North Shore

This is the beach across the street from the Marriott.  The houses on the beach are, for the most part, run down shanties, interspersed with some rebuilt beauties.  It makes me sad to think that the North Shore is slowly converting to a more upscale place.  It seems like locals are doing everything they can to "keep the country country," and I hope they succeed.  This place is so unique.

We opted to beach it at Turtle Bay resort, because of the good snorkeling.  There's a little bay there that's covered in coral.  Perfect for our beginner snorkelers.  There might be more fabulous snorkeling elsewhere, but this place is great.  I saw dozens of different kinds of fish, and Ruby saw a sea turtle.  She swam with him and had a moment with him.

We drove up the shore to Haleiwa.  How could you not adore this quaint little town? This was in a t-shirt shop, and I took a picture for my mom, who flew in and out of "HNL" countless times as a stewardess with PanAm.

Matsumoto shave ice!

It's a thing of beauty.  The condensed milk is my favorite part.

Lunch at the Giovanni's food truck area.  This is Kahuku Cafe, our favorite for macadamia nut shrimp.  It's so good, I dreamed about it all year.

This guy has the best, most authentic teriyaki chicken.

Look at that little hibachi he's cooking it on!  And it's so good!  This guy and his wife cook all week at their food cart, then teach traditional arts on Saturday and perform at Turtle Bay on Saturday and Sunday nights.  They work it.  Kalena told me, "Get in here and hug me like you mean it!"  So stop by his place when you're on the North Shore.

We were lucky to be joined by the Johnsons, who moved from Fruit Heights to Oahu last year.  Kiley was a ballet and Dance Company friend of Golda and Ruby, and her mom, Cherie, is one of the moms who makes everything run.  She's fun, too.  We had a good time talking on the beach, and Cherie made it clear that the girls were invited back, to stay in their guest room anytime.  I told her to be careful; they'll come!

I think my dripping hair got Cherie's shirt pink.  Ugh!  Sorry!

Araceli looks like she belongs on the beach.

One of Deano's favorite restaurants in Waikiki has a location in Haleiwa now.

At school, Araceli and Freestone tell people they're twins.  Now that Araceli has lost most of her friends, she says she's "training Freestone to be her best friend."  She tells him things like, "When I go in the bathroom, wait outside for me and hold my stuff."  Ha ha.  That sounds more like training him to be her assistant.

There are 300,000 stray cats on Oahu.  Most people wouldn't touch them, but Freestone loves animals.

He made several cats very happy.

We ended the night at the food trucks; Giovanni's and the Korean BBQ truck.  Hawaii is about the food.

Diamondhead

In Waikiki, there was beach time.  The beach is all man-made, but who's complaining?  It's pristine.

 I think there's liquid aloha in the water.  I felt like I was soaking up euphoria.

 Wednesday afternoon, we were scheduled to rent a car at the airport to drive to the North Shore.  Waiting to leave for the airport would stress Scott out, so I went, and enjoyed the outing.  I took the city bus and read my book the whole time.  On the way back in the car, I stopped at a pharmacy to pick up an antibiotic for Golda's sinus infection.  I loved driving around different Honolulu neighborhoods, and I wished I had more time to do so.  I felt like a local, listening to NPR Hawaii and running errands.

A sidenote on the car:  We reserved it through Allegiant Air with our airline tickets, and it was one-third the price of anything else I found.

We reluctantly left our luxury hotel and VIP treatment, but with more heavenly vacation time in store.  First stop. Leonard's bakery for one more box of malasadas.  Then Diamondhead.  Emily describes it as "short and brutal," and that is indeed the case.  The whole thing took less than an hour, since we were able to drive right up to the trail head.  But it's steep with lots of stairs.

Araceli spent some time at the top looking out over the ocean and thinking about who knows what.  The week before the trip, one of her friends from orchestra died.  It was devastating for everyone.  As the tragedy sucked her under, she got in fights with friends, her locker partner moved out, and her whole junior high life was up in flames.  This trip came at exactly the right time.  I think the family time, the ocean and the perspective restored some of what Araceli lost that last week.  I know it did for me.

The group at the summit of Diamondhead, the big crater adjacent to Waikiki Beach.  The views were magical.  On the way down, it rained on us.  The rain was misty and warm, and came as more of a hug than an annoyance.

This is how I hope my kids picture me.  Happy and peaceful, listening to them, with pink hair, in Hawaii.  :)  

Do you think that if Golda sends this in as her missionary profile picture, she'll have a better chance of getting called to Polynesia? ;)

After our hike, we drove along the most beautiful route, at least to me, the King Kamehameha Highway, to the North Shore.  More specifically, Seven Brothers in La'ie.  Scott and I have been craving this food since last year, and it did not disappoint!

We drove the kids to the temple to see it at night and ended up going in the visitors center and watching the movie they have there about the history of the church on Oahu.  My great-great-maybe three greats-grandfather lived there during three missions for the church in the late 1800's.  Many times this year and last year, I wondered if he was there in spirit.

The new Marriott Courtyard right next to BYU Hawaii is beautiful.  The receptionist, named Liahona, gave us a free upgrade to a suite, so there was a hide-a-bed couch for us.  Perfect!