Hawaii~ Lucky me!

One long plane ride ~ and we found summer time!

Actually it is always summer time in Hawaii. Warm, sunny weather, palm trees, flowers, beautiful beaches and ocean breezes - is that why they call it Paradise?

We belong here!

What a great way to spend 8 days in January. We went to Hawaii with Diane and Chet for a wonderful vacation. We were on the island of O'ahu and spent from sun up to sun down enjoying everything that island has to offer with a little bit of relaxation thrown in there too.

First stop - Pearl Harbor

What a great tour - very sobering to think of the magnitude of this attack on the US. It was great to have Mike's military background to fill us in about lots of details.

Actually, Diane is among the ones who "lost a husband at Pearl Harbor." Chet got stuck behind some slow moving tourists and missed the ferry back from the Arizona. Lucky we found him on the next boat. The headsets they are wearing are part of the self guided audio tour. It was complete with sound effects, interviews of survivors etc. So well done! We all loved it. Everyone rents Mustangs on O'ahu. Here we found his and hers models for the Walkers!

Next stop - the Polynesian Cultural Center.

A day at the Polynesian Cultural Center - so fun and educational. The students from BYU- Hawaii are so warm and funny and adorable. Our guide was Bonita - 4th year student in Social work from Cambodia. She learned English as a second language from the missionaries and joined the church in her country and then came to Hawaii to study. I can still hear her lovely voice calling the tour group to follow her. She called us "Bonita's fam-a-lee!" Our other guide Michael
came from Samoa and was the resident coconut tree climber - in a skirt and bare feet!
The PCC was a great day!

Snorkeling at Hunama Bay - my favorite!

I could do this all day long. I love to snorkel and see the world under water. Mike keeps telling me to learn to scuba dive but I'm okay staying at the surface. We had sunny skies and saw beautiful fish and even sea turtles, eels and sea snakes. I was especially excited to see the Humahuma nukunukua pua'a - the state fish of Hawaii. I'm excited that I can even say it!

Hiking Diamond Head Crater

This was not an easy hike and the view at the top was the same one we had at on our balconies at the Hilton Rainbow Tower - 22nd floor. So we were kinda sorry we took the time away from the beach to do this one. But we joked along the way and lost about 10 pounds sweating it out! I swear there are more warnings before you get on a ride in Disney than there were about the intensity of this hike. I mean 99 concrete steps straight up, single lane, then a skinny spiral staircase, then climbing out of a very narrow gun turret - all this after a mile hike up on uneven rocky paths. But the company was fabulous and we laughed most of the way!

Shopping and going out to eat!

We walked the streets of Waikiki every night and had fun seeing the stores and eating out. We went back to our favorite restaurant "The Shorebird" and grilled our own steaks and listened to live music until karaoke started. Then we rolled on the floor laughing because the Japanese are so funny singing karaoke. It was "Shorebird Idol" according to Chet. There is an ABC store every 25 yards in Hawaii. The name actually stands for All Blocks Covered. It was fun to bring back trinkets for the kids. Diane and I loved shopping for jewelry too.

I love Pineapple!

Another fun stop - the Dole pineapple plantation. We watched a pineapple demonstration and saw pineapples growing. I learned out to grow my own pineapple plant and cut a pineapple boat. In Hawaii we ate fresh pineapple everyday. Yum!

We had such a fun time sharing the beauty of Hawaii with Diane and Chet. They were great traveling companions and we spent 8 days laughing! It's great to be home with a tan and some wonderful memories. When can we go back????

Our WELCOME HOME party!

The kids decorated with a Hawaiian theme and made us cakes for our homecoming. Tammy stayed with them and did a great job being an instant mother of 5. Teenagers are just as hard as babies - that's for sure.




Megan and Melissa made me feel right at home with this coconut tree and the beach and waves on the wall.




Good to be home but I'd go back in a second!