Aloha Oahu

May 30

The flight to Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii was short and Turner did great. We were really surprised by how well he did based on the fact that he was incredibly fussy most of the final car ride around Kauai.

Once we landed in Honolulu, we found ourselves aching to be back on Kauai. At first Honolulu was nothing like we expected it to be... it actually looks like a third world country with TONS of traffic. It wasn't until we arrived at Waikiki beach where we were staying did it look how we expected. Turner started to get really really fussy in the car. He cried all the way through finding the hotel, checking into the hotel, having his diaper changed, getting lost in the hotel, and missing the elevator. I didn't think we would ever get to the room, but we finally made where I could nurse.

A short 30 minutes later we were on the road again... Headed to a luau! I considered not going to give Turner a break from all of the travels, but I'm so glad we went! It was very entertaining, the food was great, and Kelley and I went on stage to learn how to Hula dance. Turner did great and even got his picture taken with a hula girl. It's 10 pm right now and we are all pooped!! Ready for some sleep, then to visit Pearl Harbor in the morning.

May 31

We woke up early on this rainy morning to go to Pearl Harbor. When we got there, we were hit with their security policy. They wouldn't allow bags of any kind... Not even diaper bags. But they would conveniently store your bag for you for $3 a bag. I went to the security guard to ask if I was supposed to carry Turner's diapers in my shorts?? He directed me to go get a plastic bag for free and said I could empty out the diaper bag into that and bring it in. Great. We finally made it inside the memorial. The interesting thing was that because it was raining, we had a cover over Turner's stroller and never once did they check to see if there was actually a baby in there...Once we made it inside, we watched a documentary on what happened at Pearl Harbor. I needed to feed Turner so I figured this would be a food time. During the feeding, right before the documentary started, Turner blew his diaper out and it was SO LOUD.  I think everyone in there heard.  Anyways, the video was really good and set the mood for us to go out to see the memorial. It's one thing to learn about Pearl Harbor in a history class, but it's another thing to actually be there and imagine what it was like to be there that day.

We got on the boat and made our way out to where the USS Arizona lay. It was very surreal thinking that Jesse's grandfather had been on the Arizona and got off the morning of the attack to go to church. The memorial was very respectful, felt very tomblike, and was very reverent. It was very eerie to look into the water and see the ship just below.When we got back on land, we walked through the museums which did a great job explaining everything from both sides of the story.

After Pearl Harbor, we went and had lunch at Nico's at Pier 38 and it was awesome!  Jesse tried poke for the first time and really liked it.  Me not so much.  

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling along Waikiki Beach and walking by shops where we could never afford anything.  Pretty much any designer brand you could think of was there.  I actually changed Turner's diaper in front of the Fendi store.  (We have a picture, but I don't want to paste his bare booty on the blog.)  :) 

Turner and I stayed behind while everyone got in the car to go see the sunset.  I just couldn't bare to put him in the carseat again after all the "going" we had been doing.  Tomorrow is another travel day to the big island! 

June 1 
Here we are at the airport again about to hop onto Hawaiian airlines to head to the big island, Hawaii!  Oh, and Happy Maroon Friday!

Aloha Kauai

I figured it was time to finally tell you about our trip to Hawaii!  I look back and think, "Did we really do this? Did we take a 3 month old baby to the middle of the Pacific Ocean for a week?"  Yes, yes we did. And we live to tell you about it.  At first I was going to do one big post about the trip, but I decided to save you from photo overload and break it up and feature one island at a time.  You will find entries from my trip journal and pictures to accompany.  So, aloha Kauai, our favorite island and where our trip began!

May 26

We left the Tupelo airport around 8 am and had a 30 minute flight to Memphis. Turner cried just before take off then slept the entire time. Our layover in Memphis was about an hour, then we were off to LA. This flight was 4 hours and Turner slept about 2/3rds of it. We had another hour layover in LA, then we took off for our 6 hour flight to Hawaii. This was the most challenging of all the flights. Turner didn't sleep as much as we hoped and a lot of the flight was spent standing and bouncing. We finally landed on Kauai at 5 pm. The views from the plane were beautiful! It felt like we were flying into Jurassic Park.

Overall, Turner did pretty well on the flights. Didn't sleep as much as we expected, but overall he did about as well as you can expect out of a 3 month old!

The airport at Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii was open air and beautiful! We got our luggage and rental car and had a 30 minute drive to the resort. We went ahead and called it a night after a long day of travel.

May 27

We started off our day with baseball and breakfast. Mississippi State was playing Vanderbilt in baseball for the SEC championship and they won! It's not everyday you get to watch baseball at 9:30 am (2:30 pm at home). After the win, we drove to the end of the highway on the north side of the island and went for a hike on the Kaulaulau trail. Turner rode along in the BabyBjorn and conquered his first trail! There were many impressed hikers that Jesse was doing the hike with a baby on board. When we come back we want to hike the entire trail and camp at the end. We have heard that the beach and waterfall at the end are incredible! We also walked into a cave and waded through a creek.

We had a late lunch at Hanalei Pizza -we got the pizza with Kalua pork and pineapple as well as an all meat pizza. We shopped in the Hanalei village and Jesse bought local coffee and honey. We made our way back home and went to the grocery store.

May 28

I learned an interesting fact today about the island. There is legislation on the island that restricts any building to be built taller than a coconut tree! We took this day to drive around Kauai. There is a walking/bike path right outside Kapa'a. When we come back, we need to get bikes and ride along the coastline.

We drove to the desert side of the island to see the Waimea Canyon and mountains. From the top you could see the beaches. It was beautiful! I nursed Turner on the edge of the canyon. We really want to come back here for a week long hiking trip! The overlooks past Kokee State Park are really good.

We made a stop on the way home at the Kauai Coffee plantation. We sampled coffee, had guava sherbet, and toured the plantation. I also nursed Turner here. Jesse and Kelley cooked monchung fish for dinner and we called it a night!

May 29

Kelley and I were set on spending a day at the beach so today was our day! Based on many recommendations, we chose Tunnels beach. We stopped in Hanalei to rent snorkel gear and drive to the beach. The weather was overcast with a cool breeze, but it ended up being a beautiful day! The setting was amazing- beautiful mountains and a crescent shaped beach. The reef was pretty and the fish were so cool. Highlight of the day: swimming with sea turtles! After our snorkeling adventures, we determined that Pixar was dead on with Finding Nemo. I nursed Turner on the beach and we had a picnic lunch. We stopped in Hanalei on our way back to return our snorkel gear and grab a snow cone.

We came back home, took naps, showered, then headed to Lihue to pick up John. We went to dinner at Garden Island Barbeque where we were surrounded by locals. Great pick, Jesse! I had the BBQ chicken and it was great! Jesse had shrimp and pork.

On our way back, we stopped by the lighthouse and Kilauea point wildlife refuge. We called it a night early because tomorrow we are flying to Oahu!

May 30

Today was our last day on Kauai, so we woke up, packed up, and drove around to show John the island.  We took a little too long and cut it really close on making our flight! We arrived to the airport, returned the car, checked in, went through security and made it to our gate, with ten minutes to spare. 

We're Here!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we made it to DC! We left Starkville June 9 and got here on the 11th. It takes a lot longer traveling with a baby! 

We are living in Alexandria, VA (specifically the Del Ray area) and it is so beautiful! Jesse searched for a long time to find a good place and he did a GREAT job! We are just down the street from so many restaurants, shops, a coffee shop, an ice cream place, a pilates studio :), and there are people out walking and running everywhere! Most people you see either have a stroller or a dog with them. We are on the 2nd floor of a small 3 story apt with a balcony on a tree lined street with beautiful houses around. We are still getting settled and working through boxes, but it's coming together! 

I was (and still am) sad to leave Mississippi, but now that we are here I'm pumped about our new adventure! Jesse started work on Monday and is only a 20 minute metro ride away from the heart of DC. He is working just down from the Capitol near the Washington Monument. So cool! So I officially began my job on Monday as well as a stay at home mommy! So excited that we can do that. Praise the Lord!

Please pray for us as we make this adjustment. It's all new and fun right now, but it is a huge change for us! Pray for friends as well. This is our first time to move so far from home. 

I have a lot to update you guys on... Turner's 3 month photos, our trip to Hawaii, the big move, and Turner's 4 month photos (since he turns 4 months old this Saturday!)  Many posts soon to come!