Oahu, Hawaii Trip - Day 1: Travel Day & Day 2: North Shore

On Feb 15th, Matt, Teagan, Declan, and I traveled to Oahu, Hawaii for a two week vacation.  We visited my brother Chris, sister-in-law Naomi, and their two sweet girls, Greta and Abigail.  The next several posts will chronicle our trip day by day, explain what we did and show copious amounts of photos from the places we visited and fun we had.  

Day 1 was a travel day, with a two hour flight to Chicago followed by nine hour flight from Chicago to Honolulu.  We were greeted at the airport by my brother's family and the girls were so excited to see one another.  After our beautiful lei greeting we picked up our bags and got our rental car.  The kids were exhausted since it was already their bedtime (although only 2:30pm Hawaii time).  We went to Nico's at pier 38 in Honolulu.  It was an open air restaurant and we had a great burger and pizza.  The kids ran around and played and there was a nice band playing.  After that proceeded through rush hour traffic to C&N's house.  It was so great to finally see where they have been living and calling home for the last 1.5 years.  It was nice to relax and get settled and we were all excited to get some sleep!

Just a note, since many have asked how the kids did on the flights.  Teagan was very excited and did great on our early morning hop to Chicago.  Declan was sleepy from waking so early, so he was asleep in my arms as we taxied out to the runway.  After a layover in Chicago and grabbing some breakfast we got on our second flight.  Teagan did really well - lots of snacks, played with her baby doll, attempted to watch a movie on the ipod but I don't think she watched more than 10 or 15 minutes.  Declan did well but as time wore on he had more trouble napping and would fuss a little here or there.  Towards the end I stopped fighting it and just let him stay awake - he was happy and being good.  He was a great traveller and both of them did really well overall.  Matt mostly sat with Teagan and I was across the aisle enjoying lots of snuggle time with Declan.  Two snacks that we brought with us that worked out great were string cheese and pre-packaged apple slices.  Both were healthy and filling.  The apples tasted so fresh compared to the dry/packaged snacks we had brought.  Declan mostly snacked on cheese and wheat bread.  Believe it or not, even on a 9hr flight to Hawaii we weren't served a meal (only snack boxes available for purchase).  So all in all, even though the flights were long we survived and without too much incident.

Captain Teagan and her co-pilot, baby Teagan, flying the Boeing 777

First views of the island

Getting close to landing

Day 2 started bright and early with two kids whose brains were still on EST.  I think we were up at 5am.  After watching the beach report we decided to take a drive to the North Shore.  Chris had to work, so Matt, Naomi, the kids and I headed to the North Shore in the morning.  The waves were reportedly 18-24 feet which is quite large.  Our first stop was Waimea Bay beach.  The surf was too high to swim but we sat in the sand and enjoyed the scenery.  The girls played in the sand, Declan ate the sand, and we watched some surfers on the horizon.  

Teagan enjoying her first real time in the sand

And the sand eating begins...

Cousin love

Naomi and sweet baby Abigail

Daddy and Dec

Surfs up

Mommy and Declan

Baby toes in the sand

The beautiful sights of Waimea Bay

Heading into the surf

After a while, we packed up and brushed off the sand and continued along the North Shore to 'Ehukai Beach Park, home of the famous Banzai Pipeline, where a bodysurfing competition was taking place.  We stayed and watched the incredible waves.  Just when it seemed like a wave had swallowed up a surfer he'd come shooting out the end and then head back out for more.  Rain was threatening so we packed up the kids and headed back towards home.  

bodysurfing on the banzai pipeline

Paparazzi Matt - 70-200mm with 2x extender came in handy for surf shots

I had requested to make one quick stop at a pretty beach we had passed on the way in.  We pulled over and I jumped out to grab a few photos.  In the pretty area I wanted to photograph I noticed a gathering of people.  I walked over and was excited to see what caused the commotion - sea turtles on the beach! What a neat sight to see.  

Beautiful beach - I loved the contrast of the water, sand, and black rocks, 

with palm trees in the background

Sea turtle resting in the sand

Stay tuned for Day 3: Diamond Head hike, followed by dinner and fireworks in Waikiki beach, coming soon!