So I am working on this blog post and it is 8:00 pm. It is dark and everyone in our house is asleep or very close to it!! What kind of craziness is this? At home, I can't get my kids in bed before 10. Oh...and showers! My boys can't get enough of their cousins and don't want to miss one minute of playing time. So they fought the WHOLE way home from the beach about was going to shower first. They always fight me to shower last at home!! KIDS!!
This trip is definitely full of "firsts" for me. I put a check mark on an item from my bucket list this morning! We took a tour around the island in a helicopter. Yes...I was terrified! And yes...I wondered what in the world we were doing. Mom arranged the whole thing as a birthday present to herself. That sounds strange as I type it but she is an amazing lady and so generous! She would not be happy unless we were enjoying ourselves and she wanted her kids and grandkids to experience a helicopter tour like they did on their last trip. Words cannot express the magnificent beauty of this island! Some of the sights, we had seen before and some were new. I loved the Pearl Harbor tidbits of information and the military history I learned about. Our pilot told us so many cool things about the island. The ocean here is the most vibrant blue I have ever seen. One funny thing they told us about in the training was that you could find "comfort bags" in front of you if your stomach felt queasy. The guy called them Aloha bags and instructed us to take them with us if we used them. 😂 I've just always called them "barf bags" but now I can't ever call them anything but comfort bags. Eeeewwww!! 😁
We asked the kids what they liked most about the helicopter ride. J said he liked all of it. D-liked seeing the cars all lined up in rows. And he loved the reflection of the ocean. And the colors of the water. T-loved Pearl Harbor...especially the battle ships
Rob said he liked the take off but he had no favorite part specifically...just loved all of it. My favorite part...besides all of it (ha!) was all the new things I learned from the tour. We saw where they filmed Gilligan's Island, Jurrassic Park, Godzilla, Hawaii Five-O, and several other movies and TV shows. We were in a Blue Hawaiian helicopter, which happens to be the same company used in Jurassic World. My dad told us this evening that on their tour last year, they actually rode in the same helicopter used in the movie. Awesome! I love the movie facts and info! The sky was so clear, we were able to see a couple of the other islands. And the coral reefs looked like lily pads! So fun!!
Here are pictures of Pearl Harbor, Gilligan's Island and the coral reefs.
The helicopter ride was our highlight today, but we did find a couple of other fun things to do. We ended up at Pier38 Nico's for lunch. I had orange chicken. I tried a small bite of Swordfish, Ono, and Opa. I don't love seafood. I don't even like it...not even a tiny bit. But I realized I was in a place where they probably stepped out into the pier and caught our lunch earlier that day. Ok...so maybe the day before. But it was a whole experience. SO I closed my eyes and tasted it. It wasn't as bad as I thought, but I still don't enjoy seafood. The only fish/seafood I've tried are trout, halibut, and fish sticks and I didn't like any of them. This fish was cooked well and the sauce was delicious. Still...not in a hurry to go back.
After Nico's, we headed to Hukilau Beach. It was crowded! There were some BIG waves. I learned how to wave jump! The waves were pretty big...well...for this desert rat, they were huge! Ashton helped me get out there without tipping over and Rob and Eric stayed with me to make sure I didn't wash away. They told me when to jump with the roll of the wave but warned me to dive into the wave if it broke before reaching me. So Eric must have sensed my panic at his comment of, "A really BIG one is coming!" because the next thing I know, he is grabbing my arm and telling me to, "RUN!" We made it back to shore and I didn't get washed away. Whew! So the experience was a great one because my brother loves me enough to drag me onto the beach in my moment of panic! 😜 I am grateful my brothers and husband take such good care of me and I did eventually make it back out there by myself. And I was so proud to learn what my children and nephews had no problem problem doing without help. 😁 Maybe tomorrow I will still be brave and try again. My legs are pretty sore now but it was worth it! It was SO fun and we didn't want to leave! Especially T! Look at how mournful he is while saying goodbye to the ocean for today...😩 He was the very last one to get out. I think he swallowed half the ocean from laughing as he played in the water.
It really was a great day! After we all got cleaned up and had dinner, mom called us all together for a "meeting". She asked each one of us about what our favorite thing was from today. I loved hearing what everyone enjoyed and the different perspectives....especially from the kids. A wonderful end-of-the-day tradition. It was the perfect ending for day 3. I can't wait to see what adventures await us tomorrow!
Awesome. Love reading about your adventures.
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