Hawaii Part Two

After Mere and Bryan got back from Oregon, Austin and I went out right away to Lanikai beach and hiked up the pillbox hike there. Bryan said the hike was so easy that Hudson even did it barefoot. So Austin only took his flip flops but because his feet got so sweaty, they became more of a nuisance and so part of the time he also went barefoot. What we realized is that we were way more out of shape than Bryan was and our energy level is not like Hudson’s so yes “easy” for them, but tiring for us. We felt like whimps! We were happy to lounge on the beach afterwards and take in the amazing blue water before us. It was a tad cold to jump in but we walked the small stretch of the softest sand we’ve been on. 

Friday we spent all day up in Laie visiting the temple visitor center, getting the famous coconut macadamia shrimp from Seven Brothers, and then spending the rest of the afternoon and evening at the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was so fun! We got to go to pretty much all the islands (Tonga and Samoa were our favorites), got to experience Hawaii through their movie which shot mist and water at you during the presentation, and got to enjoy a luau right before the evening show. 

We were told to get the pineapple mango smoothie. It did not disappoint.  

On Saturday, we hung out with the fam and went to Sophie’s pizza and went to Bellow’s (military base beach) and enjoyed hours of surfing and boogie boarding. The waves were perfect for boogie boarding even though I got flipped over several times. I’m so impressed with these kiddos who are pros at surfing and boogie boarding and skin boarding. It’s so fun to watch them. 

Bryan showed us this cool area (it was actually off limits but it was worth seeing!) The current was so strong, it was a little scary.

Koko Head

Bryan also showed us this cool tunnel under the road. It looked out over where we were before. 

This is what happens when you follow through on a ripstick challenge by Bryan. 

Sunday morning before Church, Austin and I went to Pearl Harbor, just a ten minute drive from Mere’s place. Wow, that was quite an amazing place. It was so reverent and peaceful. They do a 20 minute video presentation on what happened that day and then we took a boat ride out to the memorial over the USS Arizona. I guess I didn’t realize or had just forgotten that over 1,100 men are still down there. The ship was their tomb. I came away with more of a love for our country, for those who serve, and a desire to learn more about this part in history. I’m actually reading a memoir of a survivor on the USS Arizona and it’s incredible and heart breaking. 

So Jocelyn wasn't cooperating and going outside to play so Bryan made her do chores and she was happy to comply. :) 

Monday they took the two oldest out of school so we could all go on Mere’s favorite hike, Kalalua ridge. It’s an incline up this mountain ridge. At first it’s just switch backs through the forest areas, then you overlook the southern part of the island where Waikiki, Diamond Head, and Koko Head are. Then it’s about another 200+ steps (don’t worry we counted so it would take Evelyn’s mind off of how hard the hike was), and then you are on this ridge overlooking about a 1/3 of the island. It was breathtaking. It’s about a 5 mile round trip and all the kids did it! They were such troopers. Lots of stops to eat M&M’s sure did help. We were all pretty freaked out (except Bryan of course) about kids wandering up there because it’s a drop off so we were holding on to their hands for dear life. I’m sure us being frantic about it didn’t make it any better. ;)

I can't remember what triggered this but our CTR 6 class loves to play the rock game, which is basically sitting in a position so still that if you move you're out. It worked for 5 minutes with them. :)

Me and Mere. She is amazing!!

We went back to Sophie’s pizza and then Austin and I went to Sandy Beach (a very touristy beach) and hung out during the sunset. We’re pretty sure we saw a whale in the distance. The waves were huge for being so close to shore. We were watching as people were being plummeted left and right. But the view of the ocean and how quiet it was where we were was amazing (I feel like I’ve been saying that word a lot here) but it really was. 

The panoramic view

It was also fun to play games with Mere and Bryan and have some great chats. They were so nice to let us use their car and stay at their house. It made the trip a lot more affordable. We were so sad to leave. We miss those kiddos so much! I especially miss Jocelyn’s voice and cute antics and Hudson’s hilarious logical conversations. I know I put this one up on instagram but Hudson has never lived in cold weather. He was born in Arizona and then they moved to Hawaii. He was telling us at the dinner table that Santa is not real. “Because Santa lives in the North Pole, and the North Pole has snow, and snow DOESN’T EXIST!” We were laughing so hard! 

The timing of the trip was perfect too as we were on our 5th anniversary and we knew we were going to move as soon as we got home. We might not have been able to make this trip otherwise so we count it as a blessing that it all worked out the way it did!