Hawaii- Day 5

Friday May 29, 2009

Was a day where we realized our trip was coming to an end, so of course on the way to breakfast at Papa Ole's (our favorite!), we had to stop at Laie Point again, because it's so convenient to get to, and on the way to the restaurant. So here we are again at these same places. Since we wanted to be at the PCC between noon and 1, we ate breakfast and then went back and hung out at our place until lunch. The beach in front of our condo was one of my favorite places to be so it was GREAT!

I don't know if I've mentioned, but the condo was beautiful, the owner had done some beautiful decorating, and updating. We didn't spend a whole lot of time hanging out inside, but it was fabulous when we were there. The other great thing was that she had all the things we needed for a day at the beach; beach chairs, 2 snorkel sets, 2 beach umbrellas, coolers, ice packs, a beach blanket(mat sort of thingy), beach towels. Seriously so nice to already have those things provided. She also had tons of books, CDs, DVDs, fans, AC, fridge, washer & dryer, hair dryer- so convenient!!!

This was our sweet ride. Not so sweet, but awesome to have a convertible. It played a big role in the great time we had so I had to have a picture of it. Breakfast at none other than Papa Ole'sWhen we got back from breakfast and into our swimsuits, Justin started taking pictures of me, so I kindly returned the favor.(I'm just glad he loves me and thinks I'm cute no matter if I have a flabby baby belly)Those flowers behind me are the ones we bought on the first day.This is the view out the front door of the condo.

(since all you usually see is the beach side)

Justin took this picture of the condo, from the ocean, looking back.

On the way to the PCC, we stopped at a fruit stand and Yoshimura's shrimp truck for lunch. It was so yummy, we wish we would have discovered it earlier in the trip. The cute owner came out and talked to us, and told us he is a member of the church, and we had a nice little chat with him.

(don't mind me in the mirror, taking the picture)Here we are in front of the fountain at the PCC. The pictures of us here are all in the slide show. After the PCC we got a shave ice at Angel's in Laie. I got a massive headache after that so we went home and called it a night. (even though it was late by then anyway)

Hawaii day 4

Thursday, May 28

We drove South to Hanauma Bay

This is what we had for breakfast, so yummy. I loved the coconut custard filled one.

(if you don't know what a Malasada is , it's a hot fresh donut without a hole)

This is a view of the beach before you go around the Southern tip of the Island

(When I look it up and remember, I'll post the name of the beach)

Hanauma Bay

Snorkel Faces! Last picture at the water of the bay
The top of the big hill

After Hanauma, we drove up to Waikiki, and went to the International Marketplace. We had lunch there at Choi's Kitchen, that was recommended by some friends of ours.

Until we got there and saw the sign, I thought we were going to Choice Kitchen

(the person who took a picture of us together in front of the marketplace sign did a terrible job, and didn't even get the sign in the pic.)
(Also please keep in mind that we had snorkeled, drove to Waikiki, & changed in the car(no shower). I hated what I took to wear, and slicked back hair is not good for me! I'm not sure about this shirt either, but Justin likes it for some reason?)

Walking down Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head in the background.

Dinner at the Shorebird, in the Outrigger Reef Hotel. It was good, but you cook your own meat on a giant grill, it was HOT! I like to go to restaurants to have someone cook for me. Justin bought me this Lei, from some kids who were selling them on the beach, I loved it! Also our camera ran out of juice right after this picture, so we have no pictures of the awesome view, beautiful restaurant, or the two of us here.

After this we walked to the car, on the street, past all the shops and stores. Then drove back to our place at Punalu'u

Hawaii-day 3

Wednesday, May 27

We woke up and headed to Honolulu, to the Aloha Stadium swap meet.

(trying on lei's)

(watching the man make our Van Dorn sign)

After the swap meet we drove over to Pearl Harbor, and went to the USS Arizona memorial. It was an interesting and humbling experience. The grounds around the museum are also under construction so it wasn't quite the experience it could have been. We didn't stay there long.

(at the harbor with the memorial in the background)

(on the boat ride over to the memorial)
(at the memorial)
After Pearl Harbor we took a drive called the Tantalus loop. It is a steep, narrow, winding road above Honolulu with amazing views, and a fun drive in the jungle!
(Diamond Head, Honolulu, and Waikiki)
(view of the road) After the EXCITING ride, we headed back over to the East side of the Island and went to a great restaurant, called Haleiwa Joe's@ Haiku Gardens(a view looking at the garden and mountains from the restaurant)(some flowers in the garden) (a view from the gardens looking up at the restaurant)

(We also ate here on Sunday morning, and got some better pictures, I will post them later, so sorry if there's some of the same view)

I'm sorry if this seems to be dragging on forever. I have to post about each day we were there, or there would be one ginormous post, and I don't want to just do a slide show. Also I'm posting these for my future (journaling) reference, so sorry, there are just too many pictures to leave out (and I'm actually leaving out quite a bit as it is).

Hawaii- day 2

Tuesday, May 26

This is a picture of me waking up, just before Justin surprised me with "real" diamond earrings on our first morning there. Isn't that an awesome place to wake up?

For breakfast that morning we walked about 100 yards up the road to a little store, called Kaya's store and kitchen, where we got breakfast. Here is Justin with his spam musubi (fried spam, rice, egg, wrapped in seaweed) a local breakfast treat. I had all those ingredients, except the seaweed, served on a styrofoam tray (like the one we buy meat on). It was good, I was sceptical, but pleasantly surprised, and we didn't contract any weird diseases that we know of. I love this little church across the street from the store, right behind that is the beach!

After breakfast we went to "our beach" and hung out for the morning. I mostly waded around, and sat on the beach chair. Justin snorkeled and explored all morning.

In this picture you can see how far out the waves break on the reef. About 200 yards out from the beach the water is shallow, and clear. I loved it, no waves knocking you over, or with "scary" things hiding in them. That's Justin waving!

We ate at a place in La'ie called Papa Ole's, very local food, and it ended up being our favorite place for a mix plate (usually terryaki beef, rice, and mac salad). I think we ate there 4 or 5 times. We were looking at some flowers they had there in a bowl of water and they gave me one, so I stuck it behind my ear. I wish we could have brought some smells and sounds back with us!

We went to the famous La'ie point to the hole in the rock. It was rainy and overcast, but we watched some locals jump from the rock, which was very entertaining!

That afternoon we drove up North to Haleiwa and went to the famous Surf and Sea store, and got our first shave ice, we were so excited about it that we took lots of pics of it.

Justin eating his shave ice, with "Surf and Sea" behind him, across the street.

Sitting by the sign.

In front of the surf shop boards.

"Sandy feet" at sunset at Haleiwa beach.

Beautiful sunset! We had to have more shave ice!

This is a sweet shot of a guy on his paddle board in the sunset.

This conlcudes our second day there, stay tuned for more!!!

Hawaii day 1- the first day there- arrival

Just a bit of advice before I get started, if you ever go to Hawaii and can help it, don't come back!

Actually I could have done at least 3 more days(a month would have been good, two weeks of the trip without our kids, and two weeks with them, would have been perfect). But I'm VERY happy about the time we got to have in Hawai'i, and the kids somehow got a little cuter while we were gone. It was a very rewarding and renewing trip. We need to book the next trip there soon!!! Other than seeing my kids, it was hard to come back!

There are SO many pictures, I know it'll take quite a few posts so sorry. I'm going to have to try to categorize them by day.

Monday, May 25, 2009

The first time on the beach, just after we arrived, at our condo.

Justin showing off the lovely place we got to spend the week, from our lanai.

The yummy Shrimp Shack down the road where we had our first dinner-YUM-O!!

(I had coconut shrimp, Justin had garlic shrimp, and we shared the last corn on the cob they had that day)

We drove in style in a convertible, and with the top down if possible. I couldn't believe how close we drove to the ocean, or how amazingly beautiful it was, I took TONS of pictures while we were driving, they'll get better as the trip goes on!

There is a huge tree at a major intersection coming over to the East side of the island, next to a place called the Hygienic Store. There are people on the weekend selling tons of tropical flowers, so we stopped and bought some. There were also some trucks selling some island food there.

This was only the first few hours here, many more of our days we did so much more, but here's a good beginning. Most posts will probably have a lot more pictures!

We stayed in a town called Punalu'u, and it's near Laie, the BYU Hawaii and PCC town. We loved it on that side of the island. The night we went to Waikiki, and Honolulu I was glad we were staying where we did. Waikiki was like being in Vegas, but on the beach. It was so tropical, quiet, and peaceful, and we felt like we were getting some culture where we stayed.