Monday- Was our first official day in HAWAII! It also happened to be my 25th Birthday. BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!! This is in front of our hotel...the first picture taken of our trip. We were both a little tired from traveling all day Sunday, so we decided to take it easy and familiarize ourselves with the island.
I LOVE the beautiful plants and flowers. I snapped many pictures throughout the week, but here are a few of my favorites.
We spent most of the day shopping for my birthday present and just hanging out. It was SO nice to not have any "plans". We just did whatever we felt like doing! For my birthday dinner we went to The Cheesecake Factory. Neither one of us had ever been to one, but I had heard that it was amazing! It was pretty good and we were definitely stuffed! We had to take our cheesecake with us to eat later! It was a great birthday spent with Mitch!
Tuesday- We headed up to hike Diamond Head crater. We decided to take the bus to the monument since we would be hiking and didn't want to wear ourselves out.
After about 45 minutes of hiking in the HOT sun, we make it to the top. The next few pictures are of the beautiful view.
We are proud to say that we have hiked Diamond Head. It was so worth the sweat.
After Diamond Head we went to the Waikiki Aquarium. If you know us well, you know our love for fish. After being at the aquarium, we really want a salt water fish tank. The fish are so colorful and beautiful. Here are a few of my favorites.
After the aquarium, we headed for the beach to spend the rest of the day. Along the way we found these awesome trees. They are all over the island!
I LOVE the ocean. It was so refreshing to be in the water after hiking and walking A LOT!
Wednesday- We went to Pearl Harbor. It was a very neat, but somber experience. It had been rainy that morning and when we arrived there was a beautiful rainbow above the harbor.
USS Missouri
USS Arizona Memorial
We were able to meet 2 Pearl Harbor survivors that now volunteer there.
Mitch and Me on the USS Arizona Memorial.
Many men lost their lives that horrible day...and all the men whose names are on this wall are lying beneath the water with the Arizona. So sad.
Part of the Arizona under the water
Oil spots still rising to the top after 70 years of being under water.
After we visited Pearl Harbor we took a walk along the beach before dinner. We walked on the beach every day. I love the feel of the sand on my feet.
Dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe
After dinner we were able to stop and hold these beautiful parrots!
Thursday- We headed up to Laie to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). This may have been my favorite day. The PCC teaches you all about the culture of the different Polynesian islands...Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Tahiti, Aotearoa, and Marquesas. Also 70% of the staff at the PCC are BYU-Hawaii students. The PCC was designed to help students from these islands work to pay for their schooling at BYU-Hawaii so they could return to their islands and be able to help their countries. Sadly, because of time we were only able to visit 3 of the 7 "villages". We were able to visit Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji. It was very neat to learn about these different islands and participate in some of their traditional activities.
Us on the bus to the PCC
My favorite village was Samoa. This gentleman has worked at the PCC for 20+ years and is hysterical! Here he is starting a fire with a coconut. Very impressive!
And in Samoa they climb coconut trees. This guy put on quite a show!
Me with my Samoan friends.
Muscles, Muscles, Muscles.
Our cool tattoos we got at the Fiji Village!
We also were able to enjoy a fun traditional luau dinner at the PCC.Us at dinner with our flower Lei's
The pig!
My luau dinner! It was pretty tasty. Especially the purple roll!
Our yummy pineapple strawberry smoothie! It cost $10, but it was delicious.
We also were able to take a tram from the PCC to the Laie LDS Temple. Can you say gorgeous?!
Friday- We went to the famous Hanauma Bay to go snorkeling! It was absolutely gorgeous. The water is so blue, but clear so you can see the fish.
The dark spots in the water is the Reef.
We purchased an underwater camera to take snorkeling. Here are some of the shots that Mitch took. I am impressed with his photography skills!
Sea Turtle!
Snorkeling was so fun even though I was a little chicken. I am not a good swimmer and the current was really strong, so I stayed close to the shore. I did some some really pretty fish, but Mitch saw a lot more since he went further out. Once I started to figure it out and wasn't as scared it was time to go. But next time we go snorkeling I will go farther out...or so I say now.After snorkeling we went to the Honolulu Zoo. It was really big compared to the Idaho Falls Zoo that we are used to. Here are some of our favorite animals from the zoo.
This monkey was posing for pictures. He was so cute!
The flamingos were gorgeous, so much color!
Mitch has never seen giraffes and I love them so we were excited to see some! There were four and we spent a lot of time at this exhibit. It was feeding time for the giraffes so it was fun to watch them eat.
Saturday- This was our last day in Hawaii. We caught a bus to Aloha Stadium to shop at the largest swap meet/flea market in Hawaii, rows and rows of booths filled with all sorts of Hawaiian souvenirs and keepsakes. We spent about two hours and didn't make it to all of the booths, but we purchased several fun souvenirs to bring home. After shopping we headed back to Waikiki to sit on the beautiful beach and enjoy the wonderful weather before we headed to the airport to come home. And it was a LONG way home, with an overnight flight and then driving home from Salt Lake. We were so tired, especially with the 4 hour time difference between Hawaii and Idaho Falls.
We had such a FABULOUS time!! It was great to spend time together, just the two of us! Although, we did miss Michael and Kelli. We are so grateful for the opportunity that we had to go to such a beautiful island. A HUGE THANK YOU to Dad and Mom for sending us on this trip. And thank you to Gerry, Sue, Shauna, and Con for helping us with the kids while we were away! Love you all!!
