I kinda feel like these Hawaii posts could drag on forever (so.many.pictures!) and I know how short my attention span can be, so for the sake of all of you, dear readers, I will attempt to wrap things up.  As difficult as that may be.

   We ate at some amazing places on the island, and like I mentioned earlier we skipped the fancy restaurant thing and ate at stands, shrimp trucks, and hole-in-the-wall places and let me tell you....amazing food.  So don't just a book by its cover, or a bbq corn stand by it's cheesy photo-op sign.

  SO....if you ever find yourself on Oahu, here are some places you simply MUST hit up!

1. Kahuku Grill and Seven Brothers Burgers
   Both owned by a family with seven sons, hence the name.  Some of the sons run them now, and AMAZING food!  Cool surfing atmosphere, amazing food, etc.  Check it out.


2.  Corn-on-the cob stands.
   This baby came slathered in butter, mayo, Cajun seasonings, parmesan cheese, and probably some other things I can't remember.  It was INCREDIBLE.  I need another one.

3. Leonard's Bakery
  Best doughnut I've had in my entire life.  Pretty sure anyway.  Forgive me, Kalona Bakery and Golden Delight, for I have sinned.


4. Shaved ice and frozen yogurt, smoothies, etc.
  I'm not even gonna name places here because they're all over and some of the most popular places weren't even my favorite, so just shop around, if you will and discover all the island has to offer.


 I don't even have pictures of some of the other amazing places like Opal Thai and that one Korean BBQ place.....oh well like I said we need to wrap this up so if you ever visit Oahu and wanna know the goods, hit me up.


   As mentioned earlier the first half of our fourth was spent feeling patriotic at Pearl Harbor.  After that we spent the rest of the day at Turtle Bay, where they had food vendors, free concerts, fireworks, and (of course) a beautiful beach.  I think this one may go down in the books as the best 4th EVER.









                        

  We rang in the 4th of July this year by visiting Pearl Harbor in Honolulu.  Such a bittersweet place.  Gorgeous setting, palm trees waving in the breeze and the clearest blue skies and warm sunshine...but you can still feel the sting of the tragedy that occurred there, as pungent as the smell of the oil sheen that still swirls on the surface of the water from the sunken battleship below.

That's right.  It's still leaking oil.

   "The day before the attack, the USS Arizona took on a full load of fuel — nearly 1.5 million gallons. Much of that fuel helped ignite the explosion and subsequent fires that destroyed the ship, but -- amazingly -- some of that fuel continues to seep out of the wreckage. According to the History Channel, the Arizona continues to spill up to 9 quarts of oil into the harbor each day and visitors often say it is as if the ship were still bleeding."  



     

   The most moving display in the entire museum for me, was a collection of interviews of Pearl Harbor survivors.  The men shared about the details of that fateful day, and what it felt like to be there.

To see it happen.
To know the ones who died.

   It never struck me before how young some of them were.  19, 20 years old.  They were kids.  They said the planes swooped so low they could see the pilots faces.  They said that the oil was burning on the surface of the water and so when men would try to come up for a breath of air, they would sear their lungs.  Rescued men pulled from the waves would have burning skin dripping off of their bodies.


  I've often heard the story of the sunken U.S.S. Virginia with trapped men still alive inside, and you could hear the banging on the walls.....but I never knew that it took up to 16 DAYS for some of them to die.

No one even told their families.  They wanted to spare them the pain.  You can read more here. 



   But as tragic as all of it is, and believe me, it is.....it haunts me to think of the lives lost on those infamous days that we dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.   I cannot begin to imagine the horror and the tragedy of it all.  The casualty estimates are staggering, but it is easy to forget that thousands died, not only initially from the bomb, but much later from cancer. People like Sadako Sasaki.

   Sadako was just a little girl, the same age as Charlotte on the day that the bomb fell.  She contracted leukemia from radiation exposure and spent what should have been carefree childhood days in a hospital bed.  Hoping in the ancient Japanese legend that healing would come to you if you folded a thousand paper cranes, she folded one after another until she had folded 644.  She died at the young age of 12.



   I left the museum feeling slightly dazed......the horrors of war are so far-reaching, I cannot even begin to grasp it all.   I am so thankful for the sacrifices so many have made so that we can live in freedom, but I am heartbroken that it has had to come at such great cost.

   We live in such a broken, shattered world!  It just makes me LONG for Heaven and for perfection and completeness and wholeness and happiness and endless joy.  We just will never know perfect peace this side of Heaven.  Never.

Pain is all around us.  

   Right now a family I know from back home in Iowa is facing their own battlefield of grief, after losing their sweet, precious, little girl.  You can read the story here.  

   She was just Jocelyn's age and it shatters my heart to think of what they are feeling right now.  Her mother shared pictures from her funeral and what a beautiful, heart-breaking, meaningful day it was.  You can see them here.  

   The tears keep coming as I reflect on all of the special details of her day....pretty toenails and red balloons and her teddy and doll laid to rest with her.  I can't stop thinking about what it must be like for her mama right now and the tears keep coming and Jocelyn wonders why I am crying and asks so many, many questions.

   And for once, I am not frustrated with her endless questions, and I answer each the best I can, all the while squeezing her tight and thanking the Lord for her over and over with ragged whispers.

We are not guaranteed tomorrow.
We are not guaranteed today. 

   Please lift this family (and their extended families) up in prayer and hold your loved ones a little closer today.


 

 
   BUT.....even if you are one of those people (hopefully you aren't) even YOU could find something to enjoy about a Hawaiian beach. I dare you to try and NOT enjoy yourself at one of these slices of paradise.  It's just not happening.  And so here are my top 5 things to do at a beach, even if you hate the beach.



2.  Go for long walks along the shoreline. Look for shells.  People watch. See what all there is to discover.  Strike up conversations with strangers.  Or don't.  The world (or the beach) is your oyster.  I found some seriously cool white coral on this walk that I desperately wanted to take home in my carryon for home decor, but we were filled to the max coming home and they were left behind. :(


3. Watch the surfers.  Or in this case, kite surfers.  (I think that's what this is called??)  You might even get lucky and see someone sporting a top hat as he bounds across the waves.  Downton Abbey meets tropical island paradise.



4.  Go exploring.  Look up what beaches in your area might be known for (historical sites, tide pools, etc.) and go check it out.  In our case, we went searching for the VERY BEACH on which they filmed the crash scene from the TV show Lost.  And we're 99% sure we found it.  Oh and we stumbled upon a sea lion too.



And even if after all of that you STILL don't want to go to the beach?!  

Well then I'd recommend counseling.

Happy Monday, folks!

 

   So....you're planning a trip to Hawaii and  you'd like some ideas of things to do.  Well, I guess I mentioned them briefly earlier, but I will go over some in more detail in this post.  It really all depends on the level of activity you desire, and the amount of money you want to spend.  If you want to lay around the beach and do some shopping, options abound.  We could've gone to a different beach twice a day, every day.  If you are up for more of a physical, athletic adventure, there is as much of that as you could want as well.  So it really is all up to you.

   One of the few things we actually spent some money doing in Hawaii was renting kayaks and paddling out to the Twin islands.  DEFinitely something you want to do if you ever find yourself on the tropical island paradise of Oahu.  Once you reach the island you can eat lunch, read a book, lay in the sun, snorkel, etc. and then you get to enjoy the whole ride back.  I thought the whole experience was easy-to-moderate.  Hard core kayakers (is that a word?) would probably be bored, and it would probably be a little too hard for kids.  So I thought this was a great experience for the public in general.



   I mentioned hiking in my previous post and I'll say it again, PUT it on your bucket list.  The views were unbeatable, the weather was perfect, and there was something so amazing about working hard and EARNING your "lay on the beach time" for later.

   The first hike we did was the Lanikai pillboxes (pictures in my previous post) and I would say it was fairly beginner level.  The second hike we did was the Koko Head trail and boy howdy......it was tough.  I mean, there were some seasoned veterans basically jogging the thing, but I honestly thought I was going to die a few times.  So I'm not sure what that would make this....expert level?  O.k. so it was probably more realistically moderate, and I just need to get in better shape.  But it was HARD.


    At one point in the trail, the ground falls away beneath you far away into the ravine below, and all there is to walk on is the railroad ties.  That was actually my favorite part.

   (I forgot to take a picture of that part, and so I found this one online over here.)  I heard someone refer to it as "Mount Everest, except with less snow."  Obviously they were exaggerating, but that definitely made me feel better.  But once again, the views at the top were unbeatable.




   Would I do it again?  Yes, yes I actually would.  But I would work my way up to it, maybe by conquering a few lesser hikes first, and not do it on the second day, immediately after we did the Pillboxes.  This resulted in searing pain and jello legs for the next few days, and so I never did quite feel up to another hike on the trip.  Sad, sad, so very sad.  I want to go back and hike All. The. Things.

 
   The place where we stayed was teeny tiny (another great way to save $$)  but it had access to a beach that was almost always empty and so private.  It was so beautiful there.  One morning Randy and I walked out there and watched the sunrise.



 
   Another way to save money is to stick to a mid-size, plain Jane, rental car.  And then if you're lucky like we were, they'll be all out of those and tell you to just upgrade to the convertible for free! :)


   As I mentioned earlier, Kualoa ranch was one of our highlights.  It is BEATIFUL there and they offer several different types of tours.  Bus, boat, ATVs, and horseback.  I would definitely prefer the horseback, but my dear husband has already endured that once before for me, and so it wouldn't be nice to make him do that again.:)  We took the bus tour and they shoot lots of scenes for movies and TV shows in that valley, and showed us all the different spots that they used.