oahu

since we will be in california for todd's 30th birthday i opted to give him his first present early-a trip to oahu. along with this present the boys & i gifted him with a gopro hero 3 with all the bells & whistles. he was more than excited to put his new toy to good use while on our trip.
the boys i & flew out early friday morning & todd joined us later that evening after work. i was a little nervous about flying solo with 3 rowdy children but everything worked out better than i could have hoped. we were blessed. i completely forgot just how beautiful oahu is. if it wasn't for the run-down homes & buildings  packed in every spare square foot of the island it would be perfect. i'd have to say that maui has my heart but oahu has my soul.
after landing, i took the boys to north shore & we spent a mommy-sons day at pcc, byu-h, the lds temple, & tedd's bakery. it was perfect. i loved showing my boys around my old stomping grounds. the were truly amazed by pcc (who isn't?). we spent the next few days in true watkins fashion; go-go-going from sun up to sun down. we drove through every part of the island, we walked through waikiki, haleiwa, laie, & historic honolulu, & we hiked diamond head & makapu'u point. we visited hanauma bay, china man's hat, waiamanalo, laie point, hukilau beach, sunset beach, pipeline, pali lookout, turtle bay, mount tantalus, waimea bay (where todd & i made multiple jumps off the tower of waimea rock), shark's cove, pearl harbor, matsumoto's, boot's & kimo's, ono steak & shrimp, & many random beaches along the way. despite our best efforts we only scratched the surface of all that oahu has to offer.

the highlights of the trip for me were re-visiting laie & the onolicious pancakes at boots & kimo's & the ono pies at ted's. todd's favorite part was snorkeling shark's cove. cooper loved china man's hat, pearl harbor, & waimea bay. t.j.'s favorite was the tongan village & canoe ride at pcc. mylo loved cruising the streets of waikiki. i honestly, cannot wait to go back.