Hey, y'all -
We spent most of July in Hawaii. Your dad had to go to another naval exercise down (over?) there, and since the Navy was once again footing the bill for his travel and lodging, we decided to go along.
Last year, I was a little overwhelmed by the trip. Your dad had to work the night shift, which meant we had to leave the room every morning so he could get at least a minimum amount of sleep. We stayed at a hotel in Waikiki that was three blocks from the beach, which might as well be three miles when you've got two small children (one who hates to walk on sand), a bag of essentials, a mini cooler and towels. This year, I decided things would be different.
I called Peg Peg and Tex and invited them to join us for our almost three-week stay, so I could have a little help in the kid-wrangling department. Then, I had your dad book us a cabin on the other side of the island at Bellows Air Force Base. The downside of Bellows is it's not near anything - there's no walking to a store or a restaurant. I take that back. It IS near something: The dang ocean.
This is Laney, showering off on our cabin's back porch. As you can see, the water is about 60 steps away.
On our first day there, I discovered the cabins don't come with luxurious amenities like...say...towels. I should not have been surprised. The military isn't known for being in the hospitality business. Beach towels in the local store were $16 each, and there were going to be 6 of us, so...yikes. While your dad went to work, I drove you guys to the Kailua Goodwill, where I bought every beach towel and mini-comforter they had for $1.50 each. I'd like to say "This is how I saved us a ton of money!" but instead, I fell in love with my new towel collection and didn't want to give it up, so I made your dad buy me a duffel bag so I could check the towels back to Missoula. Probably a wash at the end of the day.
Staying on a military base is a lot like stepping back in time to the mid-1970s, and I mean that in the best possible way. Kids ride their bikes and scooters everywhere. They walk to the playground by themselves with instructions to be back before dark. Everyone watches out for everyone else's kids. Laney made a friend in the cabin next door, so while they were playing in the water together, I took them some crackers and lemonade. From down the beach, the friend's mom yelled "I'll get the next snack!" and we raised our beers to each other and went back to reading our books. It takes a tropical village.
They also have a mini golf course that runs more or less on the honor system: "Here's a club. Have it back to us by the end of the day."
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Flying to Hawaii takes about 8 hours of flight time, and when you land, you have to set your watch back four hours. I don't know if it was jet lag, or the time change, but Hagen set a precedent on day 2 of sleeping through just about everything. He would fall asleep on the way to something, sleep through the activity, and wake up back at the cabin, never suspecting he'd missed a thing. This is why Hagen doesn't know that he's been out for a fancy Japanese dinner, been on a snorkeling trip in Kailua, gone purse shopping at the base exchange, and been parked between pints at an Irish pub.
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Tex and Peg Peg arrived a few days into our trip, which worked out well, because Hagen and Tex share a lot of the same hobbies: napping, complaining about sand, enjoying the shade, snacking, and asking when we can go home.
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Our little family loved playing in the water, which we did a lot of. Swimming, body boarding, snorkeling, you name it. For Hagen, it was mostly floating in a Finding Nemo inner tube and asking to be left alone to float.
Your dad remains the handsomest dude in the world.
Snorkeling over at Ko'onlina, your dad ran into this guy:
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I don't mean to suggest that it was only Team Burbach who enjoyed adventures, because (as I promised my mother I would), I would like to title this section: THAT TIME MY MAMA DID STUFF.
I couldn't believe my mother had brought a little plaid umbrella on a wilderness hike, but then I remembered that Laney had insisted on bringing a purple vinyl purse on the trip, and there's that old saying about apples and where they fall in relation to trees.
One of Laney's favorite things to do in Hawaii is to eat at the automated sushi place, where plates of sushi pass by your table on a little conveyor belt and you pull off and eat anything that catches your fancy and the restaurant charges you per plate. Peg Peg and Tex went along for the ride, and I guess that also counts as being adventurous and "doing stuff"...
...even if they were literally not having it.
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We visited the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, which was profound and very sad, and reminds me: if you ever go to sacred spot where men have fought and died for your freedom and you choose to wear a halter top and cut-offs, I will rise up from my own grave and address your situation.
The most moving thing to me was the newest section of the memorial wall. It seems there are those who survived the attack on 12/7/41 who have asked to be buried with their brothers in the USS Arizona decades later. That says so much to me about the concept of brotherhood and how the events of a single day can mark your life forever.
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For the final week of our trip, we moved over to Waikiki so we could do some city activities, and my mama could be within walking distance of a Macy's and a PF Changs. We stayed at the Hale Koa hotel, which is a military resort on the water in Waikiki.
And of course, we went to the luau.
...and the Zoo...
...and the Children's Museum and the shave ice place and the mall and the hotel pool where military lifeguards rule with an iron fist and enforce hourly "adult swim" times that bum all the kids out.
There's no way I could possibly include all of the great pictures from our beautiful, fabulous, fun-filled trip, but if you want to check them out, I put them here.
'Til next time, Hawaii.
Miss you already.
Love,
Mom
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