Today, we went back to the Wailana diner for breakfast, this time enjoying waffles and bacon!
When we got back to the room, Lily was a little tired, so we decided naps were a great idea. Afterwards, we headed down to the pool. Again, Lily put on quite a show for those sitting near the edge of the pool.
That afternoon we decided to take another walk around Waikiki, although it was MUCH hotter than I thought it would be. On the way back to the hotel, I tried to take a short cut through the parking garage of a shopping center. I thought this way, we could at least walk in the shade. As I came out the other end of the parking garage, I apparently ended up on the second floor, with no elevator in site. Anxious to get back to the hotel, I decided to pick up the stroller and carry it, with Lily strapped inside, down a flight of stairs. I am pretty sure that is not the recommend approach.
That evening we had dinner at the Benehana on the hotel grounds. I think Lily really enjoyed the excitement of our chef....and the open flames. On thing she does not like-teryaki.
That evening there were fireworks on the beach. Lily wasn't too excited about these either but we had a good time on the balcony that night.
We started the morning with breakfast at the Wainlana coffee shop again. This time we tried the banana pancakes with a little cinnamon rasin toast, which she loved. She ate nearly a whole pancake by herself. I also learned that once you heat a banana, it keeps it's heat...for a long time.
In the morning, we headed out in search of wood stores. Lily felt this was a perfect time to sleep. I also threw in a trip to Best Buy to find an Elmo CD, as Lily has adamantly requested "ELMO!" everytime we got in the car.
Later, we went to an actual wood gallery that I wanted to visit. Lily, fresh from a long morning nap, was very interested in running around, touching everything. This was a bad situation. I tried to hold her and keep her entertained, but it wasn't working. She wasn't happy. I wasn't happy. I am sure the proprietor wasn't happy. We made a quick and loud exit.
We needed lunch, and after some chicken strips via a Jack in the Box, we made up, and headed back to the pool.
That evening we headed out to a the Pali lookout, which has great views of the north shore of the island. After that we went to dinner with a friend of Carrie's, and her man-friend. Lily, again, put on quite a show.
Today was the first official day of the ASHG conference, so Lily and I were going to be on our own.We started off by going to breakfast together at an IHOP across the street, which went pretty well.I thought the Honolulu zoo would be good morning activity, so packed up our things, and hoped in the car for a quick trip to the zoo.
When we got there, the parking lot was all meters, and I had no change.This was not good.I had also forgotten the sunscreen.Also not good, as we are in Hawaii.I quickly spotted an ABC store, which are ubiquitous convenient stores in Hawaii, that carry just about everything.In Waikiki, you can literally stand in one ABC store, and look down the street to find the next one, and so on.I found a dime under then passenger seat that bought me 6 minutes of meter time, and darted across the street to get more change, sunscreen, and some cold water.
The Zoo was very nice, however, 9AM on a Wednesday is not exactly the best time to go.There were very few people there, which was nice.There were also very few animals there…which was a little disappointing.Many of the animals were behind the scenes while the exhibits were being cleaned or repaired.We got see most of our favorites thought (elephants, giraffes, rhinos, birds, tigers, monkeys, and lots of birds).Lily was particularly interested in a peacock that was roaming the grounds.
After a few hours at the zoo, we headed back to the hotel to meet Carrie for lunch and naps.
In the afternoon, we decided to head to the pool, in full pool garb, including our super-stylish sunglasses. The pool at the hotel is surrounded by patio chairs full of people. Lily liked to play on the steps, close to the people, putting on quite a show of splashing and jumping for those watching her.
That afternoon, we decided to find a local bike shop. It was kind of a pain to get the car back from the valet, so we decided to walk. It was only a 1.5 miles, in the afternoon, through the middle of Waikiki. Three (3) miles round trip, with an 18month old in a stroller is a lot farther than you think. Thanks for that, google maps.
Lily handled our sojourn quite well though, and was excited to touch the bright little tricycles.
Now that everyone was feeling a little better, we decided to see the sites of O’ahu.We started the morning with a light breakfast of muffins and cinnamon roles from Starbucks, and headed out to Diamond Head.Diamond Head is a large, nearly perfectly round volcanic crater.There is a path that you can climb on one side of the crater, that takes you up to a rim, once occupied by the US Military.The path is 1.7 miles in total, but it climbs up the side of a volcanic crater, so you can imagine it is pretty steep.
As Lily is getting older, she is getting more independent.Currently, she is focused on feeding herself using spoons and forks (with limited success) and walking everywhere on her own (no carrying or hand holding allowed!).On top of that, her new favorite word is “No!” As we started up the climb, we walked along a paved, gently sloping pathway, several feet wide.This is a very popular tourist destination, so we were not alone.
Despite her best intentions, Lily tends to meander a bit, and is pretty slow, as she stops to visit every plant and inspect every rock.At a certain point, I had to scoop her up and start carrying her.This went better than expected, and she seemed mostly content to ride on my shoulders.There were a few parts that were fairly steep, and when you are carrying 30 extra pounds (Lily + backpack with water, camera, candy), you need to take a breather every so often.Lily didn’t really care for the rest stops, and urged me to move on.Her motivational techniques include sticking her fingers deep into my ears, and pulling backwards very sharply, as well as trying to pinch my actual eyelids.Message received.
Diamond Head was first and foremost a military installation, with several cannon batteries, which were still in place (no cannons though).The idea to make it a tourist destination, was clearly an afterthought, and surpising sketchy.The path up the mountainside is extremely narrow, extremely uneven, with minimal safety installations (railings, falling rock protection, etc).The top of the rim was no exception, with 100+ people crammed on to a small platform.After about 20 minutes of looking around, jostling for a rail position, and taking some pics, we decided to head back down.Lily felt that she needed to take a little bit more control of the situation.
For the trip back down, she was hell bent on walking it herself.After a few minutes of struggling, I thought I’d give it a go and see how she did.Honestly, it was admirable.I was able to negotiate a few points of order (I had to carry her down the two story spiral staircase, as well as the flight of 100 steep concrete steps.In return, I would let her walk the trail on her own).She is a very shrewd negotiator.It helps that her only initial response to anything is “No!”.
Eventually, traffic started to back up behind us, and I had to cancel our arrangement let her ride on my shoulders down the path.This did not go well, as she made entire mountainside aware of her displeasure.The squirming, hair pulling, scratching, and biting lasted for several hundred feet, before she realized that riding was way better than walking.Carrie and I focused on trying to distract her with a selection of best loved Elmo songs that we have been forced to listen to for hours on end (current favorites include 1.The wheels on the bus, 2.Itsy-bitsy spider. 3.If your happy and you know it, etc).Eventually her mood changed, and she began to dance…on my shoulders.My sun-burnt shoulders.We did not realize the show that we were putting on for the weary travelers following us.
From there we headed over to Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona memorial.Part of the tour is a 20 minute video about the Pearl Harbor attack, which was very informative.Lily was not quite as engaged.She did like riding in the boat to the memorial, and the “pfishies” swimming around.
It was nap time so we decided to drive to the north shore which is less populated, but said to have giant waves this time of year. After a little shopping in the small town of Haliewa, we headed to the beach, where lily wanted to play in the sand, and apparently started eating it.Gross.
For dinner we went to Haliewa Joe’s, which was easily the best dinner we had the whole trip. Most of the seafood was freshly caught from local waters.We ordered Lily the Kids Fish and Chips, which she liked.Neither of us could identify what kind of fish it was, so we asked our waiters.Freshly caught Yellow Fin Tuna.I am not a fan of tuna, but even I know that frying yellow fin is wrong! Needless to say, she loved it.
Today was Daddy's birthday, and Lily wanted to start celebrating at 5AM. Yay?
We decided that eating every meal at the hotel was unsustainable, and so we visited the the Wailana Coffee House across the street. I like pineapple and pancakes. These guys were able to put those two together for a proper birthday breakfast.
Lily draws a bit of attention, good and bad, everywhere we go. Our very nice waitress stopped an talked to her several times, but Lily would always clam up. We tried getting Lily to say Aloha, but it only came out as "HA!" She sounded a bit like she was mocking our poor waitress.
Later that morning, we drove to Hanauma Bay, which was absolutely gorgeous. You park on the top of a cliff practically, and walk down to the beach. The water is very calm because of the coral reef, and the aquatic life is quite literally everywhere. They do a good job of conservation here, by requiring you to watch a 15 minute move before giving you access.
Hanauma Bay is a national park, with very limited access, so the amenities were sparse. If you want an exercise in spatial reasoning and logistical problem solving, try changing a squirming 18-month old from normal clothes, to a swim diaper and bathing suit, in the stall of a public restroom, without touching any actual surface. Like I said on Sunday, we are not good at "going to the beach".
Based on our first experience at the beach, I decided it was a bad idea to see if Lily could snorkel. But due to the proximity of the reef, little fishies would swim right up to us, which tickled Lily quite a bit. After a while, she would point at just about anything in the water and go "pfishie!"
Later that night we ventured back to town for dinner. Our first dinner was in a very touristy shopping strip. It was OK, although Carrie insisted that she was entitled to fully cooked fish- ceviche, anyone? We decided that we wanted to try some real "local food", not a tourist restaurant. Naturally, we decided to go for Mexican food.
Mexican food can sometime be a risky move in foreign lands (yes, I know, Hawaii is a state, but lets be honest here, there are birds flying around my head that would be in a zoo anywhere else). While traveling in France, we decided that we would give a Mexican restaurant in Versailles a shot. I think it is safe to say that no one employed by the restaurant had been to Mexico, and they were quite unfamiliar with the cuisine. We enjoyed such offerings as cheese quesadillas (made with chevre cheese), and Fajitas (with green beans and broccoli). Delicious.
This time we got lucky and the food was great, the service was great, and the ambiance was very much "local Waikiki", if there is such a thing. Lily enjoyed her cheese quesadilla (with quesadilla cheese, whatever that is), Spanish rice, and generous amounts of sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. Someone likes to "dip" as she says.
I woke up at 3:30 HAST to find the bathroom, and walked past Lily's crib. To my surprise, there she was, wide-eyed and smiling. I was not. I knew the time change would be difficult for her (-6hrs), but this was not good. I spent the next 90 minutes or so giving her a steady stream of toys in twenty minute intervals to get her to relax in her crib while I tried to salvage some "restful sleep". By 5AM it was all over and we were all up, awake, and planning our day.
First things first, we needed food. We were pointed to the nearest Safeway grocery store and sent on our way. We left with only the bare essentials, fruit, sunscrean, cookies, diapers/wipes, candy, water, beach toys. Like I said, the essentials.
We decided to take it easy our first day in order to figure out what sort of schedule the Lily-monster was on. Off to the beach!
Living in Kentucky, you don't really get a lot of exposure to the beach. We are not good at it. Sand was everywhere. Things were blowing away. It was hot, and we needed shade. After about 10 minutes of chaos, we regrouped, reflected on our many Florida vacations, and snapped into action. We scored some beach chairs and an umbrella. We rolled our bamboo mats and weighted the corners. This was more like it. Bring it on, Ocean!
On this trip I was learning a lot of things about myself, as well as my travel companions. At this moment, I learned that Lily is very little, and the ocean is very big. This point was lost on Lily, as she has continued to call it the "pool". We walked out to the edge of the waves, and marched right on in. The next wave, if you can even call it that, knocked her right on her back, water up her nose, water in her mouth, salt in her eyes, and somehow, I was to blame.
After a few minutes of coughing, heaving, and distrustful looks in my direction from multiple sets of eyes, we waded a bit further out, which was acceptable to all, but only briefly. We spent most of the morning playing in the sand.
In the afternoon, we decided to check out the pool situation, which was more familiar territory for Lily. At the moment, Lily's favority thing is jumping off the steps, whether anyone is there to catch her or not!
Carrie had submitted some data to the American Society of Human Genetics conference, which was accepted for a poster presentation. It's kind of big deal. This year, the conference was held in Hawaii. Unfortunately, Lily and I decided that Mommy couldn't be trusted to be on her own, so it was best if we came with her.
Two months ago, that seemed like a really great idea. As our departure date got closer, though, I realized that we had just decided to take an 18- month old on a 5hr plane trip to Seattle, a 6hr layover, and then a 6hr flight to Honolulu. Not only that, but for 4 days it was going to be just me and Lily (no mommy). It may sound strange, but I have never been entrusted with that many consecutive days of unsuperivised baby supervision. What in the world were the two of us going to do all day? What were we going to talk about?
Finally, the day came and we were all up at 5:30 AM. Bags? Check (there were more bags than people). Activities and toys for Lily (and me)? Check. Cautious optimism? Check.
The journey through the Cincinnati Airport was smooth sailing. We got there with >2hrs to spare, however there is a time warp in the security area of the CVG airport. Just like a worm-hole, you emerge with 5 minutes less than you need to get breakfast/lunch and still make it to your gate. There are mysterious quantum mechanics at work there.
The flight to Seattle was as good as could be. Lily was a little restless, but able to be coralled in our own private row (Although not required by FAA law, we decided to get her a ticket, so she had a seat. best. decision. ever.).
I think Carrie was a little more nervous about keeping her entertained than me. By the time we had flown through Illinois, Mommy had whipped out the nutritious snacks, the new toys, the dvd player, more new toys, the candy, and finally the blanket. We had four more hours to go.
We arrived in Seattle around 12PM PST (3PM on Lily's clock), with 6 hrs to kill. I had spoken to a friend of mine who flies through Seattle a lot and she had informed me that the Seattle airport had a playground in it, that could occupy some of Lily's attention. After lunch, we quickly found it.
I am not sure "playground" is the word I would use. Maybe a more appropriate name is "Baby ThunderDome". The play area was a collection of rubber covered play things centering around an airport theme (an airplanes, luggage, air trafice control tower, movable walkway, fire truck?!?). To put it mildly, the other children were tired, cranky, and wildly unsupervised. One young child in particular was on his way back to Juneau, Alaska. I believe that maybe he had gotten too much sunlight while in the "lower 48" and had caused him to lose all self control. His father was deeply engrossed in his iPhone. I wanted to introduce him to the term "behavior management" and ask if there was an app for that!
Eventually 6PM PST (9PM on Lily's clock) rolled around and we took off for Hawaii. Lily slept most of this flight, which was icredibly boring due to the lack of any sort of video display device on the plane (Thank you, Alaska Airlines). She woke up right before landing in rather cheery mood.
We touched down in Honolulu at 8PM HAST (that is 2AM on Lily's clock). She was awake, happy, and running through the airport.
We had made it with only a couple of tearful meltdowns. Lily on the other hand did great!
We spent the rest of the evening taking a shuttle to the rental car, installing an unfamiliar carseat in an unfamiliar car, in the dark, in the rain, with the wrong instructions.
We drove to the hotel without getting lost (thank you Garmin!). Our hotel reservation however was nowhere to be seen. I took Lily to look at the fish, while mommy introduced the hotellier to the full force of her personality.
By 10PM we were all three ready for a Mai Tai and some sleep (4AM on Lily's clock!).
Today, we went back to the Wailana diner for breakfast, this time enjoying waffles and bacon!
