Girls' Trip to Hawaii!

Recently, Savannah needed to have surgery on her kidneys but the procedure she needed wasn't available here in Okinawa. So, she and I got to go to Hawaii to have the surgery done. We had the best time! The lodging facilities on the Air Force Base were full, so we got to stay in a hotel in Waikiki, just a block from the beach. It was such a wonderful and unexpected treat to be able to spend 10 days with Savannah in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Her surgery went well and we were able to spend lots of time soaking up the sun, sightseeing, shopping, and catching up with old friends. Savannah and I loved the beach in Waikiki!

When we got off the plane, my sweet friend, Amber, had fresh flower leis for both of us. Here is Savannah wearing hers.

This is Tripler Army Medical Center where Savannah's surgery was done.

This is Savannah when she is just waking up from the anesthesia. Not too happy!

She felt better quickly, though.

She recovered well, and two days later we were at the beach!

Here I am with my friend, Amber, who lives in Hawaii. She took us to Kailua beach near her house. It was so pretty!

We were able to go to Pearl Harbor and see the sights there.

Savannah got a hula skirt and was practicing her dancing on our hotel balcony.

We went to a luau one night and we loved it!

At the luau, we each got a wrist lei made for us.

At first, Savannah was a little skeptical of the luau food, but it turned out to be really delicious.

There was a cute little "keiki" at the luau that was helping the children learn to hula.

After the show, Savannah got her picture taken with Chief Tuey Manga, who was a fire dancer in the show. Check out the tribal tattoos all over his legs...

On our flight home, the flight attendant was quite taken with Savannah, and she took us both up to the upper floor of the 747 to meet the pilots and sit for a minute in the cockpit of the plane. Really cool!