Hubs went on-line and rented bikes so we could go on a family bike ride. Everyone was excited – especially Schäfer because he was going to ride on a tagalong bike behind Hubs. (Tagalong bike: think seat, handlebar and wheel that attaches behind an adult bike, essentially converting it to a tandem bike.)

On the way to the bike shop, I realized that my guys were getting pretty worn down from all of our play.

We’re getting pretty accustomed to riding the bus each day. Once we stopped living in China mode and switched to island mode, then it was no big deal to wait 10-15 minutes for a bus.

When we got to the bike shop, Hawaii Style Rentals, they didn’t have any bikes available. They never received our reservation, but they did have amazing customer service. They called a bike shop around the corner and gave us $20 cash to pay the difference between the two bike shops. And they were going to loan us the tagalong bike for free. When we went around the corner, they only had two bikes left and they were WAY too small for Hubs.

We agreed the best decision was for us to make another reservation to rent bikes on Monday. We returned the money they gave us to pay the different between the two shops. They also gave us several phone numbers of bike renters who might have a bike Hubs size.

It was a good plan.

Except… Schäfer had already sat on the tagalong bike. It fit. He was ready to go.

We explained that Hubs didn’t have a bike today so we’d have to wait. Schäfer was devastated. We soothed his pain with a “Shave Ice” as they say in Hawaii.

He was so happy.

Ridiculously happy.

Outrageously happy. Maybe it was all the sugar.

Hubs also had a custom-made Shave Ice.

Male bonding at its best.

After a bit of sharing with Mommy and Papa, Schäfer was so proud to have finished his own Shave Ice.

For lunch, we stopped at the L&L Hawaiian BBQ for “BBQ Mix plate” and “Chicken Katsu” – both of which were highly recommended by Baby C’s parents. L&L did not disappoint. We were both excited to have a “plate lunch” which is popular on the island.

Then, based off of heavy eyes, we decided to head back to the guest flat. Sianna took a much needed 3 hour nap. Schäfer finally settled down for a much needed 2 hour nap. Hubs made some calls and booked an appropriately-sized bike for Monday. He also reserved our tickets for Pearl Harbor.

We sat on the couch. I watched episodes of Clean Sweep while Hubs took a much needed nap. But our afternoon wasn’t completely uneventful.

Our first big event was that Sianna’s passport was delivered! That’s just four days after we applied for it! Yeah. Now we’re ready to go to the Social Security Office and apply for her SSN.

Our second big even was that the baby started kicking! It was SO awesome and mysterious to feel life moving around inside of me.

It was good to slow down, fold some laundry, wash some dishes, etc. We went upstairs and visited with friends who have two boys just a bit older than Schäfer. We talked about going to Walmart, but a sudden, heavy rain canceled those plans.

Essentially, today, we took a vacation from our vacation.

We had supper on time. The kids were bathed and in bed by 7:30pm.

A little bit of normal felt very good for my soul.

Hubs now puts Schäfer in such a tight hole, he can hardly get out. Once Schäfer is stuck, Hubs offers to get some water to help the situation.

Sianna enjoyed playing with beach toys. She likes putting them in and pulling them out of the stroller.

Schäfer loves the sand and spent quite a bit of time playing with his digger.

After Hubs went for a swim, Schäfer asked if he could carry Sianna down to the water so she could swim with Hubs. Schäfer loves to carry Sianna. Sianna likes to be carried by Schäfer, but he doesn’t always have the best timing. Normally, he picks her up when she is in the middle of something so she’s not really looking to be transferred elsewhere.

Shortly after we arrived at the beach, we met up with my friend, Michelle, from high school. I haven’t seen Michelle in probably 15 years, but thanks to the miracle of Facebook we’ve reconnected.

Just a few days ago, Michelle and her daughter, Bianca, moved to Honolulu because her husband was transferred to the base here.  I wish I had some photos to show how great Schäfer and Bianca played together, but alas Michelle and I had 15 years of life to catch up on.

Thank you Hubs for hunting and gathering our picnic lunch.

Thanks Michelle and Bianca for coming to Ala Moana Beach today! I can’t wait to see you guys again soon.

This afternoon, we set up a tent on the beach and hoped the kids would take an afternoon nap inside. They would not. So we loaded up and started the 45 minute trek uphill.

Since both kids had missed their afternoon nap, we knew they would crash on the way home. So we loaded up the stroller.

Yes, I mean loaded up the stroller.

Within 5 minutes of walking, the kids were sound asleep.

Hubs took it for the team and pushed the stroller home.

This evening, the kids were pretty tired from playing so hard at the beach all morning. The parents were pretty tired too!

Apparently I was in a rush to get out the door this morning and forgot to put sunscreen on my legs. Well, thankfully there is lots of aloe in the guest flat because my legs are bright pink!

Mostly, I’m thankful that the kids were well lathered and they’ve had no pink skin whatsoever.

This evening, I took a nap while Hubs took the kids for a walk around the neighborhood. Blame it on the sunburn. Blame it on the pregnancy. Blame it on whatever. We’re on vacation. I’m taking a nap.

“No problem!” we said, “The bus will be quick!”

Unlike China, it seems that the buses do not run as often in Honolulu. We waited for 15 minutes before a bus came to take us down to the Ala Moana Center. Once there, we waited another twenty minutes before the next bus came.

Two hours after we stepped out our door, during the peak heat of the day, we made it to Diamond Head State Monument. Thank goodness we lathered on the sunscreen before we left the house.

Diamond Head’s is essentially a crater formed during a volcanic eruption a while back. It’s renowned silhouette is as synonymous with Waikiki as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris.

Originally named Lē`ahi meaning “forehead of the ahi tuna”…because the crater looks like the forehead of an ahi tuna.

The name Diamond Head comes form the late 1700s when explorers mistook crystals for diamonds.

In more recent history, the crater and its summit were used as a fire control center to direct artillery for several military batteries. With the advent of radar, it was no longer used an an observation point.

Now, hundreds of tourists and locals alike make the 0.8 mile one way climb (just 560 feet from the crater floor). The trail is a series of switchbacks that lead eventually to many steps and then a tunnel. (No big spider, though. )

A view of O`ahu from along the trail.

Schäfer walked all the way to the top.

Hubs insisted on carrying Sianna and our day bag.

Sianna was awake, but we kept the Ergo hood on to keep her scalp out of the sun. The girl will not wear a hat.

We enjoyed the view along the way.

Not even stairs slowed Schäfer down.

After this staircase, we walked through a tunnel, then climbed up some spiral stairs which lead to climbing out the observation post windows to a platform overlooking Honolulu and the southern coast of O`ahu.

The view from the top was great!

Schäfer was so proud to make it to the top. His cheeks are rosy from the exercise. Thanks to sunscreen both kids stayed sunburn free.

Schäfer chose to wear his blue shirt this morning because “it’s the same color as Thomas”.

Sianna was happy to be at the top.

Our family at the top!

Schäfer’s favorite part was seeing a lighthouse.

Schäfer and I with Waikiki in the background.

Hubs and Sianna enjoy the view.

Diamond Head Crater

Our walk back down was uneventful. Schäfer enjoyed seeing this map and pointing out what we saw along the way.

At the bottom, we stopped for a snack picnic.

Schäfer couldn’t wait to take his shoes off and climb a tree.

This was his first time to climb a tree.

Unfortunately, right after this photo he fell out of the tree. He was fine, but a little surprised.

Meanwhile, Sianna shook this box of goldfish like it was a musical instrument

Of course, we put Schäfer right back in the tree.

Hubs said he was going to carry both the kids back to the bus stop.

He absolutely insisted on carrying the kids and the day bag. Sometimes, he’s such a Yak. Eventually, he let me carry Sianna.

We made it back to the house at 3:30, got the kids fed and down for a nap.

At 6pm our new friend Lance picked us up to take us to a special dinner at Like Like (pronounced ‘leekay leekay’) Drive Inn. The food was incredible! We loved the “food dive” atmosphere. This was definitely a restaurant full of locals – no tourist here!

We were joined by Lance’s wife, Natalie, and his daughters Megan and Noel. It was so fun to learn about Hawaii from a local family.

Like Like Drive Inn serves breakfast all day. Schäfer was so happy with their massive pancakes.

Hubs was surprised with how flavorful this sizzling teriyaki steak was! Sure beats the water buffalo we eat in JiuJiang!

Late that evening, long after Schäfer should have been in bed, our old friends stopped by. They are just in town for a few more days so we were thankful for our short time together. I got to hold sweet baby C. Unfortunately, Sianna was already sleep so we were not able to get a photo together. Schäfer thinks Baby C is Sianna’s best friend.

So long hotel.

Living in a hotel has some pros and cons.

PROS

• fresh towels and sheets each day
• shampoo with “Noni Papaya and Pineapple extracts” that makes my hair feel like it’s on vacation
• a free paper each morning

CONS

• putting the kids down for a nap and basically having to creep around the room or sit in the bathroom until they fall asleep
• turning off all the lights at bedtime and sitting in the dark until the kids fall asleep
• not being able to talk or watch tv after the kids fall asleep

(Of course, this would be solved if we got two hotel rooms, but the budget can only be stretched so far.)

Aloha guest house.

Oh my.

I think we should call this The Penthouse – except that we’re now living in a renovated basement. We cannot get over how wonderful this house is! There is so much space.

The living room.

The living room.

The bathroom.

Master bed.

This kitchen is three times as large as our kitchen in China!

Schäfer loves this big boy bed.

Please brace yourself for the biggest news: we have a backyard with a water hose!

Hubs set off for the grocery store while I unpacked our bags and got the kids settled in our new digs.

Hubs returned from Safeway with quite a few supplies. Fresh pineapple smells amazing! Schäfer asked if we could eat it immediately.

Yes, that would be 4.5 gallons of milk to keep the kids satisfied for a week or so.
My pregnancy request: pickles and Gatorade.

We had sandwiches for lunch & it felt so good to be sitting together around a quiet dinner table – not that we were that quiet!

Sianna easily went down for a much needed 3 hour sleep. Schäfer had a hard time getting down. He was so excited about “sleeping in the kitchen”. Eventually, he fell asleep for 1.5 hours. Hubs and I talked about going to Diamond Head, but by the time Schäfer woke up, we knew we couldn’t get to the peak and back before the park closed. We decided to have a nice dinner at Roy’s in Waikiki.

It’s safe to say that on this vacation, I’m planning the recreation and Hubs is planning the meals. My man is on a mission to eat.

We haven’t eaten at a nice restaurant since we were at SALT in Beijing in 2008. It was time for some fine dining… with kids.

There’s a reason we took our kids. I’ll let Hubs tell you about it:

One of my favorite memories as a child is when my parents took me to a “fancy” restaurant to eat with them. I remember putting on my favorite leather jacket and going to the Edgewater Resort restaurant to eat. The Edgewater was the fanciest restaurant in Sandpoint and a big deal. It was a buffet style restaurant. It was the first time I had raw oysters. I think I threw up afterwards. Nevertheless, it was a special time!

For our special supper, we had Schäfer select his “best outfit”. Of course, he chose his Thomas the Train overalls.

Our guest house is in the Menoa Valley just up from Waikiki. It only took one hour to walk to the restaurant. It was a breezy, sunny, enjoyable walk.

When we were walking, a retailer was outside her shop and said, “Thomas.” Schäfer said, “Next time, I’ll tell her I’m the conductor!”

The food at Roy’s was delicious.

If only I could make this photo scratch and sniff.

The kids did great during the meal. Schäfer and Sianna ate everything we offered. I love that they’re so willing to eat salad, portobello mushrooms, fish, etc.

Two very satisfied faces.

We had reservations for 6pm and were out of the restaurant by 7pm when the evening crowd started to show.

When I was changing Sianna’s diaper, we received the nicest compliment. A lady stopped and said that she and her husband watched our kids during dinner. She said, “Your daughter was so calm and your son was so animated.”

After supper, Schäfer requested an ice cream since he had eaten everything on his plate. We stopped in the international market for Dole Whip. We’ve heard they were so good. We just couldn’t wait until we made it to the plantation.

A Dole Whip is like a pineapple sorbet. It’s incredible. How have we managed live this long without one?

Schäfer was so excited to have his own Dole whip.

Sianna couldn’t wait to try the Dole whip.

She’s not a fan of things that taste cold.

But that doesn’t stop her from wanting more!

We took the bus home. It only took 25 minutes from the time we got on the bus to the time we entered the front door. So convenient!

We asked Schäfer if he wanted to go to Jamba Juice for breakfast. He said, “No. Cook.” We explained that we’re in a hotel so we can’t cook.

We have had quite a few simple sandwich meals in our hotel room. These have been convenient, but sometimes a little messy with tots. As much as I’ve enjoyed our hotel, I am looking forward to having a kitchen table at the guest house.

Jamba Juice was a hit and a miss. The hit was the “Yumberry” smoothie. Sianna loves tart!

We were surprised to see this sign when we first walked past Jamba Juice. I literally turned to Hubs and said, “Look! They have yangmei’s!” (That’s the Chinese word for bayberries aka yumberry.) We’ve been eating bayberries by the pound back in JiuJiang. I had no clue they were packed with antioxidants! Lucky us. They are one tart little berry. We ate so many of them Hubs even made bayberry gelato. YUM.

We also ordered some oatmeal. The steal cut oats were prepared perfectly, but we ordered the “blueberry blackberry topping” only to be disappointed by the syrup/pie filling that was poured on top. Hello! Jamba! We thought you were talking about fresh berries.

After breakfast, we rode the bus to worship. At first, Schäfer went into the service with us, but then he decided that he was willing to go to a class where he could make other friends and play with toys. I was very proud of him because we knew no one at service this morning. He was very brave. Sianna stayed with us in the service.

I was so thankful to be back in a house of worship that I just didn’t want the music to end. Ever feel that way? I felt like this morning was a little too scheduled. I just wanted to linger there with the Spirit. (This was just my preference. I know everyone has different styles/desires when it comes to worship.)

After picking up Schäfer, we caught a free shuttle to the 40th annual Ukulele Festival. I wanted to buy a t-shirt, but they were $25 each. Errr… I was willing to pay $5. Hubs reminded me that we were in America.

Schäfer enjoyed the bouncy house.

Hubs enjoyed the free ukulele lesson and warned me that this is how new hobbies begin.

We got lunch and had the kids down for naps by 1pm. While they slept Hubs went on the World’s Longest Run Around thanks to Google Maps. He eventually found Walmart which didn’t have much in their food section, but they did have milk for $3 a gallon – instead of $9 a gallon in Waikiki. I’m not kidding. We should have asked the petting zoo if we could borrow their cow. Our kids can down some milk.

Schäfer woke up from his nap about 45 minutes before Sianna. We sat quietly on the bed and talked. At one point, this was our conversation:

He: For my birthday, I want three swords.
Me: Why do you want three swords? You only have two hands!
He: One for Mommy. One for Papa. And one for Schäfer. So we can all have sword fights.

Makes perfect sense.

Late afternoon, we headed to Waikiki Beach where Schäfer and Sianna basically played in the sand. Schäfer didn’t even hardly swim.

This photo is the essence of our afternoon. Schäfer’s dream came true when Hubs laid down and made himself available for burial. Meanwhile, Sianna picked up toys and dropped them in the stroller basket.

She also bent over to go face first in the sand – by choice… while she was sitting… just to see what it was like. Gritty, I’m sure.

Schäfer spent quite a bit of time running around the beach with his floatie wrapped around him. I didn’t want to interrupt to ask what he was doing. I think at one point he was a car or maybe he was driving a car.

We brought all our floaties with us from JiuJiang. This little round floatie was 8rmb ($1.18). We saw the same style floaties at the grocery store tonight for $6.99. Oh my. Culture shock.

Sianna enjoyed playing with the shovel and bucket.

Mostly, she was very proud of this stick that she found.

Schäfer did ask me why this beach had no sea shells. I agreed. There is an overall lack of seashells at Waikiki Beach. Perhaps we’ll give another one of Oahu’s beaches a try. This is the type of goal I like to set during vacation.

• my everyday clothes no longer fit – except my wrap skirts

• sometimes I eat a lot and other times I don’t hardly eat anything at all

• 5 small meals a day feels better than 3 large ones

• Gatorade is my best friend

• unlike last time around, I have no clue if this baby is a boy or girl.

• I could eat any kind of fruit at any moment in the day.

• At the same time, sweet things don’t taste good – especially desserts.

I’m definitely starting to get bigger.

Schäfer’s started asking, “Is that my baby?”

Today, by 10:30, we finally had them out the door and heading to the zoo. Everyone was excited.

On our way, we decide that breakfast would be good. Of course by that time it was getting near lunch, so we stopped off once again at Teddy’s Biggest Burgers. The best thing about eating lunch at 11:00am: no line!

Sandra had a small Teri burger and I had a Jala Burger. Hers was fab like last time. Mine was really good as well – it had jalapeno poppers inside. We had the pineapple shake which was also good, but certainly not as tasty as the peanut butter shake.

The Honolulu Zoo is just across from Teddy’s Bigger Burgers.

Schäfer insisted that we take his and Sianna’s photo on this elephant. She wasn’t too thrilled with the idea, but you can see that his love for Sianna is unlimited. He adores her.

There was a little tumble at the end, but thankfully no blood was involved.

Sianna absolutely loved the zoo.

Schäfer requested that we take a photo of him with the giraffe’s.

We especially liked the African savanna with the zebras, giraffes, rhinos and Sandra’s personal favorite: the African crowned crane. Of all the zoo’s we’ve been to (Beijing, Guangzhou, Yichang, JiuJiang) I’d say that animals in Honolulu were pretty happy.

While walking through the zoo, Schäfer would say, “Follow me. I’m going to show you something very scary!”

This is mostly what we saw of Schäfer: the back of him. For most of the day, he was either looking at an animal or running ahead to the next exhibit.

Our family at the zoo.

Sianna loved pointing to all the animals and saying, “deh! deh!”

We thought the zoo might take an hour or so. We were wrong. The zoo is large. The animals are active. And our little monkey found his own place to hang around.

In Asia, we take our shoes off whenever we enter a home. Even in our own home, we don’t wear shoes inside. Schäfer has assumed that means we take our shoes off whenever we are in a “nice place”. Today, he kept asking to take his shoes off so he could play on this nice playground. We told him all the other kids were wearing shoes, but he insisted.

Schäfer also keeps speaking Chinese to everyone who is Asian or who looks Asian. Bless their hearts. Bless his heart too. Although we have met quite a few Chinese tourist, we tried to explain that some people are Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, etc. but he just doesn’t yet have that in his worldview.

Sianna also enjoyed the play area. She wrestled a crocodile.

While Schäfer played, I took Sianna over to a rocker and got her down for a much needed nap. We decided that since the kids slept until 10am then we would skip Schäfer’s afternoon nap with the hopes of getting everyone to bed by 7:30pm or at least closer to our normal schedule. (Seriously, we pay for it when the kids don’t get enough sleep.)

While Sianna slept, Schäfer went to the petty zoo. He enjoyed petting the goats. The llama wouldn’t oblige.

His favorite part of the petting zoo was dressing up like a zoo keeper and playing with Legos.

Schäfer had no interest in seeing any more animals if it meant 1.) taking off his zoo keeper uniform or 2.) leaving the Legos.

Meanwhile, Sianna absolutely refused to go down for a nap. While in the rocker, she took a light rest in Sandra’s arms, but then a large group of Spanish speaking tourists sat down on some benches and began their fiesta.

Sianna was awake for the rest of the day with maybe a 40 minute mid-day nap. (She needs a solid 3 hour nap to make it till bedtime with joy.)

The zoo was filled with tropical flowers.

Eventually, we left the Legos to check out the tigers. Then, we were off to finish the zoo. Birds. Hawaiian Nene Goose. Birds. Komodo Dragon. Exit.

A 200lb. Komodo Dragon can eat over 80lbs. of meat at one meal. That’s the same as a man eating 64 hamburgers for lunch.

Schäfer said seeing the Komodo Dragon was his favorite animal.

He also complained that he didn’t get to see any snails.

The stroller isn’t just for Sianna! Schäfer also rides quite comfortably.

All in all we spent more than 4 hours at the zoo! Who knew?

We walked back to our hotel, changed the kids into swimming gear and headed to the beach for the remaining hours of the day.

Mount Schäfer at Waikiki Beach.

Sweet Sianna plays in the sand.

Schäfer built a “rocket space ship”.

Then, he needed to jump on it.

We ended our day with a small ceremony. We heard the blowing of the conch shell and saw the lighting of the torches.

There were also local dance troops displaying traditional Hawaiian dances and a storyteller who shared the history behind each dance.

We all enjoyed the show and wanted to stay for longer, but Sianna was ready for bed.

We left the show just as the sun was setting.

It was hard to leave when the ukulele started playing. Cool!

We grabbed some food for the kids and went back to the hotel. Schäfer and Sianna were both exhausted. Getting the kids to bed at a normal bedtime was the best decision we made.

Hubs ran out and grabbed us some supper: nachos and a burrito – the second best decision made.

At 7:25 I woke Schäfer. Usually he’s zero to 60 in half a second when he wakes up. However, this morning, he took his time to get his clothes on, eat a danish, and get out the door. Thankfully, the bus only took twenty minutes to get to the Homeland Security office.

We walked right in, were ushered to a waiting area (no one else waiting), and sat. Schäfer played a little, drank copious amounts of water from the fountain, and sang VBS songs with Sandra. Finally, 20 minutes later, a lady came out and said, “Come with me.” She had heard us out in the hall and came to get us. With two children, I am surprised we were that quiet!

Inside, she asked for the remainder of our paperwork. Then Sandra and I raised our right hands to solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We both did. (Though it seemed a little abrupt to end without the “…so help you God” part, but anyway…) I signed a document and a couple of photos. We were told to wait outside in the hall again.

That was it.

The only question in the interview was, “Did we get physical custody of Sianna on January 24th?” “Yes.”

So back to the waiting area to sing songs and keep the kids entertained. I let Sianna play with our passport satchel zipper while Schäfer just let off energy.

Ten minutes passed when a very happy lady came out with a yellow folder and two papers.

She had me come over to a table to sign the papers, which looked very official, and then we were done!

On July 16th, 9:32am (Hawaii time) Sianna became an American Citizen, with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities thereof!

Congratulations Sianna!

(Schäfer was a little sad because he shut his fingers in a door while exiting our waiting area.)

Sianna’s about to attack Schäfer’s hair!

After this, we raced to the Federal building just across the street and down the block in order to submit her passport documents. As we were entering security, the guard asked if we had our identification.

Of course we-

Uh oh.

I raced back to the Homeland Security office. Thankfully an officer turned in or passport satchel to the front desk. I can’t believe we accidentally left all of our passports sitting on a chair! Guess we were celebrating!

Back at the Federal Building, I filled out the paperwork while Sandra chatted with the guard. It turned out that because we are staying in the States for longer than two weeks, then we no longer qualified for 3-day expedited passport status. (To receive a passport in three days, you must show proof of an international plane ticket exiting the country within 14 days.)

The guard was very polite and gave us a list of places we could apply for a passport. Since we were on foot, he suggested the library. Schäfer was immediately excited.

We walked down the street to the Honolulu Library and submitted the passport application there for a 7-10 day expedited passport. This still works within our Hawaii time frame.

Bless this government employee’s heart. She had to pull out “the manual” more than once to figure out how to process Sianna. I even checked the manual to make sure we had everything in order.

However, I needed to get a money order (when was the last time I wrote a check? 2004?) from the post office. Meanwhile, Sandra read books to the kids in the children’s section. Boy, do we love a library! And this library was quite nice! We may have to pay another visit…

Honolulu Public Library

Sianna worked hard at puzzles and reading.

Schäfer reads a pile of Thomas the Train books.

Occasionally, Sianna joined Schäfer.

Mostly, Sianna wanted to pull up.

She loves to pull up on Mommy’s legs

When I was done, I joined them.

Sianna loved her first trip to the library!

When we came out of the library, we heard a concert by the Royal Hawaiian Orchestra. Schäfer loved seeing all the instruments.

Sianna was tired and so snugly in the Ergo.

On our way out, we stopped for a moment to look at the adjoining ‘Iolani Palace, which is the only royal palace in the United States and the last official residence of the kings and queens who ruled Hawaii.

On our way back, we stopped by Jamba Juice for some lunch. We haven’t had Jamba Juice since 2004 and the Peach Pleasure seems even better now. Did you know that they have steel cut oatmeal? Hmmm…breakfast tomorrow?

Sandra took the kids back to the hotel to get them settled down for a much needed nap. I trekked back a couple blocks to a “Healthy Mexican Food” bus in a parking lot. All food home-cooked and served out of a bus window yields high expectations. Unfortunately, it was a great disappointment. The food tasted bland and was not made as fresh as it could have been.

After the kids woke up at 4:30, we went back down to Waikiki beach.

Just fantastic!

Sianna put toys in and out of her bucket.

Then, she dumped sand on her head.

Such a happy girl.

Today, she ate a considerable amount of sand.

She crawled around a bit more than yesterday.

Schäfer asked to be made into a “mountain” again.

Mt. Schäfer

I buried Sianna. Once the kids were both contained, we headed into the water for a romantic swim. Kidding.

Sianna loved being buried.

Sand doesn’t bother her at all.

Schäfer loved burying Sianna.

Come on Sand Baby, let’s go wash you off.

Even though Schäfer enjoyed the water, he still loves to play in the sand.

Sianna enjoys crawling through our legs.

Sand goatee.

Swimming with Papa is fun!

By the look on her face, I’d say Sianna had a great time swimming.

Schäfer played in the waves.

In fact, we played at the beach until the sun went down.
Today was a good day.

We didn’t think we’d experience much jet lag on this trip. After all, we flew all night and the kids slept pretty well on the plane. (Hubs and I, however, slept only a few hours.)

On arrival day, the kids took an afternoon nap and then were both in bed by 8pm.

All was normal until 11:30pm when Schäfer popped up in bed and said with a grin, “Good morning Papa! I’m awake!” I tried to get him back to sleep from 12-2am, but eventually I went back to bed and let him play in the darkness.

After I fell asleep, Sianna woke – maybe 4am? She talked to us for a while before falling asleep.

Then at 7:30am Sianna was standing in the pack-n-play tugging at our covers. I figured she was awake for the day so I picked her up. When I did she fell asleep in my arms.

Sianna slept until 9:30am.
We eventually woke up Schäfer at 10am.

Hubs and I were freaking out. These kids normally wake us up at 6am. We love Honolulu!

By 10am we headed down to the bus stop so we could get to the Homeland Security Office by our 11:30 appointment.

Hubs stopped by the ATM machine. (I’ve often thought if Hubs were ever in a wax museum then he should be waxed at an ATM machine. I guess this comes from living in a cash-based society.)

Anyway, he came back with culture shocking news:

a one month bus pass is $60 per person! Originally we thought it was $40, but it seems that the bus pass is indeed $60.

Yikes.

Since we’ll be in Hawaii for two weeks, we thought about getting the bus pass. After all, we live in China. Public transportation is our friend.

It costs $2.50 to ride the bus one way. Kids are free.

We’ve learned that if we come back within 2 hours of leaving then we can ride back for free. Yesterday, Hubs made it to Best Buy within the 2 hour time frame.

Today, we also finished our business at Homeland Security within 2 hours so we were able to make it back for free.

I know it’s just $5 that we saved, but that adds up. We’re still not sure if we want to get the bus pass. Thats $120 USD for our family to ride the bus – admittedly still cheaper than renting a car for $28 per day.

Thank goodness we’re staying in a small hotel in Waikiki. There’s lots to do and see within walking distance.

OK. We just talked it over. We’ve officially decided not to get the bus pass. At $60/person it would require 12 round-trip rides just to break even. Since there’s not 12 things we want to go see, then we’ll just pay the $2.50 each time we ride the bus.

Sites we’d still like to see: Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation, the North Beach, Diamond Head Crater. Any tips?

Anyway, we made it to the Homeland Security Office in plenty of time for our appointment.

It was such a beautiful day to visit the immigration office!

Sianna loves a pen…

and her brother’s toys.

Apparently, in our precious brown envelope the US Consulate did not send a copy of our homestudy. Did we have one with us? Errr… no. Thankfully, they said we can print one off and bring it along during our interview.

We also needed a copy of Hubs college transcript. Huh? Apparently, we need proof that we’ve lived in the states after we were 14-years-old.

All of our other paperwork was in order and we received a nice compliment for having everything organized. Too bad that compliment didn’t come with a discount.

I think they should offer incentives at Homeland Security. If you have all of your paperwork in order and come to your appointment on time, then you get 20% off your paperwork processing free.

Instead of a discount, after our compliment we were charged to process Sianna’s immigration papers.

Schäfer had an excellent time at Homeland Security. He visited the water fountain no less that four times. Then, I taught him how to work a pay phone: where the money goes, how to dial a number, where the change goes, how to use the yellow pages, etc. This entertained him to no end. He (pretend) called the fire department several times to tell them we had a fire at the door.

Within 30 minutes of turning over our paperwork and waiting, we learned that Sianna has her citizenship interview tomorrow at 8:30am! Wow. That was fast. I can’t imagine what types of questions they will ask her…

Do you promise to vote?
Will you do your best to hold a job?
Will you always drive on the right side of the road?

We took the bus back to the hotel. The kids were exhausted. I’m not sure why since they slept until 10am. Sianna crashed in the Ergo. I took the kids back to the hotel while Hubs grabbed Ono Cheese Steaks for lunch. YUM.

Sianna woke up after 2 hours of rest. She was so happy and so loud that Schäfer woke up too. Gotta love all being in one hotel room.

We lathered the kids down in sunscreen and headed out the door for 3 hours of absolute fun at Waikiki Beach.

Sianna wasn’t so sure about the sand until I handed her some beach toys.

Eventually, she started crawling around.

Playtime!

Love her sweet smile.

Schäfer tried to bury himself in the sand.

Hubs offered to help. He made a sea turtle.

Schäfer requested we say, “Sea turtle come out!” and the sea turtle came out.

Then, he wanted to be buried again.

“Caterpillar come out!”

Today, Schäfer played in the sand more than the water! Sure he had fun swimming in his floatie, but this little guy needed to dig.

In the public swimming pools in China, every swimmer must wear a cap. Since this is all Schäfer has ever known, he thinks he must wear a cap. The goggles are just because he likes to wear them – and they make him feel like a pilot.

All afternoon, we had one busy boy.

I tried to bury Schäfer, but apparently I wasn’t fast enough.
I’m 18 weeks pregnant.

Yes, Hubs and I both wear rash guards. My fair skin burns easily so I’d rather cover up than have to lather sunscreen SPF 360 every 15 minutes.

Back to burying Schäfer in the sand…

“Camel come out!”

Finally, Hubs had Schäfer stand in a hole so that he could make a mountain.

Schäfer had a bit of difficulty getting out of this mountain.

After sitting in the water with me, Sianna was willing to sit near the water by herself. She didn’t fuss, but she wasn’t exactly thrilled.

Hubs and I both took turns taking Sianna for a swim in the ocean. She enjoyed being with us in the water.

Schäfer worked hard on making a “lake”.

Hubs had a great afternoon at Waikiki.

Sianna loved playing in the sand.

Schäfer played non-stop.

For supper, we went to Teddy’s Bigger Burgers. Just in case you are wondering about the look on Hubs face, he’s saying, “I don’t know if a hamburger has ever made me so happy.”

Man vs. Burger.
Man won.

Hubs ordered the Kailua burger with homemade teriyaki sauce, mushroom, swiss cheese and grilled onions. I had the Hawaiian burger with grilled pineapple.

Teddy’s Bigger Burgers was so incredible. The peanut butter shake alone was worth the trip. On the way home, we agreed that Teddy’s was, in fact, better than In-N-Out and Triple O’s. It’s sad, but so deliciously true.

Speaking of Hubs, the man is genius. When we arrived, he had already set up an appointment letting the immigration officials know we were coming so they expected us and processed our paperwork rather quickly.

We were traveling with one precious brown envelope to from the US Consulate in Guangzhou. We were forbidden by American law to open the envelope. Imagine our surprise, when we gave the immigration official the precious brown envelope only to watch her literally rip it open.

The immigration official stamped us back into America and activated Sianna’s visa. All official documents in the precious brown envelope were hand delivered to the Homeland Security Office by an immigration official. And so begins Sianna’s American citizenship process!

Hubs payed attention to what was going on and answered all questions. Meanwhile, I chased Sianna and Schäfer around immigration. She crawled. He ran and jumped and climbed.

Once through customs, we met our new friend, Karen, who is blessing our time in Honolulu. She came with lei’s for our entire family – except Sianna who received a pink Hello Kitty sippy cup. Karen also brought a large vehicle with 2 car seats to get us to the hotel. Amazing.

Of course, Hubs who enjoys hunting down anything found the most comfortable hotel in the best location for the best price. My man loves to hunt! We’ll be in a hotel for a few nights until a nearby guest house is available.

By 12:30pm, we were settling into our room. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep before the kids went down for their naps. Hubs did not slow down. It was man vs. jet lag and man won. He went out in search of a SIM card and milk. After trying many local spots, he hopped on a bus and got himself to Best Buy. On the way there, he passed the Homeland Security Office where we’ll have our appointment tomorrow.

By 4:30pm, we were all awake, happy and ready to go for a walk on the Waikiki Historic Trail.

Everything was going smoothly until Schäfer saw the ocean. He simply wanted to get in. NOW. Without floaties. We informed him that we didn’t want him to be sucked out into the ocean and he’d have to wait until he had floaties on.

Sianna loved watching the ocean. We put her down in the sand and she still enjoyed watching the water until…

…it came up and touched her feet. She wasn’t too pleased. We’re not worried. In a day or so, we probably won’t be able to keep her out of it.

Meanwhile, Schäfer was begging to go swimming in to ocean.

Eventually, we got back on the Waikiki Trail which has lots of statues and tells the history of Waikiki long before tourists and hotels. For Schäfer, the statues on the trail were less interesting than the actual surfers walking by with their long boards. “Mommy, can we buy a surf board?” was requested more than  once.

For supper, we stopped at Hank’s Haute Dogs. Hubs is on a mission to eat at as many famous, local spots as he can.

Isn’t this stroller amazing? Karen loaned it to us! I wasn’t sure how Sianna would like it. Our stroller died in May so she’s been in the Ergo exclusively for 6 weeks. I put her in a friend’s stroller a couple of days ago, but she didn’t like it at all. She calmed down as soon as she saw me. She didn’t like me being behind her pushing the stroller. Well, the stroller Karen borrowed is perfect! Sianna is so content and happy. She loves watching Hubs or I push the stroller along and she feels really secure.

At  Hank’s Haute Dogs, Hubs had the classic Chicago dog with “the famous snap”.

Schäfer and I shared the Hawaiian dog with pineapple relish, passion fruit mustard and grilled Maui sweet onions. Of course, Schäfer ate mostly all the toppings!

Sianna tried some of our Hawaiian hot dog, but mostly ate raisins and goldfish crackers.

After supper, we continued our walk and enjoyed the view of Diamond Head Crater Park.

Our last stop of the evening, was for a shaved ice at Puka’s.

Hubs ordered the Hawaiian Dream which was pineapple, coconut and lilikoi (aka. passionfruit).

Schäfer couldn’t not contain his happiness.

Since we’re back in America, of course we’ve had a little culture shock:

• It’s strange that we’re in America. Maybe it’s because when I think of the beach, I think about Thailand? Or maybe it’s because we’re in such a touristy spot that we’ve been hearing so much Japanese and Korean.

• Even though we’re here during the touristy season, it doesn’t seem crowded at all.

• The best deal for using the bus is a $40 one month bus card. Hmmm… that’s $40 per person! YIKES.

• The price of food is to be expected. We’re in Waikiki. I’m trying not to think about it.

• Everyone here has huge SUV strollers with for multiple kids. They are really convenient and easy to use – until in China where it’s crowded, stairs galore, and buses.