It's just a port call

So about three weeks ago Crazy and I boarded a plane for Honolulu. It'd been a month since Hubby left and we were going to have a little family "vacation". After a 6 1/2 hour flight holding a child who was trying to sleep but kept squirming because he couldn't get comfortable, I was ready to scream. My day just wasn't going well. As we're going through customs I got flagged because I had a small child so I MUST have some food on me. So that meant my luggage, including my carry-on, got scanned again and searched. Oops! I had a banana in my bag that I forgot to give to Crazy as snack. That doesn't make me a criminal though! I felt like one though the way everyone was looking at me and the way the Dept. of Agriculture people were freaking out about it. About an hour later I finally made it to the rental car agency. I loaded everything in the car, strapped Crazy into the crappy carseat I was renting, and proceeded to have a small panic attack about driving on the "normal" side of the road. Luckily I did fine. Once checked in at the Navy Lodge, Crazy and I took a much needed nap. We woke up for an hour and a half so we could get lunch then it was back to sleep. I woke up at 7:30pm and realized that I should have left for the airport to pick up Hubby already. As I'm getting everything together, the phone rings. It's Hubby saying he took an earlier flight so he's already landed. That would have been great except I couldn't find the rental car agreement, which meant I couldn't leave base and get back on, and Crazy was still sleeping. About 30 minutes later I finally got to the airport. Crazy saw Hubby waiting on the curb and got SO excited. He was screetching and trying to bounce up and down in the carseat. It was really adorable. Sad at the same time though, because I know he only gets to see him for a week before Hubby leaves again. On our way back to the Lodge we stopped at Jack-in-the-Box. I was in heaven. Fast food besides McDonald's and Taco Bell, it was great!

The rest of our trip was mostly uneventful. I managed to talk Hubby into taking me to the LeSportSac outlet store so I could buy some more purses. They were having a 30% off sale and Hubby told me I could buy whatever I wanted. I told him I would keep it under $300. Now if you don't know, here in Japan the LeSportSac bags are VERY expensive. The bags in the US are about half the price.

This is the bag I bought here in Japan:

It cost me approxiamately $120. Expensive, yes, but cheaper than a Coach purse. Plus it's much more baby friendly since it's more of a heavy duty nylon material. I love this purse.

Now here is what I bought while in Hawaii:

Want to guess how much I spent? Well let's see here... I bought one purse the exact same style as my Japanese purse, a small tote bag, two smaller purses, a makeup bag, a pencil bag, and two coin purses. Plus each purse came with a matching cosmetics bag. That makes 12 items. My bill was $275! I am such a good shopper. And I even stayed under $300. I shouldn't have to buy another bag for the rest of my life, okay at least the next 5 years or so. Alright, alright, we went back to the store 2 days later and I bought a duffel bag. But only because we had bought so much other stuff that we needed it to pack everything.

Inbetween shopping (we went to 2 different Wal-Marts and a Payless) we went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. They have the world's largest maze. We went through it of course and halfway in it started to pour! So we were stuck in a maze in the rain and me in a pale pink shirt. Not a good combination. Some guy actually asked me if I wanted him to take our picture right after we made it out. Yeah, I really want a picture of me soaked and in a see-through shirt. Some good did come of the trip though, Hubby decided that he does in fact like pineapple and Crazy gorged himself on it so he slept the whole way back to the room. Plus I had no idea what pineapple plants look like. Who knew they are red when they're immature? As soon as we move back to the states I'm planting one! I can't wait!

Another day we went to the USS Arizona memorial. If you've never been, I recommend it. They show a great short film about the history of the attack that even non-history buffs like me can enjoy. The actual memorial is very moving. It smells terrible however from the oil that is still leaking from the hull.

We also went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We got Crazy a lovely turtle tattoo. It's very fetching don't you think? If you look closely you can see a bruise in the middle of his upper forehead. He took a head dive in the parking lot trying to run away from us. It only got worse looking and by the time we got back to Japan I think the CDC workers were thinking we beat our child (we don't, trust me). I made Hubby and Crazy wear matching Hawaiian shirts that we bought too. They were too cute! While at the center we went to a luau and saw part of the night show. We left halfway through though because it was an hour drive back and we were leaving in the morning. When we came out of the show and went to get Crazy's stroller I noticed that someone had stolen our bamboo leaf fish that Hubby and I had made. Who does that? Both of us had made these fish from bamboo leaves and then the instructor tied them together so they were kissing. The fish were on top of the stroller when we went into the show, 45 min later they were gone. Who steals something from a baby stroller? Well I know the answer to that! An Air Force couple, that's who! Before the show this woman was talking to us (and eyeing our fish). Her husband is in the AF and stationed in Hawaii. Their stroller was parked right next to ours. They left like 5 min before us. I saw them as we were leaving with OUR FISH in their stroller!!! Hubby had to hold me back. I was soooo mad. Yes, it's just leaves, but still. So sadly our trip was ending on a bad note. I don't know if I'd go back to Hawaii. Maybe another island, where there's not an AF base.

On the flight home however, Hubby got a taste of flying with a child solo since I basically ignored both of them and watched 3 movies back to back. When we arrived at Narita I was relaxed and in a much better mood whereas Hubby was tired and stressed. Welcome to my life honey!

Unfortunately Hubby left a day and a half later for the long cruise. He'll essentially be gone for the majority of the year. That's why I treat Hawaii as a port call. As soon as he left I was right back in my routine of hogging the bed, closet, and remote control. Now I must go and wait by the phone. Hubby's supposed to be calling me from port in a little bit.