5.5 days away from home!

5.5 days was too short a time but we still took advantage of every minute. We landed in Honolulu, Hawaii 40 minutes ahead of schedule and raced to the rental car pick up and got on the road. We may have been a little too excited and not known the roads well enough and took the very scenic route but in Hawaii even that was a wonderful mistake. The Watkins were still at work/school so we took our time touring the island. We arrived to their home just as they were getting home and one by one we surprised them with our arrival. 

Day 1: After we arrived and visited we went to the beach in the afternoon, had dinner and crashed early. 

Day 2: In typical fashion we woke early and were ready to go. We had breakfast with the kids before they went off to school and then went on a tour of several beaches in the area. We also signed up for my first Ocean Scuba trip! We tried Matsumoto's famous shaved ice, I got strawberry banana (never get banana it was awful) and Brian got blueberry (he got that every where we went, better for comparing I suppose) and then we went back home to pick up our tickets and went to the Polynesian Culture Center for the afternoon. It was fabulous! Nothing like we expected. We did the day time show/ tour of villages and the night time show as well. 

Day 3: We started off the day scuba diving! We went to turtle canyon and another reef off Waikiki beach. It was a great first experience. I wore an extra thick wet suit so that I was comfortable and besides the mask that was not a perfect fit the rest of the equipment gave me no trouble. We saw lots of turtles, a couple of white tip sharks and lots and lots of fish. I thought it would be a lot scarier that it was. Next time we go we will do the deeper dive and see the wreck that is off shore! After that we went home and had a Valentine's day celebration with the Watkins. We had giant chocolate chip cookies, cups of candy and played lots of games. We ended the night with another beach trip! (never got old to walk over to the beach whenever we wanted)

Day 4: We went on a hike to Sacred Falls. It was a little more rugged than we anticipated but at the end when we reached the falls it was all worth it. After that we spend the afternoon at the beach where Brian enjoyed boogie boarding with the girls. Then we went out to dinner with Brian & Cindi and the Sharps. 

Day 5: We spent all day with Uncle Steve, we went to Lani Kai beach, the blow hole, Hanama Bay and went to lunch at a place right on the beach. It was so much fun. 

Day 6: We woke up bright and early again and went to the swap meet at the Aloha stadium we heard it was a must for souvenirs and it was lots of fun. After that we hit up Cinnamon's and had breakfast. Brian tried their famous red velvet pancakes and gave them 2 thumbs ups. Then we went on a tour of more beaches! We saw the banyan trees and searched for names carved in the rocks at another. Then we skyped the Jacobson's and ended the night by Watching the amazing race. I can not even remember how many seasons of that show I watched with the Watkins in California growing up but watching it made me feel like we back in their home in Glendora, just we are all a lot more grown up now :)

And then it was time to return home. Excited to sleep in our own bed again but wishing we had more beaches ( and the watkins) near us. 

And now.... The pictures!

Brian at Temple Beach, literally steps from where we were staying

PCC day time shows

at the PCC, glad we went

a great dane we saw swimming and paddle boarding in the bay

getting ready to go diving

my first time on a dive boat! It was chaotic at first but I figured it our

at the beach with the watkins

Brian and Hannah playing on the beach after dinner

at the beginning of the hike

the first of the falls, this one was dry

and the official fall at the end of the hike

beautiful ending to the hike, well worth all the work to get there

heading back from the hike

more beach time, this beach brian gave surfing a try

this was on the hike, it was a tree growing on a rock

hanama bay

beach time with all the watkins, just a little windy :)

checking our the banyan trees

finding names in the sand rock... this pic was for you mom!

swinging on the banyan trees

indications beach/ rock pile beach

 

This is Maxy! She was mine for almost an hour till her family came to pick her up. Too bad we couldn't bring her back home with us forever.

Breakfast @ Cinnamon's