Hawaii

It has been kind of a crazy time in our family over the last month and a half, so we apologize for our lack of communication via the blog. With our trip to Hawaii, then Matt's mom's death, then moving, and then starting our new jobs at Mayo, we have not had many moments to take a deep breath. Now however, we seem to have a small break in the controlled chaos, and we would like to share some long overdue pictures of our wonderful trip to Hawaii.
As we said before, we were planning a trip for just ourselves to relax before the start of residency. Then Kristi's sister Laura and then-fiance Justin decided to get married in Hawaii, and a family vacation was born. Three flights and many goldfish crackers later, we were on the island of Oahu! We (Matt, Kristi, and Charlotte) stayed in an apartment on the east side of Oahu in a little beach town called Kailua, about a half hour away from Honolulu. Kristi's mom, dad, and sisters stayed in a condo in Honolulu. We were close enough to each other to do stuff together every day, but far enough away to feel like we were on our own vacation! The apartment was great; very private, a fenced in backyard, a giant kitchen, lots of space for Charlotte to run around, tons of geckos for her to chase. Since I am going to post about a million pictures, I will just let the pictures tell you about our trip:

Long plane ride, but Charlotte was very well behaved.

First morning in Hawaii, awake at 4am (9am Minnesota time), then on the beach before 6am!

Charlotte liked playing in the sand, but she was NOT a fan of the water.

Pretending we are on a romantic second honeymoon. Except our child is running away in the background...

Our little dog-lover will find a puppy anywhere, anytime.

Charlotte's spelling and handwriting skills are among the top in her age group. :)

Here is the living room of our apartment. The corner behind the TV is where the geckos liked to hang out.

Every morning Charlotte would run over, peek under the bookshelf and say "Hi Gecko!"

Here is our fabulous kitchen with our handsome cook (no extra charge for him, he came included with the rental fee).

Our dining room, nice and sunny in the morning.

Out the sliding glass doors in the dining room is a deck and a big backyard. We had everybody over a few times during the week.

Charlotte in the backyard next to a giant palm-type tree.

This is the bedroom. Charlotte's pack-and-play is in the corner, covered in blue towels to block out the sunlight.

We all went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, a well-known spot by locals and tourists alike. The secret is to go before 7am when you don't have to pay for parking or an entrance fee and you pretty much have the place to yourself. By the time we left mid-morning it was getting really crowded. All of the variation in water color is due to coral that you can swim around and see some amazing fish!

Grandpa Mark was helping Charlotte get used to the water by throwing rocks. Nothing gets Charlotte interested like throwing stuff. "Fro it!" she says.

Daddy and Charlotte retrieving the previously thrown rocks.

Again, here we are trying to pretend we are on vacation alone.

See, the beach is becoming more crowded.

Future photographer.

Just another cool shot from high up on the cliff above Hanauma Bay. You can see all the tiny people on the beach. They say that in the winter whales will come into the bay where there is deep water and you can see them from up on the cliffs!

Oahu has some of the most beautiful freeway landscape imagineable. Imagine a 30 minute commute looking at this the whole way... much better than a concrete jungle.

Going on a hike in a Jurassic Park type forest.

The fam.

Kristi and her mom hopping down the trail.

Again, not a bad route for your morning commute. This is driving up the east shore of Oahu to the north shore, slightly reminiscent of the North Shore of Lake Superior, except much much warmer.

Here we are at Shark's Cove where we had our best snorkeling (don't worry, no sharks).

Beach babe.

Just a few of the amazing fish-scenery we saw while snorkeling. Kristi's sister Lisa had a cool underwater cover for her camera, and took some pretty spectacular pictures with it.

Some of the snorkelers swam with this turtle! And one of the snorkelers (Lisa.....) illegally touched it. Tsk tsk...

Shave ice is like a snow cone, except way better because the ice is shaved very finely with a sharp blade. The name of the place is Aoki's Shave Ice, and Laura's new last name is Aoki. No relation to the shave ice people, because it is actually a common name.

Charlotte hogged all of Grandma Cindy's shave ice.

We visited a Buddhist temple, situated very picturesque-ly at the base of the mountains.

There were peacocks wandering around there!

Now for the wedding...not a bad place to get married, huh?

Waimanolo Beach has it all--turquoise water, powdery white sand, mountains, love birds.

The happy couple, Laura and Justin Aoki.

Sisters Kate and Laura.

Laura and the mother of the bride.

And the father of the bride.

Another happy couple. Notice Matt's pant leg getting soaked by the rogue wave that crashed up unexpectedly.

Charlotte trying to copy the handstands that Justin's siblings were doing.

The four sisters, plus Charlotte.

For the wedding reception we all went to a Japanese restaurant.

The day after the wedding everyone who was not a newlywed hiked up Diamond Head. A strenous walk that should be done early in the morning before the hot sun makes it unbearable.

A nice steep staircase, with a pretty sweet view!

The view from the top was pretty good too....

Here you can see Waikiki and Honolulu from the top, as well as an old military lookout on the hill directly next to where we are standing.

Kristi and her dad at the top.

Because we burned off so many calories hiking up Diamond Head, we decided to get a Hawaiian special at the farmer's market. Can't believe your eyes? It's a scoop of white rice, with a hamburger, topped with a fried egg, finished off with a healthy serving of gravy. Some might call it a heart attack, we call it delicious.

Yes, this is a bunny in a stroller at the farmer's market. And yes, Charlotte was in love with it. She talked to it in her high squeaky voice that she uses for animals and babies.

Our little ukelele master beginning her training at the age of almost-2.

We rented a kayak for the day and took it out around a couple of islands. Matt and Kristi's dad saw a big sea turtle!

The last morning in Hawaii we had the family over for a nice pancake breakfast!

Goodbye Hawaii, see you sometime!