We took a family vacation to Oahu, Hawaii over the week of Thanksgiving 2022. We had been planning the trip for almost 2 years with Brian and Maryn and were so excited to finally go. We flew our on Monday, November 21st. It was not an easy task to get there. First of all, we had to get up around 4 am in Utah to get to our flight(1 am in Hawaii). 2nd, Alyssa had been dreading the trip ever since we first told her about it(Seriously, who complains about going to Hawaii) so she procrastinated on packing until 10pm the night before leaving. She is also terrified of deep water and did not want to fly over so much ocean(so she refused to let anyone near her look out the window or talk about anything they could see). She was also recovering from a head cold and so the pressure change was killer on her ears. And on top of being over tired, scared, and sealing with plugged up ears, she lost her air pods on the first flight and had to buy new ones in the airport before boarding the 2nd plane. Not to mention, we were all super hungry because all the food lines on our layover were longer than we had time to wait. And then our flight was delayed. Needless to say, we were all so happy to get off the plane in Hawaii and feel the warmth and meet up with the Wheeler cousins. And after getting to the airbnb, Alyss went to bed and slept all the way to the next morning, only waking up for a couple of hours in the evening to eat. She was much happier the next morning.
On our first full day in Hawaii, we headed off to Pearl Harbor. We prepped our kids by telling them bout World War 2 and what had happened there during the war. We reserved a visit to the US Arizona memorial site. Again, we struggled to convince Alyssa to get on the ferry, but she managed to put her fears aside and join us. We got to drive by a bunch of Navy ships on the ferry ride.
At the memorial sight, there was a room with all of the names of those who had died in Pearl Harbor during the war. They also included survivors of the attack who had died later in their lives. There was a very somber feeling in this room for so many who had sacrificed for their country.
Behind us in this picture is part of the ship sticking up out of the water.
The memorial site went right over the top of the ship, so you could see it on both sides, as well as through this hole in the middle of the platform.
Here is our group (minus Danny who took the picture) as we left the memorial to get back on the ferry.
After visiting the US Arizona Memorial site, we walked around the rest of the Museum. We saw the first of many rainbows during this trip, so we stopped for a picture.
Stopping for a quick rest while waiting for the rest of our group to catch up.
After walking around the grounds, we walked through the Pearl Harbor Museum. There was a lot of information there about the war and some of the key players in the war. We didn't spend a lot of time here as our kids were tired of walking and hungry.
After we left Pearl Harbor, we went to Dukes market near Waikiki to purchase souvenirs and find some food. Most of us did not enjoy the haggling process to get the souvenirs, but Danny did, so he took care of it for the rest of us.
After Dukes Market, we headed to Diamond Head.
The hike wasn't too long, but it was steep. The kids did great though and everyone made it to the top. This was at a lookout on the way up
We could see all of Honolulu from the top. The view was amazing!
We took a different route on the way down that included this long staircase...
and this dark tunnel.
Celebrating the end of the hike and making it to the top and back down
After the hike, we got food and relaxed at the airbnb for the rest of the night. We all went to bed early.
No comments:
Post a Comment