We were all in bed early last night because of a very early start for David, with pick up at 6.00am and a similarly early start for Chris and Peita for their snorkeling. Jeanette heard David depart at about 5.40am, but Ken slept through it only to awake at 6.30am.

When we did rise, the weather was cloudy and threatening showers for the morning. it was a little strange for Jeanette and I to have breakfast by ourselves, but we did so at about 7.45am.

Then Ken showered and prepared for our visit to Ala Moana shopping centre for the final shopping as well as checking out suitcases (Ken has broken wheels) . So it makes sense to replace here if possible.

We are then lunching in the food court. There is also a parade early afternoon signifyingthe start of Christmas here in Honolulu.

Chris, Peit and boys are due back around lunch time and Jeanette and Ken are minding the boys this afternoon. Jeanette has promised special ice creams at Lappards if they are good.

I am writing this initial piece at 8.45am and we have just had a rare heavy shower of rain and roads and paths are wet.

We have all returned from our individual excursions and shopping expeditions and all went very well.

Peita, Chris and the boys did snorkeling and swam with large turtles and enjoyed a fantastic experience. There was much fun, lots of learning and general excitement They used the snorkels well, enjoyed the turtles. A unique experience that all felt was great value.

David also enjoyed his excursion to Pearl Harbour to visit the Arizona memorial in a general sense, but the memorial is itself closed to the public during a major refurbishment and upgrade. David appreciated the whole symbolic process and story of the 1941 Japanese bombings, the tragic loss of life and the aftermath.

Jeanette and Ken visited Ala Moana shopping centre for the Black Friday sales. Ken purchased a new case to replaced his current damaged case. We looked at hats and did some shopping for dinner this evening.

Lunch was in the Food market and Jeanette purchased our meal from Panda Express. We enjoyed the Chinese food.

We had to walk back to HGVC because there were many people in the queue and Ken’s new case was too large to take on board.

Following our return, Peita, Chris and David went shopping and we entertained and minded the boys. We had a brief period of discussion, then time on their iPads, before we depart to have ice creams assuming they are well behaved. It is 2.15 pm and all of s well, boys perfectly behaved for Narnie.

The weather has improved as the day has gone on. It is now a sunny very warm day with blue skies, some clouds.

Tonight we have the Hawaii Holliday parade followed at 7.45pm by the fireworks here at HGVC.

So today is a busy non stop day for all of us. The boys have indicated that they don’t want to swim in the Paradise pool this afternoon so we will go for a walk following our ice creams. But Seb and Oliver did change their minds. We enjoyed ice creams from Lappert’s and sat and ate them by the Great Lawn.

Then we changed into our swimmers and swam in the Lagoon and Paradise pool, they enjoyed playing with a Japanese boy named Yuki. We all swam from 3.50 pm until almost 5.45pm, and the sun was going down at that the me. We had some challenges getting the 3 boys out of the pool. Yuki’s mother asked Ken to get them out as it was time to go. She told me they live in a suburb of Tokyo, Japan.

We left the pool saying our goodbyes and returned to our unit and changed the boys into clean clothes. Ken showered and changed. An enjoyable end following some earlier challenges. The other adults arrived back by taxi at 6.00pm. Shopping had been frustrating and from David’s Descriptions a slow process.

Peita, had purchased breads, dips, cheeses. Ken had purchased a red wine and Peita a champagne. We then enjoyed a meal, before the spectacular fireworks display at 7.45pm.

We watched from the balcony of their unit 1460. Really enjoyable, with many boats and yachts out on th3 water in front of the Rainbow Tower.

It was time to say goodnight, the boys were in the bath, we said good night. David came back to our unit 1472 at 9.30pm. We were all in bed by 10.20pm.

Our family holiday is fast coming to an end.