Aloha from Hawaii

Where to start...

When Daniel mentioned going to Hawaii, I thought he was crazy.  Then, he came up with a plan, and I convinced myself (in January), that by the time June got here Bentley would be able to do and understand so much more, so I said, "Okay.  You make it happen, and I'm on board."  Months went by, weeks went by, and days went by until June 23rd finally arrived.  It was go day.  We prepared the best way we knew how.  Amazingly, we managed to pack ONLY three suitcases for an 8 day trip 4,000 miles away. 

Thanks to Vicki Hestley (My Goosey), we were prepared for the plane ride, too.  She got Bentley a backpack full of stuff to keep Bentley busy.  We were so thankful!!!  Of course, I managed to cram a bunch more stuff into a larger backpack in case we needed it.  Toys, crayons, markers, notepads, activity books, squishy balls, squishy reptiles, zoo animals, scissors, glue, stickers, paper, pipe cleaners, and more STUFF!  We had a large backpack stuffed to the point that it would hardly close.  You must keep in mind, though, we were about to ride on a plane with a two-year-old for and hour and half, and then another TEN hours!  We needed to be prepared!  I also packed a bag full of food, snacks, candy, juice, and anything I though could help us handle a long flight with nowhere to go.

So, here's how it went...

At Huntsville International Airport
Ready for take-off

Check out his seat belt.  It's a CARES harness, made for toddlers and small kids.  It simply slips over the back of the seat, so it's super easy to install and remove, and we didn't have to take a car seat.

Bentley watched Mary Poppins (one of his favorite movies, though he doesn't watch movies very well).  We got his headphones at Toys r' Us before we left.  He loves them.

Ready for take-off!!

Very first flight (Huntsville to DC)

10 hour flight (DC to Honolulu)
Notice the bird Daniel is holding...that was one of our backpack crafts!

Bentley on an airplane...AMAZING!  We never dreamed he would do as well as he did.  I think we used three things out of the million things we had in his backpack.  And the snacks...he ate two packs of snickerdoodle muffins, one pack of fruit snacks, and two packs of smarties.  That's it!!!  He took two naps, both about an hour and a half, so he was awake for about 7 of the 10 hour flight.  I was so proud of my little man.  He got lots of compliments on the plane, especially from our flight attendant, Shelley.  Then, we saw Shelley at the beach the next day...small world!  Thanks United for a perfectly non-eventful flight.

The flight on the way home went just as well for Bentley, though it wasn't near as enjoyable.  We flew overnight, so instead of sleeping all night in a nice, comfy bed, Daniel and I slept about two-three hours on the flight, while Bentley slept about four hours.  We had a five hour layover in Chicago, where Bentley did really well, but I just wanted to sleep.  Ha ha...like that was going to happen.  We slept about an hour on the way home to Huntsville, but we were glad to be back home.  While Bentley could not have done any better, I'm not ready for the stress of a long flight with a toddler for a while.   

I put Bentley to bed about 8:30 the night we got home, and he slept until 10:15 the next morning.  Bless his heart!  I think only getting five hours of sleep the previous day plus a six hour time difference really messed up his sleep schedule. 

Back to Hawaii...

We arrived in Hawaii about 5:00pm (which was about 11:00pm at home), so we were tired.  We were trying to get on the correct schedule quickly, though, so we stayed up as late as we could before going to bed...about 8:30...hahaha.

We got out rental car from Enterprise (which was upgraded for no extra charge...Bonus!), and we headed straight to the hotel, Hilton Waikiki Beach.  We didn't know what kind of room we would get, but we were just happy to be there at this point.  Bentley and I explored the hotel lobby area, while Daniel went to check us in.  Within a few minutes, the concierge was sharing the good news...we had an Ocean View Suite!  That's right...that meant that we had more space to play, Bentley his own room for sleeping, and a view of the beautiful Hawaiian ocean.  As soon as we got into the room, we noticed a note and gift basket on the table.  That's an extra special way to start a wonderful vacation.



Here's the note and gift basket...so thoughtful.

Here's the main room and bathroom.

The suite had a living area, kitchen area, and a half bath.
This is where Bentley slept in his crib.

Speaking of Bentley's sleeping arrangements...he did so good.  He's been sleeping in his own bed since he was two weeks old, so we didn't want to disrupt that.  We got him a crib from the hotel, which worked out perfectly.  Bentley woke up calling for me two or three times the first night.  The final time I said, "You have to sleep in your bed until the sun comes up.  When you see sunshine, we can get up."  So, almost every day, he was awake before 6:00am, but he didn't make another peep.  He went to sleep in his crib each night, and slept all night long.  He also took a few naps in his crib.  He called the suite "my room" and called the crib "my bed."  He called the big room "y'all's room."  It's so funny how he associates things that are so different with normalcy at home.  I love it!



Sleeping like a baby...

 

These are actual pictures I took with my phone.
The top photo was taken in the parking lot of the rental car company the day we arrived.
The middle photo was taken from our balcony mid-trip.
The bottom photo was taken at the Honolulu airport before we boarded the plane to come home.
...and we wonder why it's called "the rainbow state"

The view from our balcony was beautiful.  While we were a block off of the beach, we still had an amazing view of the ocean, as well as the city life at night.  Mesmerizing...

 

Good morning, Honolulu.

 

Good evening.

 

Good night.

 

The daily view...I wish I could wake up to this everyday.

The hotel was amazing.  Due to Daniel's member status, we got free breakfast each morning, as well as drinks and hors d'oeuvres each evening. 

 

 

Pool Time...

The hotel had a beautiful pool that was on the 10th floor.  We went there multiple times when Bentley would tire of the beach or we would have some time before or after events we planned.  Bentley was hilarious.  He would put his floaty on, jump in one time, then say, "Take my floaty off."  He's been jumping in on his own this whole summer, but while we were in Hawaii, he learned to glide in the water, use his arms and legs to propel himself, and turn flips in the water.  He is FEARLESS in the water, which is a blessing and a curse.  I am so proud he's mine!



Funny tan lines?  Why, how did that happen?

Waikiki Beach...

It took Bentley a day or two to really warm up to the beach.  He's still not a big fan of having sand anywhere except his feet and legs.  (I think he gets it from his Mommy...oops!)  Once he realized it wasn't so bad, he LOVED the waves.  He was happy to play with his sand toys, too.  I asked if he wanted to build a sandcastle, and he said, "No, Mommy.  My build a golf green."  So we did.  He liked going out into the ocean if he was being held, but he didn't want to wear his floaty.  A little too comfortable if you ask me. :)  He would chase the waves, and they would chase him.  I was so sweet to watch.

The sand in Hawaii is different from the sand in Florida.  It's much grainier, more of a brown color, and there are not seashells.  Rather, coral is all in the sand.  Sometimes there's so much coral it really hurts you feet to walk in it.  We discovered the sand is rougher where the water is smooth, such as the bay areas or areas blocked with man made walls.  The sand is much  more inviting where the waves can wash the coral away. 

Check out this handsome beach bum.

L.O.V.E.

 

Building a golf green...

First time in the Hawaiian Ocean



More golf green pics...we found a piece of coral to act as his golf ball.

Before we bought a bucket, he had to use a cup.  :)

Waikiki beach is situated on Kalakaua Avenue, otherwise known as Luxury Row.  Every high-end shop and store you can imagine is on this street.  So you know...I did pick me out a few wish list items at Tiffany's (wink wink).  Also on Kalakaua, along Waikiki, are multiple statues significant to Hawaiian culture.  We took pictures of just a few, below.

Bentley wanted his picture made with "that lady."  And, yes, he pointed out her "boobies." 

Every time we passed this statue after this picture, Bentley wanted to "take a picture."  He used his camera to take multiple pictures.

Honolulu Zoo...

The zoo was SO good.  It's comparable to Birmingham, although they didn't have a train and you couldn't feed the animals.  They had lots of great exhibits, and ALL of the animals were clearly visible EXCEPT for the elephants.  They were not going to be on exhibit until 12:00, and we got there at 9:00, so we had to see the elephants from afar.  Overall, we all had a great time, especially Bentley.

I think Bentley's favorite exhibits were the tigers, meerkats, baboons, and the komodo dragon. 

Love this...he calls giraffes, "my Ralph" because we named one of his toy giraffes Ralph.

He LOVED crawling up on the fences to see.

There was a really great playground at the zoo, and I think he was as excited about it as he was the animals.

Here he taking a picture of the Komodo Dragon with his camera.  (BTW...only pictures of cars would come up on the camera, but he still looked at it every time and said, "So pretty.")
Thanks, Tim, for the camera!  He loved it!!!

You'll notice this baboon was in the corner.  According to Bentley, it was in the "no no."

Gator wrestling.

Is he really mine?

Love. LoVe. L.O.V.E this picture.
Every time we tried to leave the meerkats, he would say, "My want to watch that one."
Keep in mind, there are about 30 to see.

Waikiki Aquarium...

As a note to all of you...while we are glad we went, this aquarium does not hold a candle to Gatlinburg or Chattanooga.  I think it took about 30 minutes to get through it, and the only thing that was REALLY cool was the Monk Seal.  Bentley really liked him!

We found Dory and Nemo...mission accomplished!

Here we are watching the seal.  He did some tricks for us to see.

Hawaii Children's Discovery Center...

Daniel took at day to play golf at the Turtle Bay Golf Resort, so Bentley and I found something fun to do.  The Hawaii Children's Discovery Center is similar to SciQuest or the McWane Center, and he LOVED it.  He fell in love with each exhibit, so it took us forever to get through it all.  I loved watching him learn through it.  He worked and worked to figure each thing out, but his favorite exhibits involved cooking.  There were lots of kitchens and microwaves, so he spent lots of time at those.

Notice the tree in the photo below.  These trees are all over Hawaii.  The start as any other tree, but they develop vines that grow toward the ground and take root.  Eventually, they look like the tree below.  Amazing!!!

One of my faves!

Fireman Bentley

Like I said...cooking.
Even in the stone oven.

Driving a bus

Finding out how the water feature works.  He's so mechanically inclined.

So sweet!

Dole Pineapple Plantation...

We went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation, which we all enjoyed.  Daniel and I have been before, but we still had a good time.  Bentley especially enjoyed the Pineapple Express, the peacocks and chickens walking around, and the Dole Whip (pineapple ice cream).  It was hilarious to see Bentley when he found a pineapple.  He yelled, "Kineapple!"  He stills says "kineapple," even though he can say pineapple very well.

"It's so yummy!  It's kineapple ice cream."

North Shore...

The North Shore is where you find the wind, the rain, and the BIG waves.  It's also the less developed side of the island, so it's lush, green, and unbelievably beautiful.  The sand is much softer and easier to walk in at the North Shore, and there are fewer people, so finding a spot on the beach was much easier.

Handsome boy...

Happy Mommy

Love these...he was having the best time, and he got slammed by a wave that almost took his pants down.  So funny!

A tiny footprint in the sand.

Pearl Harbor...

Pearl Harbor was an enlightening experience.  I learned a lot and was humbled by the experience.  We also took a quick city tour on the bus, which Bentley loved.  He kept saying, "My on a school bus."  He also loved riding on the boat to get out to the Arizona Memorial.  Considering we left our hotel at 7:00, and we didn't get back until after 2:00, and were on someone else's schedule, Bentley did very well.

I was amazed to learn that the USS Arizona, a sunken ship, is the tomb for all of the men that died on it that day.  Heart wrenching for those who died and their families.

Catamaran...

This was probably our favorite activity.  While we were on the beach, we noticed a boat offering rides into the ocean.  We wondered if Bentley would like it, which we thought for sure he would.  I asked him if he wanted to ride on that boat, and he said, "Yep, my ride on that boat."  So, we did...

My loves...

Family Fun

They are so sweet together.  I love it!

Everything else...

Here are some odds and ends from the rest of the trip.  I'm sure I left a lot out, but this is all I can manage.  I've been trying to get this posted for days, so we better do it now.  Bentley has lots of little sayings and antics that are worth noting, so that post will come soon.  For now, enjoy!

 

Hard Rock Café, Honolulu

 

Jimmy Buffets gave the kids wikisticks for playing with.  We made glasses for my Silly Boy!

We had an amazing family vacation that Daniel and I will always remember and cherish.  I only wish that Bentley could remember all of the wonderful things we did.  So far, he will still tell you about everything, but I know the memories will eventually fade.  At least we can look back on our pictures as reminders.  From the Bowlings to you...ALOHA!