The Christensen Family: Oahu Day 1 & 2: Swap Meet, Visit Aunty Leo & Uncle Greg, Ala Moana

The "Lani" cousins styling with their "Joe-Cool" shades.

We arrived in Oahu late the night before. We were so lucky to get to stay with Uncle Joe and Aunty Kathy for a few days right off the bat. We took over their living room with our luggage and the queen air mattress they had for us. We enjoyed every minute with them!

Our first day we decided to go hit up a giant swap meet that stretches all the way around a football stadium. We spent a good amount of time there. It was there where we purchased a few souveniers for our kids at home. Steve ended up purchasing a sun hat for himself that said "Hawaii" on it. We got Lily some clip on earrings- sea turtles, sea horses, and a couple others. For Amara we purchased a cute little turtle. I made sure to get Hawaiian dresses for the girls too, but I can't remember if we got them there or at Walmart.

Anyway, it was a busy, bustling place! So many booths! We didn't even make it all the way around. I know I got my steps in that day!

Afterwards, we stopped by Taco Bell and got tacos to take to Aunty Leo's house when we went to visit. When we arrived, Uncle Greg was already sitting outside on the nice covered front porch Uncle Joe made for them.

Visiting with everyone on the front porch

Lani made sure to get paper and marker so we could communicate with Aunty Leo better, since she is very hard of hearing. She is such a joy! She has so many fun stories to share.

After our visit, we met Aunty Kathy's family at a Korean food restaurant for dinner. Aunty Kathy is Korean, by the way. Steve and I ordered what we knew to be good, but it didn't matter, there was so many dishes people ordered and each dish came with all kinds of small servings of side dishes. I forget what they call those, but I love it all. Lots of tastes of lots of different vegetables and what not. Just delicious. It was fun to meet Aunty's family too. They were all very kind and welcoming.

The next day, Aunty Kathy dropped us off at Ala Moana while she went to visit her mother. We arranged a time to meet after. The 2 things we wanted to do while there was eat at Genki Sushi and visit the Shirokira Market. We found the market first. It was basically a bustling Japanese food court, but higher end.

Have you ever seen a guardian sanctuary? You could put money the charity boxes under your guardian angel.

Never even heard of spam fries. Steve was only putting a thumbs up so we could have a fun pic.

Next, we were off to Genki Sushi. When I asked JJ his favorite place to eat, he said "Genki Sushi!" He described to me a restaurant where you order sushi on iPads and a robot brings the food to you. When we got there I saw how things worked. You sit at the bar, there's a rotating conveyor belt filled with myriads of sushi options moving in front of you. Above that, there is a track where a boat-shaped train delivers any sushi you order. After you take your food, you push a button to send it back. It sorta reminds me of the trolley in Mr. Rogers.

When you're done, the waitress comes by to total up your plates and give you your bill. Each plate is color-coded, each color representing the price you pay for that plate. It was a touch pricier than I'd like to pay, but for the experience, it was worth it.

We walked around the beautiful, high-end mall gazing at the ridiculous fashions on display.

We decided we couldn't leave without trying dessert at Marion Crepes. The dessert we ordered was $10, but it was amazing. It was 2 large crepes rolled into a cone, filled with a slice of cheese cake, custard, strawberries, Nutella, whipped cream, and topped with a scoop of ice cream. Crazy decadent!

But, before we made the decision to go with Marion Crepes for dessert, we made sure we explored all the options around. There were plenty of beautiful temptations.