Life in Ottawa with Ian, Laura, Katherine, and Makena: March 2008

Here in Ottawa, one gets really tired of winter really quick, unless you fall into one of the following categories:

you're under 16 years of age (especially if you don't have a car),
you ski or snowboard, or
you sell winter tires for a living.

So, building on our experiences gained while based on the west coast, it was finally time to schedule a tropical holiday for when it's supposed to be super-mega-ultra-cold-and-crappy here in Ottawa, which also happens to be when most people are routinely heard exclaiming something along the lines of "@#$%& winter; I'm so tired of this!"

After several months of planning and airfare we booked in back in September, we were once again off to HAWAII. This was the third trip for Laura and I (last time was early 2001) and the first with Katherine.

We flew through Vancouver, where Katherine was left to be spoiled-beyond-belief with TWO sets of grandparents in Langley. The next morning Ian, Laura, and her brother Colin were off to Honolulu/Waikiki on Oahu! Baba and Grandma Liz would join us in Maui in 5 days, where we would spend the next 8 nights in condos on the beach!

Woohoo! Plane ride! I can't count how many times we heard Katherine say "Plane!"...here we're still on the tarmac in Ottawa.

..kinda makes the 10+ hours of flights from Ottawa worthwhile, eh? This is Waikiki Beach, right across the street from our hotel.

This is looking back at Waikiki at night from the end of the small pier, again right across the street from our hotel.

The three of us went to hike the Diamond Head crater the first full day we were there.

This is a view into the crater from one of the lookouts as you climb up the inside of the crater.

Needless to say, the views from the top make it all worthwhile...

Here we are.

Here's the view of Diamond Head from the pier across from our hotel in Waikiki.

We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center on the north side of the island for an afternoon, took in some of the presentations, and stayed for the big luau dinner. Here are the the gents bringing in the imu pig. An imu is an oven that is best described as a hole in ground with banana leaves (if I recall correctly) lining it and covering it. Heated rocks are placed inside, which brings the moisture out of the leaves, steaming the pig inside. Good stuff, let me tell you.

You can't NOT get the fruity drink in a carved-out pineapple.

Yummy....

The memorial over the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbour. The flag is attached to the mast of the sunken ship sitting on the ocean floor and fuel still leaks from the tanks, the so-called "black tears" of those entombed inside.

A couple of shots of the sunset one night on the north shore, renowned for its big waves, on the appropriately-named Sunset Beach.

Colin and Laura in front of the statue of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, the Olympic medallist swimmer and commonly dubbed the "Father of International Surfing".

Hanauma Bay, where went for pretty much the best snorkeling we have ever encountered. Just beyond the small reef you see in the middle of the picture, the water drops off to 40+ feet and more in depth...we saw several turtles, tons of different tropical fish, an eel or two, among other things.

This is the view we had eating breakfast at the open-air restaurant on the second floor of our hotel, Lulu's.

Our last full day on Oahu was mostly spent on a guided kayak tour in the waters you see in the distance in this shot, Kailua. This shot is looking back into the town from a lookout along the highway back to Waikiki.

This is the courtyard of the Honolulu International Airport (HNL)...WAY better than most places you have available to you to endure a layover!

This is the view we had to endure for a week or so, from the lanai (patio) of our condo in Kihei, Maui...ya, that's the beach right there.

We got up at 3am one morning to check out the sunrise about two-thirds of the way up the Haleakala Volcano....Laura's Dad, Ron, on the right.

Standard cheesy tourist pose #1. These two crazy kids are where it's at, baby.

Ya, we're all crazy like that. Way to bring it, Ron!

We went to one Iao Valley State Park rain forest to check out the nice easy walk they had to offer and get out of the sun a little one afternoon. Such an easy walk, makes a little girl fall asleep, I guess.

Saving the best for last, here's our not-so-little-anymore girl in her special grass skirt and coconut bra outfit. I'm not sure how I feel about my little girl wearing a bra already, but you can't NOT get this picture.