Day 6 - Can't Keep Me From The North Shore

I woke up on Tuesday with a terribly painful sore throat and I was super cranky because of it.

In my typical stubborn fashion I ignored all offers for help, got dressed for our family walk, and just stayed as silent as possible.

We walked on the canal side this morning and enjoyed the views of the mountains. It was a long walk and halfway through my throat was really hurting and I felt miserable. By the time we circled around to the Waikiki side and made it to breakfast I was no longer putting up a fight.

I managed one bite on the verge of tears before I abandoned my meal, which is saying something because it was my favorite. Portuguese sausage, rice and eggs with ketchup...from McDonalds!


I agreed to let my Dad take me back to the same clinic Camden was at two days earlier. We didn't have to wait long, but as soon as the doctor asked me to open my mouth I knew something was wrong. He let out a long, low whistle and had the nurse get a cortisone shot ready. The official diagnosis was an ear/throat infection with a shot of cortisone to help reduce the swelling. I left with a prescrip for a z pack and feeling better than I had an hour earlier.

While my Dad was taking care of me, Gammy, Tata, TG and the kids were back at the hotel playing on the playground.


Our plan for the day was to visit the North Shore and I wasn't about to let a sore throat ruin those plans. After a quick stop at the pharmacy for my meds and chloraseptic we were on our way.

Our first stop was at Killer Tacos!


I was a little disappointed that their fish taco was made from Alaskan cod instead of something fresh and local, but the kahlua pork taco more than made up for it. YUM!

After a tasty lunch we continued down the coast towards Waimea Bay. The place was packed, but we got lucky and scored a spot in the tiny parking lot. Then we discovered the reason for the crowd. The surf was up!


We kept the kids back in a tide pool that had formed. Riley loved splashing in the tide pool.


Camden loved the view from Gampy's shoulders.


There were some people, mostly locals, out bodysurfing on the ridiculous waves. TG decided to give me a heart attack and join them. I wouldn't have been as concerned if I hadn't watched a 10 year old boy get slammed and a teenage girl nearly get sucked out to sea moments before. HE tried to reassure me that there was nothing to be worried about. Not even a wave that is more than twice his size...and he's 6'2.


Thankfully he heard the lifeguards yelling on the bullhorns about the really large set coming in and made tracks for the sand in time to avoid any danger. We all watched from a safe distance back as huge waves crashed on the shore and filled the tide pool again.

Meanwhie, Riley worked on a "fair-wee cas-well" in the sand.


Camden helped patrol the border.


While we were sitting on the sand we got to see something I've never seen on any of our Hawaii trips...whales! I was so excited to see them and it was even more special because we saw a mother and her calf. The calf was getting a lesson on breaching and it was simply amazing.

After an hour on the beach and the excitement of the whales, we were all ready for a cool treat, so we packed up the van and drove back to Haleiwa for shave ice at Matsumotos.


We had our fill of delicious shave ice with cream (but no kuzuki beans) before loading back up and driving along the windward coast. It's an amazing drive and a great chance to see some of the well known Oahu landmarks like Chinaman's Hat and the place where we honeymooned almost 7 years ago, Turtle Bay.

We took our time, parked at Sunset Beach for a bit to see the whales again, and then made our final stop at a local secret for dinner. We hit up Giovanni's truck for some to die for fresh Kahuku shrimp and the chance to leave our mark with a sharpie. :)

Day 5 - Sealife, Snorkeling, and Sun Sick

We woke before the sunrise again on our 5th morning in Hawaii.

I can't remember why we left Gammy and Gampy behind, but this particular morning we hit the Waikiki Beach walk with Tata and ended up (3 miles later) at the aquarium.

The first time either of my two kiddos had been to an aquarium was for Riley's 3rd birthday and I was eager to go again with TG so he could see how much they enjoyed all the sealife.

It was much smaller than the Baltimore Aquarium, but it was right on the beach and the perfect size for the time we wanted to spend. They had several indoor exhibits that led to an outdoor space where the seals, living reef, and animal demonstrations took place.

Riley agreed, halfheartedly, to pose with some fish. She wholeheartedly refused to hold the starfish the scientist had pulled out.


We tried to throw little man, who was feeling slightly better, up there for a photo op, but he wasn't having it.


He only wanted to climb on these stairs.


After we were reefed out, we went to meet the resident monk seal.


Riley liked watching him swim back and forth and she asked me to take (several) pictures of him.


On our way out we got both of the kids a little toy from the gift shop that have now become beloved pool and bathtime toys. Riley picked a whale that flaps it's tail and we chose a squeaking dolphin toy for Camden. I was the lucky surprise recipient of a beautiful Christmas ornament from TG! I was swooning over them when we made the kids purchases and when TG went back in at the end to pick up a much needed sun hat for Camden, he picked a beautiful globe for me. I can't wait to hang it on our tree this year.

Armed with our toys we started the trek back to our hotel, but on the way we talked to Gammy and Gampy who were at...Denny's! We decided to meet them there, but that's when we discovered that Gammy was not feeling well at all. She and Gampy had tried to go for a walk and she had to stop.

They thought she might have the flu, but after hearing her symptoms and putting that info together with the fact that she was sunburned from too much time in the sun the day before I informed them that she probably had sun poisoning. A quick Google search confirmed and advised us of some treatment options. Basically poor Gammy spent all of day 5 in bed, drinking lots of fluids.

After breakfast, we left Camden napping in the room with Gammy and Gampy so Tata, Riley, TG and I could head down to the beach. I intended to snorkle, but the waves were up that day and it was too choppy.

Here's a pic of me "snorkeling" while holding Riley in her hippo floatie. She's wearing Cam's new sunhat. "Mom! You see any feesh down theres?"


Riley and "Di-mon Head!" The first day there my Dad taught her the name of the crater and for the rest of the trip if you asked her, she remembered.

The memory of her saying that made my heart hurt for a minute as I'm still missing the islands and my family very much.


Riley loved playing in the sand as much as she loved the water. She is such an imaginative child. I'm constantly in awe of her, and she was always making, creating, or playing something completely inventive in the sand.


The rest of this day was fairly low key. Once Camden was awake we made a Wal-mart trek and then had dinner at Wailana Coffee House. I could tell Cam was feeling a bit better because all he wanted to do at dinner was walk around the restaurant. I actually ended up leaving early with him and walking back to our hotel.

So ended day 5 in paradise. Although, Cam and my Mom had both been sick, (and two more of us were about to be taken out) we were having fun and so enjoying being together as a family.

*It's funny, I've been writing most of these from memory, but thankfully the last afternoon we were there I sat down with my seester and quickly jotted little notes of what we did each day. I thought I would remember every detail but some of it is already fading, and it's not even been two months since we left. I'm so glad I took the time to do that.*

Tata!!! - Day 4

Well by Sunday, we were hitting our Hawaiian groove and we were very excited because, well, TATA! She came in 4 days after my parents and our family arrived and we were very anxious to see her.

This morning we decided to take Camden to an island doctor. He had been on the new antibiotic we got the day we left for several days and was still very tired, very feverish (think in the 103-104 range if we let the Motrin wear off), and extremely fussy.

So that morning I googled and discovered a walk in clinic in the Sheraton Hotel on Waikiki. We were going to walk, but Gampy volunteered to drive us over there. Let's just say that after months of dealing with this, and now watching it rear it's ugly head on our long awaited Hawaiian vacation, I was prepared to go in guns blazing and demand the antibiotic shot for our son, basically the last option we had.

But turns out that was unnecessary. The entire staff, from the reception desk to the nurse, were so very friendly and after I explained Camden's history of persistent ear infections and the doctor confirmed that he had yet another double ear infection, he said he wanted to treat him with rocephin.

Now I had this shot before and it burned like the devil, so I was pretty nervous for our little baby, but I just positioned myself right by his face and quietly sang to him while they administered the medicine. Right afterwards I was able to pick him up and let him nurse to sleep. I ended up carrying him out of there sound asleep in my arms for the short walk back to our hotel. He woke up the minute we hit the street though, and was pretty happy so TG and I decided to take our time heading back and hit up a couple of the Waikiki shops before meeting my parents and Riley at, you guessed it, Denny's!

That morning while Cam napped, Riley, my Dad and I picked Tata up from the airport. I love joyful airport reunions (and hate the goodbyes)! We quickly took her back to our hotel where we spent the rest of the afternoon together at the hotel pool.

Tata is so amazing with my kids. She's a natural, even my other mom friends who have watched her in action agree. Riley adores her and the two of them are like peas in a pod. I loved watching the two of them play in the pool together as Tata willingly played horsey, and dive master for quite a while. She even shared her sun-g's with our little Sassy who wasted no time setting herself up quite comfortably on a lounge chair with a snack.

See this pic? I gave birth to a mini Tata.


Riley snapped this photo of her Gammy enjoying the Hawaiian sun, a little too much as she would learn the next day.


Patiently waiting for her next jump.


She would do this all day if there were a willing catcher.


Even after a long flight, and all afternoon at the pool, Tata happily carried her mini me piggyback style to our hotel room.


Little man was in the water for a bit, but you can clearly see from his poor face that he was not well. He was still rocking his little band-aids from the shot and even got a band-aid tan.


When we got back to our room, it was naptime, and Riley asked Tata to lay with her for a while. It wasn't long before Gammy and Camden joined in.


After a naptime enjoyed by all, we met some of our Hawaiian based family for an early dinner. Camden was very fussy and so I plucked him out of the highchair and put him in my lap just in time for him to get sick all over me. I had to quickly excuse myself in tears from the table and dash to the hotel room.

When I got back to the room, I fed Cam and attempted to lay him down for the night, but he flat out refused. I then had an epic meltdown, not far from a toddler tantrum, where in tears I was saying that I just wanted to go home. My poor family, my husband and parents included, who knew that I was mostly just exhausted, spent a while trying to talk me down from my ledge. Finally my Dad convinced me that tomorrow would be a better day and sent me to bed. Proof that your job as a parent never ends, not even when your kids are almost 30. Good news is, he was right, the next day was better, for all of us, but one.

Ala Moana - Day 3

Our third day in paradise came with another early wake up call, but as we all were sound asleep before 7 pm it didn't matter. Plus, my family likes to wake up early when we're there anyway so as not to waste a single minute of our time there.

This day we decided to walk in the opposite direction down to Ala Moana Park. On the way there we stopped on the bridge and saw giant box jellyfish. My Dad couldn't believe 1. how big they were and 2. that there were jellyfish at all! He said in all the years he's been going to Hawaii he's never seen one there before. Actually, I forgot to blog about TG and Riley's jellyfish encounter. On Friday (Day 2), before we went to the pool we actually walked down to the beach. It was dusk and Riley wanted to go in the water. She and TG were playing out about waist deep when all of a sudden, TG hollered, yanked something up out of the water, and tossed it away. Then he and Riley started making tracks for the sand. She ran right up to Gampy and said, "No one, said anything to me about any jell-wee-fish." My dad was so tickled by her choice of words. It was definitely a funny and favorite memory. Don't worry TG was just fine, there was a little spot where he was stung and although I offered to ahem, alleviate the pain, he politely declined.

Anyway, our walk around Ala Moana was a treat because we got to see the beautiful beaches and there was a outrigger canoe race gearing up. Riley was fascinated by all the paddlers and canoes.





I'm so sad I didn't take any pics of the next part, but there was this lovely little protected stretch of sand. As the sun came up Riley just ran right out into the calm, cool water and soaked herself. It looked like so much fun that Camden and I decided to join her. The waves sent spray over the rocks, but the water was so flat, clear and shallow. Gammy watched us splash around while Gampy and TG watched some surfers from the point.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped and watched the paddle teams head out to the start and then make their way towards Diamond Head. Instead of Denny's we opted for breakfast at Happy's Cafe at the hotel where Gammy and I gobbled up spam musubi. Oh for the love of musubi. I ate it often and happily while I was there.



After morning naps and more musubi we hit the beachfront at the hotel and enjoyed playing in the ocean, building sandcastles and watching paddleboarders galore! The rest of our day was spent with a very fussy and feverish Camden and another early bedtime for all of us.

ALOHA - Day 2

It took us several days to adjust to the 6 hour time change. The first morning we were there Camden was awake and hollering at 5:30 am. I managed to hold him off for 30 more minutes by feeding him and letting him sleep in our bed, but by 6 am Riley was awake too.

One of my favorite things about our trip was watching my kids get up every morning and go looking for their Gammy, Gampy and Tata in their adjoining room. My parents would sing "Good Morning" to them and give them hugs and kisses and generally let them run back and forth while we all got ready for our day.

I simply cannot say enough about how amazing my parents and sister were on this trip. This was their vacation as well, but they went out of their way to help with Riley and Camden as much as they possibly could. They were so insistent that TG and I be able to relax and destress while on this trip. Little things like holding Camden whenever they could, helping push the stroller, taking them to the pool, dressing them, bathing them; I could go on and on. I never had to ask for help, more often then not they were offering without me even saying a word. Hubs and I were able to spend so much time alone! We went shopping, laid out at the beach, paddle boarding, parasailing, visited happy hours and just enjoyed ourselves. Gammy, Gampy, and Tata if you are reading this, thank you so much. Your time, help and love for our children meant so much to us!

So that first morning we were up with the sun and headed out for a walk down Waikiki. We walked to the pier which was almost 2 miles away and by then the kids were melting down from a combo of hunger, jet lag, and the heat. We tried watching the fish to brighten Riley's mood, but she wasn't really having it.







So we made tracks for our favorite breakfast spot...


DENNY'S! I'm a little embarassed to say how many times we had breakfast here, but their portuguese sausage, eggs and rice were so good! A dash of soy sauce and some hot sauce for Gammy and we were in heaven! Little man LOVED the portuguese sausage too. Riley preferred the baseball pancake breakfast.


After a nap for Cam, we went up to Punch Bowl to visit my Grandpa. It was my first time here. We said hello and left some beautiful red flowers for him.




After Punch Bowl we had to head back over to the airport so we could retrieve Riley's backpack that I left in the baggage area the day before. Luckily her bag and all her things had been picked up by the airline office. After that we went to Wal-Mart for some trip necessities.

It was Kid's Month at the hotel and they had all sorts of fun activities for them! When we got back from our errands we went to the Easter cookie decorating. They had a wonderful set up; tons of premade sugar cookies in cute Easter shapes, tons of icing bags, and decor galore! Riley had a great time. She made a cookie for herself and one for her brother.





Gammy and Gampy offered to stay with the babies while they napped so TG and I went down to Bibas happy hour. We relaxed on their patio and had a snack, some drinks and listened to the live music. When they woke up we all went down to the pool for a swim.

In the weeks leading up to the trip we told Riley that in Hawaii she could go swimming at the pool or beach everyday. We made sure that happened and she loved it!




Cam was such a trooper. I'm not sure if you can tell from these photos, but he really wasn't feeling well at all. At this point the double ear infection was still kicking his tush.




After the pool it was time for an early dinner and baby baths courtesy of Gammy before another 6 pm bedtime.

Home Is Where The Heart Is - Day 1 - Travel

Over a month ago, after a 6 year hiatus, we finally made it back home.

Home to our beloved Hawaii.

The last time we were in Hawaii, TG and I were still newly married and our children were only stars in the sky.

We've tried several times over the years to plan a trip back, but houses, jobs, babies and life just got in the way. So when the last minute opportunity to take our whole family came up we jumped on it.

We decided to break up the 12 hour travel time and stop in San Francisco overnight to give ourselves and our kids a break. That was the best decision we ever made.

We left here on a Wednesday night (after missing our 4:00 flight) on Virgin America. I simply can't say enough about this airline. From the staff in the airport who went out of their way to help us get on another flight, to the pilot who after a 6 hour flight went out of his way to locate our stroller - their customer service was unmatched by any airline we've ever been on. Add to that the seriously beautiful and spacious airplane with cable tv on demand and courteous flight attendant service and you've got the ideal cross country flight with two small children. If you haven't flown Virgin, you are missing out.

After a much needed night of sleep we woke up early West Coast time and majorly excited for our flight to Honolulu. Now, can we talk airports? In my opinion, Dulles is one of the worst airports to fly out of. It's busy, understaffed, and sprawling. The majority of the reason we missed our flight was simply our fault for cutting it too close, but that combined with the ridiculous security line at Dulles sealed our fate.

Not wanting to make the same mistake that we did in DC we arrived 2.5 hours early at SFO for our Honolulu flight, but much to our surprise that amount of time was unnecessary because San Fran has a security line just for families. We breezed right through, had a delicious breakfast and had 2 hours to spare. 2 hours that were happily spent playing in the Kids Science Area. SFO is seriously family friendly, hello Dulles can you get on that train already?

Our flight to Honolulu was okay, mostly because we knew at the end we would be in Hawaii. Camden slept almost the whole way with a raging fever due to an ear infection we were battling right up to the day we left (with a last minute morning trip to urgent care to get yet another antibiotic). Riley happily played the iPad for most of the trip while TG tried to relax. I missed winning the halfway point game by a mere 2 minutes and TG and I enjoyed a yummy cheese and wine tray as our lunch.

My heart swelled with joy when we caught our first breath of island air and Riley grasped my hand and solemnly said, "Mom, this is my faber-it place in the whoa-el werr-ld." I couldn't have said it better myself.

After we grabbed our bags, we hopped on our Roberts Hawaii bus to the hotel where we immediately dropped our bags off at the bell hop and ran down to the beach to put our toes in the water. Riley soaked herself and her dress while Camden squealed with excitement at the waves lapping over his little feet.

I might have shed a tear of at that moment watching my two babies so happy in a place that brings me so much joy.

Then we sprawled on the grass, played with shoes, and ran off some pent up energy while we waited for Gammy and Gampy to arrive.





We wrapped up our first afternoon there with dinner at Bibas and an early 6:00 pm bedtime for all.