Day 7:
This was our last day in Hawaii. We had to be checked out and gone from the condo at 10:00 am which left us with a lot of time to tour the island some more because our flight did not leave until 10:30 that night.
We got all packed up and cleaned up the condo a little and left to go to the swap meet that was at Aloha Stadium. This swap meet was huge! I cannot believe how many booths they had and also how much of the stuff was the same at many of them. Tanner, Layla and I started going to many of the booths finding things that we wanted to get as souvenirs. We got things from sunglasses, a bag for Layla, T-shirts(which we get every vacation we go on), a pearl necklace for me and a few other little things. We lost Aubrey and Chance pretty much at the very beginning but they were shopping around at the swap meet also. They did not find anything they were really looking for but I think they still had fun.
Then we headed over to Pearl Harbor. I was so excited to be back at Pearl Harbor. I love learning about history and have found interest in World War II. This was fun, we got to see missiles, submarines and we went on the free tour of the Arizona Memorial. We got our tickets and went to stand in line and while we were standing in line Chance had the misfortune of getting pooped on by bird. He had to go run and wash it off before we went into the movie. Luckily him and Aubrey got back just as we were walking into the theater. The video was a great recap of what happened just before, during and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. We left the theater and rode a ferry boat the Arizona Memorial. As we were riding the ferry we rode passed some current day Japanese battleships that were anchored there for refueling. We thought that was very ironic that there would be current Japanese battleships in Pearl Harbor.
It was such a humbling experience to see the sunken Arizona battleship and the names of all the soldiers who lost their lives that were serving aboard that battleship.Layla did not specifically understand the importance of being quiet and respectful to those names of the men who lost their lives for our country but you could tell she understood a little but she is a toddler so she wanted to run up the steps and scream. It was good to go in and see the names but then come out and she could look at the water.
After that tour I wanted to go see the Battleship but sadly I was the only one. Everyone else was ready to leave to do something else. We still had almost 7 hours to kill before heading to the airport with nothing else planned to do. For me a planner, I did not like this very much especially when we had to come up with something else to do. It was getting close to Layla's nap time so it was good to get in the car to let her sleep though. She did not fall asleep on this car ride unfortunately. We found a food court in one of the malls in Waikiki.
These malls! They were huge and they had a lot of expensive stores in them. We walked to find food and ate at the food court. While we were going to the food court we got in an elevator that did not take us to the right floor but a little family got in with us and she looked at Layla and said, " Oh, she is cute." I am not sure by the way she said it if it was a compliment or a I looked at her to long and I need to say something nice about her. We then had a little down time at the mall and bought a few more gifts for people and souvenirs at the ABC store because most everything else was to much for us.
We then got back in the car and took a drive to a few look out places. We drove up Diamond Head to the crater but they were closing the park soon so we went just outside the tunnel and Chance flew his drone. Layla and I stayed in the car most of the time because she was asleep and she needed to sleep. Then, we drove up to round top to catch the sunset one last time on our trip to Hawaii. It was so pretty up at the top of this look out. The light and colors that came from this sunset were so pretty and perfect. We stayed there for a little while but still had almost 2 hours to kill before heading to the airport. I did not want to hang out at the closed airport waiting to fly home so Tanner suggested we drive back down to the beaches and malls in Waikiki.
It was so fun to look in some of these stores and see what the style is and what styles Tanner and I like and especially what some of the items cost. It is a little crazy but we enjoy seeing these new nice things. Tanner and I probably wont buy anything from Prada or any other brand designer in our life. A lot of the stuff is weird like fur short shorts but there are some really nice items. There are some nice things we do like such as nice suits and elegant dresses. Anyways, the funniest part was the number of Asian people at this mall and how many of them looked at Layla like she is cute or that it was weird we brought her into a mall like that. Then there was the smell in the make up portion of the mall. It was so much perfume. Finally it was time to head to the car rental place.
We drove to the car rental place and the guy wasn't there. He told us to leave the keys in the car and lock the car. We did have to wait a little while for a taxi to come get us in this strange part of town. The people having a BBQ across the street just kept looking at us and watching us while we waited. Layla was throwing a little tantrum and again she hit me and called out for just her dad and I shouldn't have but my feelings were hurt again that my daughter just did not want me. Luckily I know she doesn't mean to make me feel that way. It is very normal for a toddler girl to want her dad.
Finally, our taxi driver got there and we headed to the airport. We checked in and headed to our gate.We got to our gate and had just a few minutes before we started to board. We got Layla in her pajamas and got on the plane. We did not know she needed a boarding pass also so I ran back and got a boarding pass for her and then got on the plane. We were very lucky that our flight wasn't full and we both Tanner and I and Aubrey and Chance had seats between us so Layla got her own seat and Aubrey and Chance could have a little more space. This flight was in the middle of the night so we slept most of the time. Well as much as you can on an airplane with a sleeping wiggily toddler. It was one of the first plane flights in a while where I needed my jacket and a blanket because it was so cold. Which was so nice!!
We made it to San Francisco and had a layover for about an hour. Layla and I played with the airplanes they had hanging on the ceiling. Finally be boarded our plane to Salt Lake City. I was very much ready to be home with my little family and to sleep in my bed and not eat out anymore.
I always love vacations but I always love to come home to my home!
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