Hawaii......the last few days!

Gosh...this has taken me forever to finish! Ive been a slacker lately. It has been really busy around here and my back has been KILLING me! The last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer.....so here I am standing up blogging away.

Anyways ...onto the last few days in Hawaii. The last few days of any trip are a bummer. Reality sets in and time seems to fly by. By this time...we were missing our kids and wanted to see them ,but we didnt want to go back home into the real world. I really hate comimg home from a trip. We flew through the night and that made coming home even worse. You cant sleep and its miserable. I was finally glad to be home when we arrived!

Monday was a fantastic day! This was the day we all went to swim with the dolphins. Now...we didnt end up swimming with them because they werent in there resting mode but we still had fun. This was the activity that I always wanted to do but was too afraid of doing. I had been trying to find the courage for a long time and finally decided that I would conquer my fear of the ocean in Hawaii. Im glad that I had sometime during the week to snorkel and start feeling more secure in the water. It really helped a ton. By this time ..I was feeling good.

The tour guides ended up taking us snorkeling in some deeper water. Probably about 30feet. I jumped into the water and just stayed close to the bioligist. Believe it or not...I liked being in deeper water rather than shallow. I wasnt as close to the coral and fish, so It didnt scare me as much. I was really proud of myself. The coral and fish were beautiful and we had a blast. We did get to see the dolphins pretty closely and they entertained us for quite a while. I dont know what it is about dolphins...but I LOVE them! I have always been very intrigued by them.

Now...These people are quite intriging themselves! Heres all the girls(and boys) doing some poses.









While we were doing our dolphin adventure...most of the guys went deep sea fishing. They brought back some yummy fish and we ate some of it raw. Alan made us some sushimi made with Ono.

On Tuesday before we headed to the airport Loren went golfing and so a small group of us we wanted to go see Turtle Beach. I was so excited to see this huge sea turtle basking in the sun!


After the beach we went to the Dole Plantation and then headed to the airport. My camera had a dead battery so I didnt get any pictures. It was fun and Loren and I really enjoyed there pineapple ice cream. We said goodbye to Hawaii and were sad to leave(minus the humidity) Loren and I would like to go back but next time we would like to go see the other islands. Thank you Mom and Dad for such a memorable trip!

Day 6!

Day six fell on a Sunday. After we went to church, we thought it would be a nice day to visit Pearl Harbor. It was a very touching experience and my heart felt sad for those who lost there loved ones that day. It was quiet and people were very respectful. It was nice to be able to peacefully reflect on our wonderful freedoms and the courageous people who have fought for them.





After Pearl Harbor we went home. Loren, Dave, Angie and I were in charge of dinner so we had a little Luau. We lit the tiki torches, played some Hawaiian music and had Pina Coladas with our Teriyaki Burgers. It was a nice night at the Plantation. We then hit the hot tub while the others played some games. It was a very relaxing evening and I really needed one of those!


Oh..... and look what was waiting for us when we came home that day.... a family of peacocks!


We also had the sweetest Mother Hen with her 7 baby chicks that lived on the property. I watched them every morning as I sat and ate my breakfast. So sweet! I dont think I will ever quite understand how she can gather them all in underneath her at the same time. AMAZING!

I just have to add that in Hawaii..there are tons of wild chickens everywhere. When Loren and I would go running... we would hear these crazy noises in the vegetation. It freaked us out and It almost sounded like a velocoraptor was running around in there. Then to our surprise... out would jump a little chicken. It scared us every time we heard these crazy loud noises and then we would bust up laughing everytime a chicken came out! How they can make those noises.....I will never know!

Day 5 of our Hawaiian Adventure

Day 5 was the much anticipated shopping day and this day was all about me! JK. Well...it kind of was. I was really looking forward to hitting the flea market and was excited to start buying some gifts for eveyone. Im glad I waited because the prices here were REALLY good. You had to do some bargaining but after my bargainig expereinces in China..... I must say...Im pretty good. The bargaing here didnt involve physical contact so it was all good! Speaking of China.... most of the crap here was from China so I tried to find unique things from local artists. That was my goal. I was happy to find some local photography and some hand carved, good luck walking sticks that were carved from a local family. I bought a lot more stuff but Im pretty sure it was mass produced in China. However.....the day was fun and Loren and I enjoyed being together. We walked around the whole stadium and finished in just a few hours. We did good!

I have to say that I will always be a florist at heart! I am ALWAYS attracted to the beauty and scents of flowers. Especially tropicals!



After Loren and I recieved the award for buying the most crap....we headed out to do some kayaking. Some of the clan rented these for the week and were kind enough to share them with us for a bit. We wanted to head out to the sunken island but it wouldve taken too long. I wish we would have scheduled a whole day just to kayak out there. The holy book of Oahu said it was a must see. Maybe next time!


Look at this cute couple! They are still in love after eight children and many years of marriage. AND...there the best inlaws I could ask for!

I love this crazy clan! I cant imagine life without them. They really ARE my family!

After we did some kayaking, we headed down to see the blow hole. When you are at the blowhole...this is the beautiful view of Sandy beach. The waves here were crazy! They came right out and crashed right onto the beach. I had never seen anything like it before. Uusally the waves crash further out but not here. This was the infamous place where my brother Terry almost drowned. I had no desire to go in that water what so ever.

The Blowhole...or as we would call it...Melissa's Blowhole. Dont ask!

After the Blowhole experience, we headed over to Hanauma Bay to do some snorkeling. We wanted to night snorkel but the water was murky and we didnt see very many fish so we ended early. The water was rough, so it made the hard to enjoy. I hear the snorkeling is beautiful here and that there usually are many fish to see. We just had bad luck I guess.


Heres a picture of some people night snorkeling. They do this there every second Saturday of the month and its free. Its hard to see but people have flashlights underneath the water. Cool Huh?

Well....We had another fun day and as you can see... we were pretty busy everyday. It was one place to the next, but we had a blast. By the end of this day...I was EXHAUSTED. However.... we wanted to have a nice dinner out and decided when we got home to get all spruced up to go have a nice late dinner somewhere. Even though we were BEAT...we got ready and headed out with Ben and Melissa for a nice dinner in Northshore. Wow! Lets just say that it was quite the adventure! To make a long story short..the latenight party included running a redlight while shouting "midnight buffet!"....many, many stomach hurting laughs....sleep talking about swordfish and a crappy dinner at Tacobell! It was the best night EVER!