HAWAII

So Justin decided to take me and Tyson on a last minute surprise trip to Hawaii for New Years and my Birthday! I had never been before so I was super excited and of course Tyson had never been either. This was our first huge vacation together. I was really anxious to see how the 6 hour plane flight would play out. I got back from Northern california on Monday from xmas and we left for Hawaii Wednesday night. We had so much to bring for all three of us. I definitely over packed but better to over pack then under pack right? and with a toddler you need even more. We had 3 big bags we had to check, two backpacks filled, a diaper bag, a stroller, and a carseat. Imagine us trying to walk and check in with all of these items. It was hard. And going through security was even more of a mess taking out everything, folding strollers, taking off shoes and practically all of our clothes...all while holding a baby too. well that was just the beginning!

The cool thing about the plane was each seat had its own tv in the headrest which you could independently watch shows, movies, music etc. Which meant we could turn on cartoons for Tyson. This worked for a little bit but he wasnt too keen in having earplugs in his ears. The other cool thing was that the plane wasnt full so we got a whole row to ourselves and a whole row behind us which was good as far as letting Tyson move around a little bit. The sleep situation didnt work out too well though. Tyson slept for maybe an hour of the whole trip and when he woke up we still had 3 hours left. Not only that, he had some bad diarrhea and went through his clothes... i changed him in the incredibly small airplane bathroom and guess what, a little later he went through those too. So we had two hours with a smelly baby on our hands. good thing no one else was around. lol.

When we exited the plane finally at 10pm which was midnight in Cali time, we forgot to pick up the stroller from the door near the plane so after we got our baggage, which by the way was the first three bags, we had to wait until practically everyone was gone and done for the doorman guy to bring down the unclaimed stroller. We headed to the hotel and finally got to check in our awesome room. It was a family hotel so all the rooms had two separate parts with a big living room area and full kitchen with breakfast bar in one area and room and bathroom in other area separated by big sliding doors. We got a crib brought up too so Tyson even had his own place to sleep. AND the best part is that we were only a block away from the beach and the strip mall with an ocean view from our room. The hotel also had a playground for kids, a nice pool, a basketball and tennis court, and huge bbq areas.

The first day we woke up and went to breakfast and walked down the stripmall. we headed towards the boardwalk to check out the scene and stopped near the beach so Tyson could chase the birds for a little bit. He had so much fun. He loves animals and esp chasing birds. He'll keep his eye on one and chase him wherever he goes. I think he did this for about 20 minutes. After we decided to go back to the hotel so Tyson could take a nap but we had to find or way to a grocery store first. Since we had a full kitchen we decided to get food so we could save some money and make our own breakfast and lunches. AND with Tyson we needed milk as well. To get to the grocery store he had to take a bus and we ended up having so many bags on the way back, the stroller was full adn justin and i had 5 bags to carry between us. Not only that but we had to walk all the way back to the hotel which wasnt that close. lol. Tyson didnt wait until we got back to take his nap. lucky guy didnt have to carry any bags while mommy's arms were about to fall off.

That night was New Year's Eve. It didnt even feel like it since we were in a new place. No worries about what to do, what to wear, or where to go all night. After Tyson's nap we didnt know where the spot of the night to go was with a child to celebrate the new year. We decided to just walk the streets and end up on the beach for fireworks. We ate dinner at Round Table pizza and went through a happy new year with friends and family that were 2 hours a head of us. It was kinda cool being the last ones to go through new years. It started raining very hard, which I guess isnt unusual. It rains for about 10 minutes then stops which is exactly what happened. But now everything was wet including the beach. We still made it down to teh beach after walkin around for a bit. We were all pretty tired, esp Tyson considering the slight jet lag. We waited on the beach for half hour then experienced a great fireworks show. Immediately after we were so tired we headed home and went straight to sleep. The next day we were going to go to the aquarium but decided to walk down to the Hilton Hawaii and meet Justin's friend Jason who was on vacation with his family. This hotel was really nice. they had a very nice pool that we laid at for a little bit and then had lunch.

The third day we decided to wake up early and rent a car. We wanted to be able to do things around the island and instead of taking tour buses so we could have our own itenerary esp with Tyson. We drove along the coast of the island and took pictures then decided to go to Hanauma Bay which is a bay filled with coral reef and many different water species so its really big on snorkeling. I went snorkeling for my first time ever. I was kinda scared. Since we had Tyson Justin and I had to go snorkeling seperately. I was scared because I am not too fond of fish swimming near me. lol. The second time around I got used to it and went for alittle longer. I wish we had a water camera to take cool pictures.

After snorkeling we had to rush back to the hotel and get ready for the Luau we signed up for earlier the day. We had to make it to the bus that was taking us. It was very fun. We got a bus ride to and from and two drink tickets each. We got to see the dancers dance and the guys get the pig from the underground oven, and best of all eat some amazing food. I even went on stage and learn how to hula. Tyson had a great time dancing on the table mimicking the dancers. He even got his own non alcoholic drink to sip on.

The fourth day we decided to take a trip along the coast all the way to North Shore which was about a two hour drive. We got some amazing picture yet again and found some amazing beaches. When we got to the North Shore our first stop was Waimea Falls. We entered the park and the lady was telling us about all teh wild animals we could see. We saw two mongoose right as we entered and then a huge peacock. The peacock was first on the roof and when he jumped down he was immediately surrounded by people and cameras. This scared him so he put up his beautiful display of feathers for all to see.... or actually to show his strength.. Justin and I decided to move out of his pathway and as soon as we did he put his feathers down and walked away. We took a walk through what felt like the jungle until we reached the waterfall. It was so nice. We saw people in the water swimming and sitting underneath the falls. We got Tyson a lifejacket so he could go in the water then Justin and I took turns sitting under the falls. It was a refreashing experience. After that we left the falls and headed to the North Shore market place for some lunch and famous Hawaiian Shaved Ice. Which reminded me of shave-it because it had ice cream underneath. Then we took teh short route through the middle of the island back to the hotel.

The 5th and 6th day we decided to lay out at the beaches all day so we could attempt to still come back with some sort of hawaiian tan. we rented an umbrella on waikiki the first time and Tyson got to go in the ocean with Daddy. he was scared at first but got used to it after a while. That night was cool because we got to meet some of my friends that live out there for dinner. The next day we took a scenic route and drove to a few of the beaches we had previously seen along the coast from the previous day. They were all so beautiful. Our last day was very cloudy and windy though so the beach didnt last too long because the sand kept hitting us so hard we had to leave. So much for our tan. Our last night we had a wonderful dinner at Margaritaville. Both nights we hit up the International Market place to get gifts for friends and family. We shopped with this one lady who was in LOVE with Tyson. She wanted his picture to hang in her stand. The last night we got back to the hotel to pack adn prepare to wake up at 5am the next morning so we could check out, return the car, and check in at the airport by 7am. Our flight home was Different. The plane was super old and didnt have Tvs this time. It was a FULL flight which meant no run room for Tyson...But he did sleep for 4 hours of the time which was good. We had the worst turbulance in the world for 30 minutes I thought we were going to die and I have never prayed so hard in my life. Glad we made it home safely though. Now gotta sort through the hundreds of picture I took to make my photo book.