Surro Files - Our Surromoon in Oahu

Standing at Laie Point

Now I know most of you have heard of a Babymoon (one last big trip before you have a baby).  This is kind of like that, but instead it's one last big trip before we start the surrogacy process - a Surromoon (I totally made this name up).  We actually had this trip planned long before we decided on doing the surrogacy, but Brian and I had both agreed that we wouldn't do the transfer till after this trip.  This was our last time to let loose, jump in a hot tub, have a drink, go surfing, hike a mountain... you know... all the crazy stuff that I can't do while pregnant.  Let me just say, it was AWESOME!!!

Turtle Beach

For our Surromoon we went to Oahu, Hawaii.  This was our first time to Hawaii.  Everyone keepstelling us how great it is, but when Allegiant Air announced it was going to have direct flights from Fresno to Oahu for $100 each way, were were all over it!  Oahu here we come!!!  We left on Saturday and came home on Friday (that's the only flights they do out of Fresno right now).  Brian booked a room at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore (yes, the one in (Forgetting Sarah Marshall).  We're not big city folks so the North Shore was just our style.  We also got an amazing deal at the hotel (about 1/3 of what regular rates go for)!!!  Sure, they were under construction updating the whole hotel, but it really didn't bother us at all.  So what did we do while on our trip???  Let me tell you...

We Ate LOTS of Food!

What else do you do on vacation?  We ate, and ate, and ate some more!  There were so many places I wanted to try and I'm pretty happy to say that I almost tried all the ones I wanted to try.  They were DELISH!  The first place we hit up was Nico's on Pier 38.  OMG!  This was so yum and they had lots to choose from.  Brian got a fish wrap and I got some of the Hawaiian favorites (beef stew and orange chicken).  We also got some peanut butter cheesecake and creme brulee cheesecake.  Yum!  The prices were great too.  At the resort we tried a couple of their restaurants.  The super fancy one was under construction, but Ola's was awesome and the view was even better sitting right on the beach.  We also tried their new Kula Grill which is all authentic island food.  None of that compared to our favorite find on the island though.  If you ever head out to Oahu you have to save some room for the shrimp trucks!!!  I'm drooling just thinking about them.  We tried three of the most popular shrimp trucks on the island.  Giovanni's is probably the most well known shrimp truck.  I loved that it was by a shopping market, a shaved ice stand, and the awesome corn stand that we unfortunately didn't get to try.  Romy's seemed to be the most popular with locals but seemed the hardest to peel.  It had the best garlic topping!  Our fave hands down was Macky's shrimp truck though.  The shells just dropped off and their lemon pepper shrimp was to die for!  We also had this awesome pie that's noted to make locals cry just thinking about it.  It's a chocolate haupia pie from Ted's Bakery.  YUM!!!!!

Shrimp trucks on Oahu, Hawaii

We Climbed Diamond Head

Diamond Head is a huge crater that overlooks all of Waikiki and beyond.  It's a 2 mile hike there and back at a fairly steep incline at some points, but all the huffing and puffing was worth it just to see the view at the top.

The view from Diamond Head

We Went Surfing

Oh yes, you heard me right!  That's not my stunt double, but actually me on a surf board riding the waves of the North Shore.  Ok, my daughter said that's not a wave but I assure you that I was moving forward no matter how small that wave looks.  I totally would have went out again, but my ribs, hips, and elbows were a bit bruised after the 2 hour training session.

Surf lessons at Turtle Bay Resort

We Walked Across The Ocean To Goat Island

I kid you not.  We seriously walked across the ocean to this little island just off the shore of Le'ai.  Goat Island is about 500 ft to the small island, but you have to take it really slow.  One slip and you'll be a bloody mess as you fall on the coral in the ocean.  We went in the morning while it was low tide.  I thought this would be easier, but it was actually easier to walk back when the tide was higher and if I fell, I'd just fall in the water.  When we got over there the beach was completely deserted, but after we walked back the rest of the people on the beach realized that you could walk there and our private beach was taken over.  If we were smart like this other couple though, we would have taken a kayak out there.  It looked way easier.

The walk to Goat Island

We Sailed Out On A Catamaran

Brian booked us a ride on the Maita'i Catamaran with views of Waikiki and Diamond Head.  It was awesome seeing the city view from way out at sea, but I realized after we got on the boat that I forgot to put sunscreen on my legs and feet.  BAD MISTAKE!  I could feel my skin burning to a crisp and for the rest of our trip I just looked like that white girl tourist that doesn't know how to put on sunscreen.  Ooops!

We Searched Out The Film Locations of Lost & The Hunger Games

Brian and I are HUGE Lost fans!!!  Can you think of a better show???  Anyways, we were totally excited when we found out that the show was filmed on Oahu, so you can bet that I searched out all the Lost film locations.  There were quite a few locations, but we just visited a few.  First we headed out to the camp site of "the others".  Did you know that it's actually a YMCA camp?  We couldn't go up to the houses, but we took some pictures.  I even saw some of "the others" walking around.  Freaky!  Haha!  We also visited the crash site of the plane on the beach.  Last night we watched that first episode and it was awesome to see we were standing right there!!!!  We also went through the woods by the Turtle Bay Resort where Jack, Kate, & Charlie ran from the monster, as well as the Banyan Tree's where various scenes were filmed.

The Lost plane crash site / The Banyan Trees / The village of "the others"

The night before we left home I found out that the second movie from The Hunger Games was also filmed here!  I was actually reading that book on the plane ride to Oahu.  Of course I had to see it and play out my own scene from the Hunger Games as a dead victor.  Yes, I know I'm a dork.  Haha!

The Hunger Games (Catching Fire) film location on Oahu

We Went Geocaching

Ok, this is my new found obsession and I'm going to dedicate a whole other post to exactly what it is, but I'm seriously obsessed now and found 7 caches while I was there.  I would have found a ton more, but Brian's not sold on the whole Geocaching deal yet and just thinks I'm a dork (haha!  clearly true).  I know he'll come around though.  Who doesn't love a good treasure hunt???

Geocaching finds

We Went Snorkeling at Sharks Cove

Shark's Cove is noted to have the best snorkeling on the island and I can totally see why.  The area is completely blocked off from the crashing waves of the ocean so lots of fish can swim around in small pools with lots of coral.  We brought our digital water camera so we were able to get some great video of the fishes for the girls to see.  The water was also warmer than the ocean water since it was shallow and got lots of sun.  Beware of sea urchins though.  There are tons of the spiky little boogers all over the place!

Snorkeling in Sharks Cove

We Hung Out At The Pool

This was Brian's favorite part of the trip.  His idea of vacation is sitting in the pool throwing back Maitai's, so we dedicated 2 days to just relaxing.  This gave me lots of time to catch up on my Hunger Games book (I'm on the 3rd one).  The Turtle Bay Resort has a nice pool; two of them actually.  The main pool overlooks the ocean and has a couple little coves you can sit in.  the second pool has a slide and a waterfall with a second waterfall that goes into a kiddie pool.  This is the one we were in most of the time since it had more shade.  Ok, when I say "we" went in, I really mean Brian since I'm not the swimming type, but I did go in once.  Brian went on the slide and cracked us up by getting stuck.  Guess it's just meant for the little ones at the resort.  Haha!

Turtle Bay Resort swimming pool

Heading Home...

So that was our surromoon trip to Oahu, Hawaii.  We checked out a few other places, but those were the highlights of our trip.  By the end we were ready to get back home to our little munchkins.  I missed them so much!  We tried to Skype with them whenever we could but at some point you just want to wrap your arms around them and give a big hug!

And So It Begins...

Technically cycling for the transfer has already begun.  I started my birth control pills to sync my cycle with the egg donor on the day we flew out to Oahu last weekend.  Next weekend I will start my Lupron injections.  It's just so exciting to finally get started and I can't wait to see the future mommy, Belle, again when we fly out to Connecticut for the transfer next month!

Don't forget to check out my "Surrogacy" tab at the top of this page to catch up on any posts you might have missed

*Some of the names in this post have been changed to protect the identities of those involved in this journey