Chapter 12 – Hawaii – October 2025
"Hawaii?" Tony was incredulous as Ziva nodded and grinned.
"Yes. Why I was the one chosen to go is something I will not question. Leon told me that I could bring the family, since he knows about our fifty-states bucket list," she explained yet again to her spouse.
Tony started to pull up his favorite travel website; Ziva stopped him with a hand on his. "Already booked a flight and lodging for the trip. The NCIS travel agent got us an overnight flight from DC to Honolulu on Thursday with a return flight on Tuesday. We have a family suite at the Navy Lodge at Joint Base Pearl Harbor – Hickam since I am on official NCIS business for part of the trip. With the holiday on Monday and the teacher workday on Friday, the children would only miss one day of school," she told him what she knew.
"I guess we can let their teachers know about the trip, and get any homework or missed classwork for them to work on," Tony thought out loud. "Tali may be the hardest to work out since she is now in middle school."
Ziva nodded thoughtfully, "I am sure that we can get the work for the children from their teachers. After all, traveling to other states is educational in nature. You may have to take them to see the sights alone on Friday while I am working though. I also may have to work a few hours on Saturday morning."
"No problem; we can save the sights you want to see for when you're free."
The Friday before Columbus Day, 10 October, the DiNozzo family deplaned at Inouye International Airport still slightly woozy from fourteen hours of travel, including a two-hour layover in LAX. The kids had been able to sleep in the economy class seats, mostly because they were tired from a day at school. Ziva had worked her usual Thursday at NCIS, so all bags were packed and ready to go to the airport the night before. She'd slept on and off on the flight, waking up when Tony wiggled around to try to get comfortable.
She felt badly for him as he hobbled off the ramp into the terminal. Ziva could tell that his back was hurting from trying to sleep in the airline seat. The family followed the others off the aircraft and towards baggage claim.
Greeters smiled with "Aloha!" and dropped flower leis over the arriving passengers' heads. The younger DiNozzos grinned, even Anthony and LJ, at the warm welcome. The three girls had purple and white flowers on their leis. LJ had green and white, and Anthony had orange and white flowers.
"Ima, how did they know my favorite color is orange?" Anthony queried.
Ziva pointed to his orange backpack, "Perhaps the color of your backpack gave them a clue?"
Rivka and Beth admired the flower garlands, "Can we take these home?"
One of the greeters overheard the girls, "Yes! I will give your parents a sheet about how to care for your leis to make them last so you can take them with you. Generally, the artificial flowers will last quite a while unless exposed to extremes. Since your mother has real flowers, hers may not last as long, but with some extra care to preserve the orchids, it can be preserved. The website with directions is listed on the care sheet." She held out the page to Tony who thanked her and folded the page to slip into his pants pocket.
As the belt started on the carousel for the baggage to be claimed, the lead agent from NCIS Hawaii field office came over to Ziva and introduced herself. She mentioned that she had a van waiting to take the DiNozzos to the Navy Lodge.
"We made sure that you have one of the three-bedroom suites," Agent Jane Tennant explained to Tony and Ziva. "There is a queen-sized bed in the master bedroom with adjoining bathroom, and single over double bunk beds in the two smaller bedrooms. They share a bathroom. The kitchen is pretty basic, but workable. The living room has a sixty-five-inch television, a secure docking station for a laptop, and a sofa bed. Wi-Fi is available throughout the suite."
Ziva helped Tony get the kids settled into the suite and then prepared to leave with Agent Tennant to head to the NCIS Field Office.
"I will send you a text message when I am done with today's training," she gave Tony a kiss and admonished the children to behave for their Abba. "I will see you all later today."
Agent Tennant handed the keys to the van to Tony, "I have another agent coming for Ziva and me so that you have transportation for your time here. Either I or one of my team will bring Ziva back here after the session today. On Tuesday, I will come to take you to the airport for your return flight home and get the keys back from you."
Tony grinned, "Thanks! I was wondering how we were going to be able to sightsee."
"So where are we going without Ima?" Tali wondered out loud. "I want to see the beaches around Diamond Head. Ima said she does too, so we'll have to wait for her to go there."
Anthony had been reading about the memorial for the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor on his tablet. "Ima wants to go to the USS Arizona so that is out until she can go with us."
"How about the zoo and the aquarium?" Tony suggested. "They're close to each other and it's somethings I think Ima would be okay with missing. We can take lots of pictures to show her later."
Rivka looked at the website her Abba was showing them on his laptop, "I guess… as long as we don't hafta walk and walk and walk."
Talia rolled her eyes to Anthony, "We could get a baby stroller and push you around, Riv. That way you won't have to walk if you don't want." LJ, Beth, and Anthony snickered at their big sister's suggestion.
"I. Am. Not. A. Baby!" Riv put her hands on her hips and got in Tali's face. "I can walk all by myself. So there."
"Then quit complaining," Tali shot back, as her sister stuck her tongue out.
Tony called a cease to the sibling bickering, "If I can walk it, you all can walk it."
"Yeah, Abba's the old one of us…" Beth quipped to giggles from her siblings.
Tony jingled the van keys, "Old, young… be ready to go in ten."
As he parked the van at the Waikiki Aquarium, he detailed his plan for the day to the five children, "We will do the aquarium tour first. From what the website mentions, it should take us about ninety minutes. Then we'll get some lunch. After lunch, the zoo is the next place on the list. That should take us about three hours, give or take, based on the information on the website. If Ima hasn't let us know she's done with work, we'll get groceries to have at the suite and take them back there to put up.
"We'll see what Ima wants to do for dinner tonight, but we will probably make breakfasts and several dinners at the Lodge. I have a list of groceries to buy written out, but maybe we can add some treats…"
"ICE CREAM!" LJ yelled out before his Abba finished the sentence. "We gotta have ice cream."
Tony ginned at his youngest, "Already on my list, kiddo. And popcorn for movie night tomorrow or Sunday night."
The walking tour of the Waikiki Aquarium lasted about eighty minutes. The first exhibit was about the coral reefs and coral itself. They learned that the coral is a group of living organisms, living in colonies. Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. The animals have a simple nervous system called nerve net; they lack a brain. Corals get their colors from symbiotic algae, which have greenish brown coloring from photosynthesis; fluorescent proteins, and non-fluorescent chromoproteins. The living reef had vast areas of green, blue, purple, red, and fluorescent blues.
Next up was the South Pacific Marine Communities, showing five different communities representing the various areas of the southern Pacific Ocean. The Land Meets the Sea exhibit features a living mangrove forest containing fish and plants commonly found along the shorelines of tropical regions. Seagrasses, which are aquatic plants, are also found in these waters and help create a lush underwater forest which provides shelter for juvenile fish and invertebrates.
The Reef Partners exhibit highlights the numerous relationships found on a reef, such as that between clownfish and sea anemones! There were dozens of clownfish nestled within a living carpet of anemones.
The Lagoon Corals exhibit contains various live corals with large, fleshy polyps waving gently in the current and fishes found in the sheltered reefs between the shoreline and the offshore reefs of many Pacific islands.
At the Reef Predators exhibit, there were numerous species of fish that prey on other fish species, and who, in turn, are themselves eaten by still larger species, such as sharks or jacks. Many of the species seen here form a large part of the diet of indigenous Pacific Islanders.
The highlight of the gallery is the 5,500-gallon (~21,000 liters) Barrier Reef exhibit, containing over a 100 species of fish, giant clams, and live corals. The giant clams in this exhibit are probably the largest and oldest in captivity anywhere in the world and weigh over 170 pounds. The interactive touch screen helped them to identify and learn more about the animals in the exhibit. (Source: Waikiki Aquarium website)
The Ocean Drifters exhibit highlighted several species of jellyfish, including Atlantic sea nettles, which the family had seen at the Baltimore Aquarium when the kids went on a preschool field trip. The Hawaiian Marine Communities showed many colorful species of fish, including the colorful striped longnose butterflyfish and angelfish.
Anthony's favorite was the Hunters of the Reef tanks with the sharks, jacks, and groupers who help maintain a natural balance in the wild reefs. Several of the giant groupers were almost eight feet long and about eight feet in length.
Rivka and Beth liked the Diversity and Adaptation tanks the best. The seahorses fascinated the two girls as they watched the horse-like fish attach their tails to a piece of marine plant and anchor in the current of the tank. The shrimp, eels, turkeyfish, and frogfish are all adaptations to survive in the wild. Animals in the Diversity and Adaptations Gallery use a variety of techniques, including deception, venom, and armor, to find food and to stay alive.
Tali almost got left behind at the Edge of the Reef Exhibit. It is a 7,500-gallon outdoor exhibit that recreates habitats one might find along a Hawaiian rocky shoreline. The animals in this exhibit are typical fishes and invertebrates one might see snorkeling along Hawaii's reefs, and include yellow tangs, parrotfish, butterflyfishes, rice coral, sea cucumbers, and bright red pencil urchins.
Both Tony and LJ were partial to the pool with the Hawaiian Monk Seals. The Hawaiian monk seal and visitors to Hawaii have something in common. Both are active in the morning and evening, but the rest of the day may be spent lounging on Hawaii's beaches. For the Hawaiian monk seal, this activity pattern may be an important adaptation for survival, allowing them to conserve energy between hunting and foraging trips. The aquarium has two male monk seals that were rescued as pups and would not be able to survive in the wild. Marine biologists observe them to gain information about monk seals in the wild.
The Clam Farm and Coral Farm tanks were closed for maintenance, as was the Ocean Aquaculture tank with the moi, or threadfin. LJ and the twins were disappointed about the Coral Farm after Tali read from the interactive at the site that the coral farm sent pieces to aquariums around the world, including the one in Baltimore.
After a sit-down lunch at a national chain restaurant, the next stop was the Honolulu Zoo. The birds exhibit included flamingos, birds native to Hawaii, storks, toucans, cockatiels, and quite a few native to Africa. The barn owl was hidden in the trees, asleep as is normal for daytime, but Anthony managed to snap a good picture of the bird.
The primates were mostly resting in the heat of the day. The orangutan was perched on some flat rocks that resembled an armchair.
"Does that look like me in my recliner?" Tony asked the kids with a smirk.
"Nope!" LJ answered first. "Your eyes are usually closed and his are open and watching us."
Beth agreed with her younger brother, "Your belly isn't that big either, Abba. That orangutan is fat!"
Tali and Anthony moved on, deciding to stay out of the conversation, and check out the alligator and tortoises in the reptiles area.
The African Savanna was the popular exhibit with all of the DiNozzos. All of them watched the giraffes, zebras, and warthogs before moving to the big cats area. Afterwards, they agreed unanimously that the big cats were the favorite part of the zoo.
LJ watched the Sumatran tigers for a brief time before moving to the lion area. He asked if he could stay by the lions while the others checked out the rest of the savanna displays.
"Abba, you know the lions are my favorite, and I gotta get some good views of them so I can tell Leroy all about the real lions when I get home. He was sad that he couldn't come with us, but he also didn't want to have to travel in a suitcase for the long trip. Grandpa promised to give him some hugs while we are gone," the about-to-be four-year-old was so serious that Tony had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from laughing.
"Do not move from this spot," he admonished the boy. "I will keep checking in on you as the others move through the animal displays." He was okay with the arrangement since there were very few people in the zoo that afternoon. He handed over his cell phone, "If you need me, call Tali's cell. She is number three on the speed dial."
LJ nodded, "I know that Abba. Ima is number one, Uncle Tim is number two, and Tali is number three. Grandpa is number six, after Uncle Jimmy and Uncle Leon."
Tali and Rivka watched the cheetahs for a bit, then moved on to the other animals. Anthony managed to get some good photos of the meercats. When it was time to move on, LJ tried to get a few extra minutes with the lions.
"I gotta say goodbye to them, Abba, please?" he pleaded. The little boy turned back towards the big cats, "Bye, lions! I will tell Leroy all about you." He waved to the animals lazing on the wooden platform the zoo had built for them.
"A quick goodbye then, and we move on. The Keiki Zoo area, the petting zoo, is closed today, so we can head on back to the van, and pass by the tigers one more time," Tony glanced at his watch. "Plus, we still need to get the groceries before we get back to the Lodge. Ima should be back there soon as well."
On the way to the store to get the groceries, Tali was quiet. She was thinking about all of the animals in displays and exhibits that they had seen that day.
"What if we are in someone's zoo, just like the animals we saw today at the zoo and the aquarium?" she posed the question to her family. "What if the Earth and our solar system are some display in a universe beyond ours?"
"Weird," Riv replied. "I don't even wanna think about that."
Anthony frowned, "No, Tali has a point. How would we even know if some being out there is studying us as an experiment or exhibit? We wouldn't know unless we could see them looking at us somehow."
"That would make a good sci-fi movie, or even a sci-fi horror movie," Tony commented. "I'll have to see if there was one made with that as the plot line… maybe for movie night."
"I don't get it, how would they keep us from just doing what we want and when we want?" LJ was trying to wrap his head around the concept.
Anthony answered his brother, "Earth is our zoo exhibit. Like one of the tanks at the aquarium. We are part of the large exhibit called planet Earth."
"So, it's like we are free to move around like the animals in the African Savanna at the zoo?" Beth was also trying to understand what her older siblings were proposing. "And something or someone in the universe is watching us, like we watched the cheetahs and lions?"
Tali responded to her younger sister, "I think it would be more like the animals in their natural habitats. Like the real African savanna, or the Hawaiian reefs. Not separated by any fences or barriers from natural predators or other animals."
"It's possible, I guess," Riv admitted. LJ and Beth nodded agreement as the family arrived at the supermarket.
While they were shopping, Ziva sent a text message to Tony that she was back at the suite at the Lodge. He replied that he was just finishing the grocery shopping and about to check out and would be back shortly with the food.
Back at the Lodge, everyone was starting to feel the effects of the long trip and the day of activity, so the parents decided to cook a meal in the suite and then have movie night to wind down. Ziva didn't have to be at the NCIS Field Office in the morning, so the plan for Saturday was to see the sights near Honolulu, Pearl Harbor, and Diamond Head. On Sunday they would drive around Oahu, seeing the east and north shores, and any interesting stops along the one-hundred-fifteen-mile drive.
Saturday morning got off to an early start with breakfast burritos at the suite at 0600. Everyone wished LJ a happy birthday. Tony figured if they could get to Diamond Head by 0700, there would be a good chance he could drive through the Kahala Tunnel and park in the crater to make the hike to the summit and the various sights of the attraction. Once inside, they could start the climb up the side of the volcanic crater and view the Pacific Ocean from the rim.
The kids were agog as they drove through the tunnel in the side of the crater. At the toll booth, Tony paid the parking fee and entry fees for the seven DiNozzos. Anthony noticed the sign that had the rates and the 'three and under- FREE' listed on the fees.
"We should have done this yesterday, LJ was three yesterday," he commented to the others. "Today we gotta pay for him."
LJ grinned, "That's because I'm a big boy now."
Ziva smiled at her baby, "Two birthdays in a row, we have been on a trip, LJ. Last year was Alaska, and this year is Hawaii. You have had a very special birthday twice!"
As the family started the eight-tenths of a mile hike to the top, Rivka lead the others along the concrete walkway. She and Beth were followed by LJ and Anthony, then Tali, and the DiNozzo parents at the rear.
"No complaining?" Ziva pointed at their middle child as she spoke quietly to her husband. "She is leading the group as well. What changed?"
Tony chuckled, "Yesterday, before we headed out to the aquarium and zoo, Tali told Riv that we could put her in a baby stroller if she hated walking that much. Riv was very adamant that she did not need such stroller. No complaints yesterday at all… let's see how long it stays this way."
"Yes. I like the new Rivka, the hiker."
Once the trail began the climb to the summit, there were many switchbacks and twist and turns until the family arrived at a concrete landing/lookout. From there, the view of the floor of the crater was amazing. The sheer size could be better appreciated looking from above. The next portion of the hike consisted of seventy-four steps to the first of two narrow, but lighted tunnels.
The tunnel opened to another concrete pad and the foot of the ninety-nine steps up to the second tunnel. Anthony found the overhead beams along the stairway interesting, especially when Ziva read from the trail map that the beams were used to hang camouflage when the area was a part of the defense system.
The second tunnel, the fifty-two-step spiral staircase, exit to the exterior part of the crater through slits that were once covered with metal shutters, pathway, and fifty-four metal stairs led to the observation station at the peak of the crater. The view from the observation station was almost breath-taking at 761 feet above sea level. The Pacific Ocean and areas surrounding the crater were stunning. With her IDF training and background, Ziva could see the defense assets for the observation platform, the lookout and its lighthouse and bunkers.
"An assassin's dream?" Tony wrapped his arms around her from behind and whispered in her ear. The kids had no knowledge of their Ima's Kidon past.
Ziva settled back against him, "No, but a warrior's perfect vantage point."
From the observation station, the family descended the metal steps, and began the downward part of the hike along the rim. Another set of stairs down, with eighty-two metal steps terminated at a path that led to the lookout in one direction and another concrete pad overlook in the other. From the rest pad, they entered the first tunnel to begin retracing the path that had taken up to the summit.
At the end of the trail, they stopped at the information booth and store. Each chose a t-shirt that proclaimed 'I hiked Diamond Head' as a souvenir of the visit to the popular attraction.
In the van, Ziva drove to a restaurant for the family lunch before the tour of Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. The reservations she'd made online were for 1300, so after eating, the first activity was to head to the boat dock for the ride out the Arizona Memorial. The US Navy vessel transported the visitors to the dock at the USS Arizona Memorial. Both DiNozzo parents were reminded of trips on similar Naval vessels as working agents.
Once inside the memorial, they could see the ship below the water and the single turret above the waterline. The list of names of those killed in the attack was sobering; the 1177 who perished made up almost half of the 2341 who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor. A diagram showed the ship as it was in service and how the remains lay on the seabed.
Back on land, the family viewed the presentation at the Memorial Theater, toured the exhibit galleries about the road to war and the attack, and managed a quick view of the USS Bowfin submarine museum before the site closed.
Dinner was at a traditional Hawaiian-style restaurant to celebrate LJ's birthday. Back at the suite, Tony found the film The Fighting Sullivans on one of his streaming accounts, and the family had a second movie night with root beer floats and birthday cupcakes for snacks.
Sunday started with a rain shower, but it didn't deter the exploration of the east and north sides of the island. As Tony started out on the loop tour he found online, the kids laughed at the road designation as an interstate highway.
"Abba, how can it be an interstate highway if it's only in Hawaii?" Tali was curious. The interstate highways back home ran through multiple states.
Tony deferred to Ziva since he was driving, even though he did have an answer for his curious eldest. Ziva had her phone in hand and could add any additional information as needed.
"The interstate highway system, properly called the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. The system was funded by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. Uniform standards for the construction of the highways ensured that military vehicles could be moved on the system as national defense deemed necessary.
"Main roads use one- or two-digit numbering with feeder highways or bypasses using three digits with the last two matching the parent roadway. All north-south interstates highways have odd numbers with the lowest on the West Coast and the highest on the East Coast. East-west interstates are numbered with even numbers, with the lowest on the southern edge of the continental US and the highest on the northern edge. All fifty states have interstate highways as does Puerto Rico," Ziva read from her search. "Hawaii has four interstates: H1, H2, H3, and H201. We will travel on H1 and H2 today and cross the other two."
Along the drive, the family stopped to view Hanauma Bay, Makapu'u Point Lighthouse, the Byodo-In Temple, and other east coast 'must see' places. They mostly did the look-see until the temple. The Temple grounds are a lushly landscaped paradise and are home to wild peacocks and hundreds of Japanese koi carp. The beautiful grounds include a large reflecting pond, meditation niches, and small waterfalls.
On the north shore, a stop at the Banzai Pipeline to watch the surfers was a must. From there, they went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation for a lunch, and the Pineapple Garden Maze. Dole Plantation's giant Pineapple Garden Maze was declared the world's largest maze. The maze stretches over three acres and includes nearly two and one-half miles of paths crafted from 14,000 colorful Hawaiian plants. Walk through the flora of the islands as you seek out eight secret stations that each lead you closer to the mystery at the heart of this larger-than-life labyrinth, one of only a handful of permanent botanical mazes in America. All seven DiNozzos were excited to find the clues and track them on Tony's phone with the downloaded app for the maze.
The final experience at the Dole Plantation was the twenty-minute train ride around the plantation. The four trains used for the tour are historic replicas of trains that are designed to operate on three-foot gauge tracks on steep inclines and in mountainous areas. The family learned the history of the Dole Plantation as the train wound along its journey.
On the way back to the Naval Lodge, after passing Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield the road changed to H2, the second of the two interstates the family traveled on their journey. At the suite, Ziva and Tony prepared a late dinner as the kids relaxed with tablets and books.
Monday was spent mostly on the beach relaxing and enjoying the warm weather. Everyone agreed a chill-out day was just what was needed after the tourist activities of the past three days. The early morning flight back to DC with a stop in San Francisco got them to Dulles a bit after midnight and home by 0130. School buses came way too early on Wednesday morning, but the five young DiNozzos had a lot of interesting things to share with their classmates.
