Hawaii- Day 1: Ko Olina & Church

First a word about our Vrbo. Our hostess Maria was fantastic. She was so kind and every message I received from her made me more and more excited for our trip. I asked if there was a crock pot in the kitchen and since there was not, she purchased a brand-new one just for us. She was so great!

When selecting a place, I really pushed to have the room on a higher floor with a slightly prettier view of the ocean. I told Brent this was a once in a lifetime trip and we would never get tired of that ocean view. That 100% ended up being true and Brent actually said next time he would get a room closer to the ocean so we could hear the waves. We absolutely loved the lanai and how the glass wall receded so it was one big open space with the kitchen and living room. Everyone else staying at Ko Olina also opened their walls and a casual breakfast looking down on the pools and out at the ocean along with our neighbors became routine. We loved it. No, we needed it. Easing back from the breakneck speed of our lives was magical, intoxicating even. 

The girls admiring the koi pond. I've never seen such large koi!

Ko Olina has several hot tubs and pools so the girls were never bored. We met so many fellow travelers and made fast friends with Canadians, New Zealanders and Australians- one of which was named Arwen who had baby sisters named Rue and Ever. Sydney tried to impress Arwen with the fact her name was also the capital of Australia and Arwen promptly told her she knew a lot of Sydney's. We all loved her sweet accent and were ecstatic to run into her at the pool. Arwen's family was staying just a few floors down and over so we saw them in the morning during breakfast as well. 

Sydney and Arwen

Disney's Aulani was right next door and we visited a few times to get ears, pins and jewelry. It was crowded and chaotic and with each visit we felt more and more happy with our choice to stay at Ko Olina. The kitchen and especially the washer/dryer were indispensable! 

That first day in Hawaii, the plan was just to explore Ko Olina, go to church and visit with Brent's long time friend and his family. Brent and I woke early and headed to the grocery store where we were promptly shocked at the prices of... everything. Even the fruit was more expensive (how is that possible?)! Did I mention gas was over $5? A cost we had not factored in and we had considerable driving to do. We purchased just enough to get us through breakfast and replenish snacks. Brent promised to do a Costco run to take care of meals for the rest of the week. The girls were waking up, hungry and eager to explore the pools.

The lagoons were really beautiful and they had break walls so the waves were never too bad. There had been precious few days of sun in Chicago and we just soaked up the warmth and vitamin D. 

I was really excited to attend church in Hawaii. There were many congregations close by but we figured we would go to the latest one on the North Shore so we could also see the campus of BYU Hawaii and the temple. The freeway off ramp to head to the North Shore is straight up one of the most beautiful in the world. Those towering, lush mountains were almost unreal and had I not been the one driving, I would have taken a picture!

One of my mission presidents was from Hawaii and whenever he spoke he always began with a lusty ALOHA! We were told we had to answer because that is how it is done in Hawaii. Ever since then, I've been eager to see this in person. Yes, the congregation does say "Aloha" but it is not as enthusiastic, almost mumbled "aloha" like I was led to believe it was. Regardless, I'm glad I have been and can confirm it happens. It was a huge ward! Lots of visitors who wanted to know 1- where we were from and 2- what Brent did for work. We talked to a business man who also had daughters. He owned a  home on Oahu and they lived there for part of the year.

When I was asked to introduce myself in Relief Society I thought I'd be clever and say I was from Chicago and they might have heard people from my city can be stuck up about types of pizza but I wanted it to be known I am a big fan of Hawaiian style pizza. The islander conducting the meeting gave me a stiff smile and informed me it's not actually "Hawaiian style", someone just slapped their name on it. I made no more comments. The ladies who sat next to me were lovely. One talked about why the surfing competition that morning was historic (more on that later). Another one talked about having cancer while pregnant. Another had a baby girl and I was told it was not her baby, but she immediately stepped up to be her mother when her own could not. Just amazing, amazing women and I'm grateful I was able to rub shoulders with them for a day.

After driving by the temple and the campus of BYU (which had tons of construction going on), we headed to the Curtis home. Their house is overflowing with kids and fun and love. We really enjoyed visiting with them and after dinner was over, their kids took our kids to play games- Snake Oil was a particular favorite. As the adults visited in the dining room, there were peels of laughter from the living room. After so much travel, it was dreamy to have a home-cooked meal and it had been ages since Brent had seen his friend.   

The Curtises were absolutely lovely and we had a fantastic time at their home. We headed back to Ko Olina and changed back into swimsuits to enjoy the pools and hot tubs as the sun slipped below the horizon.