Hawaii & tales of a poop train

My work requested I travel over Thanksgiving week.  I reluctantly agreed, "If no one else can go I guess I can jump on this grenade for the team, but you'll owe me."  So they flew me to Hawaii.  Brandon and Annabelle joined me after I was done with my work project and we turned it into a vacation. 

The first half of the trip we stayed on the 15th floor of a posh hotel in Waikiki. It had a neat glass balcony that not only over looked the ocean but also a  parking garage littered in lost fallen shoes. I've never stayed in a place so luxurious- and was informed (in the parking garage) that I wasn't allowed to even park my own car-that was the valets job. 

The second half of the trip we camped on the beach at a state park. There were 25 foot waves breaking off shore- it was mesmerizing to watch. At 4 am, the tides came in and we woke up in the salt water- floating on thermarests.  Locals told us the  next morning they've never seen anything like that before. The rest of camping was uneventful- Annabelle loved the feral campground roosters and cats. We loved that it was thirty bucks a night. 

We toured the Dole fruit plantation- which is mostly a racket tourist trap. We ate the pineapple ice cream- walked through the gift shop and decided to ride their silly plantation train through a section of the farm. On the train, music was playing, an automated guide was telling us the history of the plantation- we were in the spirit and having fun. This is the toddler shit you do that makes you an awesome parent. We were killing it, high fives all around!  Then Annabelle tugged my arm and told me, "Ma Ma. I have to poop". I looked around thinking, god we're trapped. It seemed like time slowed down- like it does when you are in line at the post office. She was on my lap screeching ""Mama I really have to poop. My belly hurts!".  I didn't have a toddler on my lap - at this point it was a stick of wet dynamite. Then the train stopped completely and so did my heart. We were only half way through the ride! OMG. More coaching. More promises, "When we get back I will run you to a toilet." More screaming. More thinking fucking pineapples, fucking trains.  Just when we were considering 'can we  hold her over the side of the train?'- we were back. Annabelle and I bolted to the nearest bathroom and I answered the traditional Thanksgiving question of:  "what are you most thankful for this year". 

Besides the near miss on the train- It was a beautiful time of year to be hiking and trail running through the jungle. After the first few days allowing  Annabelle to hike by herself we bought a child  hiking pack which made doing literally anything easier. We took turns running through  these narrow trails previously used for military jungle training. The trails were tight-shoulder room only and warned you not to get misdirected and accidently take one of  the wild boar arterial trails. They had several stream crossings, I misjudged where  to "wade through the stream" and ended up in water up to my neck. Totally up our alley- we couldn't think of anything that screamed Rouse Vacation more. 

The beaches were great- we snorkeled until our butt cheeks were burned and enjoyed boogie boarding through the surf and watching  the 'real surfers.' Annabelle loved looking for crabs in their holes and really took to being pulled around the boogie board delightfully telling us " I'm surfing!!". After eating copious amounts of fresh fruit,  pineapple and raw fish known as poke it was time to go home to 39 degrees rain/snow, gray skies and some snow. Until we meet again Hawaii.