We got an amazing opportunity to go to Hawaii with Chris' brother and his wife. It was perfect timing, a good deal and who can say "no" to Hawaii? I'm so glad we did it! It was just as perfect and wonderful as I remember it and it was so fun to share it with Chris this time. We spent the first 7 nights on the Big Island at a gorgeous 2-bedroom condo with Brent and Lindsay. The location was perfect and the place itself was amazing. We were a 5 minute walk to the beach where we saw turtles EVERY day! We had a kitchen and lanai with BBQ grill so we cooked all of our breakfasts and a couple dinners and ate at the condo. We packed each day with fun and adventures from sun-up till sundown. We covered just about the whole island and felt like we did all the highlights and more. My good friend Mindy still lives there and she shared a day with us in Waipio Valley. It was a great experience- something we probably couldn't have done without knowing a "local". On our way back home, Chris and I stayed another 2 days on Oahu. I couldn't go all the way over there and not go back to Laie and show Chris a few things I love about Oahu. We went to Pearl Harbor, Dukes, the Polynesian Culture Center, the Laie Temple, stayed at Turtle Bay and enjoyed the laid-back life on the North Shore. It was perfect. Of course, all good things must come to an end. Our kids were missing us and we came home to sickness. We will hopefully be able to go back someday and take our kids (when they're older- maybe like 10 more years). Nathan wanted to hear about all the fish and whales we saw and hasn't stopped talking about Hawaii since we got back. I think it would be really fun for him in a few years. There's so much more to see and do, especially on Oahu, we have to go back. I am glad however, that we missed the Tsunami threats. We also missed an eruption at Volcano Natl. park by a few days too! Bummer! I will try not to share too many pictures- but I can't help it!
Laie, Hawaii Temple
Chris up on "The Point" in Laie
Famous Hukilau Beach and Hukilau Cafe
We had the best breakfast at the Hukilau Cafe- French Toast and chocolate chip pancakes!
This was the view from our hotel room at Turtle Bay- gorgeous!
The Luau at Polynesian Culture Center
Samoan Village at PCC
New Zealand village at PCC- one of my favorites!
Looking out over Pearl Harbor
Lunch at Lulu's in Downtown Kona
View of the crater at night. It was crazy, you could hear noises of pieces falling off the side of the crater into the lava below
Inside the Thurston Lava Tube
The view of the crater during the day
Steam vents
Chris and Brent had lots of fun climbing up this huge banyan tree. They pretended to be monkeys and had to climb every tree they saw like this!
Akaka Falls
Our whale watching spot- awesome! We saw so many whales, just driving up and down the coastline. We got a picnic lunch and just pulled over on the side of the road and watched them for hours.
One morning while the boys golfed, Lindsey and I hiked down into Pololu Valley. It was another gorgeous black sand beach- just a few valleys over from Waipio Valley where Mindy took us.
Eating yummy shave ice after our sweaty hike!
Mauna Kea beach- one of the prettiest on the Big Island.
Here's Lindsey eating again- this time a malasada from Tex's. We had to go back a second time for more. They were deep fried donuts, filled with guava, lemon, raspberry and bavarian cream. SO GOOD!
Black sands of Waipio Valley
Our sweet ride down the side of a huge cliff into Waipio Valley- Kimo and Mindy's truck. It was narrow, rough and steep, but so cool.
Here's all of us at the Waipio Valley lookout. Gorgeous!
One of the turtles we hung out with on the beach by the condo. We were seriously about 1 foot away from this guy and his buddy for over an hour!
