"Reverent" Vacation Day #4

Kate woke to her typical morning routine of drinking a bottle of milk, munching on cereal, and watching her favorite cartoons.

We all got dressed and while Dave picked up our car, Kate and I squawked with the hotel's lobby birds, Ula and some other bird whose name I can't remember.

Now a little background....growing up, vacations ALWAYS included a Sunday. For Dave, vacations were ALWAYS over before Sunday. We compromised and tried to do only "reverence" activities since it was a Sunday. We started out by attending church in Laie. Oh, how I wish I were in a Hawaiian ward now! The meeting was so neat and at the end of sacrament meeting we all stood up and sang, "Aloha Oi" to the sister missionary who would be leaving the ward. The people were so friendly and many of the men wore the lava-lavas and flip-flops to church. Isn't that fun?

Reverent activity #2: Laie Temple. The temple is doing major renovations right now for over a year. The paint is completely stripped on the temple's exterior, the windows have been removed, and they're doing new electricity and plumbing. So yeah, all that's left of the temple is pretty much a shell. It was still so pretty. They had a huge strip of landscaping and cascading pools leading up to the temple. Kate especially loved the pools and would scream when we'd take her away from them. I hope she learns participation skills someday!

Here's a picture of all of us...aren't we cute?

We took some time to take a few photo opp.'s and then went into the Visitor's Center. Dave's parents knew the missionaries there so it was kind of an added treat getting a tour from them. The sister missionaries were very cute and friendly and got a plumeria flower for Kate, Sandra, and me to put in our hair. After our churchy activities we changed from our church clothes and ate an icky buffet at the hotel's restaurant. So far on the trip, there has been no "to die for" food. Oh well. We gave Kate a short nap, and then went to Pearl Harbor. I wasn't very excited for it, and thought it might be a semi-lame tourist attraction. My instincts were wrong and I really had a good time.Above: The memorial

Below: Our little family inside the memorial When we first arrived we got tickets to go out to see the U.S.S. Arizona. We first watched a 25 minute long film that taught us the history of Pearl Harbor. Then they loaded us on a boat that drove us to the Arizona Memorial. The memorial is built directly over the battleship. The battleship (for anyone who doesn't know) was hit and sunk to the bottom of the harbor, along with 1,177 crewmen). The memorial has three rooms to it: the entry and assembly room (a small room with flags), the central room (an observation area), and the shrine room, where names of those killed on the Arizona are engraved on a marble wall. Here's Kate in the shrine room:
It was really neat to hover right over the top of the battleship. It made for a somber feeling and many people dropped flowers into the ocean to pay their respects. You can still see oil from the ship draining out and rising to the top of the water. Behind me and Kate is the gun barrel of the ship.

Below is a not-so-great picture of the ship under the water and oil spots in the water: Anyway, I was glad I got to experience it. It actually turned out to be one of my favorite events from the trip.

Next we drove to the National Cemetary of the Pacific. It's often referred to as the Punchbowl because it's located inside an extinct volcanic crater. It was similar to Arlington Cemetary; displaying the names of all the lost soldiers from past wars. 776 casualties from Pearl Harbor were among the first to be buried here.Are we bad parents for tying our child up with a leash? We don't think that's cruel and unneccessary treatment at all.The view from the top platform overlooking Honolulu and Diamond Head:

This creepy statue actually serves a neat purpose. Lady Columbia symbolizes all grieving mothers and looks out on the cemetery.
After all the "Reverent" sites, we headed for home. The not-so reverent dinner took place at Ted's Bakery (recommended by Laney, thank you) and it did not disappoint. I had perhaps my favorite chicken sandwich I have ever eaten! It was absolutely a bit of greasy, cheesy deliciousness; so yummy! Dave got the Teri Beef Plate Lunch and was pleased by his as well. We finished off our dinner with a slice of the famous Haupia Pie (chocolate coconut). It was something I'll never forget.

And that was the end of our day.