Hawaii

At the Chinese Restaurant

A view from our building. 

Early in March was told he needed to go to Hawaii for work. He was told on a Friday night and needed to leave the following Wednesday.  He tried to convince me to go with him, but I thought, what are we going to do with our children.  It would be too costly to go with them.  Finally, on Monday, he tried to convince me again and said Judy (Clarke's wife...Clarke is Newel's boss) said she didn't want to go if I wasn't going.  When we went to Texas in December, Judy and I had a blast hanging out. So, we called our family and friends and were so nice to take turns watching our kids.  Our kids, by the way, were happy we were going to Hawaii...their request was for us to bring back photos of bugs and flowers.  They were also so glad to have a week full of sleepovers.

Wednesday morning we got on the plane bound to Hawaii.  That night we arrived Newel and I went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and walked around downtown Honolulu. The food was pretty yummy.
Clarke and Judy arrived very late that evening.  While the boys went to work, Judy and I hung out.  We wanted to go to Waikiki Beach.  Instead of taking a bus or taxi, we decided to walk.  It was such a fun walk.  We saw King Kamehameha's palace and other neat buildings.  We learned about Hawaii's history as we made a stop at an old missionary house.
We also learned that all things grow well in Hawaii, including snails we found on our walk.  Those suckers were huge!

At the fancy hotel

As we approached Waikiki we stopped by some fancy hotel and walked around.  Since we didn't have a specific agenda, Judy and I made a couple of stops, including the Ferrari store were a lunch box costs over $50.00.

Then we checked out the King's guard shopping area and Museum.  We also made a rest stop at the Island Cafe for lunch.
The weather was fabulous.

King's Guard

We finally made it to the beach and the weather turned yucky.  It would get windy, chilly, cloudy, and then back to sunny.  When the guys were done working, they met up with us, at the beach...unfortunately by the time they arrived, it started to rain....
The weather was kind of uncooperative and everyone who lives there kept apologizing for the crazy weather they were having.  We went window shopping instead...We checked out the Stupid Store and had a good laugh and then headed over to International Market Place.  I loved it! The Market  lies underneath a huge tree.  It's pretty cool.

Finally at the beach.  See my white legs

That evening we checked out Murphy's Pub.  It had the best Sheppard's Pie I've ever tasted.  We love food so, it was fun to check out the Dines and Drive places mentioned in the show about  Honolulu.


The following morning the boys had more meetings and work...so Judy and I got dressed and headed over to the museum.  We also chose to walk to the museum and we made some fun stops, like the market in Chinatown.  We saw weird looking fishes (that photo was for Arden) and bought a variety of fruits and breads we don't have in Utah. Judy and I were heaven.  Trying out all sorts of interesting things.  We were so giddy and felt adventurous.  We were actually kind of glad the weather wasn't cooperative because it gave us and opportunity to do other things, instead of just lounging by the beach...although that wouldn't have been a bad thing either.

Being adventurous

Love the market

After walking past homeless people and other shady looking people, we finally arrived to the museum.

Dragon's eye

We decided going to a Lua out would be too costly and wouldn't have enough time...so the next best thing was learning how to Hula at the museum.  Judy and I were having a lot of fun with that. We also had a story teller (who looked a younger version of Barack Obama) relate the story of King Kamehameha.
We also checked out the other building in the museum and and I was in love with the wood in the building with the whale.  It was so beautiful inside.

When the boys were done with their meetings, they waited for us back at the hotel, while Judy and I used Honolulu's awesome public transportation.  Pretty much everyone we met were really nice and helpful...perhaps I just looked lost and felt sorry for me.  

That night we went to another Dine and Dive place, Joe's Fish Market and Restaurant...or something like that.

Tuna

Anyways, the food was fabulous!  I learned a new thing...I love raw tuna.  That stuff was amazing and well, everything was so delicious.  That evening we made a stop at Costco...Clarke loves Costco.  We found treats to take back home to share with our family and we also bought desserts (Hawaiian style) to eat back at the hotel.  It was a great night.