Wednesday: Pearl Harbor and Swap Meet

Wednesday we drove down to the south end of O'ahu to visit Pearl Harbor.  The scenery on the way down was to die for.  These were taken out the window of our Jeep:

So much beautiful green.  And as a sidenote, because it is so green, we expected to encounter more rain. The weather while we were there was perfect, though.  It rained some overnight, but I don't think we got any rain at all during the day.
We were the first of the family to arrive, so we procured tickets for everyone ("29 tickets?  Are you serious?!") and walked around some while we waited for our tour to begin.

My guys in front of the USS Bowfin Submarine

The anchor from the USS Arizona

View from the Visitor's Center, The USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial.  The treaty to end WWII was signed on board the USS Missouri, so these two boats are symbolic of the beginning and the ending of WWII.

There were a couple of really nice museums that we were able to visit before we began our tour.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to enjoy them all that much because McKay was being a stinker.

Then we took a ferry out to the USS Arizona Memorial.  It was a very somber place.

The memorial was built directly over and perpendicular to the USS Arizona, so you could look over the deck and see parts of the submerged ship.
There were a few pieces of the ship that protruded from the water, too.

And a memorial wall to honor the soldiers that died there.

The USS Missouri, as seen from the memorial

Survivors of the crew of the USS Arizona are given the option of being interred in the ship with their shipmates.

Bryan and all the grandkids, or as Adam put it, "All the single Marchants"

Visiting Pearl Harbor was pretty special, but I don't think I would ever choose to return there with toddlers!  It's not a particularly kid-friendly place.  Add to that that McKay had a major meltdown at the memorial, and it wasn't necessarily my finest Hawaii moment!
After we were done visiting Pear Harbor, some of us headed over to Aloha Stadium to check out the Swap Meet that is held there.  Bless his heart, Adam took both our kids and Greg and Susan's two youngest kids home by himself, so G&S could hike and I could shop.  Four kids four and under is a lot for anyone to handle, but don't feel too bad for him.  All four of them fell asleep in the car, and the two youngest stayed asleep after transferring them to their beds.  Thank goodness; I was a little worried about him!
The Swap Meet was HUGE!!  There were bazaar-type booths circling the entire perimeter of Aloha Stadium.  It was a great place to get very inexpensive souvenirs.  7 T-shirts for $20?  Yes, please!  A couple of my sisters-in law and I went a little crazy!

Angie, Me, & Michelle at the Swap Meet

See those cute purses in the background?  Michelle tried to convince me to get one, and I am still kicking myself that I didn't.