Oahu

After five days on Maui, we jumped on a plane and spent the remainder of our trip on Oahu. The lines at the Maui airport were crazy! We barely made it to our flight in time. The kids were so worried, and I just had a constant prayer in my heart that we would make it. Prayers are definitely answered. Once we arrived, we unloaded our luggage at the AirBnB and then spent the evening with some of George's family from Manteca who were also visiting the island.

The next day we explored a little bit of downtown Honolulu. George took us to a cute little shop with amazing shave ice and then we went to the national cemetery which overlooks the city. I was surprised at the amount of traffic. I was so glad Jesse did all the driving for the whole trip. 

  

The next day we were able to attend sacrament meeting in one of the churches. I had talked to Jesse about getting professional pictures taken while we were in Hawaii, but we agreed that we didn't want to spend that much money on it. So, while everyone still looked nice after church, we stopped at a close beach and a stranger took the picture for us while George waited in the car as there was no parking. The picture turned out great! I just had our brother-in-law, Seth, lighten us up a bit since we were standing in the shade.

We then spent a little time at the swap meeting doing some shopping after which we headed to the home of George's grandson, Keoki, where we spent the day with wonderful company and delicious food. I'm so glad George was able to spend time with his family. He was so happy, and I know it was one of the highlights of his trip.

The next day we spent making the loop around the island. There were so many beautiful views! We even meet a man with a parrot along the way. Jesse isn't much of a fan of birds, but the kids and I had fun holding and interacting with it. We stopped at a beach for lunch and then Jesse took the bigger kids swimming. The water was a bit rough, so Cosette didn't go in until the end with Jesse for a bit. She spent most of the time with me, Magnus, and George playing on the beach.

We were able to spend some time at Pearl Harbor. I totally spaced taking any pictures, but it was such a wonderful experience. Even Atreyu and Cambria were super interested and loved reading the different facts and stories at the visitor's center. We then went to the swap meet again and then played at Waikiki beach. Every time we'd tried taking Magnus in the ocean up to this point, he would cry and cry. He also didn't like it when I went in the water. For some reason, he was okay with it on this beach as long as we didn't go out to far. 

The next day we did more touring. We went to Leonard's Bakery where we savored these heavenly malasadas. Oh, I wish I could have more now. They were absolutely delightful.

We made our way to the Dole Plantation and then to the Laie temple. I've always seen pictures of it, but it was so lovely be there in person to see the beauty and feel the spirit there on the grounds and in the visitor's center. The temple was one of my favorite stops of the entire trip.

We explored some more of the island and stopped at a roadside store for lunch which we enjoyed on the beach which also had a cute little swing.

Our last stop was to visit George's granddaughter, RaeAnn, and her family as they all weren't able to be at Keoki's on Sunday. They were such a sweet family. It was a wonderful way to end the trip.