Hawaii 2010

At the beginning of February Tau had to go to Hawaii for work and I convinced him to let Noa and I tag along. We had a wonderful time there. It was nice to get out of the cold weather. The temperature was about 80 degrees everyday, but poor Tau had to work until it was dark so he never got to go enjoy the beach with us. I finally got him to stay with us the last day, but when we woke up it was stormy and rainy so the only water he got to touch was from the shower.

We stayed at Turtle Bay Estates the first few days and then went over to Turtle Bay Hotel for the rest of the week. This was the view from our patio.

They had nice pools and even a slide, but Noa wasn't very interested in getting in the water. After unsuccessfully trying to coax him into the kiddie pool, we headed back up to our hotel room. I guess Noa was tired of going up stairs or he just really wanted to enjoy the view because he sat down on the steps and wouldn't leave until I carried him the rest of the way up.

We flew in late on a Friday so we didn't do much that night, but Saturday we got to go to the swap meet and then our friends Cam and Lohi Tuitele invited us to go to Chinatown with their kiddies Na'u and Iwi. Chinatown was celebrating Chinese New Year so we were able to try some good food and watch the parade.

Cam bought the kids those snap fireworks and Tau spent the rest of the time trying to stop Noa from chucking them at some older ladies across the street. The cute little baby boy above is Iwi. There were a lot of dragons in the parade and if you held up a dollar they would come and eat it out of your hand. Noa wasn't too sure about them, but he did like the other people who came and handed out candy.

Tau and Lohi used Na'u and Noa's cute charm to see how much candy they could get. Every one was laughing so hard because we were collecting so much through them and we were the ones that got to eat it all. Mwahahaha. After awhile we forgot about it, but Noa didn't. He wanted some candy for his own so he held up his hands... who could resist, he collected more candy all by himself and so we let him eat those ones. So smart that one

After that we all headed back to Laie to watch Ha`, the Polynesian Cultural Center's new night show. It was great. Noa loved it and kept cheering and shouting Yay! These ladies next to him thought he was so cute that the rest of the show every time he cheered they would cheer with him and laugh.

Sunday we were headed to the temple for a fireside at the visitors center, but as we were walking through the parking lot, Noa puked all over Tau's white shirt and then 2 more times on the road. I made Tau wear my sweater home so he didn't have to drive around the temple shirtless. We think Noa had food poisoning because after that he was pretty happy. He had a fever until the next day, but no more puke.

Monday, Noa and I went to the Dole Plantation. He was happy just running around free so we didn't really pay to do anything. I love the stage he's in because he loves to explore. He went and stuck his head in the picture hole all by himself and then climbed on the bench and said cheese until I pulled out the camera and took his picture.

He was fascinated with the koi fish. Those things are nasty. I can't imagine what would happen if you fell in. They're like piranas. Some guy bought Noa fish food and after that he wouldn't leave until I dragged him away. He kept begging food off people so he could feed the fish and the birds. In the top left pic, Noa got tired of running around so he just sat in the middle of the path until he felt like moving. I thought that was pretty cute.

Dinner was usually really late at night because Tau was working so much. Noa had a hard time with the schedule. He was kinda crazy at the restaurants. He got into a bad habit there of throwing fits until we'd prop up the ipod for him and let him watch Baby Einstein so we could eat in peace. Maybe not the best way to deal with him, but the places we ate at were kinda nice and not kid friendly, so I caved.

The last two pics are at Haleiwa Joes. I don't think Noa wanted to be close to the fish sculptures. The dessert here was delicious. I forget what it was called, but it had a lot of chocolate. Yummo.

Lei Cummings at Tau's work hooked Noa and I up with tickets to walk around the PCC villages. Thanks Lei! We had an awesome time. Noa loved all of it and was such a good audience member that one guy even gave him a hat for his cheering. Noa wouldn't take it off

He liked it when they danced, but as you can see, wasn't too sure about getting close to the performers. I hope he will learn how to dance as he grows up. It opens so many doors, not to mention how fun it is too.

I imagined our visits to the beach would be me chasing Noa around and trying to get him to stay out of the deep end of the water, but it was totally different. He didn't want to have anything to do with it. I stood in the water calling him to come swim with me, but he just sat in the sand. He was content to just eat it and throw it around and thats what he did. He got a huge kick out of burying his legs and then asking "wer de go?" (Baby talk for Where'd they go?). He even made a friend for a while until he chucked sand in her eyes. The middle left picture is Noa at the pool. He wouldn't get in there either. I would sit in the pool and he would leave me, climb up on his chair and sip his water until I gave up. Silly boy.

Click here to see a clip of him enjoying the beach. Literally. My camera is broken so it blurs in and out. Sorry.

Noa and I also spent a lot of time around campus. It was so nice being able to walk around and play on the grass. Noa loved it. He was running all around. He kept picking up flowers and sniffing them and petting the grass liked he'd never seen grass before. I guess it has been a long time for him. I can't wait for spring in Utah.

One night there was a bday party at the bowling ally. I couldn't get Noa to leave the window so I just sat down and waited, we had nothing else to do. 10 minutes later a lady finally came out and asked Noa if he was lost. I was sitting far away so I had to run over to get him, yelling "he's mine, sorry", as she was taking him inside. She looked at me like I had lost him. Doh. I felt like such a bad mom and I didn't even do anything wrong.

Eating macadamia nut ice cream from Seasiders. He's so happy :)

Tau worked so hard and was worn out every night. He and Noa seemed to sleep a lot together. The bottom picture they didn't even get their shoes off. I just love my boys. They're so cute when they sleep :) It turned out to be a great week in Hawaii, filled with lots of fun and relaxing things to do. Thanks for bringing us with you Tau, it was the best Valentine's gift ever.