Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Hokule'a Homecoming

Aloohha!!
Early June we had the privilege to see Hokule'a arrive back to Hawaii after her worldwide voyage around the globe for the past three years. Hokule'a is a Polynesian voyaging canoe that most recently traveled 60,000 miles and stopped at 100 different ports in 27 different countries around the world using only way finding techniques (using the stars as navigation). Mark and I felt especially drawn to Hokule'a because it left a month after we first arrived on Oahu three and a half years ago- so it was special to see it arrive back to the island. It's amazing how long, but at the same time fast three years is. You really give the crew of the canoe credit that they are able to remove themselves from social media and basically the entire world for this amount of time. It must be so freeing to have your only worry to be taking care of the boat and the journey at hand. There were thousands of people to greet the canoe as it arrived at Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach Park on Saturday morning. We wanted to see it in person but were a little to scared being so close to baby's due date and stuck in a crowd,  so we watched the ceremony on TV and were able to see the canoe in person later that evening after most of the spectators left.
Friday June 9th was my last day at work and then I officially began my maternity leave! It was really productive and relaxing, but I also felt a little like I was sitting down and just waiting for baby to arrive. Both mine and Mark's mom's arrived in the last few days for the big arrival of our little man. We spent that week swimming multiple times in the ocean and stocking up on groceries.

As our one last hoorah before baby made his arrival, Mark and I were able to stay at my work, Kahala Hotel for one night over the weekend at the end of May. A few of the higher ups at the hotel were so sweet to us and arranged for us to have the most beautiful, amazing hotel room I have ever stepped foot in (this includes the sky suite Mark had us upgraded to a few years ago in Vegas at Aria)! The room was on the top floor of the hotel facing the ocean. Not one of the pictures we took even remotely did the beauty justice. Our plan for the weekend was to spend a lot of time at the pool and on the beach, but our view from the lanai was so beautiful we found ourselves relaxing and enjoying it for literally hours straight. They also left in the room for us a sweet card, chocolate covered strawberries and sparkling water! Our room also had a perfect aerial view of the dolphins, honu (turles) and stingray that live on the grounds. The front desk gave us each a lei (mine wasn't connected of course--when your pregnant you don't wear connected leis as it's a superstition in Hawaiian culture) as well as a Kahala dolphin stuffed animal for our little man to enjoy someday. It was such a fun treat to be able to relax and enjoy my hotel for once while not working. It made me understand why so many of our guests are return visitors for years after years.
Mark's coworkers were so amazing and threw us a surprise Packer themed baby shower! They were all so sweet and had packer decorations, a packer diaper cake (how awesome!!), cupcakes, food, and karaoke! It was such a fun time and we were beyond flattered by their love and support! It felt awesome to officially have a 'real' baby shower- even though our family and friends majorly came through and showered us with lots of gifts which we really appreciated! Luke was spoiled and loved from the very beginning! 

Here's a few random pictures from the past months...

Next time we'll talk about the 12 hour journey (10 hour flight) that we took to Wisconsin to introduce Luke to his family and celebrate his baptism back in October! 
ALOHA! XoXo----

Love... Mark, Jen, and Luke!

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