Mike, Talisha, and Braedyn Davis

We spent the day on Sunday driving around the eastern side of the island and then over to Honolulu. We walked the Waikiki strip and hung out on the beach there for a little while. The water there is calm enough that Talisha felt comfortable getting in herself and taing Braedyn for a little swim. There is a little kiddie pool type area there that is protected from the waves by a seawall. Braedyn seemed to like the water a little more over here, maybe he's starting to get used to it. It ended up being a pretty long day for Braedyn as we didn't get back until pretty late that night.

I know all of Hawaii is supposed to be this laid back place where everyone is chilled out and loving life, but after spending a week so far on the North Shore and then coming into Honolulu and Waikiki there is a definite difference. There is a hustle and bustle feel on Waikiki with people everywhere. Lots of shops and restaurants all over the place (the same exact ones everywhere else in the US). Traffic jams, upset people, the party scene, and construction everywhere made Honolulu a little too uptight for us. We just had the feeling of being in a big city, which is not all together bad, but is not the laid back atmosphere that we had looked for in a Hawaii trip.

As we made our way back over to the north shore you could almost feel the air relaxing. The north shore this time of year is a sleepy surf town where the hustle is measured by how fast you want to pedal your bike to the beach, and the bustle by the group of welcoming surfers in the water at one of the local breaks. Everyone smiles when they see Braedyn coming down the beach sleeping in the baby bjorn on daddy's chest. Besides one Starbucks a couple of miles down the road the closest thing to a chain is the two shrimp trucks that are painted the same color. Even though this laid back, super-aloha feeling on the north shore isn't for everyone, it is exactly what we were looking for and exactly what we needed.

Enough rambling, here's some pictures....