Pearl Harbor...and some other hot spots

Tuesday began as the rest of our Hawaiian days with an early wake up from Charlotte (3:30am), Mommy holding Charlotte until 5:30am while she slept and then Charlotte waking up wide eyed and focused on: "MAAAAAAAAAAAAA-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" "woof-woof!!"  And still no sunrise!  Stinky clouds.

But then Hannah and Austin went off to school, Dan was on a work assignment in Alaska (yeah, from Hawaii to Alaska!), and Trisha went to teach a Bible study.  So that meant Tuesday's festivities were up to our little family of three with one in the oven. 

And...we may have been a wee bit ambitious.  But...we were on vacation in Hawaii...and we had stuff to see, places to go...you know.

 Our first stop?  Pearl Harbor.  Which, I don't really know what exactly I was expecting.  But I do know I wasn't expecting quite so many people.  It was a madhouse.  People were everywhere.  And by the time we figured out where to sign up for the tour of the actual Pearl Harbor, which you get to by boat, the next tour wasn't set to leave for over four hours.  Eesh.  We didn't really have to debate the decision to do the tour.  Charlotte made that decision for us: no tour of Pearl Harbor.  But we DID go visit the USS Missouri.  (We had pre-bought tickets for this tour the day before).

By the time the bus arrived at the USS Missouri, the sun was actually shining.  (I guess I also didn't expect Pearl Harbor to be so spread out!  Most everything required a boat or bus ride to get to view it!)  The sun was lovely.  For a little bit at least...because then it became hothothot.  But I suppose that's to be expected, right?  I think the best part of the tour was the handy dandy hand-crank elevator we got to ride up onto the deck of the ship.  That's because we had Charlotte in a stroller....which she rode in for all of about 5 minutes of course...  And by the way, I don't think the USS Missouri was made for toddlers and especially not strollers. 

Charlotte did at least get to enjoy some exploring aboard the USS Missouri!

After a (more than a) few disruptive cries from Charlotte and a poopy-diaper-change behind the row of flags that people were standing in front of for photo opportuinities (OOPS!  Totally didn't notice THAT before changing our kiddo!)....it was clear we would not be touring the entire ship.  At least not together.  So, Charlotte and I rode the handy-dandy hand-crank elevator back down to the sidewalk and Daddy toured the ship on his own.  With the camera at least.  Charlotte and I camped out on a bench and I started pointing things out to her.  We saw "booohhhs"  (Translation:boats), and flags and lots of people.  One particular man was on a large group tour and he was filming everything as he walked.  He apparently thought Charlotte and i were part of the exhibit because he focused that little video camera in on Charlotte and i as he passed by.  It was a wee bit uncomfortable....but...what do you do?  I doubt we even spoke the same language...Aw well.

I pointed out the "Kansas" flag to Charlotte.  And as I did so the lady sitting on the bench next to us mentioned she was also from Kansas!  Wichita, to be exact.  During our conversation, Kansas lady also gave a word of advice she learned while staying in Oahu: "If it's cloudy on one end of the island, it's sunny on the other side."  I suppose that could be true, but the forecast did say that the side of the island we were heading to that afternoon was supposed to be clear and sunny.  So I decided to stick with the forecast.

I am sure you have already guessed it.  We quickly learned we should have stuck with Kansas lady's advice. 

We ate a quick lunch overlooking Pearl Harbor (Charlotte's corn dog was actually frozen!  So they brought us a second one thankfully....which she downed like there was no tomorrow.  It was so good to see our baby eating again!  Even if it was a mysterious corn dog....).  And then we drove back to the North Shore.  We were going to check out Waimea Falls and hang at a beach...then get some "Shave Ice" in Hale'iva. 

Tangent: it is indeed "shave ice" and not shaved ice or sno cones or slushies or icees, etc.  Just plain shave ice.  The locals are very clear on this.

We just happened to drive by the Dole plantation on our way out to the North Shore.  So i of course had Ben make a pit stop for me to get some Pineapple Dole whip.  Charlotte took a nap throughout the hourish drive...so i didn't even have to share.  Though i would have!  I am not that stingy :)

 

 Dole Whip craving satisfied, we headed on to Waimea Falls, the clouds building as we drew closer.  And as we pulled into the parking lot, the rain made it's presence known.  So...we opted NOT to wear our swimming suits up to the base of the falls where you can swim in the natural pool.  However, the sun did peak through every now and then during our little hike.  And the humidity was sticking right there with us.  And Charlotte didn't want to ride in the stroller or in Daddy's arms, but only in MOMMY'S arms... so you can imagine.  I started to regret that decision not to wear our swim suits up there. 


 I felt totally and completely pregnant as I "hiked" up that paved pathway.  I mean, come on!  I so overestimate myself sometimes.  I really thought it would be no big deal for me to walk up there.  I feel like I am still in pretty good shape, I work out daily, chase a toddler around...  But man!  I was panting like a dog.  I had to stop multiple times...  but we finally made it.  Though I cannot even tell you how many people passed us by. 

 

 And most of those people were swimming in the falls, basking in the sunshine.  Having a grand ol' time.  So I had Ben test the water with his hand.  Fortunately for us, it felt ice cold.  So our regret of not wearing our bathing suits faded quickly.  As did the sunshine.  We had our own share of fun playing at the edge as Charlotte began to get a wee bit more brave with the water.  She appeared to find much delight in feeling the cold water trickle over her hand, tossing rocks and watching them splash....yup.  Pretty cute.

 

 

 As the storm clouds continued to roll in, we decided we better start the descent.  Who knew how long that would take, after all?  Once again, Charlotte played the "Mommy" card and I played right into it.  I am such a sucker for my girl.  I need to work on getting a little more tough.  But she's only young once.... and I didn't carry her the entire way down!  Just part way.  She walked most of the rest and chased a bird for part of it too.

 Again, the rain clouds opened up right about the time we reached our car.  We decided to drive on over to the beach anyway and wait out the storm.  Ever optimistic.  As the rain began to die down, we decided we might as well walk down to the beach.  There were others out there enjoying the not-so-expected-Hawaii weather.  (well, I suppose rain and clouds are to be expected in Hawaii, but whenever I have pictured Hawaii, I have pictured sunshine.  So that's why I call it the not-so-expected-Hawaii weather.)  This particular beach had some adventure-seekers.  And a little cliff over the ocean.  Oh how I envied them.  We watched a few brave souls take the leap into the ocean and I did my best to nudge Ben on up there.  But he wouldn't take part in such a "dangerous" activity.  Truthfully?  He probably made the right decision.  As much as I hate to admit it.

 We left the cliff-jumping beach and stopped by another beach where sea turtles and surfers were plentiful.  Charlotte got a kick out of both.  And I got a kick out of Charlotte!  I just love watching her experience new things.  It's so exciting through her eyes!  Though I tried to shield her eyes from the thong-sporting-bikini-clad women.  (It wasn't even sunny!!)

We finally ended up in Hale'iwa for dinner.  It's such a cute little old town with all sorts of shops and restaurants and yummy treats!  With so many choices, we opted for one we figured Charlotte would enjoy: mexican food.  Charlotte loves black beans.  And after dinner....the Shave Ice.  But I apparently enjoyed myself too much at dinner...because I couldn't hardly eat half of my Shave Ice.  And that was even sharing it with Ben and Charlotte!  The rest ended up on the floorboard of our rental car.  Oops.

 At least we got the Shave Ice photos.