A Little Hawaiian Sun

We had the opportunity to escape Portland for a week and venture in the warm sun of Hawaii. We stayed with Tiffany Geiger and her family and enjoyed their hospitality. This biggest excitement on this trip was Maia's experience with warm ocean water and lots and lots of sand to play with. She was thrilled every time we went to the ocean. We had to watch her close because she would bee-line for the ocean. Our time was spent trying not to focus on things in Portland, but to enjoy family time. I feel like that was accomplished and we felt pretty refreshed when we returned. Here is just a recap of our trip.

Day 1.
We landed in Honolulu on Sunday October 31st in the mid morning. It was nice to have most of the day there. We had lunch and then headed over to Waikiki to walk around and say hello to the ocean. Maia was thrilled!!!

Our adventures started with Tiffany's mom's car breaking down on us while we were there. So some of our afternoon was spent figuring out a tow truck and all that sort of stuff.

Since it was Halloween we got to get Maia all dressed up in her ladybug costume and go to an event at Tiffany's church. The time zone change was quite a big deal and so at this point it was about 9:00pm our time which means usually Maia has been in bed for about 2 hours. So Halloween was not that fun for her. However, she did get to ride the pony and that was fun for her.

Maia conked out right after she got off that pony. It was a matter of seconds of her falling asleep as we were getting her in the Ergo. That was one exhausted little girl.
So since Maia was asleep Michael thought maybe he could try to use her costume to get a little candy. Hmmm...I don't know if that will work?

Day 2: We went to Lanikai, one of our favorite beaches. We just loved how gentle the waves were and how peaceful and unpopulated the beach was. Maia loved how yummy the sand tasted. It was an upward battle trying to keep the sand out of her mouth.

Tiffany and Maia playing in the ocean!

The water was so warm, Maia just loved running right to it. However, she was not a fan of getting in with us. She just loved being able to get her feet wet and then sit in the shallow water and play with the sand.

As always, Maia makes friends where ever she goes. I was holding her in the water when she was saying Dah dah (her word for dog) and panting as she was making her sound for a dog. And I was wondering why is she just saying that out of the blue and then sure enough right behind us was a dog on a boogie board and a the owner pulling him along. Good eyes Maia! So this is the dog and the owner.

Family in the ocean!

Day 3: On this day we spent some time at Pearl Harbor. We have not seen the monument and thought it was a good thing to see at least once while we are in Hawaii. So we hopped on the ferry and went out to the memorial for the Arizona. It was pretty sobering to think about all that took place the day that boat sank.

After Pearl Harbor we went to Leonards where we tasted the deliciousness of the Malasada - a Portuguese Doughnut. Delicious as most doughs that are fried and tossed with sugar.

Maia thought they were pretty delicious as well!

I think she was sad that the Malasada was all gone, or maybe it was just past her bedtime once again.

Day 4: It was a rainy day in Hawaii while in Portland the sun was shining and it was supposedly a beautiful day. Ironic? Well we decided that we would take a drive and head towards the North Shore and see the waves and eat some shrimp. It turned out to be a fun day. On the North Shore the rain was not coming down so much and it was actually pleasant to be out, so we sat on Sunset Beach and watched the waves and the surfers.

We also kept a close eye on our little girl because she was creeping down the sand dune and towards the roaring ocean.

The roaring ocean.

On our way to the North Shore we stopped and had garlic shrimp. Mmm...mmm...good!

Day 5: This was our last full day in Hawaii. We ended up spending some of the day at the beach Makapu'u with Tiffany.

After we dropped off Tiffany at school, we went to Waikiki and walked around and watched the Sunset. Good way to end our time in Hawaii. It was a great trip and we thoroughly and enjoyed every bit of. We are thankful for the opportunity to go and thankful for great friends to open their home for us to stay and their cars for us to use. We are certainly blessed!