June 13, 2017 – Day #12 Reunited and it feels so good.

June 13, 2017

I was woken up early this morning from Rebecca's text. She and Ed are boarding the plane to Honolulu and Russell’s flight was delayed an hour.  Rebecca will arrive at 11:40am local time and Russell at 12:45pm.  I had time to chillax in my villa.  I made myself breakfast in bed (tea and a bowl of soup) and watched the Disney’s Moana movie.  It was the first time I watched it and I enjoyed it.

We made tentative plans to meet in Waikiki after picking Russell up from the airport.  Jillian and Matty reluctantly came with me.  We left at 11:30am and made it in time to pick up Rebecca and Ed at baggage claim and take them to get the rental car.  By the time they were done getting the rental, Russ called to say that he landed.  As planned, Russ, the two kids, and I went to Waikiki to meet up with David and the gang for lunch and shopping.  We parked at the International Market which had a complete makeup since the last time we were in Oahu.  Gone are the "flea market" kiosks and replaced with high end shopping.  Sad to see that it lost it's charm.  Russ and I left the two Tweens to go shopping on their own while we grab lunch.  Adriane and Moses was raving about Marukame Udon so we had to try it.  It's a very casual cafeteria style restaurant.  You choose your soup base, hot or cold, size, and then pick your sides.  The service was fast!  The udon was delicious, but I regret not getting cold soup on a hot day.  Jillian called as we were finishing up and said they were hungry and wanted udon as well.  I sent them the Google Maps link and left it up to them to figure how to get there.  Russell nervously tracked Matty's iPhone to make sure they were heading in the right direction.

At 4pm, David and the gang were just leaving Kailua.  Russell and Matty went home to go to the beach with Mikey.  I told Russell to come back to Waikiki after 8pm to pick me up,  Jillian and I were going to have girl time.  First on the agenda was to be pampered with pedicures.  We found a reasonable place off the main strip that only cost $25.  We walked out of the nail salon $80 lighter but were happy customers.  We even rocked Hawaiian themed designs.  Jillian's favorite store is Victoria Secret's PINK, so of course that was the next stop.  Time flies by so fast while you're shopping.  We slowly made our way to Waikiki Beach where David was watching the boys play.  David took Mikey to Waikiki instead of leaving him home to wait for his Daddy.  Russell joined us at the beach and had a warm welcome from Mikey who missed his Daddy so.

Just when we were about to leave the beach, Rebecca called and said that she's on her way to Marukame Udon.  Sam was anxious to see his mom so we stayed so that he can see her.  We walked through Moana Surfrider Hotel (one of our favorites in Waikiki) so that I can see my favorite Banyan Tree.  The hotel always have great live music and tonight was no different.  Having Sam and Mikey with us kind of killed the romantic vibe, so we settled for a picture with the tree and moved on. (picture by Mikey).

We joined Rebecca, Ed, and Moses' family at the beginning of the line at Marukame Udon.  Sam was finally reunited with his Mommy and I saw the biggest smile from him.  Russell and I joined them for dinner and had our second udon for the day.  

Today was definitely a day of reunions.  After 11 days apart, I was happy to be reunited with my husband again.  Rebecca and Ed got to be reunited with their children as well.  But how did they managed to go back to their hotel room without them...we have the privilege of having Jillian and Sam at our house for another night.