Hawaii Part I

 

Since we were there for a week, I thought I would break up the posts into 2...that way I can blog the pictures easier and it doesn't get to overwhelming....Also, I'm too lazy to make collages of the pictures so you get them big in all their glory one by one:)

So One week ago we jetted off on Hawaiin Airlines to GORGEOUS Hawaii...It was a big plane...the biggest I have ever been on. It had a middle aisle with 3 seats and 2 sides with 2 seats...so fancy! We had a direct flight over there-about 6 hours and we watched 2 movies and were so excited to get there! 

Can I just say that when God created Hawaii he must have been smiling and extra happy, because it is breathtaking. We got out rental car....a convertible(ohh la la) and we completely in love with the scenery. So green and lush everywhere you look! We did lots of driving around the island and LOVED it! We stayed at Turtle Bay on the North Shore and just took out time seeing the sights getting there. We stopped at a shrimp truck on the way and were in love with the fields and the landscape.

We also stopped at the famous Matsumoto's Shaved Ice...it was awesome! We went back again too on this trip. They put ice cream in the bottom....YUMM-O!

 

This is the view from our hotel room...sigh...we slept with the windows open everynight and listening to the ocean waves...incredible.

Our hotel was really beautiful and private....Here are some shots from our walk around the first day.

We took a drive and found this cute place for dinner...food wasn't good but the atmosphere amazing...

 Doug told them this trip was for our anniversary-they brought champagne and then exchanged it for sparkling cider...

Crazy roots huh? Trees like this were everywhere!!

On our way to snorkel at Shark's Cove-Day 2

 This was one of my favorite things that we did on this trip-it gets a little scary to relax with your face in the water, but once you get going it awesome! I didn't buy an underwater camera, and we didn't take our camera down to the beach with us...so here we are a few hours later at sharks cove. The sea life was awesome and the water was clear! It's a work out for my preggo bigness but I loved it. The only down side was that later on that day it was killing me to sit...I look back at my giant butt and wouldn't you know I forgot to sunscreen the back of my thighs...OUCH! By the next day I was feeling much better, what a smartie I am!

 Another shot of the Cove....

 We headed up the road to the Dole Plantation...it was cool to learn about pineapples....I didn't know they grew in the ground? And that there were lots of different varieties...

They have crazy cool foliage....

 Pineapple ice cream...almost too sweet but good.....

As we were cruising back home we stopped at some random beach...we saw a bunch of people gathered around...hum...we thought let's go check it out...

It was so awesome to see real Sea turtles just resting on the beach!! Craziest thing...they come to the shore to rest...they looked like big rocks!

Okay-so I have heard of the plumeria flower, had lotions or soaps with the smell, but nothing compares to the real thing! They were in full bloom while we were there and the scent was incredible. I tried to have one in my hair as often as I could just to get a wiff every once in a while. Doug loved the smell too...

The classic preggo pose....

We went for breakfast on day 3 to the famous Ted's Bakery-Doug got yummy friend rice, we actually went back again it was that good. I got a macadamia nut donut....wow....

 Off to the next big adventure...SKY DIVING! Doug has always wanted to do this and now that is 100+ lbs. lighter, it was a breeze for him! He loved it and said it wasn't as scary as he thought it would be. He jumped tandem from 14,000 feet and loved looking down on beautiful Hawaii... They landed on the air strip, his guide told me look for the orange and red parachute...well wouldn't you know there was like 5 other orange and red ones in the sky at that time...shesh! So I didn't see him land, but he got to land standing...cool!

 Next thing I knew he was on the ground....yay! Safe and sound...I'm so happy. Happy to see him, and happy that he was able to do this for himself.

After that we headed to the PCC or the Polynesian cultural center and spent the rest of the day there. What a cool thing that the church has going on there! Giving kids from Polynesian islands a chance to come to BYU Hawaii and share their culture. Its kind of like a big amusement park with it separated out by islands. We were able to go and see most of the different islands and learn about each of them...really unique! I also ran into 2 people from my hometown..crazy small town Mormon world I tell you

 We also got to eat some authentic luau food...some was a litte wonky for my tastes, but it was fun to try it...

We ended the evening with a cool broadway type show, with dancing, fire, and music...a little like an Easter pagent or other church production...uplifting and amazing.
We weren't allowed to take pictures at it, bummer...but it was awesome...

Day 4 coming next....