Hawaii-Part 1

We are back and it was a PERFECT trip from start to finish! I still can't believe that it is all over! Gosh, where to start....I guess I will go from start to finish. So, here goes.

Part 1-Oahu

We woke up bright and early at 5 am to catch our flight from Chas To ATL. Jackson woke up happy and ready to go, which was great! We got to ATL and then had a couple of hours before boarding to Honolulu. We just let Jackson run and run until he was exhausted. When it was time to board, Jackson was well worn out. He fell asleep very easily. Our flight was supposed to be 10 hours, but we caught a great tailwind and arrived just short of 9 hours. The flight went great! Jackson slept for 3 hours and the DVD player got us another couple of hours of relaxation. Otherwise,we were playing with him, reading, coloring, etc. He was great and traveled like a true champ. No breakdowns or crying...just a couple of seconds of fussiness here or there. We got to Honolulu and picked up our rental. We got an upgrade-a Chevy Traverse with a DVD player inside for Jackson to watch...score! This was key in allowing us to have nice happy car rides around the island. We made our way to the hotel-Marriott Resort and Spa in Waikiki. It was about 5:30 pm Hawaii time (10:30 pm SC time so waaay past Jacksons bedtime but he was happy as can be). We ordered room service and gave him a bath and we all crashed at 7 pm (midnight SC time). The next morning, we all woke up at 7 AM. I realized then that Jackson had only been up once to nurse the whole night and that I had gotten over 11 hours of sleep that night. Unheard of! We thought it was a fluke, but it continued throughout the whole trip! No interruptions in sleep or jet lag...it was a seamless transition for us all! Jackson would even nap for about 2-3 hrs every day and only wake once per night-heaven!! I got some of the best sleep I have had in years during our vacation.

Anyway, for our first day in Hawaii, we headed straight to the place we have been talking about eating breakfast at again since our last trip: Dukes Canoe Club at the Outrigger. We had the breakfast buffet and it was amazing! Jackson had his first taste of bacon there and gobbled it all up! Then we headed up the Haliewa and the North Shore. We had lunch at a local place called Kono's, which was delish! Next was a stop at Matsumotos for some shave ice. It did not disappoint and we got our traditional tshirts as well. We even got Jackson one. Then we headed back toward Waikiki to get Jackson back for a nap. After he woke up, we walked around Waikiki and did some shopping. We stopped at Hula Grill (owned by same people as Duke's) for dinner. I have to add this funny story. The whole time during our trip, Jackson was fascinated with the elevators. Everyone thought it was adorable how excited he was. At the hotel, this couple got on the elevator with us and we got into a conversation. Somehow we ended up telling them how one time a few months ago, we were in an elevator with my brother and his family and we were too busy talking that nobody pressed a button. All of the sudden we realized that we weren't moving and we felt like idiots. The other couple said they had never done that, but we all got a good laugh about it. Well, I guess we were tired after a long day, because after dinner at the Hula Grill, Justin and I took the elevator down and were talking and then realized that we hadn't moved because neither one of us pressed the button. HAha! We laughed about it the whole way back. I mean we had just told that couple about doing that and here we did it again. We felt like biscuits! Well, It was a great day! We had planned on the first few days being rough with the time change, but we were so glad to be able to do so much on our first full day in Hawaii!

The next morning we headed back to the North Shore for breakfast at Breaker's in Haliewa. Again, this is a restaurant we visited during our last trip. I had a fresh fruit parfait, Justin had some sort of Acai berry parfait and Jackson had pancakes...it was all so good! Then we made our way to the Dole Plantation because we thought that Jackson would enjoy the train ride. It was a little cheesy, but the views are so gorgeous. Jackson really seemed to enjoy it. When we got back, Justin headed inside for a famous "Dole Whip" while I had Jackson's name painted by a local artist who does Rainbow Art. It is really cool. I will have to take a picture and post it. I am so happy how it turned out. After that, Michelle's Dad and Frances met us at the Dole Plantation and they treated us to lunch at a nearby restaurant. They are so sweet and it was wonderful to see them again! I think they got a kick out of seeing Jackson. Afterwards we headed out for a drive around the island while Jackson napped. The North Shore waves were rockin and the surfers were truly a sight to see. They are so brave to get out in those ginormous waves! I had forgotten just how beautiful the North Shore of Hawaii is....just breathtaking. We wound our way around the island just taking in the gorgeous views around us and got back to the hotel just in time for the streets to close down due to a huge block party for the Pro Bowl. I forgot to mention that Honolulu was so busy during our stay due to the Pro Bowl happening the next day. We ended up walking to the Cheesecake Factory (another tradition) for a quick bite. We got some cake to go and headed back to the hotel. We were feeling really tired this night and delirious once we got back to the hotel. We couldn't stop laughing at everything. Another fun day!!

Day three we headed down to the hotel restaurant for the Breakfast buffet. It was good, but not as good as Dukes. We then walked to the Honolulu Zoo with Jackson. He enjoyed it ok, but I think he would have been just as happy running around in a large field. He just wanted to run free! He noticed the animals, but started to get fussy toward the end. I really enjoyed seeing the monkeys. They were wild when we were there! Since it was almost time for us to head to the airport for Maui, we wrapped it up and headed back to the hotel. We ate lunch at the airport and then took our very short flight to Maui. When we got to Maui, it was raining slightly but otherwise beautiful. I was surprised how different Maui was from Oahu. Oahu is bustling and crowded, but Maui is much less developed and a lot less people. We got our rental car and then headed for the Grand Wailea. WOW, what a treat it was to stay here. It is hands down the nicest resort that I have ever stayed at. We were greeted with fresh leis and our room was gorgeous. We checked in and then drove to a natural food store to pick up some organic fruit/meat/cheese for Jackson that we could put in the fridge. Then me and Jackson ordered room service while Justin had his welcome reception downstairs. Again, we slept like babies that night!

Stay tuned for pictures and Parts 2 and 3 to come soon....