Hanging Out at the Hale Koa

We spent our last two nights on Oahu at the Hale Koa, the military resort on Waikiki Beach. It was the perfect way to end our time on the island. As with most things, Mama and the girls got to have more fun than Daddy did. While Daddy finished up at Scofield, making his final out-processing appointment and finishing up other loose ends, we girls spent all day in the sun and water, stopping only for meals and, of course, naps.

Kathleen couldn’t get enough of the kiddie pool. We spent all morning in it. Madeline loved it, too. She’d start in the pool, then climb up the steps and toddle around the deck until I chased her down and brought her back into the water. Eventually all that splashing and toddling caught up with her, and Madeline spent an hour and a half napping in the stroller. While Madeline slept, Kathleen got some special one-on-one time. After some more time in the kiddie pool, she was able to go swimming in the “deep deep pool,” which just isn’t manageable with both girls. When we’d had enough water, we took a walk down to the Hilton Hawaiian Village to visit the penguins, turtles, and flamingoes that live there. (Kathleen calls that stretch of Waikiki the “animal beach” because of the animals at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.) We managed to arrive while a penguin (with her handler) was available for photographs. Our camera still broken, I made do and snapped a picture with my cell phone…

We don’t have many photographs from our stay. There were so many things I’d hoped to capture in a frame before we left – stacks of surfboards, the sunset on the ocean, the ribbon of foam the surf leaves along the sand, my girls dancing along the water’s edge, the way the morning sun plays on the mountains’ ridges. The broken camera foiled my plans. Any number of times I thought, “Oh! I wish I could get a picture of that!” But in some ways, not having the camera freed me up to truly enjoy our time. I watched with my own eyes instead of the camera’s viewfinder. And I didn’t have to worry about getting the camera wet, so I spent even more time in the water than I normally do!

Daddy got back from Schofield while the girls were napping. He came bearing a gift: a new camera! When the girls awoke, we headed back to the kiddie pool. We all swam and splashed. And Mama even snapped a few (but only a few) photos.

We played in the water for as long as we possibly could. We then enjoyed a tasty dinner at a casual beachfront cafe before bedtime. While the girls slept, Mama and Daddy sat on the balcony, watching the water and talking about all the blessings we've enjoyed in Hawaii -- our friends and work and homes and the natural beauty that constantly surrounded us. There's much we'll miss. And yet we are confident that God is leading us in this next chapter of our lives, and we're excited for all that awaits us. Well, we were excited about most everything -- just not as excited about the prospect of the plane flights that awaited us the next day!