Day 2: In the Air and on the Ground

I stumbled out of my bed at 7:30 am into the living room of the suite, only to find out that all the guys had been up since 5:30, enjoying the easy time change.  We had resolved not to try to do things all together in favor of going our own ways and following our own schedules, each doing as we please, as long as we rustled up together for dinner each night, which was freeing.

Before the rest of us did much of any thing that morning, Mark and Jake, along with Mark Sr., Agathe and Nika, took a helicopter tour of the island, which they all declared to be awe-inspiring.  A major focus of this trip for us is giving Jake the same full Hawaii experience that we gave Jordan when he was 12, and a helicopter tour was part of that.  It was also significant because that tour with Jordan 12 years ago was what sparked Mark’s interest in helicopters, and now he’s on the way to his helicopter pilot’s license.  This time, he watched the pilot and the copter as much as the scenery.

I babysat the little girls at the hotel while Nika was in the air and Brad wanted to take a quick hour-long hike.  Brad loves adventure walks.  I’d say he loves hiking, but he’s not a backpacking, mountaineering guy, just one who loves finding different trails and new places to take long, vigorous walks.  What he didn’t tell me was that he thought he’d hike up Diamondhead- after walking TO Diamondhead from the far western end of Waikiki, because he’s as ambitious as he is adventurous in his walking.  After it took him nearly two hours of walking from the hotel to reach the trailhead, he called and confessed his intention, and that he’d be back in a couple hours, nearly four hours from the time he left.  No harm done, as I didn’t mind the lazy morning for myself, having arrived extremely sleep deprived, knowing that Mark and Jake were having a thrilling morning and I was glad Brad got in a nice long walk.

Brad and the helicopter crew all arrived back from their various locations and Mark immediately shuffled me off for a lunch alone together, while the boys took care of themselves for lunch.  We walked slowly westward along the Waikiki shore, enjoying the water’s edge on the way to the Hilton property for the Tropics Bar and Grill on the beach.  The Hilton Hawaiian Village certainly has a lot to offer, but also a certain hectic energy, not unlike Disneyland, which made us glad that it wasn’t where we chose to stay, as peace & relaxation were more important to us than variety of onsite activities.

Lunch was wonderful, beyond the good food and great location.  It’s starting to sink in how few years we have left raising dependents and what a great stretch lies before us of being a party of two.  While we certainly find ourselves occasionally wishing our big guys little again for the cuteness and snuggles, we are also hungry for time alone, as we entered marriage as parents of a nine-yr-old and never had those first years of just being a couple.  Over lunch, we made plans.  All sorts of plans.

We got back to the hotel in time to muster into our two groups for the rest of the afternoon and evening: those going to the USC-Hawaii game, and those going to a luau.  Mark, Jordan, Brad, Nika. Mark Sr. and Agathe were the game contingent.  Jake and I were supposed to be part of the game group, but with Jan’s knee still convalescing I didn’t want her to have to girls out and about by herself and Jake decided he wasn’t quite ready for his USC weekender away game, so Jan, Jake, Emma, Sarah and I made up the luau group. 

Jan secured a limo (which are actually everywhere in Honolulu and the easiest way to get a group of 5 or more around town) and the girls had their first limo ride over to the Hilton’s Waikiki Starlight Luau.  It’s not on a grassy knoll along the sand in a peaceful cove as a good luau should be, but with two little girls who get tired early, it was better to be able to escape early if needed.  It had plenty of activities for the little ones (make your own flower bracelet, Hawaiian tattoos, etc.) and the stage show featuring dances from different Polynesian nations was the best one I’ve seen.  We got text updates from the game and once we saw any signs of yawning, gathered up the kids and headed out, doing some souvenir shopping on our way out of the resort.  

Back at the hotel, the guys agreed it was fortuitous that Jake had decided against going since, unfortunately, several of the Trojan fan groups around their seats were rather badly behaved and it would have been uncomfortable and upsetting for Jake.  Aside from unruly fans, an ugly start to the game, and a disappointing offense, the Trojans did get a W, and our group was glad to be there to witness it.  I had been told that the Punchbowl rocks, shakes and sways when the fans get going and our gamers affirmed that the place was literally rocking!

We were all still feeling tired from the time shift, so off to bed we went, before the clock struck 10:00.