Last Day in Hawaii

Can't leave the beach without writing in the sand! My entire family was taking a pic of this and I'm proud to say I'm the only one to capture it without the waves messing up Heidi's hard work! :D To say it was hard to leave Hawaii is an understatement. I might have cried a little as we flew over the ocean...might not have...it's up to you to decide what you believe. :)

We started off this day buying souvenirs at the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium! It is the biggest swap meet I have ever been to! Seriously the booths go all the way around this  huge stadium and each booth is filled with great stuff! It was so fun to browse all the shops and pick out things to take home to friends and family! :) I had such a hard time deciding what to buy because there was just so much great stuff!

This day was the hottest day we spent there...I was quite bummed we weren't hanging out on the beach...but alas time in paradise had to end.

I got up early on the last day to watch the sunrise...it was definitely worth it!

 The moon was also still up on the other side of the island, which was pretty cool! Rising sun on one side, setting moon on the other. I loved the colors of the sky!

 I took some pix of the condo we stayed at after we cleaned! This is the room Heidi and I shared!

 My dad got this room! Notice the cool decorations. Super cheap at the swap meet...wish I would have had unlimited space! I would totally love to decorate my apartment in Hawaiian swag. :)

This is the entry way, kitchen, and the living room, aka Matt's bedroom :)

I miss this view!! 

After visiting the swap meet, packing up and cleaning the condo we went to our favorite beach to take some family photos. (Those are on Dad's camera so I will have to post them later). Bracelet curtsey of the swap meet...this might be one of my favorite pictures from the trip! Loved this beach, my pink nail polish and this bracelet! :D

Don't  you wish you lived somewhere that looked this gorgeous every day!

Couldn't leave without attempting to get a pix of these funny white birds that were everywhere!! They had the best walk!  Wish  my dad didn't' have a lead foot so I could have taken a video :)

Came home to a mountain of snow in the driveway, and a cracked windshield! :) Happy New Year! I was glad to get to sit in the car as Dad and Matt shoveled :)

I bought this dress at the swap meet and love it so much!! I cannot wait to wear it during the summer in Utah!! Don't you just love the contrast...from beach to -2....not an easy transition! Lucky was sure glad to have us home though! She never sits by me and she slept in this position for a good 2 hours! 

I hope to one day return to "paradise" to enjoy the laid back culture, delicious shaved ice, and sunny beach days! For now the memories from one amazing Christmas trip will suffice! Thanks Hawaii for treating us so well! Until we meet again!

Hawaii Day 6

 One of my dreams for Hawaii was to see a whale. I had heard that it was whale season from multiple people before we left and it definitely made me excited! We decided on our last day to go over to Waikiki to take a whale watching trip! I kinda wish we would have spent a little more time there cuz it was definitely a bustling place! We saw the most tourists in this area!

I loved that this guy had an attachment on his scooter for a surfboard! So cool!

 The view from the boat was spectacular! It is unbelievable how blue and clear the water is! Even if we wouldn't have gotten a chance to see whales it was so great getting out on the water!

I was up on the top of the boat with the captain when he first sighted the whales and boy was I glad I was! I don't know if I would have heard him direct our attention at them if I was down below. They were off to our right and it looked like they were heading further out when all of a sudden they changed directions and....

swam right under our little ship!!!!! IT WAS SO COOL! Even the captain  who has done this for years and years, was getting excited about it! An up close and personal view of the whales! :D I was prepared with my camera and was able to get a couple great shots! :D

Heidi loves it when we are matching :) hahah... kidding, but I still love this picture!

Paradise...it has it's name for a reason!

On our drive to Kailua bay we passed this cool building...

...and this absolutely huge Monkey Pod tree!! Can you see the two story white house in the background?? Ya this thing was massive!!!

After whale watching we spent a few more hours swimming and enjoying our favorite beach! I already miss the warmth, sand and  water so much!! 

We decided to celebrate/ commiserate our last night at a fancy restaurant  It is called Haleiwa Joe's and it was such a fun place!! The back wall is open air to a gorgeous garden below.

I wish I could have taken these pink & white flowers home with me :)

Haha I LOVE this picture because as you can see Heidi was trying to get out of the way and instead is the center focus of the picture! hahaha! SO FUNNY! :)

The restaurant is the lit up building in the back! :D So pretty!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these two! But man we struggle a little with pictures...this was the best one I could pick out of the 15 we took! hahaha! Heidi and Matt don't be mad I posted this :) 

Good thing we had Dad to save us from our horrible skills! This one is a little better :D

Dinner was an adventure to say the least...Heidi and I shared some DELICIOUS crab legs! Still craving them! :D And we ended the night with these desserts! A perfect dinner! Best food we had BY FAR! Matt kept going on and on about how great his was! So glad I found this place! :D

Hawaii Day 5

Today was a beautiful sunny hot day in Oahu! We decided that since it was finally nice we would spend the day at the beach! I love love love love LOVED the water!! I felt so free in it and could have spent hours and hours there! Obviously since I was in the water all morning I didn't get any pictures. My dad did...maybe when I get those from him I'll post a few. Just imagine gorgeous blue water and smooth smooth sand! Kailua Bay is the best!!!

 This is a panorama from the car before we left :) It might help your imagination a little. We spent most of our time about a mile down from this point.

I loved just looking at the scenery as we drove around. It is just SO GREEN and there are so many cool trees and flowers everywhere!! My dad REALLY wanted to hike Diamond Head while we were there and so after he allowed us to spend most of the day at the beach I convinced my siblings we could make it there to hike it with him. I was a little nervous I would die during the hike, but the pix below is proof I survived! :D (oh and it's proof that I'm typing this I guess :D)

 The view from the top was spectacular!! You could see forever!! I hoped to see some whales, but alas we did not. I guess it is too early in the season.

This is a lighthouse just below where we were, and the spiral staircase I decided not to take after my adventure with the tunnel...more to come...

In this picture you can start to see into the crater and you can see Waikiki and Honolulu! Isn't Hawaii pretty!???

Another panorama from a different angle. This lady in the middle was cracking me up! Everyone was trying to take pictures and she was just lounging hanging out in the best picture taking spot! :) I wonder how many pictures she ended up in! hahaha You can see the crater pretty great from this pix though!

Ok here is the tunnel!! And the story is...I guess I am claustrophobic! Before this tunnel is a flight of about 50 or so stairs and then you enter this pitch black tunnel for about a quarter of a mile. Well I did great up the stairs and then about 10 feet into the tunnel I suddenly couldn't breath and started freaking out! I quickly went back to the top of the stairs and stood on the TINY landing to catch my breath while others passed! It was quite the experience!! Oh and in the pix below where it says caution low clearance! They aren't kidding. Matt hit his head at one point! :D

Heidi REALLY wanted shaved ice again so I used Yelp to find this little place. It was in the middle of Waikiki in a residential area, and it was so good!! We even went back a second time! It looked like it was owned by the little family that lived upstairs. I loved how they used Christmas lights. 

 Can you see what I mean?? SUCH A PRETTY PLACE!!!!

Christmas Lights in Hawaii! LOVE them! :D

We ate dinner this night at this place called Rai Rai Ramen. My dad served his mission in Japan so he LOVED this place. Although he got a weird meal...us kids got good tasting stuff! Don't be fooled by the way these pictures look disgusting it was actually pretty great!

I ended the night painting my nails with my newly purchased nail polish! It was my first time buying nail polish :) hahaha I guess Hawaii has that effect! :D