History and Hula!

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Mai poina! and Hele mei hoohiwahiwa!

Don't Forget and Come Celebrate!

These two sayings sum up our entire day today after visiting Pearl Harbor and the Paradise Cove Luau. We switched gears again today based on the weather. it's been a little bit on the cool side and breezy side so we to save our East Coast beach day until Thursday and hit Pearl Harbor today. This is what Aaron has been waiting for since we found out we would be on Oahu. What we thought would be a morning trip turned into 6 hours and the pool afternoon we promised the kids turned out to be only 40 minutes... Let's just say that didn't go over well.

We started our tour by taking a bus ride over to Ford Island to see the USS Missouri, the Mighty Mo or is also called BB 63. This means she is the 63rd and last battleship to be made in our American fleet and at just about 3 football fields long, what an impressive ship she is. We had an awesome tour guide named Ford, no not after the island, who really brought the details of what

happened on that fateful day of the Pearl Harbor bombing to life. We all, including the kids, learned more in that 45 minutes with him than you could ever learn in any classroom. The events on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese snuck in and attacked us, in two waves of over 300 attack planes, are what started WWII. This ended up being a three year long and the most costly war ever, that claimed over 80,000,000 lives. The Mighty Mo is most significant because on Sept. 2, 1945, she sailed into Tokyo Bay with two other US ships, and on her deck, the documents between the US and Japan that signified the Japanese surrender were signed. We also spent a little time at the Pacific Aviation Museum. I felt bad because I know Aaron would have liked to spend a day here in the hangers with all the incredible planes but the kids stomachs and our 12:15 tour of the USS Arizona Memorial were calling. I think the movie we watched before our boat ride over to the remains of the USS Arizona was most moving. What a horrific event the attack was. Almost our entire American fleet was docked and all our planes were lined up on the airfield like sitting targets. Just before 8 am, without any warning, the bombings started and within two hours it was over. When you get over to the memorial you could see the moorings signifying where other ships sunk too. Very emotional. We also toured the USS Bowfin, a submarine and then after 6 hours, the kids will not let us forget it took that long, we headed back to the condo. We had relaxed for a few quick minutes at the pool and then headed out for our exciting night at the Paradise Cove Luau.

The kids werent sure about the luau, mainly because they wanted to swim at the pool, but once they got their mini Mai Tai and shell lei they were all having fun. It was so much fun. They had lots of Hawaiian lawn games, free tattooing, canoe rides and arts and crafts. We made bracelets and headbands out of coconut leaves to keep as souvenirs. We enjoyed watching traditional Hawaiian hula and the Hawaiian court pull the Kailua pig out of the imu, the earth oven, out of the ground where it cooked

all day. I have to say though, the highlight of the night was a visit from a Hawaiian monk seal. I had read about how rare they are, only about 1,000 left in the wild, and I was hoping we would be lucky enough to see one. Well, there she was, a giant beautiful girl sunbathing on the beach at the luau. We were told she frequents the beach there, but hadn't been seen in a couple of weeks. So I feel we super lucky to be there on a night when she was too. I couldn't believe how huge she was. The night ended with a fantastic buffet of all traditional Hawaiian foods like Kailua pork, fried chicken, rice, salmon with macadamia nut sauce plus a whole lot more. While we were eating they put on a spectacular luau show that consisted of hula and fire dancing. Aaron and I laughed at points during the show because the kids were just mesmerized by it. Everyone agreed it was an another amazing Hawaiian night.

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Photos

The six long range guns on the Missouri
These 16" long range guns have an accuracy of 23 miles, shoot bullets that weigh 1,100 pounds, two of them weigh as much as a Boeing 747 and leave a crater 50 x 20 ft. See the USS Arizona Memorial in the background.

Suntanned Vacation Boys
Brett and Aaron enjoying their a Hawaiian cocktails on the beach at Paradise Cove

Hau 'oli Keiki
Beautiful Kids!

Captain Brett
Brett sleeping at the helm on his tour of the Mighty Mo

The memorial wall
1,177 men died when the Arizona was hit and about 900 are still buried inside.

Hawaiian Monk Seal
This big beautiful monk seal is a 7 year old pregnant female. She frequents the beach at Paradise Cove.

Pulling the pig from the Imu
This was the pig if Kalua Pork we had at dinner. It is cooked for 7 hours in and underground oven sealed with banana leaves. The word Kalua refers to cooking in an earth oven.