Hawaii - Day 5

Now that Michael was finished with work, we were able to spend the day at Sea Life Park. It was another uncomfortably hot day in "paradise" so were were all very willing to sit in the splash zone for the dolphin show.

Feeding the sea turtles in the video below. (For those of you who have commented on how I match their outfits to the outings, notice that Zach is wearing sea turtles and Mikie has dolphins on his pants.)

Petting a sea turtle.

Zachary petted the turtle, but then had to complain to Boagie about his hands being "YUCK"

The hot Hawaiian sun makes Zachary very sleepy in this video:

At the dolphin show:

The gift shop people loved us: Mikie and I convinced Michael that we simply had to have the largest stuffed animal in the store. This dolphin is seriously the same size as Mikie. He walked around the aquarium showing his new friend all the fish and sharks and talked to it as if it were real.

When we got back to the hotel, the boys even tried to feed it chicken strips. How'd we get it home? We bought it a seat on the plane. No...I'm just kidding....I'm not that crazy! We stuffed it into the overhead bin for take off and landing and then used it as a pillow for the rest of the flight.

After leaving Sea Life Park, we drove along the coast and showed Mikie the three islands from the book "Rabbit Island". If you click on the picture of Mikie holding the book on the right, you can see the artists depiction of the 3 islands looking like their animal nicknames.

Turtle Island Rabbit Island

Humpback Whale Island

With another day behind us and the sun sinking behind the horizon, it was almost time for our last night out on the town alone. We picked up some Cheesecake Factory to go for Boagie and the boys to enjoy in the hotel and we headed to our favorite fine dinning restaurant LE MER.

Hawaii - Day 4

I MESSED UP: I forgot to add three pictures before I started this blog and now I can't get them to move without dragging them a few inches and having to start all over again. And of course they belong AT THE BOTTOM of this post! So, since I'm pressed for time and want to get this day over with before I leave for WA on Thursday (we are so excited to see you guys and celebrate Tate's birthday!) please pretend that these first 3 pictures are actually at the end of this blog which would have been at the END of day 4. (you can skip them and come back if you like continuity).

Gorgeous isn't it? It's the view from our all time favorite restaurant HALEIWA JOES in Kaneohe, HI and we were lucky enough to only live 3 miles from this beautiful place back in 2002-2004. We knew we wanted to take the boys and Boagie with us to this one. Our timing worked out perfectly as we got there right at their first seating and it was on the way back from the cultural center (if you didn't skip these picts you have no idea what that is....see you should have read it in chronological order ;) )

In the gazebo looking up at Haleiwa Joes. The boys were able to run off some energy in the gardens before our food came.

START HERE:

Michael's work convention was over, so now it was really vacation time! Like most days, we woke up bright and early but this time we actually made it down to the lobby area of the hotel where the boys watched (and petted) the penguins at their feeding time (8 am).

Then we drove across the mountains and up towards the North Shore to take the boys to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Zachary fell asleep on the way, so Boagie sat with him in the car for over an hour and half (Thanks Mom!) so that Michael and I could enjoy some time with Mikie.

In this video, they are practicing a stick game that the warriors of this tribe (sorry..forgot which one) perform to improve their coordination skills.

Another demonstration of uncoordinated Mikie twirling poi balls.

Zachary woke up and tried his hand at poi ball twirling too.

Now here's a skill he's really good at. He managed to throw his spear the closest to the target out of a group of school aged kids.

Making music in another tribe using hollow sticks and pounding them on the floor.

Before getting to the cultural center, Mikie was convinced he didn't want to go. We knew he would enjoy it and finally persuaded him by telling him that he would be able to bowl in the Hawaii village. From the moment we walked through the gates he was asking where/when he could go bowling. When we finally got there, I was afraid he would be disappointed at the ancient Hawaiian bowling alley (dirt, boards, and 2 sticks) and the pucks of wood instead of balls, but he wasn't. You can tell from the two videos that they both loved this experience (and we were thankful there wasn't a crowd so they could play as much as they wanted).

Does this count as a strike?

Time to go fishing in the Tahiti village.

We enjoyed a leisurely canoe ride back to the entrance and called it a day.

(Now you can go back up and read about the first three pictures)

Hawaii - Day 3

It's funny that Stephanie just commented about us not "laying by the pool and relaxing on our vacation." Well, on day three that's just what we did! We ate a delicious breakfast buffet at the Hale Koa (military hotel next to ours) where my mom discovered Belgian waffles with coconut syrup, macadamia nuts, and toasted coconut. We ate so much that all we could do was go to the pool and relax! (although how much can you really relax while keeping a 22 month old from drowning and trying to teach a 4 year old to swim?) Anyway, we spent a few hours at the Hale Koa's pool and enjoyed "trip, tropping" on the bridges that went over the water while the troll (Boagie) tried to catch us and eat us. When that grew old, we headed over to the pools at our hotel before heading to the room for a nap until Michael got done with work.

Michael finished a little early and the boys woke up from their naps in time to head to the beach. We opted for the lagoon with calm waters and the pool with waterfalls and slides.

It took Zachary a long time to warm up to the idea that having sand on his feet didn't mean certain and immediate death.
Can you tell by his coiled up position that there's sand at the bottom of this body of water. He definitely prefers the cement bottoms of pools.

Michael helps Mikie catch some baby fish. Don't worry, we practiced the catch and release policy.

Family picture at the lagoon. Now for all of you out there who didn't know (or haven't seen) that my husband has tattoos (plural!) I'm sure you'll be enlarging this picture and gasping in horror. Can you believe I married him? I really dislike them and try to avoid capturing them on film whenever possible.....too bad he wouldn't agree to wear a sun shirt like the children.

A quick shower and change and it's time for another night out courtesy of Super Boagie. This time we met up with Michael's college friend, and his wife, who is enjoying 6 months of work in Hawaii. We ate at the Beach House Steak House which used to be the Banyan Tree Veranda at the Sheraton Moana Surf Rider. It was a great evening of fellowship and fun.

While we dined on steak and wine, Boagie and the boys had a pizza picnic on the floor of the hotel. (Don't feel bad for her, she truly does love to be with the boys no matter what! And while this is a step down from Haleiwa Joes....well...ok...maybe a few flights of steps down....it is definitely a step up from McDonalds....see post from day 2)

Hawaii - Day 2

We woke up bright and early and decided to head to the zoo, but needed to eat breakfast first. I remembered there was a Denny's across from the zoo in downtown Waikiki, but when we got there it had gone out of business; so, we walked about 1/2 a block and found LuLu's Surf Club Cafe on the 3rd floor of the Park Side hotel. I thought we were going to end up in a backroom without windows when we walked off the elevator; however, I was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was and astounded at the open air view of the beach and diamond head. The food was yummy and the boys were well behaved. A very good start to another day in paradise.

At the Honolulu Zoo

Mommy's favorites are the giraffes.

It was very interesting to watch the hippos walk into their water area and then view them from under the water through the glass. This hippo even came over to get a closer look at my boys.

Mikie's in front of some Papyrus. I made him take this picture because we had just learned how the Eyptians used this plant to make paper for their hieroglyphics.

Termite mounds. Mikie wanted to try to leap from one to the other just like the badger does in the Jan Brett book "Honey, Honey, Lion" (but I wasn't about to let him try that!).

Is that a monkey hiding in the jungle?

It looks scary....

Here it comes. It's getting closer......

It's a ZACHARY monkey!

The highlight of this zoo was the crawl through aquarium with giant coy. The boys loved looking through all the windows at the big fish and because it was plexiglass on both sides, we could see all the way through. It looked as if they were actually in the aquarium.

Those three fish look very familiar!

In the middle of the crawl through aquarium, there was a pop up area where you could look down at the fish.

Mikie's favorite animal: Elephants
We never did get this peacock to spread it's feathers, but the boys had fun trailing it around the grounds.
The boys pose with their stuffed peacock souvenirs and elephant cups. Although the cups we ended up buying were actually pink with the elephants trunk as a handle. (Thank you Great Grandpa & Grandma for the spending money)
In this video, you'll see that wearing brother's sunglasses isn't much better than wearing Boagie's. You have to look closely to see them "bounce" with every step he takes. Oh, and I did find him his own pair of glasses shortly after this.

After our day at the zoo, we headed back to the hotel for another date night (to Michel's restaurant). We dropped my mom and the boys off at the Oceanarium restaurant for what we thought would be a fun time eating next to fish and sharks, but due to Mikie's lack of an afternoon nap coupled with no reservations left near the tank, Boagie ended the experience before it began and took the boys to the McDonald's right around the corner. It actually was a blessing in disguise because we had forgotten that it was a buffet; and, even though she is SUPER BOAGIE, carrying 3 plates with 2 kids isn't any one's idea of an enjoyable dinner out. Thanks again, Mom for taking such good care of them and being such a good sport about this ordeal. It's a good thing you like Mc D's fries!