Hawaii 2021

day 0

Avery, Lena, and Joseph got online at 7am Hawaii time to try to score reservations to Hanauma Bay. Due to the pandemic, there is a highly contested reservation system where reservations go in under 2 mins. Lena and Joseph couldn’t complete their capatchas fast enough, but Avery, for some reason, didn’t have to do one and booked their spots for 8:20AM Sat.

At lunch, Avery dropped Rusty off at her parents house. Rusty was VERY excited to be there. His jaw quivered in anticipation of all the treats he would receive.

After work, Morgan’s dad dropped Avery and Morgan off at the airport. When they got to Hawaii, they were at the end of the line to have their QR code scanned. An hour later, they finally presented their QR code, ID, and vaccination cards. It took 45 seconds to scan everything and pass them through!

Justin, who had been circling around the airport for an hour, picked Avery and Morgan up at the curb. They got the low-down about when Marshmallow (Justin and Monica’s code name for their baby) was scheduled to arrive. The plan was roughly “go to the hospital on Monday”.

day 1

Tired from getting in late, Avery and Morgan woke up at 5am Hawaii time to go to work. Unfortunately, they forgotten to get the wifi password from Justin the night before. Since they didn’t want to wake anyone up, Morgan tried his hand at guessing the password. He got it on the first try. It was actually not a guess in retrospect since it was the same password as before, and Morgan was able to recall it.

At lunch, Morgan suggested they go for a hike in the hills behind Justin’s house. Since Morgan and Avery have Ragnar Rainier coming up in 2 weeks, Avery was on board to do some training. They laced up their trail runners and drove a few minutes to the trailhead. Avery ran ahead on Pu’u Pia Trail. They quickly realized they weren’t going to be able to run the whole way. The trail was wet and muddy with slippery leaves and roots everywhere. At a fork in the trail they took Kolowalu Trail which turned out to be a very steep, very slippery, mud hill. Avery was getting a bit skeptical. Was the whole trail going to be like this? Was the hike still worth it? Morgan wanted to continue on, so Avery kept leading the way through what may have actually been a improvised trail due to tree fall on the original trail. They finally popped out onto Wa’ahila Ridge Trail which was much less soggy. Morgan took the lead and Avery got left in the dust!

Nontraditionally, Morgan sat down on the grass. Avery sat down next to him and Morgan and took out a box! After a short speech that Avery doesn’t remember most of, Morgan said he wanted to get hitched! Avery said, “yeah! Let’s do this!” or something like that. Then she said, “That ring looks really small.” Morgan said, “You were the one that picked the size!” Avery put on the ring. It was a perfect fit! Actually, it was even a tiny bit big.

When they got back to the car, Avery drank all of Morgan’s water. Back at home, Morgan’s mom said she knew what Morgan had planned because she had a feeling and “all of you boys have proposed in Hawaii”. Monica and Justin also said they had an inkling! Only Avery was surprised!

After work, Avery and Morgan had to get their poke fix. Only Ono would suffice! Cravings satisfied, they met Joseph and Lena at Kuhio Beach in Waikiki.

Avery and Morgan opened up one of the umbrellas on the beach. Lena and Joseph arrived shortly later with beverages. They caught up with Lena and Joseph’s year of travel and that morning’s engagement in the shade. An hour later, a guy came around to close up the umbrellas and they got scolded for using the umbrella without renting it. He said they just had to close the umbrella, so they did that and went to wade in the ocean instead.

day 2

Everyone woke up early to get to Hanauma Bay for their 8:20 show time start. Avery said she hoped they let them in because she misspelled her name on their ticket. Despite promising not to laugh, Lena asked if Avery Gww was present!!

Before the instructional video, an elderly volunteer chatted with them about how he had to lay down the law on a non-compliant mask wearing teenager. He then launched into another story about Monk seals. The Monk seals come to shore to rest and take a nap. Since visitors tend to crowd around the Monk Seals, a federal law was passed that says that everyone needs to stay 50ft away from any Monk seal. He said people always scream and point out the Monk seals, but there is no rush to run and see them when they come ashore because once they come up, they will lay on the beach for hours.

After the video was over, they walked down to the bay and set up allllll the way on the left side. Morgan had found his and Avery’s snorkel gear safely stowed away under the house next to Justin’s Magic cards. Joseph manned the GoPro as everyone else floated around looking at fish. They wondered if the reef was possibly dead though since it was all the same brown color. Lena expected that the reef would have been a lot more colorful. Avery did some research afterwards and determined that yes, the reef at Hanauma Bay was dying/dead/bleached over a lot of its area.

It turned out that snorkeling was a fairly strenuous activity, and they returned to the beach to take a break. As they laid on the beach, they were interrupted by a visitor from the sea! It was a Monk seal! Immediately, a middle aged woman began screaming to her family- Monk seal! Monk seal! Scared, the Monk seal promptly defecated, sending out a smell that could be smelled over 50ft away to where Lena, Joseph, Avery, and Morgan had relocated their towels. Finally, the lifeguard on duty threatened the large crowd that had gathered feet from the seal saying that they “know who you all are- we have your IDs” and “we will be imposing fines of $500 to anyone closer than 50ft”. As soon as “$500” was heard, there was a sharp change in behavior, and people scurried back to let the volunteers carrying don’t-bother-the-seal signs through.

After a shower and a nap, the happy hour crew reunited in Waikiki for some night time festivities. At the top of their list was the Sky Bar Waikiki. After riding the elevator to the top, they found out that they needed reservations. The receptionist said it would be a 45 min wait. They weren’t sure it was worth it since Sky Bar only got 3.5 stars on Yelp. Morgan put his name down and they decided they would wait at another location. The next stop was the Mai Tai bar on the beach. The Mai Tai bar wait was even longer!

It had become clear there wouldn’t be a beverage stop before their reservations at the Sky Bar. They got some dinner at the outdoor food court and then walked back to claim their reservation. The wait was not in vain! They got one of the best tables with two couches and a view of the ocean. The drinks were pretty tasty! Lena taught Avery and Morgan how to do a boomerang on their instagrams. Morgan followed Avery on instagram for the first time.

day 3

Sunday morning, Avery and Morgan met Lena and Joseph at the Wiliwilinui Ridge trailhead for a morning hike. After the muddy engagement hike, Avery was prepared this time! She had her waterproof hiking boots, a liter of water, and trekking poles.

The AllTrails reviews were very accurate. It was really muddy and slippery. Everyone ate it at least 1 time – even Avery and Lena who had the advantage of using one trekking pole each. At the top, they were in a cloud. Avery and Morgan were able to glimpse through the cloud to see the other side of the island, but by the time Lena came up (not even 5 mins later!) the clouds had moved back in. The hike ended up taking much longer than expected and Avery and Morgan had to hustle at the end to make it home in time for brunch.

Mia came home from the park shortly after Avery and Morgan got home. Avery, Mia, Lobby (the lobster), Nene (the goose), and The Coronavirus (a red spiky bouncy ball) played in the attic while Justin and Monica made burgers!

day 4

Morgan and Avery woke up at 5 to meet Lena and Joseph for their morning run. The regimen had them running for 4 minutes and then walking for 1. They ran from Waikiki to Diamond Head and back.

Morgan and Lena went to work (remotely). Avery hung out with Mia until she left with Oma. Monica and Justin got the news that the hospital was too full so they would be waiting another day. Officially on leave from work and already packed to go to the hospital, Monica and Justin finally had some time to relax. They all watched the Great American Baking Show.

When Mia came home, they played Go Fish, Bingo, and read books.

day 5

Morgan woke up to a text that Monica and Justin had baby Hayden at the hospital! Avery wanted to go surfing, but Joseph did some research and found there was a high surf advisory for the south shore of Oahu. They made the mature call to skip surfing since Avery described her swimming skills as more “adequate in a swimming pool” than “strong swimmer”.

Instead, Avery and Morgan went kayaking to the Kaneohe Sandbar. They picked up their kayak and drove 10 minutes to the launch site. The guy at the kayak rental store said they should head straight for the sandbar and then fish along the edge of the sandbar and around the “islands”. He also said that they were in luck because unlike the south shore, the water by the sandbar was unusually calm. “One of the top 10 days of the year”, he said. Normally, it should take 30-45 mins to make it out to the sandbar, but with the placid water, they might make it in 20.

Morgan couldn’t wait until the sandbar to fish. He dropped his line before they got out of the harbor. Less than a minute after dropping his line, he got snagged. Avery said no more fishing until the sandbar and paddled away while Morgan re-rigged his line in the back of the kayak. One mile later, they arrived at the sandbar. Avery thought it was anticlimactic. Morgan thought it was cool and jumped out to walk around on the sand bar. There was no sign of life on the sandbar.

They paddled back out of the sandbar and away from the catamarans blaring pop music. They dropped their lines but felt nothing. They started getting worried they might get skunked. Morgan wanted to paddle across the sandbar to the other side to fish. Avery wanted to try fishing by the “islands”. Since the islands were much closer, they tried those first. The islands turned out to be circular reef structures that were marked by a buoy in the middle. Avery casted toward the edge of the first island and before the the weight hit the bottom she got a hit! It was a fish!

Morgan helped Avery take her fish off the hook. He was much more excited to fish the island. Having drifted, they paddled back to the island where Avery casted back to the same spot but got snagged. Morgan snagged another snapper. Then they got chased away from the island by sea turtles. They tried another island, but kept getting snagged. Avery realized after 2-3 hours in the sun, her shins were burning. Morgan said he wasn’t burning and wanted to keep fishing. Eventually they wandered back to the sandbar where Avery caught a mystery seaweed/baby sea creature.

Shins aflame, Avery insisted they go back or she was going to melt down like a 3 year old that wants to keep playing instead of go to bed. The paddle back was exhausting and took almost an hour. They can’t imagine how long it would have been if the waters had been typical for the area. When they got to shore, they loaded their catch into an ice filled cooler, returned the kayak, picked up some hawaiian BBQ, and headed home!

day 6

Avery woke Morgan up at 5:40 and they met Joseph and Lena for their morning run. Avery had to wear pants to protect her legs from the sun’s rays. Afterwards, Morgan wanted to go Diamondhead market, but it wasn’t open yet. Instead they went home. Mia woke up and wanted to play I Spy with Avery. Then she wanted pancakes for breakfast. Avery and Morgan rose to the challenge! Avery found the ingredients in the baking drawer. Mia stirred the batter. Morgan made his signature pancake “dots” which were perfectly Mia sized. After breakfast, Mia went out with Oma.

Avery and Morgan went out for one last happy hour with Lena and Joseph. They started out at the Mai Tai bar that was too full on Saturday. Avery broke out her favorite game – Settlers of Catan! A quick introduction to the game was conducted while Morgan and Lena ordered the Mai Tais. When the first round was done, unable to abandon her progress, Lena took a picture of the game board, which was later reassembled at Basalt.

After Joseph won Catan, they moved on to the Hideout. The Laylow Mai Tais they ordered were a hit! They took sips while passing around Avery’s other favorite game Wavelength. The fun had to end when Morgan got word that his mom had ordered food he needed to pick up and Monica/Justin/Hayden were coming home from the hospital.

Avery and Morgan got home before Justin and Monica. They waited eagerly at the window with Mia. 10 minutes later, Hayden came home! She was sleeping in her baby carrier. Mia was enamored with her new baby sister. It was a challenge to get everyone to sleep in their own bed except for baby Hayden who slept the entire time.

day 7

The next morning Avery and Morgan packed up to go home. They each got to hold a snoozing Hayden before Justin took them to Nico’s (for one last poke fix) and then to the airport. The trip turned out well despite all the uncertainty surrounding the arrival of the baby and the looming specter of COVID. No one got or transmitted the coronavirus. Morgan succeeded in his engagement proposal. Avery and Morgan got to help out with babysitting while baby Hayden was born! And they got to see and hold her before they left! What a trip!