On Sunday, we walked about a mile to Rainbow Drive-in for brunch.  It was 10:00 am so it was hard to decide what to eat.  In the end, Jes got spam and eggs while I got teri beef with mac salad.  It rained off ad on but not enough to actually impact our morning.

We then headed over to Waikiki Aquarium.  on our way there, we passed a fire station that had a sign offering free blood pressure testing as long as firefighters were in the quarters and not having a meal.  I’m glad they have their priorities straight.

At the aquarium, we saw lots of fish and it was actually worth taking Kumquat.  She could see the fish and tracked the big fish back and forth.  At one point she seemed delighted by all the activity and it was so much fun to watch her smile and kick her legs.

Jes and I have always enjoyed visiting aquariums and this one is one of my favorites.  It was wonderful to see our little girl enjoying it too.

Afterward, we headed back to the hotel and spent some time at the pool bar before heading to Yoon’s condo.  She picked us up and we BBQ’d on her 9th floor patio and I also took Kumquat into the pool for some floating time.

It must have taken all her energy because she slept for quite a while afterward.  Unfortunately, she woke up suddenly and cried and cried for a good 20 minutes from being either overtired or super hungry or both.

When nothing was working to calm her down at the pool, I decided to take her up to Yoon’s condo to figure it out and as soon as I got up there and placed her in the car seat, she passed out.

I stayed up there with her and ended up falling asleep to the beautiful sunset and Women’s Field Hockey on tv.

On Monday morning, we were up relatively early so I dressed Kumquat in some beach clothes and we took her down to the beach one last time.  I love Waikiki Beach in the morning because it’s shady, super empty, and quiet.  We spent some time playing in the sand, watching and listening to the waves, and just enjoyed our last morning in Hawaii together as a family.

After a quick bath for Kumquat and some last-minute packing, we were off to the airport by 11:30 am.  Getting through security was pretty easy and the flight was an amazingly short 4.5 hours!  Luckily, Kumquat was on her best behavior and she slept for most of the flight and downed two bottles of milk.  Good baby.

Overall, our first trip to Hawaii with Kumquat was a success.  It was so neat to see our favorite place through a little baby’s eyes and I feel so lucky to have had such good flights with her.  This was truly a bittersweet trip for me since it was something that I had looked forward to for a few months now but it was also the mark of the end of my maternity leave.  Oh boo. Can’t wait for next year’s trip.  Who’s coming with us?!