ALOHA!

WARNING: This is a LONG post!

Well, despite my anxiety with leaving Avery for a week, I had a wonderful time spending the week in Hawaii with Jason. It was beautiful, RELAXING, and warm. We spent the week in Oahu, soaking up the sun and taking in all the gorgeous scenery. It was a long flight over there, just about 12 hours because of technical difficulties with the plane and strong head winds. We made it and spent the week doing whatever we wanted. The island is like I remember it, not much has changed. I went about 10 years ago with Kimmer, a good friend of mine. So here are some pictures of our fun filled week!

Day 1

It was late when we got into Honolulu so we ended up just eating dinner and sleeping! We were exhausted.

Day 2

The Polynesian Cultural Center was pretty fun and we learned a lot. We learned that Americans are pretty boring and have no culture to pass onto our children! But it was a lot of fun and we got to visit the temple visitors center. The temple was closed for renovation which was disappointing to hear. But Jason tried to start a fire from wood and almost had it but didn't have any coconut hair to get the flame going. Darn it! We also got tattoos from one of the villages. On the way to the PCC we hiked to a lighthouse found on the east side of the island and many times whales can be spotted from here.

Day 3

We spent the day in the sun and I paid for it for the rest of the week. I got REALLY burned but it was worth it. We went snorkeling at Hanama Bay where the fish are unreal! Jason saw a whale out in the distant come completely out of the water. I was pretty upset that I didn't see it since I was the one wanting to see a whale. When he was snorkeling an eel freaked him out and he quickly swam back to shore. After we got enough rays, we hiked up to Diamond Head. There are close to 200 stairs you have to climb in addition to all of the switchbacks. The view makes all of those stairs worth it! Once again, absolutely stunning! We were stuck in traffic longer than it took us to hike. 2 hours stuck in traffic-horrible!

Day 4

We visited Pearl Harbor and anyone who has visited understands the magnitude of this event. Visiting a historical sight has so much more meaning than learning about it in a textbook. It is a sight that everyone should visit when going to Hawaii. We also experienced the flea market at Aloha Stadium and it was like any other flea market. But we did get some good deals! We headed up to the Dole Plantation and this is where I fell in love with pineapple ice cream. I loved it! While I was there, I learned that pineapples grow from the ground, not a tree! Who knew? It was a beautiful plantation but above all, the ice cream was the best!

Day 5

AWESOME! This is all I can say about our kayaking trip to an island called Monu'lua Island. The water was GORGEOUS! It was 4 mile round trip with crystal clear water the entire way out. I could see the bottom of the ocean the entire trip which was breath taking. Jason would ask, "Are you going to paddle?" because I would get caught up with the view and looking for turtles and Jason would end up paddling by himself. Needless to say, the next day I didn't have a sore muscle to speak of unlike Jason whose upper body was sore! When we got the to island, we+ saw a hidden tide pool that Jason took a dip in. It was a place where Hawaiian royalty came to vacation. We had lunch then headed back to Kailua beach to snorkel. This beach is by far my favorite beach. It was amazing and in fact, it is rated the second best beach in the world. So you can understand why it is so awesome. But it was a fun adventure that ended up being the funnest activity we did!
Day 6

I had been waiting for this day. It was my shopping day at Hawaii's outlet mall. Banana Republic and I are great friends! They have great clothes for work so I stock up while I am there. Needless to say, it was a successful shopping trip. Even Jason came away with a few things!

Day 7

I was determined to see a whale when I was in Hawaii since it is the season they migrate to Hawaii to give birth to their calves. So I booked an awesome tour that includes swimming with dolphins, turtles, and whale watching but with the strong winds we had to cancel. So our second option was to take a catamaran out into the ocean and look for whales. And indeed, we saw a pod of three whales, one of which was a baby. It was pretty magnificent to see them! Although towards the end of the trip I was feeling a little woozy because the ocean was really rough that day. But at the end of the day, I was glad we went out and got to see those HUGE animals. Because we spent the day in the sun, Jason was plum tuckered out so he needed a little nap before we went out on the town!
Last day

We drove around the island in our little Volkswagen bug that was yellow. Jason said that all he needed was a surf board to attach to the top and he'd fit right into the Hawaiian lifestyle. We first hiked up to Monoa Falls which was about the 45 minute hike through Hawaii's rain forest. I enjoyed the hike more that the falls because the scenery was BEAUTIFUL! After our quick hike, we headed up to the north shore of Hawaii to check out the surfers and the big waves. Well, we saw some magnificent waves (about 30 foot waves) but no surfers. I guess they didn't dare attempt them; they were HUGE! At the end of the day we ended up back at Dole Plantation to get another yummy pineapple ice cream. I think they are to die for but Jason would disagree. It was worth the drive around the island for another one. We also saw the Byo do-in Temple, which is a temple seen in Japan. It was pretty cool and it was nestled up against some mountains which made it more amazing.

I have to thank everyone for helping with Avery while we were gone. We really appreciate my mom and Shauna for their willingness to have Avery for the week. Thank you Lauren for taking Avery to church, especially to our own ward! That was above the call of duty. Thank you Steph also for watching our little angel. And Jackie for taking care of things around our house! I came away from Hawaii refreshed and renewed to be a better mom and wife! Thank you everyone! Also Jason, thank you so much for the WONDERFUL vacation. I love spending time with you and it was so great to get away with just you! I LOVE YOU. Thank you.

This is what we came home to- it made my eyes well up with tears. She is my angel and that made my day