Beautiful Hawaii

Hawaii was PHENOMENAL! I already want to go back! I posted the pictures on facebook and you can follow the links below if you want to see the pictures.

First Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=94556&id=502016956&l=3fee422607

Second Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=94557&id=502016956&l=0ff820b89f

Third Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=94561&id=502016956&l=55a2d17b3e

Fourth Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=94563&id=502016956&l=24cc9793a8

Sorry if that's annoying, but it's sooo much faster to post pictures on facebook than it is on blogger.

SOOO, here's what we did:

Thursday, April 30: We woke in the wee hours of the morning and drove down to Phoenix, Arizona (tickets were almost 200 bucks cheaper out of Phoenix). We stayed with our friend Mitchell's parents. They were SO nice and so great to let us stay with them

Friday, May 1: We woke up early again and drove to the airport and got on our plane to Honolulu. It was a 6 hour flight and a lot of fun. Then we landed, got our rental cars (which got upgraded for free, sweet!). Then we went and dropped our stuff off at the hotel and then headed straight for the beach. We went to Waikiki which has a TON of rocks and coral, and I cut my first in like the first 15 minutes. It was pretty bad, so that put a damper on the rest of the trip, but I made due. After we played around in the beach we went and got groceries and then ate dinner. After that, we went and had a nice moonlit beach walk. It was gorgeous and so fun. Then we came back and went to bed at about 9 p.m. haha. We went to bed before 10 every night of the trip and then woke up at 6 am and felt like we were sleeping in. It was AWESOME!

Saturday, May 2: We got up early and then a van came and picked us up at our hotel and took us to Hanauma Bay where we went snorkeling. It was SUCH an amazing experience. So many different kinds of fish and it was just soo cool to see all of them. We swam with sea turtles, octopi and the hawaiian state fish humuhumunukunukuapua'a. We came in for a break and chilled on the beach, ate lunch and then right back out. It was so much fun. Then we went kayaking out in the ocean. We kayaked out to a small island and rode the waves for a while, it was such a blast. Afterwords, we came back to our hotel and Robby grilled burgers outside on the BBQ. It was so fun. We just played cards and ate delicious hamburgers. Then we went shopping at the international marketplace for souvenirs.

Sunday, May 3: We woke up and drove to a church near Pearl Harbor. It was so fun to be at their ward. There were so many darling polynesian kids everywhere. Sacrament meeting was awesome and it was so fun to be there. Then we headed over to Pearl Harbor and went to the Arizona Memorial. Such a cool experience. Everyone was silent and it was really awesome to be there. Then we headed over to the USS Missouri. We walked all around that and saw the peace treaty that was signed there to end the war. So cool. Then we came back to our hotel and had wonderful Sunday naps. Then we drove out to the temple. The drive out was amazing! The mountains were gorgeous and there were beautiful trees everywhere. Then we got the temple and took pictures all over the temple grounds. It is such a beautiful temple, I LOVE it! Then we went into the visitors center where they have a room full of polynesians singing songs. I sat and listened to that for like a half hour. I LOVE the way they sing, it is so gorgeous. Their harmony is amazing. After hanging out at the visitors center for a while, we drove back to our hotel and went to bed

Monday, May 4: We went to the Dole Plantation and played there. We went on the pineapple express and saw all the pineapple fields and banana trees and everything else you can think of. It was pretty fun. Then we went and saw all of the crazy sucker fish. They were kind of creepy. Then we went in and bought some dole whips and some pineapple, it was delicious. Then we headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was AWESOME! We started out in the island of Samoa where they lit a fire using sticks and coconut husks, cracked a coconut in half, and climbed coconut trees. It was SWEET! Then we went to Aeoteora or something like that, which is basically New Zealand. They were one of my favorites. They sang and danced and were amazing! I had chills the whole time. Then we learned to swing poi balls, we weren't very good at it haha. Then we went to the island of Hawaii. He played the nose flute, the ukulele and a hawaiian girl did a hula for us. It was awesome. Then we went to the river thing and waited for the canoe pageant. I made a friend with one of the guys on the samoa canoe, he kept waving and making faces at me and giving me the shaka sign during the pageant. It was great :) haha. All of the islands came out on canoes and performed dances, it was so awesome. Then we went to the island of Tonga and they played the drums and sang, it was really awesome. Then we went to Tahiti where they taught us to shake like they do, it's all in the knees. They go INSANELY FAST! It was awesome. Then we went to Fiji and played with bamboo and sang songs. It was really fun. Then we went to the Luau and had delicious foods and watched them dance. Then we went to the Horizons night show where they did more dancing, and then FIRE DANCING! It was AWESOME! Then we went back to the hotel and slept.

Tuesday, May 5: We woke up and went canoeing out in Waikiki. We rode the waves in with the surfers, it was a lot of fun. Then we got surfboards and tried that. I didn't try for very long, but I didn't get up. It's hard stuff! ahha. Then we met Sarah's friend, Curtis (who goes to BYUH) and he took us to the town of Haliewa. We got lunch and then walked to Matsumotos for some shave ice. It was delicious, with the exception of the azuki beans. They were sick. Then we went to a great beach and boogie boarded forever. We found that when you boogie board that much you get a lot of sand in a lot of different places :). Then we went to Waiamea Bay and played in the waves there. The waves were HUGE! Sarah and I boogie boarded on about 5, they were like 10 feet tall! It was insane! But so much fun. Then we just sat on the beach and watched the boys body surf in them. It was so fun, they got beat up by the waves, but they loved it! Then Curtis took us on a hike that overlooked Waiamea. It was so fun and so gorgeous, I cut my foot again, that was great :) Then we went back to our hotel, had dinner and when to bed.

Wednesday, May 6: We got picked up and went to hike Diamond head. It was a really fun hike, but there is a spot with a bunch of steep stairs that weren't the funnest :) It was an awesome view all over the island and a lot of fun. After the hike, we all went and rented mopeds. It was AWESOME! We rode all around and saw a bunch of great views and really nice houses. Such a blast. Then we went on a catamaran sail boat. In the first ten minutes we saw a bunch of whales and dolphin. It was SWEET! Then for the next hour and fifty minutes, we sat there and got really hot and sick. hahaa. When I go back to Hawaii, I definitely won't do that again :) Then we went back and the girls went shopping at the international marketplace while the boys picked up stuff at walmart. Then we headed back up to Waiamea Bay and the boys body surfed some more and jumped off the cliffs. It was so fun to watch them. Then we went to Hukilau beach and met up with Curtis and we had a campfire on the beach. The moon was so bright. We roasted marshmallows, starbursts and pineapple. It was so much fun. Such a great way to spend our last night in Hawaii. We got home at about midnight, and we were all dead tired since that was so late for us haha.

Thursday, May 7: This was our last day, so we all did what we liked the best. The boys went snorkeling, Laura and Sarah went shopping and Melodie, Monique and I went mopeding again. We found this great road that followed the coastline all along the island. It was soooo awesome! After we were done, we dropped off our rental car, headed to the airport and got on the plane. It was really hard to leave such a beautiful place.

This is a really long post, sorry :) But a few more final thoughts. I loved this trip, it was so amazing to see everything that God created. The different plants, the mountains, the flowers, the fish, the water, the beach, the rocks, everything! It was a really spiritual experience. I also loved experiencing the culture. It is so cool to think about how people all around the world have different beliefs and different ways of doing things, but we all have the same Father in Heaven. It's really cool. I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend a week with my best friends experiencing some of God's most beautiful creations!