Blog 6 of January

Monday, December 30th

  Patrick (and his new runners) were on run duty today with Bill.  Today was our Luau day, which was my pick of the holiday.  When Bill and I visited Honolulu for the first time back in the 80's, we attended the best luau.  We have never been able to duplicate that experience again, and I was hoping to do so this trip especially since this was Ethan's first trip to the islands.  So today we headed off to the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC)  It is located on the north side of the island, so the drive was between 60 to 90 minutes.  Since we were going to be on the North side of the island, we decided to take the scenic route (or long route) and stop at the infamous North Shore to see some "big" waves.  We weren't disappointed.  

A large stretch of the beach was roped off as the waves had been extreme, and in the news they were showing some homes falling into the ocean as the beach below them was eroding away from the large waves.
   We stopped for a quick bite to eat at a local restaurant and then continued on to the PCC.

 We arrived around 1:30 (we had hoped for 12:00 noon).  We were assigned a guide; a nice young man named Kala, whom we shared with 20 other people.  Our group consisted of folks from Alaska, Arkansas, Florida and even Saskatoon.
  We learned to weave the coconut leaves, making fish on fishing poles.  I had hope to take mine home to show mom, but who knew once the leaves hit Calgary they would dry and break.  We watched the boat pageant which consisted of island dances of the various islands.   They lagoon that the pageant was on was stocked with fish and you could buy fish food and feed the fish.  But if you wanted to see the actual fish, you just had to put your arm out and the fish automatically come to the surface (looking for the food).

 Ashley also found a duck near the lagoon, and it wouldn't be a vacation if Ashley didn't ask for a pet to name Bob.

 We watched a drumming presentation, which was by far my favorite part of the day.

 And we even got a hula lesson.  I'm sure with a little practice we could still all perform it.

  At 5:00 we headed for our prime rib buffet.  The food was delicious and plentiful.

 After dinner Bill and Patrick went on a tour of the Morman temple near by.   Many of the young people working at the Cultural center are students of the BYU (Brigham Young University) on the island.  They apply for scholarships and then they work at the PCC to pay for their room and board.
  When they guys returned from their tour we watched the Fire Show "Ka".  It was very similar to that of a Cirque Du Soleil show, but without the acrobatics.  Very entertaining.

  When the show was finished we headed back to the Waikiki area and despite the spats of rain along the way, made it to our hotel in great time.

Paradise is near.
Stacey

Blog 5 of January

It's Sunday, December 29th and the vacation continues

  Yes it was an early start today.  We left our condo by 6:30 a.ma.  Our destination, Hanauma Bay.  This place is know to get busy and parking can be difficult.  By 7:30 we had grabbed our gear, watched the instructional video (mandatory before entering the Bay), and found our section of sand on the beach.  The sun was just peaking out of the few clouds in the sky, which made the wind seem a little chilly.  But once the clouds blew by, and the sun was out, we had our paradise weather back.
   Patrick and Ethan decided to create some sand art.

 First was the castle, which turned into a sleeping/tanning was for Patrick.  Then Ethan lost interest in the norm and built an amazing turtle.

He built is close to the water edge, so it was easier to get the wet, wet sand.  And in order to protect his turtle, he made walls; intial, secondary etc to protect his turtle as long as possible from the waves.  Little did he know that these safetly walls would be mistaken as sand chairs for people needed to put on or take or their snorkle gear.  The wall survived this gentlemans use, and the turtle survived until we left.

   We all did some snorkellying out in the bay.  Ashley's day was made when she seen her turtle.  By the time we left around 4:00, the beach was packed, and we were tired.
   We walked the long trek up to the parking lot and took in the gorgeous veiw from our day.

   When we returned to the hotel, it was early enough that we headed to the Cheesecake Factor with hopes of getting in.  thankfully there was only a 15 minutes wait.  The food was great; the portions large (again doggie bags for a few of us) and the cheesecake was good (Auntie Anne's is always better).  Everyone did get I'D' (ok not all over us, so Bill ordered whatever Patrick wanted and they "shared".  Ashley had her Mai Tai.

   Patrick and Bill headed back to the hotel, and Ashley Ethan and myself took our last trek through the international Market Place.  Ashley bought a beautiful mauve jade bracelet.  I'm kicking myself now for not getting one for me.
  And for those who are on top of this trip, you  have probably figured out that Bill didn't go for his run today, and yes the rested of us noticed too.
Till the next day
Stacey

Blog 4 of January

Hawaii onward.

  Saturday, December 28th
  Our 4th day in Hawaii and the tan lines are starting to show.  Today Ethan took one for the team and went for the morning run with Bill. While they were out, the rest of us headed to the condo pool.  A few laps, a few laughs and a little down time was just right for this morning.  Bill and Ethan returned and they all took a quick trip to the Alo Manoa mall to pick up  new pair runners for Patrick.  I stayed and guarded the pool.
   Our excursion today was Patrick's pick.  It was the LOST tour.  Our tour guide was Scottie, a young man, I would guess in his mid to late 30's.  He picked us up in his company Hummer around 1:00 pm.

 For the next five hours we were driver all over the island to different locations where filming took place.

LOST was one of the shows we had access to; there was also Hawaii 5-0, and a few movies 50 1st Date, Jurassic Park .  And just as interesting was the history behind some of the areas we visited.

This was a foot print from Godzilla.

50 First Dates

And our course Jurassic Park.  Our guide was a seasoned pro at this job and he was able to help make some of the pictures more interesting.  For example, this one with the dinosaur - he held up a plastic dinosaur while he took the picture.  I thought this was too cool.

  Scottie, along, with our three Lost fanatics, was an avid fan and in addition to showing up places, he had pictures and video outtakes to show the actual comparison.  Now if you're not a big LOST fan, some of this "stuff" can be boring.  But it was really cute when Scottie added some of his "movie" magic to make a picture look more authentic.  For example:

This was an actual bunker that had been built at the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  It now sits on private land, which the people have donated for access by the public

The was the infamous Hurley golf course

And our guide magically added Hurley to our family

Bill wasn't feeling bad about leaving his golf clubs at home.

Again with the magic of a dinky car, it looks like Bill and Patrick are actually pushing the van down the hill

IT was a great tour and well enjoyed by all - great choice Patrick.  I think Bill and I are going to now sit down and watch the entire series, in order.

After the tour, we unloaded our gear and headed to the beach to find a good place for dinner.  We should have put a little more thought into dinner location, especially since it was a Saturday night, middle of Waikiki and right around the dinner hour.  The wait time for our first few choices as close to 90 minutes, so we ended up at a little restaurant called The Big Kahuna.  It was off the beaten path, and most importantly, it had no wait time.  The food was good, but a little show service.  Seems all the staff had left the island for the Christmas season (really - people do that)  Luckily our waitress was a little overwhelmed with all her tables and Patrick didn't get asked for I.D.

  It was another early evening but that was planned because Sunday was a going to be an early start.

Night

Stacey

Blog 3 of January

It's the third day into our holiday, and the Hawaii vacation continues:

Friday, December 27th

  If I were at home, the Christmas tree would be coming down today.  But I'm not, so it won't.  Because everyone has been going to bed quite early, most of us have also been waking up quite early.  And when I say most of us, I mean everyone but Ethan.  He is still baffled by our family and our inability to sleep in.
   For the second morning in a row, Ashley accompanied Bill on his morning run.  When they returned, Ashley vowed that this was the last run she would do with Dad.  Seems Bill took her on a scenic route of Diamond Head which turned out farther than they both anticipated.
   Today is snorkel/dive day.  Ashley chose today's activity.  The car from Waikiki Dive Company picked us up at our hotel lobby at 10:00 a.m.  After climbing into our seats, my first thought was "I hope the boat is in much better condition than the van!"  I was sitting behind the driver and I could see the road through cracks in the floorboard.  We headed to the dive shop where everyone was fitted with their necessary gear.  Ashley being the only certified diver, didn't' need much, as she brought most of her gear with her.  Bill and I were only going to snorkel, so we had our gear as well.  Patrick and Ethan needed to be fitted with everything and everything had to be "big"
   There were a total of ten passengers assigned to our boat  "The Scooby Five".  We were left to ponder what happened to the previous four Scoobies."  Four of the divers consisted of a mom and three older sons from Utah, and an older gentleman named Dave, from Arizona.  Our crew consisted of Captain Nick, and diving instructors Marco and Gracie.  You can probably guess from the pictures which is Marco and which is Gracie.

   After all the divers were in the water, Bill jumped in for his snorkel.  I stayed on the boat a little longer to get some pictures.  By the time I was thinking of heading into the water, Bill was coming back out.  Seems there wasn't a lot to see this far out, if you were just snorkeling; So I stayed dry and warm on the boat.  Bill and Nick shared a toast with tequila (Bill and his stash) and I just enjoyed the view.

   Time stand still when you are in paradise, but before we knew it the divers had returned from their second dive.  Turtles, octopus, eels, sharks and a variety of fish had all been spotted, thus making it a successful dive for all.

As the divers shed their gear , Captain Nick approached me with a mission.  "Should I choose to accept it, I would be rewarded with some t-shirts."  I was given a sea urchin "body-shell" that Marco had found.  Basically it is a thin shell looking thing, and it is very fragile.  My task is to get this item back home in one piece, take a picture of it, put it on their Facebook page and Captain Nick will send us our reward.  He said this mission has only been completed successfully twice before.  I accepted the challenge.

  We headed back to shore, unloaded the boat, and Gracie dropped us off at our hotel.  We quickly cleaned up and headed out for dinner.  Our destination tonight was Jimmy Buffetts. Our goal , to see if Patrick could get a margaritas without being asked for I.D.  Joe, our waiter, never blinked an eye, hence the smile on Patrick's face.  We were all petty hungry when we left for dinner, but the four of us ended up taking food home in doggy bags, as the portions were huge.

  Our next stop was the International  Marketplace.  It had been brought tour attention earlier in the day, that the market is closing down as of January 1st.  It is being replaced with new hotels.  It's sad to see such an iconic part of Honolulu being destroyed.  Hopefully we will get a little more time to go through it again before January 1st.

  Thanks to our phone communication, we all found each other at the end of the shopping (the Market Place is big and very maze like) and headed back to our hotel for another early evening.
  Ahhh, this is the life.
Stacey

Blog 2 of January

The Hawaii Vacation continues.....
Thursday, December 26th
  Wide awake by 7:00 a.m., OK, not wide awake, but eyes can see the light.  Bill is the first one up and to no one's surprise, he's ready for a run.  Upon hearing of her dad's agenda, Ashley jolts out of bed and gets herself ready to accompany Bill.  That is the fastest I have ever seen Ashley get ready for anything.  Bill and Ashley load up with their electronics (Ashley with her I-Pod for music - after all Dad isn't known for his chattiness - her words, not mine; and Bill straps on his running gps - after all he has been know to get lost - my words, not his)
  While the two early birds are gone, the three of us do whatever we need to do to ready ourselves for the day.
  By 10:00a.m. we are out of our hotel and headed towards Waikiki beach.  A small detour to the first McDonalds for breakfast (those growing boys are always hungry).
   Bill rents us some nice beach space; actually the beach is free, but it comes with a couple of lounge chairs and a nice large umbrella.

 While the kids and Bill rent some paddle boards, I settle into the lounge chair with my book, and music (new Garth Brooks CD for Christmas) and my first nap of the day.  It takes me a while to relax and close my eyes, as I discovered my "overly mother instincts" have me keeping my eyes on the kids (and Bill) to make sure they are afloat.  I finally gave up this quest when they started to resemble the rest of the colored dots on the ocean horizon.  Before I know it, two hours have flown by and everyone is back and the big smiles on their faces would indicate they had a great time.

 We all share our afternoon experiences; Ethan had a foot encounter with some coral; Ashley spent he least amount of time in the actual water ( her balancing skills came in handy) Patrick got us close and personal with a sea turtle and Bill got up close and personal with his paddle board.

  I watched a local beach supervisor/volunteer walk up and sown our beach section, collecting the box jellyfish that had been washed ashore and putting them in a container.  There were warning signs on the beach about these stinging creatures, but it didn't seem to deter the tourists. (that would be us)

 Ashley and Ethan did some cheer stunting near the water (just to keep in practice)  I only witnessed one major wipe out.  I think Ethan's chest still has an indent from Ashley's butt landing on him.

  We spent a few more hours at the beach and then we eventually met back up at the hotel.  This was when I settle into my second nap of the day.
  Dinner consisted of take out pizza and wings in the room.  It was a pretty early evening.
Stacey

Blog 1 of January 2014

Happy New Year!

  It's Sunday morning, January 5th, and my first blog of the New Year.  We have been away on a wonderful family holiday and for the new few days, I'm going to share my holiday on the blog.  So we need to go back into 2013 and start on Christmas Day!

Wednesday, December 25th
  Merry Christmas and Aloha!

  For us, Christmas Day started in Calgary, in snow, but ended in Oahu in the warm sun.  The Traynor family graciously offered to take us to the airport, despite being Christmas morning, despite being early in the morning, and despite there were 5 of us and would need two vehicles.  And to my surprise, all four of the Traynor's showed up at 8;30 a.m. to transport us.
  Being the organized one (OK, a control freak), I had printed the boarding passes the day before and everything seemed to run smoothly.  So I was a little surprised when at the self check-in booth, my passport/boarding pass was rejected.  I was even more surprised to discover the reason behind my rejection.  Seems the name on my boarding pass didn't match the name on my passport.  WHAT?  My passport didn't include my middle name.  You would have thought I had learned my lesson from our last trip to Seattle, where the same thing had happened to Bill.  So now instead of getting in the short and fast line, we ended up in the long, long slow line.  Let me rephrase that, my travelling buddies eagerly accepted my offer of going into the fast line (without hesitation I might add) and baled on me.  They went to the short line and I was left on my own to sort out my own mess.  As predicted they made it through their line way ahead of me.  I was touched when Bill returned to stand with me as I was checking in at the counter.  That emotion was quickly extinguished when I discovered he just wanted my Tim Horton's card so he could order breakfast.  I finally met up with the gang at the pre=gate Tim Horton's.  Seems I was mistaken.  Only Bill and Patrick were getting breakfast; the rest of us were on our own.................
     Both flights went fairly smooth.  There was a bit of turbulence on the flight from Calgary to Vancouver, and when I looked over at Patrick, he and Ethan were playing out their LOST scenario.  Note to self; pretend they belong to someone else.
  We arrived in Hawaii on time and were greeted by the warm ocean breezes and all that accompany those.  We picked up our large rental car, which still seemed small once we loaded people and luggage into it.  Ashley was voted to be navigator (plus she called shot gun) so she and the GPS were in charge of ensuring Bill found theway to the hotel.  One of the benefits of being on a an island is that despite a few wrong turns (that might have been caused by the backseat drivers) you will eventually end up near your destination.  Our Hotel, the Aston Wakiki Banyan was ready for us, and we made our way up to the 14th floor.  After unloading the bags, changing into weather appropriate attire and making dibs on the beds, we headed out for a relaxing dinner.  Without a destination in mind, we zig and we zagged from our hotel and ended up at La Cucaracha .  Mexican food it was going to be.  First things first, we needed to have a toast to the start of a wonderful vacation.  A pitcher of raspberry Margaritas and 5 glasses.  Oops, seems the drinking age in Honolulu is 21.....  Sorry Patrick. (4 months to go)

We still made the toast (we couldn't convince Patrick to have a virgin Raspberry margaritas), and thus began Patrick's new mission, "to see how many times he could get a drink without needing identification.)  Patrick and Ethan ordered some entre concoction that was so hot, it had both of them sweating and making the funniest faces.  I'm not sure if pure stubbornness or the fact the food was delicous (despite it's heat), but they both finished their meals.
  Despite this "glip", since returning and reflecting on the holiday, we've decided this was one of the best meals and more enjoyable evenings of the holiday.
  After dinner, we strolled around, bought a few munchies for the hotel room and headed back to our room to unpack and prepare for a wonderful visit to the Islands.
Stacey