The Roblee Blog: Hawaii

Co-Captain's Log - November 9, 2009

Day 1 - The morning started off well with a clean getaway and nothing forgotten...what a shock! We battened down the hatches and cleaned the house up just in time for dad to come pick us up to go to LAX. Thanks, dad! We loaded everything up (SO MUCH STUFF) and were on our way with plenty of time to spare. Dane was really excited as we approached the airport and he started yelling, "You see the airpaannneees mommmyy?!" It was awesome. Once we said goodbye to dad we checked our bags and got to the gate with no problems.

Anyway, Dane was so excited to be on the plane, but honestly, he didn't flip out like we thought he would. Calm, cool and collected he was - it was so cute! Erica was not as calm, but she did okay. Take off was fun, but again, Dane was chill about it. "We go fast, daddy?" Yes, Dane, we go fast. Oh, and Erica wasn't too thrilled about the oxygen mask falling down in front of the people in front of us. LOL! People were taking pictures of it and laughing. It was a good moment.

We arrived in Honolulu 5 hours and 26 minutes later and our bags came with no problem. We piled into the new family truckster, met Mike's friend Jamie to pick up his surfboard he's been storing for him, and headed to the hotel. The hotel was a cute little hotel in downtown Waikiki right in the middle of everything. Mike went surfing almost immediately after we got there (he was jumping out of his skin) and Erica, Dane and I went to go get food (we were also jumping out of our skin).

We all went to bed around 9:30 pm and woke up at 4:30 am! We had to adjust to the time change AND the time zone change. It was nice getting up early and watching the sun rise, though.

Dane is ready to go!

Apparently only one passenger was in need of oxygen on that flight.

Dane and auntie Erica are ready to get to Hawaii!

A little tired, but at least he's got his "pack pack."

Co-Captain's Log - November 10, 2009

Day 2 - Mike went surfing with his buddy Bob Sabatini and Erica, Dane and I journeyed to the glorious place called Foodland. If we had just listened to Mike a LITTLE more carefully, we would've gotten there a little faster. After a few illegal moves and asking the question, "wait, what street was that again?" a few times, we found it! We picked up some less expensive groceries there and headed back.

After Erica "woked up" from her nap, we went to go pick up Mernie at the airport. Dane didn't know she was coming, so he was very surprised! On our way back, we saw two huge rainbows and Dane was so excited! It was a really cute moment:) We headed back to the Aqua Wave hotel and hung out for a bit to regroup. And regroup we did, after the "crisis on the balcony." We have a balcony outside with bars that are just big enough for Dane to fit through. At one point we heard a blood curdling scream from outside and thought the worst. After rushing to the scene, Nanny Erica assessed the situation and came to the conclusion that Dane's head was indeed NOT stuck, he just panicked and turned it the wrong way. With a little turn of the neck, he was pulled to safety. Of course, he still has a big red mark across his face from trying to pull his head out the wrong way. "I need a bannnnnaaaiiiddd!" We put a bandaid on his forehead. It was quite the picture.

That evening we decided to have dinner at the Chinese restaurant downstairs. It was fantastic, but Dane grew tired pretty quickly. Mike took Dane upstairs for a shower and the rest of us went to the front desk to rent a movie and grab some candy and popcorn. We came back to the room and got into our comfy clothes in preparation for the movie night, when Mernie, standing next to the microwave, surrounded in billowing smoke, said, "Uh, Erica...Something's happening with the popcorn." Erica realized something was indeed "happening" and we promptly began our emergency procedures. We opened the sliding door and had the towels waving - only to realize later that the smoke alarm wasn't even working. At this point, Mike just walked in and saw the chaos going on. He, in his Mike way says, "I can't leave you alone for 10 minutes!" Meanwhile, Mernie thought it would be a good idea to open the door to the hallway to fan out the smoke. We immediately got a response from the hotel staff asking us the source of the smoke. They had gotten numerous calls about the building being on fire. I can just barely hear Mernie at the door (Erica was hiding in the bathroom), "I'm so sorry, sir. We just burned the popcorn." They weren't too happy with us. They came by later to ask us if we wanted them to spray Lysol. Um, no thanks. Erica realized after all this that the bag of popcorn only called for 1.5 minutes as it was a half size bag. Ah yes...reading directions...a thing of the past. So, please remember, the "Popcorn" button on your microwave doesn't know how big your bag of popcorn is.

After the smoke settled, we got into bed and watched our movie. We peacefully and happily, fell asleep (well, most of us). It was a good day.

Breakfast at Big Kahuna's.

A little cuddle time for Dane and mommy.

Daddy comforts Dane after the "balcony" incident.

Even with a sore head, Dane is pumped for a yummy Chinese dinner!

I think it's time for bed...

The remnants of the popcorn.

Co-Captain's Log - November 11, 2009

Day 3 - We got a flier the day before for a cheap breakfast at what we THOUGHT was a hole in the wall steakhouse place called Galaxy Steakhouse. We walked up the stairs to this tiny doorway and walked into the twilight zone of restaurants. It looked like it had been a club before, so it was decorated in a very modern way. It was huge, white and clean. There was a red Christmas tree at the door, too, which I can only describe as...interesting. Anyway, we sat down to a great breakfast together. We quickly realized why there was a table that looked like a concierge table in the front of the room. We also had a spotlight on our table, which was so odd. A man walked up to us and greeted us very nicely. Then he went into his "would you like to sit through a 90 minute presentation" speech and right then we knew...time share! He bothered us for a few minutes until finally Mike's gentle, but firm "no thank you's" settled in. We didn't get out of there before he got one more sales pitch in...poor guy had no idea who he was dealing with. At least we had a cheap and yummy breakfast, though, right?!

After that, we went back to the hotel to regroup and Mike went surfing with his buddy Rooster. After a little bit of complaining on my part about the size of my belly, the rest of us packed up and headed to the famous beach of Waikiki. It was a GORGEOUS day and the sun was a perfect temperature. At the beach, we just floated in the water and sunbathed. Nothing really to report there, except of course that Dane was being so adorable! We had his sand toys for him to play with, so he just puttered around in the sand for a couple hours. He also loved going into the water to swim - such a different reaction than I thought he would have, so that was a surprise! He was just giddy with excitement about being in the ocean. He even went under water, which stung his eyes at first, but he didn't cry. I think he was just startled by the salinity of the water. He also really enjoyed watching the very animated Japanese people next to us bury one of their friends in the sand. The guy they buried was so cute trying to talk to Dane. Every time Dane would look at him and laugh, the guy would say, "Excuse me!" with a smile on his face. I think he was trying to say hello or something, but since he didn't speak English, "excuse me" was the only thing he could muster. Such a great exchange to watch.

After a great day at the beach, we headed back to the hotel to get Dane down for a nap. He was thoroughly exhausted. But first, we had to eat lunch next door at the Big Kahuna. Dane likes that place because there's a big statue in there of a scary guy. I guess it looks like he has boobs, cuz Dane calls him the "boobie guy." HA!

While Dane and I rested, Mike took Erica and Mernie on a hike to Diamond Head. They got some great pictures and had a wonderful time exploring. When they got back, we got ready for dinner. After driving for a bit around town, Mike found the sushi place that his friend Jamie was telling him about. This was the most amazing sushi we'd ever had! The restaurant was called Imana's and the waitresses there were so gracious and sweet to us. They loved Dane, too! The fish was so fresh, the ambience was amazing...we were even in one of those little rooms with the tables that sit low to the floor. At first I freaked because I thought, I cannot sit cross-legged on the floor for that long! But there was a hole in the ground for us to put our feet into, so it was all good:) Anyway, we kicked off our shoes, we ate some fantastic food and Dane enjoyed his as well. We asked him earlier what he wanted for dinner an he kept saying, "Goose!" LOL! So, we ordered him Teriyaki chicken and told him it was goose. He was delighted.

At the time share breakfast. Bizarre.

At beautiful, but crowded, Waikiki Beach!

Erica and Mern at Diamond Head.

Mike and Mern taking in the view.

Time to get cleaned up for dinner.

Looking very sharp there, my boy...

Eating at Imana's, the best sushi we've ever had!

MMMMMMM....

Co-Captain's Log - November 12-13, 2009

Days 4 & 5 - On Thursday morning, we woke up around 6:15 and got our things together. Erica and Mernie were going to the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor (Mike and I have already been), so they needed to get an early start. Mike took them over there while Dane and I hung out at the hotel and cleaned up. Once they all returned, we packed up our stuff into the family truckster and headed out.

On our way to the North Shore, we stopped at the Pali Lookout at Nuuanu Pali State Park. It was a beautiful view of the island and the weather was perfect! Dane was only really interested in the "cockadoos" that were running around, so we chased a few before we left the lookout.

After eating way too much at lunch, we drove over to Laie Point to look at the enormous surf going on. Usually Laie is not this crazy, but that day it was roaring. Waves were crashing into the rocks sending spray 60-70 feet in the air. It was breathtaking. Mike, Mernie and Erica walked out to the end of the point and I stayed back with Dane in the car as he was sleeping. Hopefully the pictures do it some justice - it was an incredible sight.

Laie was our last stop before we got to our house in Velzyland, North Shore. We arrived mid afternoon and were greeted by a cozy, clean and beachy house. It is such a great place! Everything was stocked and well organized, too, so our OCD guests are all happy:) After unloading and getting familiar with the place, we came up with a shopping list and drove over to Foodland to get groceries. Erica about had a heart attack after realizing that Hawaii prices are quite a bit higher than in the Mainland. Hey, almost everything has to get here by boat or plane, right? It is pretty hard, though, when you are used to paying $2.19 for a half gallon of milk and it's almost $5 here! But anyway, I digress. We still did a good job with our shopping and felt good about our purchases in the end. We even headed over to Starbucks for a little pick me up drink and took a "few" of the sugar packets there to take back with us - there was no sugar at the house for coffee. Hey, we paid a lot for those drinks, right? :)

The next morning, Erica made pancakes, eggs and bacon and we waited for Mike to get back from surfing. Unfortunately, after we ate breakfast, I got a call from Mike with some bad news. The electronic part of the key to our car had fallen in a puddle and the car would not start! If you know our story from our trip to Kauai in 2006, this makes the story even "better." Basically, Mike and I had been stranded on a dirt road in Kauai for 6 hours because we ran through a puddle that rendered our car...well...dead. We finally got towed to safety back to Alamo, but not after a $600 tow down from the mountain. Needless to say, it was an experience I'd like to forget. So, when Mike called me with this news that he'd have to be towed all the way back to the airport to get a new car, my heart sank. Luckily, we have premiere AAA, so our tow was free! Alamo said they'd let us know if they will charge us for the key later, once they figure out what's wrong. Well, they said that last time about the car and they never called, so hopefully the same happens this time. All I cared about, though, was getting Mike back here so we could enjoy the rest of the day.

In the meantime, the rest of us walked down to the beach and enjoyed a lovely time just hanging out. We made it to the beach and enjoyed ourselves some Ukelele sounds in the distance. Meanwhile, a stray pit bull that we lovingly named Tripod (I think you can figure out why) pleasantly roamed the beach and greeted the guests. He left Mernie a little present on the beach, which she didn't appreciate stepping in, I'm sure. All in all, though, it was a nice time. Dane spent most of his time making sand cakes and singing happy birthday to himself and us. So cute.

After a few hours of relaxing, we got ready and headed down to Haleiwa to do a little shopping before dinner. We saw some nice things, but dang, not cheap! So, we decided to just go to dinner early. We ate at a place called Haleiwa Joe's. Mike and I ate there last time we were here and knew they had yummy food. Let's just say, the gang was not disappointed. The food was amazing, the girls had some great cocktails, and I think Dane ate more than he has this whole trip!

We headed back disgustingly full and ready to rest. We were in for another crazy night of weather. This time, thunder, lightning (very rare for Oahu), rain and wind.