Five Nights in Honolulu

Finally getting around to posting some more about our recent trip to Hawaii.

Monday, August 31st:

This day of our vacation was probably the most relaxing. We didn't have to be anywhere, we didn't have anything specific we needed to do and we had all gotten a good night's sleep. Early in the morning a few members of our travel group went to the beach and saved some beach chairs, so once the girls had gotten up and we had eaten breakfast we put on our bathing suits and headed out for a day at the beach and in the pools.

The picture on the left is how the girls started off sleeping and the picture on the right is how I found them the next morning. Coincidentally (or not), this is the night Amelia slept the best/latest during our entire stay in Hawaii.

View from our balcony at the Aulani Resort. It was beautiful.

 

C had some great balance on the boogie board.

Tuesday, September 1st:

This was an earlier morning to get through Honolulu traffic and make it in time for our special tour of the USS Missouri. Papa wanted to try and get back to the spot on the battleship where he had been standing during the signing of the surrender documents. The battleship is not in the same configuration as it was during WWII and several areas of the ship were closed and without electricity, so it wasn't possibly for him to be in the exact location, but he got pretty close.

View of the Arizona Memorial from the USS Missouri

We were a large group to accommodate, but they handled us well.

Too much excitement for AJ.

Our tour guide also took us anywhere and everywhere that Papa wanted to go. Even if it wasn't on the official tour loop. We got the royal treatment. I was able to take Claire to get a snack and take a break for a while and then rejoin the group when we finished.

Papa standing near where he would have been during the signing.

You can see the seal where the actual signing occurred on the deck below.

Our amazing tour guide Bob (in dark blue).

Everybody wanted to say hello to Papa, shake his hand, and thank him for his service. There were also several people who sat with him to ask questions. It was a pretty exciting day. We even met one of the men responsible for helping to design the props that help make the ship look more authentic (pictured above next to our tour guide).

Had to talk to Papa about his experiences/memories.

Ready for action.

 

We all ate lunch and souvenir shopped for a bit and then we headed over to the USS Arizona memorial. The memorial holds special importance to me because my grandfather was in Pearl Harbor the day it was bombed. I spent a lot of time thinking about what a powerful legacy Jared and I have to live up to. My grandfather was there to witness the beginning of WWII  for the US and his grandfather was there to witness the end of the war. The whole experience made this pregnant lady a little emotional - wishing my own grandfather was around to experience these kind of history milestones with.

Tuesday was a really long and hot day, but full of special memories and moments with the family. So glad that we got to be there, participate, and spend some time with Papa and family.

Wednesday, September 2nd: 

This was the big day. The reason we got to come to Hawaii with the family. The 70th anniversary of the signing of the peace treaty and the day of the ceremony.

There were ten men in attendance that were on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay for the signing. One of them was even in his original navy uniform. There were a slew of other WWII veterans and special attendees. Also, some dignitaries from China - who brought one of the pens that Col. Nimitz had used to sign the documents of surrender.

 

They had special singers, a navy band, a 21 gun salute, many fantastic speakers, and lots of special attention for the crew members of the battleship who were able to attend. The ceremony was really uplifting and positive. It was also super hot (and being 6 months pregnant didn't help). The girls did reasonably well (Amelia slept through the entire ceremony and Claire colored and rotated laps) and I am so glad we didn't let them keep us from attending because it really was a special thing to get to be a part of.

  

Thursday, September 3rd:

Jared's mom had scheduled a character breakfast at the resort this morning, so we all got up and went to that. I never mind going to those because the food is always amazing and the girls are always entertained. I wasn't feeling great this particular morning, but still managed to get some cute pics of the girls with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Auntie.

 
We got in a nice nap, had some pool time, the girls tried out the rooms bathrobes, and we ended the night with a walk and some ice cream. It was a pretty nice day with some much needed down time.

 

Friday, September 4th - Saturday, September 5th:

This was our last day in Hawaii and we had to check out of the hotel (and I have zero pictures). We still managed to get some pool time in during the morning, played in the lounge during a light rain, the grandparents took the girls on an electronic scavenger hunt offered by the resort, and then headed out to return our rental cars and get to the airport. We had a really late flight, so the girls wore their pj's and fell asleep for most of the flight.

When we landed it was the next morning and JuJu's birthday! However, no one had slept well (including the girls) and we were all a little cranky. Happy birthday JuJu. :-) Don't feel too bad for her - she is the one who scheduled our flights. And we had other times of celebrating during our vacation.


The girls were basically like two little zombies for the remaining flight and drive back home. They would wake up and play for a while and then fall back to sleep. It was kind of nice - except they had to be carried a lot more often. We got back home pretty late and tried to get the girls to bed as soon as possible (without much luck - it was only four pm Hawaii time). It took us a good week before they were back on a semi-normal sleeping schedule, but the trip was really great and full of much needed family time. I am so thankful we were able to go.