Hawaii

ALOHA! Last week we went to Hawaii! It was my first time going, Duane's second, and it was phenomenal. We drove down to Charleston, SC to "Camp Grandma's" house and Austin and Ashley stayed with Uncle Ray, Grandpa and Grandma. We stayed one day in Charleston and went downtown to the Market, River Street Sweets, California Dreaming restaurant, and our favorite ice cream parlor-Brusters (many times!) Then the next day, without looking back, we got on a flight for Hawaii. We travelled first class both ways due to his frequent fllyer miles. Ahhhhh.

We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu. It was absolutely beautiful. Landing in the Honolulu airport I remember just taking the smells in just like my friend Jean told me to do. The air smelled of Gardenia, Plumeria and Jasmine. The air smelled that way the entire time.

We kept up with our morning runs each day there. It was beautiful running there, seeing the sites, breathing the sweet air. That's how we would start our day. Then we would get a smoothie and muffin at a local coffee shop.

The first day we just shopped around the Waikiki area at the little beachy shops (among our favorites were Cinnamon Girl, Billabong, ABC, Rip Tide. We then watched a surf competition at Waikiki Beach and laid out the rest of the afternoon. We then ate at Mariposa restaurant that evening overlooking the city at sunset.

Day 2, we went to Hilo Hattie and it rained a little bit. We then drove on to the Dole Plantation where we ordered 6 pineapples to be shipped to us (we thought we'd share more of them but tasting them, we hoarded them for ourselves!) We then went on to the quaint surf town of Hale'iwa. We had a pad thai lunch there and the famous Matsumoto's shaved ice with ice cream, beans, and sweetened condensed milk on top. We then drove to the North Shore and Duane body boarded the waves at Sunset Beach. Our favorite day!

Day 3: We went to the Aloha Stadium Flea market. We then drove on to the Polynesian Cultural Center all day. We saw the LDS Temple and it was beautiful. We loved seeing the different island cultures, and we had a wonderful luau that night. Sashimi, roast pig and other tropical foods. The show they put on was great.

Day 4 &5: We were excited to sit back and do NOTHING. We laid out at different beaches, body boarded, ate at Wahoo Fish Taco's a few times there and even ate at McDonald's and enjoyed the fresh pineapple they served with each meal! We were addicted to Cold Stone's Macadamia Flavor ice cream. Mmmmm We even went to an Oakley store and were looking at Sunglasses and got a complete "hook-up" on our sunglasses ($50 each instead of $180) Being Fed. law enforcement does help out sometimes.

Beyond anything else, we reconnected in a way that was giddy. Like before you have kids. We could read on the beach instead of having to sit in the sand and run in the waves because your toddler is making a bee-line for the water. It was the most relaxing 5 days I've had in 7 years. This was considered our 2nd honeymoon since it was the first time for Duane and I without kids in 7 years.

And what's most special about it all? Everyone kept telling us, "You guys must have just gotten married! You both have that glow." We felt great! The kids had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa Toler and Uncle Raymond is our favorite! We were so thankful that our parents could watch the kids so we could enjoy this adventure.