Well...I suppose it depends on your definition of "doing up" a place. It actually was pretty tame (I mean really, can you be
that crazy when you go to bed by 10 and you are up around 7 or 8?), relaxing, beautiful, and a true blessing to have the time for just the two of us.
I'll start off with the Lilah update: truth be known, I don't think she missed us much. I am not saying that to have a pity party, but really because she just had so much fun with granny that I don't think it mattered at all that we were gone. I don't think she asked about us that much or even woke up looking for us. Granny is much too fun, letting her pretty much do whatever she chooses, so it made our exit not such a big deal. I'm actually thrilled about this - I'm not sure what I would have done if my mom called us to tell us that she was having a hard time or sad or missing us. I would have struggled staying there. And since we've been home, she hasn't been any different (clingy or needy). Same girl as before, and I think actually misses seeing her granny. Last night when we weren't budging when she wanted a granola bar for dinner instead of what I fixed, she cried and whined, "Di-di?" (aka: granny). I think she wants her to come back. :)
As far as our trip went, it was perfect. Most of our days were spent lying by the pool or the beach. I finished a book and a little bit of another one. Lance did a lot of people watching and some sleeping, and finally decided to buy a crossword puzzle since I think sitting in the sun without some sort of reading entertainment was getting a little boring.
One of the greatest part of our trip was visiting our friends who like in Hawaii, about 30 minutes out of Waikiki. Brian and Allison used to live here, but are both from Hawaii and ended up moving there for Brian's work. We met them because Brian worked with my dad. He was the son my dad never had...really. He loved Brian, and him and my mom loved Allison just as much. So, we've hung out before and have kept in touch (Allison sang in our wedding!). We met up with them and their little guy, Camden. Lilah and him would have had such a ball together! He is the cutest and has the best facial expressions. The five of us met in Waikiki and walked around and then had dinner. It was great to see them and get all caught up.
We also ate, and ate, and ate. Our first evening we spent $50 on groceries for a mere gallon of milk, cereal, some fruit, bagels, cream cheese and string cheese. That's it...for $50! So, we decided that eating out wasn't going to cost us that much more...although after adding up our receipts I think we both maybe changed our tune. Regardless, we had some awesome food and the scale shows it...unfortunately. ;) We ate at a few sushi places, and they were wonderful. We had some of the cheaper, local food too, which was good (but VERY bad for you). We went to Roys, which so many people recommended, and it was so delicious. Our last night there we ate at this Japanese restaurant that had the most awesome and unique food - we had some sashimi (just raw fish), some fried and breaded ahi "stuff", squid pancakes (sounds gross, but actually very yummy) and a few different mushroom dishes (mushrooms I've never heard of). Mmmmm....we left saying we would have to find a Japanese restaurant around here and see if they have some of the same dishes.
We ended up renting a car since a few places we wanted to go were way too far to take a cab too, and would have costed us actually more. We went to Northshore and watched some great surfers (where the "real" surfing happens). The drive was beautiful and the waves were awesome (not that I say that from experiencing them...I am such a wimp I barely stuck in my legs below my knees). The second day we went to the Pearl Harbor memorial. It was interesting and I learned a lot. They put us on a boat and took us out to where the USS Arizona was still under water (and the resting place for all that died on that ship), where they have a memorial over the ship.
Later that day we headed to Kailua. Unfortunately the Northshore had fried us the day before, so we mostly had to stay covered up. But we walked along the beautiful beaches there - clean, aqua water, and much less busy than Waikiki. We wished we had another day to spend there and play in the water and feel like we had our own little spot on the beach.
We also did try to do a few active things (this does not include eating malasadas - chocolate filled Hawaiian donuts - on the beach while watching some very athletic people surf and boogie board). We went on a run on our 2nd day there - it was hot and sweaty. It's crazy how much you sweat when your body isn't acclimated to the climate. We hiked Diamond Head (pictures below), which was awesome. It was so pretty, and a pretty strenuous hike going up. It was short (I think it took us only about 40 minutes to hike up), but felt harder than a hike here I think only because of the heat. We walked back, which made our workout even longer and by the end of the day, we could hardly keep our eyes open. On our 2nd to last day Lance headed to the gym and I ran again. He's not much of a runner, but I think we both felt like we needed to do something to try to work off some of our ice cream and Yogurtland visits.
All in all, it was great. We were so thankful that my mom came and stayed for a week with Lilah and that they had such a great time together. And, it was so nice that others came to visit (grandma and grandpa, Mimi, Emily and her girls).
Now....we're back to the grind. Lance is back to work. I am back to cooking, cleaning, running errands and going to the gym to try to work off the extra pounds I've gained. Totally all worth it though.
