Our Hawaii Trip...first half

WOW! That was quite a plane flight! We left the house at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 20th. We stopped in Chicago, my most favorite city. I found Garretts' popcorn on the way through the terminal to the gate & of course had to stop for a snack to take on the plane. After we boarded the very full plane, I realized just how long my legs really are. We did make the statement that we will gladly pay for first class next time for a flight that long. My body was hurting by the time we got off. The ladies met us saying, Wright family, Wright family, & we went up to them & received our lei greeting. The kids had no idea that we were getting this. As we proceeded to baggage claim & stopped by for potty break before our bags came out, Austin realized his new gray hoodie was left on the plane. He had sat in front of us with his sister, Abby, & she told him to get his stuff, like the little mom she is becoming. I went to the American lost baggage desk & told them what had happened. He took my name & number & I had the feeling that would be the last of the hoodie! Anthony & Austin came back from the restroom & we were standing there watching bags go around & Anthony says "where's my wedding band. I know I just had it!" He went back to the restroom & searched through the paper towels with no luck. I told him he probably left it at home & not to worry about it. That was like talking to a brick wall. The poor thing obsessed over it most of the trip. We started the trip off great, didn't we?!
We finally got the rental car & were on our way to the hotel on the west side of the island, Ko Olina. The tropical trees & landscape was gorgeous! We had a room with a beautiful view. After getting acclimated to the resort, we went back to the room & got our swimsuits on & hit the lagoon & pool. I started getting chilly & it was 85+ degrees. That night I was calling the gift/sundries shop looking for a thermometer. I sent Anthony & the children off to dinner without me & I was popping tylenol & motrin. My body hurt, I was jet lagged, but I was determined to sleep this off. The rest of the week I ate tylenol & motrin. I'm certain the altitude wreaked havoc on my joints.
On Monday, we hung out by the pool & lagoon again. We tried out the kayaks. I was with Abby & Anthony had Austin. We could have won big money on America's Funniest Videos. We did one thing & the kids did the opposite. Also Anthony got hit a few times by Austin's oar. We were getting ready to head back in when Austin tried to move around in the kayak. About that time Anthony said a gust of wind came & over they both went. Of course we all had life jackets on, but Austin had a bit of trouble getting out from under the capsized kayak & went he did manage he came up crying, best his pea picking heart. I was worried at first, then when all was well, Abby & I started laughing. Austin got right back in the kayak, but Anthony couldn't get back in so we ended up pulling them in to where Anth could stand. Needless to say the kids didn't want to kayak anymore.
Tuesday we took off to the North Shore for the day. We went to the Dole Plantation, looked around, ate pineapple ice cream, which was marvelous, then tackled the maze. It took us almost two hours to complete. Another America's Funniest Video award winner!! There were eight stations you had to find & mark the stencil on your card. The hardest one to find being the pineapple. We were determined to finish & we did!
On up Kamehameha highway, is the neat little town of Haleiwa. It is home to mainly artists & surfers. Cool little shops & dives like Kona's, where we had lunch, are abundant. We stopped at several beaches such as Turtle Bay & watched the sea turtles come up on shore. They were too numerous to count. Volunteers man the beach to stretch ropes out so tourists won't bother the turtles. Waimea Bay was our next stop, with teens & crazy adults jumping off this huge rock into the water. On the way back with the help of the gps system, we found Banzai Pipeline. This is an awesome stretch of beach, home to annual surfing competitions. The current seems much rougher than the other beaches we visited. There was no way I would play in the water here.
Wednesday, we had to take Anthony into Honolulu for his cadever lab. We went shopping & ate while he had to work. Another late dinner resulted in Austin falling asleep. The traffic in Honolulu is horrible. I found out later that Honolulu is the 11th largest city of the U.S.
The second half of the trip will soon follow.