"I will get to the rest of our vaca tomorrow:)" was what I typed out FOUR MONTHS ago!! So, now I will attempt to finish blogging about our Hawaiian dream vaca by looking back at photos - because you know this memory can't help me!
Day 5... We only lasted until 4:30. We were exhausted! Christy took us to the Windward (NE) side of the island and we hiked the Pillbox Trail, ate lunch and then then boys swam at Kailua Beach. The drive literally through the mountains in the middle of the island was incredible - jungle!! We parked in Lanaki and walked 3/4 mile to the beginning of the trail. The hike had the most amazing views and we got some awesome photographs. Who knew there were so many shades of blue. The hike was moderately difficult and no one complained. Not once. Some areas even made me a little nervous because they trail was so narrow and the drop-offs were dangerous. The boys didn't seem to notice. Jack got freaked out once we got to our destination. We all climbed atop the Pillbox and that's when he decided that he had had enough of the heights. I am so stinking proud of him though- we eventually made our way to higher ground to a different Pillbox and he mustered all of his bravery and climbed on top of that Pillbox!!! Then, on the way back down the trail, we stopped and Jack conquered the first Pillbox. Attaboy!
We dropped the boys off at Kailua Beach and grabbed sandwiches. After a beach park picnic, we were all freezing and decided to call it a day. On the way home we stopped at one of the scenic look outs from inside the jungle.
Day 6... Christy took me and the girls to breakfast in her little town and then we hot up some thrift stores. When her kids were done with virtual school, we headed to Ryan's favorite surfing spot: White Plains Beach. Again, a beautiful beach. See through water. White sand. 50 surfers way out in the water. And perfect waves for my boys. We were there for hours, enjoying it all. Ryan attempted to teach Jaylee and Jennibelle had to surf. Evan and Jimmy had fun burying each other in sand. All the kids had fun crashing into the waves from the beach. We even had a friendly family v. family volleyball game. Of course, there was even a rainbow or two through out the day! This was the day that Pennsylvania got hit with a blizzard, LOL!
Day 7 was an overcast day. Because of the rain, our "Swim with dolphins boat ride" was cancelled. The weather was Appropriate though because we, Stringhams, headed into Honolulu and went to Pearl Harbor. First, we hit up the Aloha Swap Meet and Marketplace, which is a "huge flea market", It's in quotes because during COVID, nothing is huge. We got our touristy things though! Like... my dancing hula girl bobble head for my car! Then we headed to Pearl Harbor. I had watched the most recent Pearl Harbor movie with the boys, because I wanted them to have an understanding of where we were going, and respect. And they totally did. It was a little eery. It was somber. It made me angry. There was a humongous anchor on display - it had been made in Chester. That made me proud. When we were out at the memorial, we saw a turtle, swimming among the wreckage - and that me stop for a minute and think. Life keeps moving. We were all hungry afterwards, so Jaylee was super super super excited to take us to Raising Cane's Chicken - a place she had fallen in love with while visiting Tommy. Yeah.. it was ok. For dinner, we made Greek Spaghetti for the Leclairs- the Hawaiian version since the didn't have exactly everything that we usually use.
Day 8 began with an Army ceremony, where we got to see Matt in action. Then we headed to the Dole Plantation to look at Rainbow eucalyptus Trees (they really do exist!) and try a Dole Whip for lunch. No one was as impressed with the trees as I was. My family just does not appreciate horticulture like me. We saw thousands of pineapple plants - which is good because I didn't see any on my trip to Kauai because I thought they grew on big trees. Oops. We spent the afternoon at the Waimea Valley amazed by all of the lush, amazing, large, green, tropical plants. Jimmy, Jennibelle and I braved the 72' waterfall water to "swim in a Hawaiian waterfall"- and it was well worth it. sure, it took your breath away. But after 1 minute, you were numb! It was an experience of a lifetime, that is for sure!
And then we were off to Waikiki for a few days...
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