!i! 4th Day in Hawaii !i!

Thursday was a great day. We met up with Ashley and Tim and spent the entire day with them. I'm sure they got sick of us, but we had so much fun! We started our day in the best way possible: with SUGAR!

THE MALASADA

Leonard's Bakery is famous for this creation. Who could turn down a fluffy roll deep fried and rolled in cinnamon and sugar?! A.J. and I shared a half dozen!
After our sugar rush, we headed to the North Shore to go snorkeling. We arrived at Shark's Cove and snorkeled the tide pools. This was the most calm we have ever seen Shark's Cove. Usually we are there in October when "winter" arrives and the waves in the North Shore are bigger. Shark's Cove is a rocky alcove. Sharp rocks mixed with big waves equals disaster. We were able to go out further out than we ever have. We were able to see bright corals and bigger fish. It was such an awesome experience! Snorkeling is one of those things once you do it, you HAVE to do it again and again. And the tide pools of Shark's Cove are PERFECT for snorkeling because, you guessed it, no sharks can get in!

After snorkeling Shark's Cove, the boys wanted to snorkel Three Tables. The Three Tables are three flat rocks in a row positioned about 30 feet from shore. Ashely, who shares my fear of sharks, and I watched as the boys snorkeled out in the open water. I kept scanning the waves for any sighting of a fin.

Once they were done, we headed back to the car. Just as we were arriving, we noticed 2 big gashes on the side of the car. We had been hit. We have such terrible luck with cars. The gashes were about six inches long and went all the way down past the paint. Luckily, we got full coverage insurance on the car so when we turned it back in, we didn't get any hassle.

We ate lunch at a cute sandwich place in Hale'iwa town.
After lunch, we visited the Dole Plantation. We had to get their signature "Dole Whip" and then wandered around looking at the different types of pineapples.

Don't worry, no pineapples were hurt in the filming of this moment.

We left the Dole Plantation and stumbled across a fruit stand off the side of the road. We thought we would be adventurous and try a "young coconut." They keep these coconuts in a cooler. Once you buy one, they drill a little hole through the hard shell and place a straw. Then you drink all the coconut water. There is A LOT of coconut water! We ended up dumping most of it out because it was making us sick.
After you finish the water, they break the coconut in half and you eat the "meat" which, in a young coconut, is a gel. A.J. liked this part, but I didn't love it too much. I gave A.J. my half.
Then, it was off to Laie to visit the Laie temple (in our immodest clothes).
We went inside the visitor's center and guess who we saw! Mark Eubank, a senior missionary. You may know him as THE WEATHER GUY! We just HAD to get a picture, but how?! Leave it to A.J. He wandered over to Sister Eubank who was sitting at the front desk.
"So...we watch your son on T.V.," he begins.
"Oh I love hearing that," she says. They begin talking about this and that. Then, he gets down to his point.
"So...these people over here (motioning to us) would like a picture with your husband," he continues.
"Oh let me see if I can find him for a picture."
Simple as that! I love my husband. He doesn't get embarrassed like I do.
After we left the temple, we visited the Byodo In temple. We each left with about 20 mosquito bites as a souvenir.
After the Valley of the Temples, we soaked up every remaining big of sunlight and visited our favorite beaches:
We found our way to sunset beach to watch the sunset.
After sunset, we ate at Pizza Bob's in Hale'iwa town and began the long drive home. We were exhausted after playing all day long! But the only thing more enjoyable than a day in Hawaii is having great friends to enjoy that day with! Today was one of my favorite days!

!i! Third Day in Hawaii !i!

We spent our third morning snorkeling Hanauma Bay. We were so excited because if you sign a paper, you can come back within 1 yr and you can bypass the educational video. We signed the list last year when we were there and it hadn't quite been a year yet. However, they lost our names and we had to watch the video anyway. It's not a very long video and it's not too terrible, but the music is pretty interesting. "Don't step on me" is one of the songs (referring to the rock and coral). I asked A.J. if we could purchase the soundtrack.

You have to get to Hanauma Bay early otherwise there will be nowhere to park. We got there around the 8:00 hr and, of course, I was worried about sharks. Sharks attack in the morning and evening hours. A.J. had to coach me into the water.

Before we got in the water, I spotted a disposable underwater camera. Despite the photo bust the day before, I couldn't resist buying it. These pictures, however turned out much better. You can actually see that there are fish in the pictures! And thanks to our handy dandy fish guide brought to us by Snorkel Bob's, I can name some of them.

Eye-Stripe Surgeonfish

Some sort of parrotfish

Orangespine Surgeonfish




Blue-Stripe Snapper

Threadfin Butterfly Fish

And then we had one more picture. We saught out to find the coolest sea creature for the final photo. And then A.J. spotted it: A Unicorn fish!

Hanauma Bay is an awesome place to snorkel. It is pretty protected and the fish aren't afraid of people. They will swim right under you or even right up to your face. And I reassure myself that it's too shallow that sharks can't get in which could be a blatant lie, but don't tell me otherwise!

After snorkeling, we drove the Nu'uanu Pali Highway up to the Nu'uanu Pali lookout. The highway is set right in the middle of the rainforest and there are tall trees with hanging vines everywhere.
Eventually we got to the lookout. We had to pay to park and the parking meter only took coins or credit cards...and it cost like 3 dollars to park! What about dollar bills? So I had to put the measly amount on my credit card.

View from the top

We had to practically beg some guy to take our picture after his wife pawned us off on him.

It was so windy at the top. A.J. was being blown away.

I tried to be blown away too: the prep

...and at the apex of my jump

And then we got a call from some of our new favorite people: Ashley and Tim. Turns out they booked their trip to Hawaii at the same time as us! It was so fun to have people to play with in Hawaii! ...And to trade off taking pictures of each other instead of begging people to take our pictures! We picked them up were planning to go to a Botanical Garden, but when we got there, the whole hillside looked dead. We figured we could find prettier things driving around the island so we got on the main road and drove around almost the entire island stopping anywhere and everywhere...including 3 different McDonalds. Diet Coke is an essential commodity! ...Although Hawaii McDonalds diet coke is not as good as Utah McDonalds Diet Coke.

This is honestly one of my favorite things about Hawaii. Look at the color of that water! This place is truly paradise!

We ended up at Hale'iwa town for sunset.

!i! Day 2 in Hawaii !i!

Our second day in Hawaii, we didn't wake up QUITE so early. We were struggling to fight the urge to adjust our time clocks to Hawaii standard time. However, we woke up that morning and got ready to go hiking. Today's destination: Diamond Head Crater.

Last time we hiked here, we hiked mid-day and due to the heat, we struggled to make it to the top. It didn't help that we passed the EMTs rescuing someone from the middle of the hike. This time, we decided to wake up early and hike first thing in the morning when it was still cool. The hike wasn't as difficult as I thought it was mainly because I knew roughly how many stairs lay ahead of me.

The scenery is not the prettiest on this side of the island. Quite a bit of it looked dead: similar to what we'd see if we were hiking in Utah. That is actually the crater of the extinct volcano behind us.Eventually we made it to the top. Once you get to the top, there is a guy sitting at a desk asking if you'd like a certificate stating that you made it up to the top. I wondered about his job. I bet he has to climb that hike every single day of his life. He must be in GREAT shape!

The view from the top is pretty and refreshing, but claustrophobic as there are about fifty people on a single platform. So we took pictures as quickly as we could and then began our descent downward.After our hike, we decided to go rent some snorkel gear from Snorkel Bob's. A.J. really wanted to try boogie boarding too so we rented a boogie board. I love snorkeling, but I am afraid of sharks so I told A.J. I would only snorkel in enclosed places that sharks couldn't get in.

We snorkeled the Ko'Olina lagoons and Turtle Bay. We decided to try an underwater camera so we bought one from Snorkel Bob's. It was a little disposable camera. I was convinced we would get some great shots. Ha! The clarity of the Ko'Olina lagoons was not so great. Exhibit A:
...and this is one of the better pictures. I was so excited to get these developed. I thought I would have some awesome pictures! Well...we have some pictures and I think there are some fish in there somewhere. The other thing that was tricky with the underwater disposable camera was the whole aim and shoot underwater without being able to view what you just took a picture of. I am definitely used to my digital camera. This took me back about ten years.


After snorkeling in the Ko'Olina lagoons, we decided to snorkel Turtle Bay. Turtle Bay was a great place to snorkel. We saw some tiny black clown fish which couldn't have been bigger than half an inch.

A.J. and I separated momentarily and the next thing I knew, I was right above a sea turtle! I yelled for A.J. to come over and look. He was small-medium in size. We watched him swim around and graze for quite awhile. He was not skiddish of humans at all. I wished I had my underwater camera!

After snorkeling, we went back to Laniakea beach to look for sea turtles. Sure enough...there they were. Last year, the turtles seemed to be basking in the sun on the sand. This year, they hung out on the rocks eating the green sea weeds.

After I got my fill of sea turtles, we headed over to Sunset beach to try out the boogie board. This was a complete failure as there are hardly any waves on Sunset beach in August. We were used to October waves which are bigger. A.J. gave it a valiant effort, but only caught one wave.

So...we went back to the turtles. You might think that I am a little obsessed with sea turtles. Well...you would be right. We decided to watch sunset on Laniakea beach with the turtles.

Laniakea beach

After the sun set, we headed home, but not before stopping at Hale'iwa beach to snap this gorgeous picture of the sunset.

Sunsets in Hawaii are absolutely one of my favorite things in life. There is nothing more soothing than sitting with your toes in the sand listening to the sound of the waves crashing onto the beach staring at the beautiful splash of colors laid out in front of you.

!i! First day in Hawaii !i!

The first day we were in Hawaii, we woke up at 5:30 a.m. We are busy vacationers. Vacations aren't for relaxing...they are for exploring and if you neglect sleep, you will have all the time in the world to explore! We tried to make it to see sunrise, but we were a little too late. However, we did catch the sun peaking over the mountains.

We started our morning doing the "Tantalus drive." The Tantalus drive is a winding road that goes through some of the mountains. I felt like I was in a rainforest! The Tantalus drive is actually a road that people live off...rich people.

Throughout the drive, there are places to pull over and look at the gorgeous view! This is definitely paradise!

After our drive, we decided to hike to the Makapuu lighthouse. This is actually a very popular hike. However, it is on the windward side so the scenery is not so swell and...you guessed it...very windy!

This side of the island is quite dry. Bet you never thought you'd see prickly pears in tropical Hawaii!

Eventually we made it to the lighthouse. The view from the top is gorgeous!
We finished the hike and decided to stop at the China Man's Hat beach. (That's China Man's Hat behind us.) That is truthfully what it is called. We spent some time on the beach. This is the best place to look for sea shells and coral. There must be a lot out there because there are tons of shells, white coral, and sea spongy things scattered across the beach.

Next stop: Kaaawa Beach. This is one of my favorite beaches. Hardly anyone goes to this beach so we usually have the whole thing to ourselves!

Next we visited Kahana Bay. This is also one of my favorite beaches. The sand is the softest sand of all the beaches in Oahu. The water is quite murky so I would be nervous to swim in it, but it is perfect for walking and dipping your toes in. The water is somewhat warm and quite shallow.

We met this little guy. He was completely flat! We almost stepped on him.

Next we visited Laie point. A few years ago, a tsunami ripped a hole in this island in the span of 1 day. That goes to show the power of the ocean!!


After that, I just HAD to see the turtles! They are my favorite part of Hawaii. Honestly, I just want to be a sea turtle...a grown one...that wouldn't be eaten by sharks. How could you not want to be a sea turtle? They swim in the surf all day and when they get tired, they lay on the beach. Now THAT is the life!!


We continued on our way and we passed this little gem...

We decided to head back to Waikiki to watch the sunset. We got caught in downtown Honolulu traffic. To prove our speed, our GPS asks us this question:


By the end of the day, we were fried! Even though I put sunscreen on multiple times a day, the sun in Hawaii finds the places that you miss! The tops of our feet were fried. The part in my hair was fried. Behind my ears and even inside my ears were burned! And this was just day 1!! I realized at this point that if I lived in Hawaii, I would get skin cancer.


We went to magic island to watch the surfers and the sunset. I was so worried for all of them that a shark would attack! Rule #1: don't swim at dawn or dusk...but I think I am the only one who cares about that rule.


Magic island is a man-made rocky peninsula located at Ala Moana Beach park. There is a walking trail that winds through the park along the beach. This is a busy place...especially at sunset.


After the sunset, we got some dinner at L&L Hawaiian Barbecue and went back to the hotel. We had worn ourselves out and we were exhausted. We went to bed at 10:00 pm and fell asleep the moment our heads hit the pillow. There was more adventure to be had tomorrow...