bittersweet vacation.

went to japan... i mean hawaii. there were so many japanese tourists there i thought i was in japan. our first family trip and boy was it tough. i grew some arm muscles and lost some weight by the time our vacation ended. it's a tough world with a toddler. we took mom and lil' TIT and the few extra hands went a long way.

warning: picture overload.

sunday:

leaving lax.
Connor did pretty well on the plane. the flight was a little over 5 hours. we gave him chewy candy on the way up and coming down to prevent any issues with the ear pressure. on the flight there he slept 2 hours. the rest was eating peanuts, drinking milk, eating lunch, watching dvds, and drawing balloons.

arrived in honolulu at around noon. rented a car and this is when the mayhem began. Connor loves chasing birds and with so many different kinds everywhere he was like the energizer bunny.


his auntie's sunglasses. now that we're back there's a few things i need to work on - one of them being to get rid of his pacifiers.

lunch at genki sushi.

checked in at the sheraton princess, across the street from waikiki beach. view was nice. room was small.


took a dip in the pool in the afternoon. note: i am not pale, but translucent. i am beyond pale. as a result of hawaii, i am now considered pale. the boy is darker than me.

Connor watching winnie the pooh. another task i need to work on - potty training. gotta get rid of that diaper.

monday:

boy woke up at 4:30 in the morning. that's 7:30 LA time. so what'd we do? go down to the (waikiki) beach at dawn. the tough part? boy doesn't like getting dirty so he refused to put his feet in the sand. there goes the trip. he also refused to let his mommy and daddy take off their sandals to walk in the sand.




stopped by puka dog before heading off to north shore. like a bagel dog. good. sauces are what made it different. lil' TIT couldn't get enough of it we ended up going back a few days later.

on the way to north shore we really got to experience the tropical~ness of hawaii. it rained one minute and was sunny the next. we practically drove all day because:

1. memorial day traffic
2. we stopped by so many places
3. took the scenic route along the coast

luckily Connor took at 3 hour nap in the car. we brought his car seat figuring that it didn't cost anything to bring it and that it would be cleaner and safer than the one we would have to use from the rent a car company.

some blowhole. forgot about the blowhole but was amazed at the view and beach.


we stopped by lanikai beach but couldn't stay because it rained. we decided to come back but never did. here are a few pics from our drive along the coast.

eating gummies.

sharing gummies with his auntie.






stopped by giovanni's shrimp truck. long ass wait. in my opinion, not worth it. probably because hubby makes shrimp similar to this.

we were about to leave Giovanni's and was waiting for hubby to return from the restroom. Connor thought we had forgotten to put him in the car seat and was happy thinking we were going to just leave him there.

i think this beach is somewhere near sunset beach.


still refused to go on the beach.




liked to stay above ground instead.
missed matsumoto's shaved ice. completely drove right by it. oh well, hopefully it'll give us reason to come back next time.

for dinner of all places we went to buca. hubby loves their frutti di mare linguine.

made the lil' TIT pay for her trip by forcing her to tell me something that i didn't know about her over our first drink together. she gave me some juicy stuff. maybe i'll share it but she might kill me for sharing it with the world.


tuesday:

Connor went easy on me and woke me up at 6:00. can't complain since it wasn't 4:30. went down to the beach again.


Connor was picking flowers off the street...

...and placing them in my hair.

that's a worrisome look on her face. i was standing on a chair.

headed out to dole plantation.



had pineapple whip for the first time. my sister couldn't believe i never had this at disneyland before. Connor actually liked it. he's really a finicky eater.


had a pond with so many fish it was disgusting.


rode the pineapple express. such a waste of money.



stopped by pearl harbor.
little guy manning a gun.

visited the u.s.s. missouri.




in the evening i was going to make Connor play on the beach if it was the last thing i did. guess what happened?

SUCCESS!

i brought a towel so that he didn't have to step in it. it worked. what i don't understand is how he doesn't like stepping on it but doesn't mind having it every where else. by the end, he was even eating it. he had flung it all over the place, including his hair, that it had got in his mouth.

wednesday:

had burger king breakfast. this is what they serve in hawaii:

afterwards we decided to spend the rest of the day at the beach before we checked in to our new location. luckily i got Connor to like the sand.


the fish in the water.

ate at jimmy buffett's for lunch.

then relocated to the moana.

Connor living it up.

thursday:

where's waldo?
last dinner at hula grill.

birthday cake from beard papa. it was actually 6 creme puffs and was for me, but it was all about him. he's nekkid because we both came out of the shower and i was caught off guard with this surprise.

all of us on our last day. actually friday was our last day but all we did was check out, return the car and headed for home.