An Aloha State of Mind

Making a trip out to Hawaii has been on our "must-do" list the entire time we've been stationed in Tucson and we finally made it over there at the beginning of the month! It was actually the perfect time to go since Brian was technically done with his job in Tucson and the house was already packed up so there was nothing really stressful to come back to -- aside from the intense heat! We drove up to Travis Air Force Base outside of Sacramento (staying with the Hefrons overnight to break up the drive) and took a Space A military flight out of Travis. I have to say the flight was so much more comfortable than a commercial flight could ever hope to be. Lots of leg/seat/reclining room and as if it couldn't get better, Ellie was awesome on the flight! She even slept for over an hour! What you don't see in this picture is Dad conked out right next to her. :)

We are so lucky to have good friends stationed at Hickam Field on Oahu so we had a place to stay and a car to drive around the island during our week there. We asked Jess and Jenny how long we could stay with them before they charged us rent.

On our first full day we went into total tourist mode and hit up the Dole Pineapple Plantation, or as Ellie called it -- the "pineapple station." Unfortunately, we failed as parents and forgot Ellie's shoes so our poor child had to ride in the BOB or on Brian's shoulders for the day. Bare feet didn't keep us from enjoying a ride on the Pineapple Express; we also watched a pineapple cutting demonstration and enjoyed some yummy pulled pork sandwiches along with a Dole Whip! As you'll see in most of the pictures from our trip, Ellie is very serious when it comes to having her picture taken lately.

After leaving the Dole Plantation we drove up to Waimea Falls to check out some gorgeous scenery. Coming from the dry, brown desert of Tucson, you can't get any greener than Hawaii's landscape!

Or eyes any bluer than these...

... but luckily I get to see those where ever I go. :)  I was completely blown away by how beautiful the scenery was no matter where we looked.

No trip to Hawaii is complete without a trip to the beach and lucky for us, we went twice! Our first beach trip was to the secluded military beach at Bellows.

Beautiful deep blue ocean as far as the eye can see, mountains right off the shore and my two favorite people in the surf. Perfection.

On a funny note, Ellie was completely overwhelmed by the waves coming in and so whenever Brian held Ellie while facing the ocean I would only hear were the waves but when they turned around those waves were punctuated by Ellie's high-pitched shrieks. Other than that, she loved the beach. Warning: gratuitous beach baby pictures ahead.

We loved Bellows but the surf was a little strong for Ellie so we ventured to some man-made lagoons on the western coast of the island later in the week. It was much calmer so Ellie could wade or sit in the water without one of us holding onto her. And there were lounge chairs from which I could watch all the action.

All beach bumming aside, the history buff in me loved how Hickam has maintained the historical architecture of the base. It really feels like you're stepping back in time to the 1940s. You can still see the bullet holes on some of the old barracks buildings from the attack on Pearl Harbor. I had hoped to drive around base just to get some good pictures, but ran out of time. I guess we'll just have to go back! Keeping with the historical trend we had to visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial although it wasn't the wisest idea to take Ellie so we had to leave early. Jess and Jenny offered to watch Ellie so we could go back and really enjoy it on our own so we jumped at the opportunity. It was a much better experience the second time around.

Visiting the Arizona Memorial itself was quite the experience -- standing in the same spot that we've heard about in every American History class was powerful.

It was also very quiet aside from the sound of tourists shuffling through the memorial and I took some time to stand looking over one of the "windows" and just listen to the water lapping over the exposed edges of the Arizona.

Other Hawaii highlights included:

Fireworks off the coast of Waikiki and shaved ice downtown with the Millers.

Having dinner and drinks with Jenny while watching Jess take off in his plane (the one he's flying is on the left!).

 Brunch at Duke's and a walk around the gardens of the Royal Hawaiian.

Enjoying the Hawaiian sunset that almost rivals those in Tucson!

Overall, to say we loved Hawaii would be an understatement. The weather was gorgeous every day and neither of us minded the humidity at all. It was great to be able to have a low-key, no-pressure vacation. It was also wonderful to spend quality time with great friends. We did have a few days where Ellie really started acting up and became a real maniac but after realizing she was only napping in the car...

 ... we put her down for a nap in an actual bed and she ended up taking 3-hour naps almost every day afterwards! We had originally intended to stay in Hawaii for about 8 days but, as it usually happens when flying Space A, we had to head over to the terminal with a 30-minute notice on our sixth day there. It made for a hectic end to the vacation -- but what a great vacation it was! Thanks Jess and Jenny for being awesome hosts!