Hawaii - Day 2

We walked a couple of blocks from our hotel and caught a bus to Bishop Museum. Bryce and Faith really liked riding the bus. From this point on in our trip, when Faith saw a bus, she would point at it and say, "Me, me ride" and then hit herself in the chest.

The bus stop was a couple of blocks from the museum, but the walk wasn't bad. The museum was very neat. First we listened to a talk about the native plants at the museum. Faith and Bryce weren't too interested in this, so Nathan and I spent much of the talk chasing the kids. The two highlights were the Polynesian Hall, where the architecture of the building alone was worth seeing with its tall wooden pillars and beautiful railings, and the Science Hall, complete with a model volcano, a show where they actually melted lava, and a melted wax model of how lava flows. Bryce thought the snail statue, which he called a "snail pistachio" was really cool. The kids also enjoyed turning the wheel that made the hot melted wax flow like lava.

After the Bishop Museum we got "directions" to China Town. What was supposed to be 5 - 7 blocks turned into almost an hour of walking in the hot sun. By the time we got to China Town, all the stores were closing as it was Sunday and apparently everything closes at 3 pm on Sundays. We were all hot and cranky by this point and in desperate need of ice cream. Thankfully we found the bus stop and took a bus to the Ala Moana Center. This is the world's largest open-air shopping center. After getting our much needed treats, we watched a dance recital that included many of the native Hawaiian dances. Bryce loved watching all the girls. After roaming around the shopping center for a while, we took a bus back to Waikiki.

By the time we got back to Waikiki it was dinner time. While waiting for our table at the Yard House, we watched a musical performance on at the Beachwalk's outdoor stage. This was a great distraction for our tired and cranky kids. Dinner at the Yard House was excellent. I ordered a turkey burger and it was the best I'd ever had. It was hand made with lots of tasty spices and veggies mixed in. It came with sweet potato fries drizzled with a touch of maple syrup. Yummy. The kid's got chicken fingers. They were huge pieces of chicken breast battered and fried to perfection. Nathan and Nanny got huge burgers that were wonderful too. Nathan also enjoyed selecting from the largest selection of draft beers anywhere.

By the time we got back to the resort we were wiped. We gave the kids a bath in the huge jetted tub, put them to bed, then crawled to bed ourselves.