Welcome to Waikiki!

It only took us 15 hours to get to Hawaii!  Well actually, it took us -4 hours.  We left Iwakuni at 11am on Wednesday to drive to Hiroshima, hopped on our two hour flight to Tokyo where we had a three hour layover spent mostly in their play area, then we arrived in Honolulu at 7am Wednesday, four hours before we even left.  We are time travelers!

 The first item of business once we landed was to get our trusty rental car, then find some food.  We stopped at the Original Pancake House and let Vivien Tired-Eyes play her favorite game of lay-out-all-the-fake-sugar.  I had pineapple pancakes with tropical syrup, because Hawaii!

 Then we visited the only Royal Palace on US soil.  Princess Vivien was very excited about the concept, but less impressed by the actual building.

 She was more enchanted with King Hamehameha and his golden robes, the first Hawaiian king to unite (cough*conquer*cough) all the islands in Hawaii.

We dropped by Walmart to look for a sun hat for Rafe and a beach tent, but could find no such things, so we pressed on to Waikiki.  By this point Rafe was completely out after our long journey and Drew was sagging, so Vivi and I traipsed the length of the whole beach, looking at statues and making a bouquet of fallen plumerias for Daddy.

We walked all the way to Duke Kahanamoku, where Vivi did a smashing impression of the Ambassador of Aloha.

Next up was the Dole Plantation.  We took a ride on the Pineapple Express.  Vivi could not contain her joy.  

Nor could Rafe.  Pineapple Express for the win!  It was fun to look at all the different tropical fruits growing--bananas and mangoes and coconuts and breadfruit.  Oh, and pineapples.  

 We took a picture in the pineapple house and then settled in for some heavenly Dole Whips.  Rafe and Vivi split one, I had one with fresh pineapple chunks on top, and Drew had a pineapple float swimming in pineapple juice.  Rafe was quite proficient at saying "pineapple" by the end of our visit.

We strolled through the pineapple garden on our way out and squealed at the pink baby pineapples.  

 Then we drove to the Turtle Bay Resort.  It was a gorgeous drive along the North Shore of Oahu.  Our children saw none of it though.

They had reached the ultimate end of their day.  

 And they did not wake up the next morning until the sun was good and established.  We wore the little darlings out quite effectively.

While they snoozed that morning, I went out and had a practice snorkel in the bay right next to the hotel with my family and spotted my first sea turtle gliding along.  The water is gloriously warm and there are SO MANY FISH!  When we were done we headed to Ted's Bakery for breakfast, then to Waimea Bay for some good beach time in the sun.  

And since we were so close, we had to explore Waimea Valley a bit too.  The thing my mom remembered from visiting this place in college were the humongous lily pads.  Everything there seemed humongous and impossiblly green and beautiful.

 At the visitors center they had a bunch of movie posters of all the films that have been shot here (LOST, George of the Jungle, the Hunger Games, etc.).  It certainly seemed other-worldly.

 They let you swim out to Waimea Falls if you were properly attired in the provided life vests.  They even allowed my Dad to climb up into the waterfall, but they yelled at the next guy who tried it.

After Waimea, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It was awesome!  I wish we had had more time on Oahu, because I certainly could've spent a full day here exploring the many "villages."  We caught the end of Samoa's show, then got to go to New Zealand again!  Drew and I both walked out planning our next trip . . .

 We sauntered over to the luau afterwards, where we were given leis of fresh flowers and ate kalua pork and poi and raw fish and taro bread pudding.  Everything was very tasty.  There was music and dancing and a hula competition and an abundance of warm, comfortable, pleasant Hawaiian atmosphere.

 One of the sweet workers caught Rafe as he was escaping during Aloha 'Oe and cuddled him while she sang.

After THAT we watched a movie about Hawaii, then went and found our seats for the Ha: Breath of Life evening show.  By the time the show started the Utah teens had all but succumbed to their jet lag and the kids were ready for bed, so Drew took a carload of sleepies home at intermission.  It was an awesome show!  They went through each of the represented cultures at the PCC and let them have their moment to shine.  Tahiti sure gets the excitement award--fire sticks and crazy hips!  On our way home that night we stopped by the temple and BYU Hawaii.

The next morning my family woke up early to secure tickets to the USS Arizona Memorial, then toured the submarine while we made our lazy way to Pearl Harbor.  When we got there we watched a really good video presentation on the attack of Pearl Harbor, then boarded the boat to the memorial.

 We watched the oil seeping out of the Arizona and bubbling to the surface.  They assured us it does not affect the wildlife in the bay.  We were all surprised by how much there still is.  The tiny white buoy to the right of the Missouri marks the end of the Arizona.  It is HUGE.

 It was both eerie and peaceful to see it below the water.

It's a beautiful memorial, and I'm glad we went.

 And it is amazing to see the USS Arizona, where the war began for the US, and the USS Missouri, where it ended, so close together.

  After the USS Arizona, we took advantage of our military ID's and drove over to Ford Island to see the USS Utah.

 From here it was easy to see where the Japanese planes flew through the mountains on the morning of the attack.

After that we toured the USS Missouri.

Our tour guide showed us the guns that can hit a target 20 miles away and weigh as much as a space shuttle.  

Then he showed us the spot where the Japanese signed the Instrument of Surrender in 1945.

There was a display with copies of the document and pictures of all the people signing it.  

Our guide also showed us a little dent in the side of the ship where a kamikaze pilot had crashed before the war ended.  The pilot's body ended up on the deck, thrown from the wreckage, and they gave him a military funeral.  There was a picture of the pilot when he was a child--it was strange to see because he looked like he could've been a kid in Vivi's youchien class.  All kinds of new perspectives on WWII now that we live in Japan.

After that our guide turned us loose to wander all over the ship and look in the sundry nooks and crannies.

 We took a rest in the Chief Petty Officer's Lounge.

 We also snuggled up on the enlisted bunks.  It was about this time that my mom started to get very claustrophobic and we hurried back to the deck.

After Pearl Harbor we headed to the airport while my family went to explore Hanauma Bay (we had an earlier flight).  We arrived in Kona (the airport there is awesome!) and settled into the rental house for more fun to come.