 page menu cracks me up, especially since I always get exactly the same thing there--the Santa Fe Salad.
Enjoying our late night slice of cake.
One of my favorite moments of the trip was getting lost in a chat with Emily to the sounds of the girls watching their old music videos and giggling late into the night.
We planned to hike the next morning, but the girls were anxious to join me on my morning run anyway. I was so flattered. Kate turfed it hard next to the canal but kept her cool with bloody knees.
Kateʻs first question before every event was where we would get food. She is a planner and needs to know there are carbs and restaurants in the schedule. She remembered this little donut shop from our soccer trip to Oahu and was thrilled that we accidentally parked there on an attempted trip to Foodland.
I blog but Brady is the family notetaker. He has all kinds of tidbits filed away in Evernote, and he came through for me, offering a bunch of hiking options we loved. Many were closed (ʻcuz COVID? or other private property disputes), but Wiliwilinui came through for us.
After all the Kauaʻi rain and muddy hikes of the past couple weeks, we fully expected to get a mud bath. The trail was in excellent shape, though, and we are not sure why so many other hikers were so dirty.
The girls gabbed endlessly on the way up. Such happy chatter.
It looked like we were hiking into misty/rainy clouds the entire way up, but we were lucky and had perfect conditions...
...and panoramic views.
Made it to the top!
So many shades of green and blue.
Pretending we need the ropes.
2pm acai bowls to power up for White Plains, round 2. It was even bigger and better than before, so much that Kate was anxious about the big sets. I stayed on the inside with her for a while and then we found a great spot in the middle/outside that we surfed for two hours. I had the very best wave of my life that night, holding hands with her after we both made the drop all the way to shore.
When Kate learned about the trip, the girls made quick plans and begged to go to Dave and Busters and maybe a movie, too. We made sure they knew this was slated as a surf trip, but said we would try and sneak into Dave and Busters (aka Emilyʻs "worst nightmare") for an hour. We made it happen in time for our sushi reservation at 8:15pm.
I was so proud of her for ordering a poke bowl. She has had this more than once on Kauaʻi, but it turns out she did not remember it was all raw fish, so she spent the dinner wishing she ordered Emilyʻs meal. At least she ordered her favorite miso soup, too! Kate could eat miso soup for breakfast every day of the week.
Did I say sushi reservation? I meant our honey toast reservation.
"Take our picture."
The girls looked so much like twins that night but this is the best picture we could get between their giggles.
The next day was forecast to be junky surf, wind and rain, so we started out climbing the 1,084 steps up Koko Head Crater.
WORTH IT!
I thought the girls would stage a mutiny when we told them we were walking to the lighthouse, too. 2 miles, barely uphill, paved. Cue the bellyaching. It was still awesome and Iʻm glad we were able to capture views of whales breaching, gorgeous hues of blue, and even some smiles from the girls.
We washed their grouchy away with salads and soup from Aloha Salad, and other epic 3 hour surf session at White Plains. The girls had more confidence and took so many waves. We got out right after sunset and rushed off to see a movie.
Did you know that movie theaters now have reclining seats? Seriously. I didnʻt have a chance staying awake when the seats were upright. It was the BEST NAP. Also, so fun watching glimpses of Sing 2 with my ecstatic girl. (For the record, my heart still beats for Bono.)
The night ended up with us at a very sketchy 7-11 buying very sketchy food for Kate and Milly.
Our last day: say itʻs not so! We started with another jog, some makeup work, and another trip to our favorite Foodland. Seriously, go to Ala Moana Foodland, buy their crunchy green/coconut smoothie, and thank me later.
We stayed at White Plains, which was more blown out and definitely smaller, for the entire day. Kate was having the time of her life but exited the water for an hour to study for the spelling bee the next day. Iʻll never forget sitting in the sunshine and hearing her spell Confucianism.
A funny part of the afternoon: we were wrapping up the boards and prepping them for the plane. My fin would NOT come out. We were putting so much force into the board, I worried we were breaking my fin box. I worried some local surfers, too, who came over to give tips. Finally, an off-duty life guard came over with a sandwich in his hand and used his other hand to pop it out like it was the easiest thing in the world. HA!
Last dinner: my favorite! Moku. Fish tacos, mushroom pizza, Mac nut spicy green beans, and a kale salad. The BEST.
Until next time, my dear surfer friends.
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