Aloha Valentine's Day

Jeff usually goes to Hawaii for work so when he came home a week and a half ago and told me he was going, I thought, okay no biggie.  But then he asked me if I wanted to go as an early Valentine's day present!  That was an instant no brainer, and of course I was already packing our bags! 

This is how Grant flies!  Angel!

Grant and I arrived in Hawaii a few hours before Jeff because we had to fly separately.  Jeff unfortunately couldn't get on our flight.  To kill some time Grant and I went to the Honolulu USO and had some snacks and watched some tv.  That lasted only an hour and then we hit the pavement and Grant and I walked the airport over and over and over again!  Needless to say we were more than excited when Jeff finally arrived and we could get our Hawaiian vacation on the road!!!

Passing the time by reading his book!

After checking into the hotel and getting settled we hit the strip of Waikiki beach in search of a place for dinner.  Jimmy Buffet's was the obvious choice, Jeff even came prepared in his Hawaiian shirt! 

The time zone had a less than desirable effect on little man's sleeping, but it was 150% worth it to be in warm weather.  Our first night everyone woke up at 4am, a little too early to my liking!  Not wanting to sleep this vacay away we decided that we would instead hit the beach for a run.  We ran every day but one at 4 or 5am on the trip.  It made for perfect training for my half marathon!  It was also really nice to run with Jeff, something we only get to do on the weekends anymore. 

Grant and I made use of our time while Jeff was at work and did some serious window shopping!  The shops on the strip were endless...seriously we could have walked forever if we went into each one!  There were the token shops of cheap crap and there were also the super swank stores that would take more than a few of our envelopes to buy anything. 

Passing by some cool statues while window shopping

We cannot resist Puka Dog!

Hilton Resort and Village had a penguin exhibit!

We also passed the time one day by heading to the Waikiki aquarium.  It was gorgeous there and Grant loved looking at all the fish.  He would just stare into each tank and look at all the colors.  Occasionally he would hit at the glass trying to get all the fish or he would squeal looking at them. 

It was really nice that Jeff would get off early each day so there was plenty of time to do stuff after work as well.  Grant went into a swimming pool for the first time and absolutely loved it!!!  He was a splashing machine and was smiling the entire time.  I love just how curious he is becoming about everything and wanting to see and touch everything in site. 

Grant also became a rolling machine on this trip.  Now instead of crying in desperation and horror when he is on his belly he just flips right over!  I couldn't have been more proud when he started to roll consistently!!!

This bed is all MINE!

This is how Grant rolls!!!

Jeff didn't have to work the last two days that we were in Oahu.  We made sure to take advantage of some of the major points of interest such as Pearl Harbor and the Dole pineapple field.  Pearl Harbor was absolutely amazing and breathtaking.  We watched a movie about the history of Pearl Harbor and then headed out to the USS Arizona and memorial.  It was a moving experience and I am so glad that we got to go and visit such a historic site in America's history.  

The Dole pineapple field was a delicious stop on our Oahu tour!  We had pineapple ice cream with a fresh pineapple topping, heaven, it was heaven!!! We walked around the gardens and fed the koi fish before taking some classic cheesy tourist pictures!

These fish could not jump over each other fast enough to get to the food!

I LOVE pineapple ice cream!

We finished off the day by heading to the North Shore and to see the Pipeline.  The waves were just as big as they seemed on television.  I don't know how the surfers do it because I don't think I could survive for one minute out there in those giant waves!  

On our final day in Hawaii we did a driving tour of the island.  We started out early and headed up to Sunset beach to see the giant waves and take some pictures.  The weather was the worst day it had been our entire trip and rain was always looming.  Grant didn't enjoy the day in the car as much as we would have hoped so it made things our last day a little more difficult!  But making the most of it we continued to tour the island with me sitting in the backseat with Grant playing peek-a-boo.  On our quest to see the island in its entirety we stopped at Hawaiian Ice, famous for President Obama stopping there multiple times each time he is in Oahu.  The Hawaiian ice was so good, it had ice cream on the bottom and a snow cap (basically more sugar) on top!  To wash down all the sugar we hit up a pizza joint, another delicious stop!

Sunset beach

 

To walk off all the calories we went to the beach and strolled around.  It was fun to see all the kids playing in the water and I can't wait until Grant will be old enough to jump in the waves!  Time was closing in on us so we decided this would be the last stop on our trip.  After the beach we headed to the airport to head to the mainland.  Truly this trip was the perfect adventure that we needed!  It was warm and beautiful and each day we got to expose Grant to something new and exciting.  He is getting more and more curious about life and we can't wait to travel with him again soon!  Maybe Jeff will have another Hawaiian trip in the future that we can tag along on!  Fingers crossed!!!!