Oahu

Ely and I are running in the Warrior Dash on Saturday (more on this in a future post) and since the race is on Oahu, we decided to make a nice trip out of it and spend almost a week on Oahu visiting our good friends the Goyers! We haven't been together with Justin and Cherie since we were all stationed in Jacksonville together back in 2009. We flew here on Tuesday and won't be flying back to Kauai until Sunday so we have lots of time for shopping, eating, and visiting :-)

So far, I think Noah's favorite part of the trip has been the airport/airplane ride. Our half hour flight was delayed an hour, so Noah got to spend a lot of time watching and looking for airplanes! He was also very excited to get to ride on the airplane, and he loved having his own seat for the first time.

Watching our airplane finally land

Noah giving Lucy (Justin and Cherie's dog) a treat

Hanging out at the Goyer's house

Racing around in the backyard

Waiting for our breakfast at Boots and Kimo's

The restaurant is famous for their macadamia nut pancake syrup, and there must be some kind of secret network for Japanese tourists because they showed up in huge groups of 20-30 for breakfast at this restaurant that seats maybe 50 people!

Noah chowing down on his fruit bowl

He was literally shoving entire chunks of pineapple in his mouth

We've spent most of our first few days on Oahu eating ridiculous amounts of food that we can't get on Kauai and doing lots of shopping at stores we don't have on Kauai.  It's definitely my idea of a great vacation but I think Ely is glad the main shopping portion of our trip is over ;-)

We spent most of today at Ala Moana Center (the largest shopping mall in Hawaii and the fifteenth largest shopping mall in the US according to wikipedia).

Noah chowing down on Cheerios with Daddy while Mommy and Cherie were busy going to all the stores

Checking out all the fish. Apparently he kept yelling, "Hi fish! Hi fish!"

The view of Honolulu from the mall

Noah driving the Hot Dog truck at the Pearl NEX

 

 Sending warm wishes to all of you in Kansas and Nebraska as the snow piles up outside! We hope you all stay safe and warm and enjoy your snow days :-)

Camden's birthday

Noah and I got to help Camden, one of Noah's good buddies from the CDC, celebrate his 4th birthday on Sunday! It was the perfect party for Noah because it included a bounce house, cake, and a room full of Camden's toys that Noah could play with!

Noah and Camden eating birthday cake

Trying to help Camden open presents

Bounce house fun

Watering the backyard

Noah wanted to clean some of his outdoor toys, so we enjoyed a fun morning in our backyard with the water table (which Noah seems to think is a pool) and the water hose :-)

Noah washing his boat

He's very thorough ;-)

Daddy needs washed off, too!

Noah's turn to get washed off!

Noah decided he needed to be in the water table

Watering Noah

Playing catch in the water table

Lydgate Park

After the canoe race, we finally had a chance to stop at Lydgate Park.  It's not too far from the Wailua River and has a huge wooden park that we've been wanting to take Noah to, but since it's over an hour away we hadn't had the chance yet.

It was definitely a big hit with Noah!

Even though we were at a huge new playground, the first thing Noah wanted to do was go on the swings :-)

Finally ready to explore!

 

Noah loves steering wheels and pretending to drive

 Noah loved this bridge and went back and forth multiple times

First canoe "race" on the Wailua

Last Saturday, I got to participate in my first outrigger canoe race! Although it wasn't an official race, one of the canoe clubs on the island set the event up as a fundraiser, and it provided the perfect trial run for all the new paddlers.

Noah was very excited to get to come watch Mommy paddling and see the canoes! He was the best cheerleader out there :-)

Wailua River

I'm in the purple tank top in the middle

 (don't look too closely at our synchronization...we don't have it ;-)

Noah wanted to go out in the water

Checking out the canoes 

Hiking the canyon

My friend Heidi just started a hiking class on Tuesday mornings (provided free thanks to MWR). So on the mornings when there is an open spot at the CDC, Noah gets to go hang out with his friends at "school" for a few hours, and Mommy gets to go for a hike :)

Here are a few pictures from a couple of different hikes up in Koke'e (Waimea Canyon)

Stacey, Jen, Heidi, Heather, & Nella

 

Canyon Ridge Trail

Heidi, Heather, Stacey, & Marcy