Hawaiian Vacation: The Final Days

Time to close this baby out already!

Day 5
Well I woke up that morning and felt awful.  From not having put sunscreen on my face, it literally felt like it was just a burned pile of mush.  We had a very slow morning, made some breakfast, and I felt like I was done having any sun.  I was even feeling ready to go home and just done with the trip (looking back, what on earth was I thinking?).  Obviously it was because I was feeling awful but I really hate it when I am to blame for my own misery.
A bit later we headed to Haleiwa Joe's for lunch.  It was good seafood but a bit pricey.

We headed down to the east side of the island and stopped at the Laie LDS temple. It was so beautiful, and different than the last time I had been there.  They had totally changed the landscape (I could be wrong on that, but I swear it was different).

And of course where did we head next but the Polynesian Cultural Center.  I had never been to this place before so I was excited.  When we first walked in we decided to get temporary tattoos.   My hubby got a big one on his shoulder and I got one on my foot.  Sooo much better than the real thing!  No pain, and it goes away when I get sick of it.

Then we went and watched the Canoe Parade.  Of course we got a seat directly in the sun and were both dripping wet by the end of it, it was so hot!  But it was pretty cool, we enjoyed it despite the sweat.

Gotta love the facial expressions.

Then we did all of the shows we could until the Luau: Samoa, Aotearoa (aka New Zealand), Tonga, and finally Tahiti.  Each show had demonstrations with music, or food, or hula dancing, and very entertaining (Tonga was our favorite, those guys were hilarious).

We headed to the luau for dinner and got treated with a lei and ate buffet style while they entertained with singing and dancing.  My favorite was the pork (holy yummy!) and the purple sweet potato rolls, my hubby's favorite was the teriyaki chicken and Hawaiian style beef jerky.

Finally, we went to the big evening show called Ha: Breath of Life.  It was a beautiful show that showcased each of the islands of Polynesia and I really enjoyed it.  Also, for those of you that know it, it was basically the Plan of Salvation put to music and dancing.  :)  The PCC is very beautiful and well kept and I thought all of the staff was really friendly.  It was a great experience and I highly recommend it.  Having said that, both my hubby and I agreed, we probably never need to do it again in our lifetime.  It's just a lot to take in...and a lot of the same stuff over and over again.

We drove home in the pouring rain, totally exhausted and happy from the day's experiences.  And despite a car alarm going off outside the condo all night, we slept pretty well.

Day 6
Our last full day in Hawaii.  We went straight to Hanauma Bay that morning and enjoyed beautiful snorkeling for a good few hours. We saw tons and tons of fish, it was pretty cool.

After that we were ready for some relaxation so we decided to go and see a movie.  At first I thought it weird to see a movie while in paradise, but then it totally made sense.  We never go to movies because of the kids and now we were kid free!  So we saw The Dark Knight Rises.  I have to admit, I was a complete wreck the entire time.  I was paranoid, and kept noticing everyone that got up and left (the guy in front of me left like 3 times, I was like DUDE you are giving me heart palpitations), not to mention the fact that the movie is so dark and evil I just could not handle it.  But I really enjoyed the last 15 minutes of it!  I love a good happy ending.  We got some dinner on the way home and ended up playing games and going to bed.  I really missed my kids at this point and wish that future me would've gone back and told past me to relax and enjoy it, it would be over before I knew it.

Day 7
Got up early and did our favorite spot, Waimea, one last time.  We had our snorkel gear and it was so amazing to watch two sea turtles eating their breakfast right by the shore.  We followed them for awhile, I absolutely loved it.  There were even some rainbows for us right before we left.

We were sad to leave the beach and had to force ourselves to go.  We stopped in Haleiwa to get some Matsumoto's shaved ice (soooo worth it!).  We got there right when they opened and that is the only time the line isn't completely around the building.  It was good, but here is a tip: don't get the huge one.  The regular size is PLENTY.  Then the hubs just had to get some shrimp (gag!) so we stopped at Giovanni's shrimp truck and got the most garlicky smelling stuff ever.  Seriously, he smelled like garlic shrimp for days.  Blech.  This girl is not a shrimp fan.

Anyway, we stopped by the Walmart to buy some things to replenish the condo, (toilet paper) and it was time to clean and pack.  I hope we left the condo better than we found it, we were so grateful to have had such a nice place to stay--that was free.  We left my brother and sister in-law a little gift on their kitchen table, so I hope they enjoy it.  Before we knew it, we were back on the airplane heading home.   The red eye is MISERY for me.  I do not sleep, I get claustrophobic, and I just want to get up and run around (of course the hubs slept almost the entire time. sigh). I barely made it out of there sane, and then on the LA to SLC flight. I was a complete zombie.  The landing barely even woke me and I was glad to have gotten some shut eye.  Seriously, the red eye is horrible awful misery that should not be inflicted on people that suffer from insomnia.  Unfortunately that's pretty much all you get coming back from Hawaii.
I could not believe how excited I was to see my kiddos.  When I saw Bud in his car seat I just hugged and hugged him and his feet were kicking so fast he was so excited to see us.  And it was the same with my daughter, we were all so excited.  It was weird how for a few days it was like I forgot what they looked like or sounded like, but then once we were back it was like we had never left.
I learned a few things about myself on this trip:
1-I am a germophobe.  I mean people...you have no idea how many people I saw walk out of bathrooms without washing their hands.  It kind of made me a little crazy thinking about it...
2-I really am not a people person.  They all kind of drive me crazy.  There was this girl talking during the first hour of the red eye (you know when the lights are off and people are trying to sleep) and I was like seriously?  Look around you idiot, we are all trying to relax!  We don't care about your life plan.
3-It is ok to leave the kids now and then.  They did great while we were gone and didn't spend all day wondering if we were going to come back to them.
4-Vacations are a must.  I don't care if we only go an hour away, I need to get away without the kids more often.  Every seven years is not enough.
5-Finally, I need to relax.  Obviously, look at the first two points.  But really I need to try to chill.  Although I will say being on an island totally helped contribute to that.  Then we get back to real life and all of that gets sucked away.  But for the sake of these two munchkins, I need to relax and not worry so much.

And if you made it to the end of this post (hi babe!) great job, you deserve a medal.