Our anniversary is July 23 so we wanted to be in Hawai'i for that date. We flew out the 22nd to Honolulu. My mom took my kids the first 4 days, and my mother-in-law took the last 3 days. (THANKS AGAIN, Judymom and Momma C. if you are reading this.) We rented one bedroom apartment through vrbo.com. It was located on the North Shore up in Laie on Oahu.
It was a cute little town (known to the locals as the Mormon town.) The temple is located here as well as the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Don't you love my sunburn? It was splendid. We went to the Lanikai beach on Friday (this pic was taken Sun) and I apparently was not vigilant enough with the sunscreen. We were sad to learn (before we left ID) that the temple would be closed. It is under extensive renovation. They have closed it for the whole year. We did visit the Visitor's Center and saw a BEAUTIFUL photography exhibit. Turns out the Laie, Hawaii temple is 90 years old. I had no idea it was that old. It was beautiful even in it's renovative state.
On our anniversary we got up early like as in 4 am.(Thank you JETLAG, we salute you) We drove about as far north as we could go. We drove to Dillingham Airfield where some Lost props were located. If you are a fan of lost, you will recognize the planes. We also drove past a YMCA camp that Lost uses as the OTHERS camp. So fun!
We rented a convertible. Why not live it up when you get a chance, right? Here's my sexy husband in our car.
This is taken fairly close to where the pilot scenes of Lost were filmed. Oddly, this is one of the few pics we have of the two of us together in Hawai'i.
We went to the Polynesian Cultural center on our anniversary. Here are a few pics. We even got to dance together on stage at the Luau because it was our anniversary. Us and about 30 other people.
One of my favorite things was snorkeling. We snorkeled at Shark's Cove which was up the road 15-20 minutes from where we were staying. We saw beautiful fish, and got to hang out with a school of the fish you see in Finding Nemo. Our kids thought that was cool. No pics of that though, only wonderful memories. I do have a nice pic of me in the snorkel gear though so enjoy that...(sarcasm was inserted into that last comment.)
One of my other favorite things was seeing the HONU (sea turtles). I compare it to seeing bears in Yellowstone. We were driving up the coast headed to Shark's cove when we saw some people standing on the beach taking pictures of the water. We decided to pull over to see what the fuss was about, and lo and behold there were 5 or 6 turtles fairly close to shore. I could've sat there for hours watching them.
We went to Pearl Harbor, of course, and Punchbowl. We went to the Swap Meet for souvenirs. We at Aoki's Shaved Ice. Yum. We peeled or own Sweet n Spicy Shrimp at Romy's Shrimp Shack. We ate at an AWESOME hole-in-the-wall Mexican Restaurant called AZTECA. So delicious! We did spend our last day there in Waikiki, but I was not a fan. Give me the North Shore anyday. Waikiki had too many expensive shops, and too many people.
Jason and I had a glorious time together. We laughed at the Wild Chickens. We lived in our bathing suits. We attended church on Sunday. We went to a movie theater. Which a little sidenote, was cheaper in Hawaii than it is here in Idaho Falls. Sick!!! We enjoyed the Nose flutes in the Tongan performance at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We enjoyed quiet dinners back at our apartment. We were grateful for the GPS. (note to those planning a trip to Oahu. DON'T rent a car unless you bring a GPS!!!) We almost lost our snorkeling gear before we even got to Shark's Cove. We enjoyed Hawaiian fry sauce. We read on the beach. We took morning and evening walks on the beach.
All in all, it was a FANTASTIC week!
