Celebrating 12 Years

 This past weekend, Josh and I decided to take a little anniversary trip and leave our babies with their grandparents. It was the first time we didn't take our kids with us on any vacation, so I had a lot of anxiety about it but everything turned out so well!

Thursday, June 8
Josh and I had a gym date around 9:00 am. We rarely get to work out together because of his work schedule so this was a cute little treat Josh really wanted. Afterwards, we spent most of the day cleaning the house and packing. I also did a big grocery haul so that the kids would be stocked up with food and snacks while we were gone. The GrahamParents came over around 3:00 pm and we were on our way! I hadn't eaten lunch because I was so stressed out trying to prep everything for the kids while we were gone so we had to make a pit stop at Jack in the Box, but then, we were on our way! We drove through traffic for a bit but got to our first destination around 4:00 and we surfed Straight Outs near Kewalo Basin. It's a mellow longboarding spot and we had a perfect little afternoon surf date.

Then we drove to Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort and checked in. Josh's friend from high school was working bell and we got to see him and talk story everyday, so that was fun. This was the view from our room.

We got ready for dinner and then headed out to Eating House 1849 by Roy Yamaguchi. We walked there to save money on parking and at one point a local employee was giving us directions and he said, "Congratulations on whatever!" and I yelled behind me while walking away "12 years of marriage!" and he made the biggest surprised face like he couldn't believe we could be married for that long at our age haha. We got to the International Marketplace exactly at 7:00 which was our reservation time. There was a beautiful and relaxing live performer and the setting was so beautiful.

We walked back to our hotel the long way to do some people watching and sight seeing of the different hotels and got back after 9:00. I asked Josh if we could do a mini photo shoot in the lobby because their newly renovated decorations and furniture were so cool. This was a swing!

We had to wake up super early the next morning and I was so exhausted from the whole day so we knocked out pretty quick.

Friday, June 9
We woke up at 4:30 and we were on the road by 5:30 to go to La'ie to do a temple session. I don't think he and I have done a sunrise drive to the temple since before we had kids, I forgot how beautiful it is!!

Ka'a'awa

Kahana Bay

Kahana Bay

Ka'a'awa

We arrived at the temple around 6:15 am which was perfect timing because we're supposed to check in by 6:30 am. I should've had someone take our picture at the temple that day but I was focused on being present. As we walked towards the temple doors, hand in hand, I told Josh, "I'm so grateful that after 12 years, we are still coming here together." It's a blessing I know I shouldn't take for granted. Coming to the temple to worship together has strengthened our relationship, and it has guided us and given us comfort in our trials.

It was a beautiful endowment session. We spent much longer than we normally do in the celestial room because for once, we didn't have to rush home to pick up our kids! This was probably one of my most favorite memories from our staycation, was talking and praying together inside the celestial room. We shared with each other the spiritual impressions we received about our individual decisions and our family decisions. I thanked Heavenly Father for that. After the temple, we FaceTimed our kids and none of them cried! That gave me reassurance that I could relax and not worry about them while we were gone.

Then we got breakfast at Hukilau Cafe and headed to Turtle Bay to surf! Surprisingly there was a north swell and we got so lucky with some head high surf. This is unusual for summer time, and it's funny because the whole time we stayed in Waikiki, the south shore was pretty small. I was a little bit nervous about paddling out in bigger surf on my longboard, but after I caught a couple of waves I got really comfortable and had the best session of our whole weekend. We surfed from about 11:30-1:30.

Here's one of my waves - the ending is pretty funny!

Meanwhile, Josh's parents sent us pics of what they were up to. They took them to Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden and got to see and feed fish!

After surfing I really wanted an acai bowl from Angel's ice cream. That was my lunch, haha.

Josh drove the hour long trip back to Waikiki and I was totally knocked out for most of it. I'm not used to surfing for that long and in the middle of the hottest time of day anymore. We used to do it all the time in our pre-kid days. I'm gettin old! We got back around 4:30 and I just showered and got ready for my high school reunion/class night. Josh surfed Three's right in front of our hotel to get another quick sesh in and because it only takes him 5 minutes total to get ready. I straightened my hair so that took me almost 1.5 hrs. We had Kani Ka Pila Grille delivered to our room for dinner then left at 7:00 for my reunion at the B-Side Lounge. Josh was nervous about not knowing anybody there but guess what! My classmates were all super friendly and Josh made a connection with almost everybody he talked to ("Where you went HS? Do you know so and so? Das my friend!" was basically every conversation). Josh even knew the guy who was running the 360 Photo Booth because they worked together at the Luana hotel! By the end of the night Josh said he had so much fun. I'm so glad. Beforehand, I promised not to ditch him to go catch up with friends, I included him in every conversation. Past Ari would have not been as thoughtful hahaha. I guess 12 years of marriage helps you to grow.

I got to see a few of my besties like Jeff, Phill, Jasmine, and Tarina. A few people from our group in high school weren't there but we're gonna try get together soon. We did a remake of our picture from senior year except Jasmine and Tarina were standing on opposite sides, oops that's ok. The funny thing is we used to call ourselves LSC - the Lover Stealer Crew. Hahahaha. Teenagers...

2008

2008

2023

2023

Saturday, June 10 - our actual anniversary!
Since we did so much the day before, I was pretty wiped out. We ate breakfast in the room and I took a morning nap afterwards haha. Since most of the roads in Waikiki were shut down for the Kamehameha Day Parade, we decided to do some walking and shopping since we had some gift cards. We did watch the parade for a little bit and I even saw someone I knew in the PCC section! After shopping we ate lunch and ran into another friend who was eating at the same place as us. Then we did some more walking and just explored Waikiki a bit.

Around 3:00 we finally went surfing at Three's. It was pretty small and windy but still fun, because it was another surf date! We caught a few party waves together and I found one of them on Surfline.

Then we had dinner at 6:15 at Hula Grill Waikiki. Got to eat their amazing house bread, a tomahawk steak, and Hula Pie. The couple on the table next to us was from San Diego, CA and they were also celebrating their anniversary of 34 years! They congratulated us on our 12 years and reminded us that it's a big deal. The wife also caught me about to send a text to our babysitter and she said, "No checking on the kids!! They're fine!" I laughed and put my phone away. They were fun!

Sunday, June 11
We just had breakfast at the hotel, walked to the beach for a little bit, then checked out of our hotel and went home to our babies by 9:00 am. It was an amazing weekend!!! I can't wait to do this again soon.