We had the absolute best time in Hawaii. It was such good bonding time for us. We never wanted to leave. Every day was spent in the sun relaxing, playing outside, being spontaneous, having no where to go at any particular time, running through the rain, eating good food, playing in the water and checking out the cool fish. Hiking the lava flows was a unique experience. It makes you think about how quickly paradise can be covered with blackness. In a matter of hours, there's nothing left of what once stood there. There were plants and ferns starting to pop up between cracks in the new flows and it's amazing how quickly the plants reclaim their home from Pele. People had already moved back to the spot their homes once stood, just building new homes on the new flows. Now that's resilience.
I got nice and tan and Enoch got, well, burnt. He wouldn't wear any sunscreen even though I bugged the crap out of him about it :( oh well. It was so much fun still even though I couldn't give him hugs alot of the time. The sad part is I never wore sunscreen and I didn't get burnt at all really. Just light red on my shoulders that never even hurt and Enoch got roasty toasty. The sun felt so so good. We just wanted to stay outside all day and soak it up.
We ate so much amazing food. Grass fed steak and fresh fish, Waimea strawberries, yummy local desserts and ice cream, kalua pork, loco moco. If you've never had or heard of loco moco, it's a Hawaiian favorite. It's rice ( 2 scoops ususally) topped with a big hamburger patty and eggs any style. When I suggested it to Enoch at lunch time, he looked at me like I was nuts. And then he tried it, and really liked it. Hawaiian dishes are some of the best food we've ever had. We had such a yummy but really cheap breakfast the morning of the day we left. Three pieces of sweet bread french toast soaked in vanilla egg batter and sprinkled with powdered sugar and coconut syrup...doesn't that sound AMAZING. for $6!!!! You don't need to go to expensive fancy places to get the best food. The best food is at the local places. If you ever want to know where to go, just ask me!
We're already planning our next trip back to Oahu. We want to go to Pearl Harbor and The Polynesian Cultural Center and definately get some surf lessons for Enoch at North Shore. The PCC is such a great experience. It takes you though a trip through the islands and cultures of Polynesia. You take a boat around the the center and there are "islands" you stop and explore the cultures of each different people. And Pearl Harbor is just such a humbling place to visit.
Seeing my family was really the height of our trip. I missed my parents and sister alot and it was so good to see them. We had fun nights with them. They all had to work most of the time but when they weren't working we hung out with them alot. It was great!!
