ALOOOOHA!

We made it to Hawaii at last! Over 5 years later. Not much has changed, beautiful weather, gorgeous beaches and ono local food. The kids did great on the airplane, both taking naps and eating well. Today we are celebrating Camden's 3rd Birthday. We'll go down a few blocks from out hotel and try the Big Kahuna mini-golf and maybe hit the beach for the 4th day in a row. Here is a run-down of what we've done so far on our much-needed vacation:

Day 1 (MON) - Left for the airport around 5:30 am. Got to Hawaii around noon, couldn't check-in yet so we hit the beach waiting for the electricity to come on in our hotel (yeah, not exactly the Hilton). The kids got soaked in the beach in their clothes and we looked a little ghetto at the beach but oh well. Walked down to the Waikiki Beach Walk, the kids got soaked again in their clothes in the fountain while we enjoyed people watching. Went to dinner at Chili's but the kids were so exhuasted they fell asleep before eating. What a long day!

Day 2 (TUES) - Ate at McD's--portugese sausage, eggs and rice (kids loved it). Finally got our trolley tickets and headed down to Ala Moana. Soaked in the calm shallow beach then hit the food court at Ala Moana. Our first taste of Korean Food. Mmm, love that bibimbap. I managed to eat everything despite this constant feeling of burping up everything I eat 24-7. I got my nails done (have to have some pampering) and walked around the mall a little. Headed back on the trolley to the Hilton Hawaiian to see the tropical penguins. For dinner we ate at the International Marketplace food court. The kids tried local saimen (ramen) with spam but didn't really like it. So we ended up giving away a lot of food to a poor old homeless man. We sat for a while and watched some Hawaiian steel-drum music then went back and crashed for another night.

Day 3 (WED) - Woke up to breakfast at IHOP, had a great waitress. Headed on the trolley once again to the Zoo. The kids really liked that, they even had a Keiki Zoo I didn't recall the last time we were here. The kids got to crawl inside a giant aquarium with Koi and loved the playground. Finally made it over the the beach near the Duke Statue and picked up some much-need sand toys at the ABC store. Kaitlyn wanted a snorkel and I was surprised just how quickly she took to it. She enjoyed floating around looking for shells and seeing little fish. Camden attempted the snorkel but just couldn't do it, bless his little heart. So he had fun playing in the sand. We went back to the International Marketplace for dinner and this time we had Chinese, Vietnamese and Filipino food. Caesar ordered his "chocolate meat" once again so he was happy and I had some Seafood Pho which was great for my uneasy stomach. Oh, almost forgot. On our way back to our hotel after the beach, we were walking down the Ala Wai and I looked up to see a jogger headed our way. As he got closer I could tell he was a familiar face. Then he looked at me because I think he knew I knew who he was so I smiled a little. Guess who? It was BEN from LOST!! A LOST sighting how cool. I know you are jealous Marie :)

Day 4 (THURS) - we'll keep you posted on how Camden's birthday is. I can't believe my little boy is 3 years old!!!