Tuesday:
The first day of Hawaii was great! Started the day off strong with a donut from teds bakery then we went to sharks cove and snorkeled. We saw so many fish! It was beautiful. No turtles yet though. We got done with snorkeling about 9, and thought how much time we have left in the day! Woo! We hung out for a while at the house then went to hukilau cafe for lunch. It was yum! Dan even ordered trek dishes.
Then we decided to go on a hike to manoa falls. It was an hour drive into town but totally worth it. The hike was beautiful! It was a jungle. It was pouring on us so we bought ponchos. And it was super muddy. But as we hiked the sun came out and it was gorgeous!
On the way home, we stopped in Haleiwa for some shaved ice. Mm mm. We took our time getting home stopped at Kabila beach to see turtles. We chilled at home for a bit after and then Caitlin came over!!! Yay! It was so extremely great to see her. It's been 2 years. We caught up for a bit and then all decided to go to sunset beach to watch the sunset! It was such a beautiful day!
We all woke up super early Wednesday again and headed to do sealings at the laie temple. We went to the original sealing room that has floor to ceiling windows in it. It is extremely beautiful. The sealer told us a lot of symbolism of the markings in the carpet and on the walls and glass doors. It was so wonderful to be there.
We Walked around the temple grounds for a bit before heading back to the house.
Next we went to secret island at kualoa ranch. They filmed 50 first dates, Jurassic world and lost there. We've been watch Jurassic world donor was cool to see the same scenery with our own eyes. We took the ferry across to the beach. When we got there it was super windy so we didn't quite rush to the kayaks like we did last time. We went to the glass bottom boat instead where it took us out to the sand bar. We hopped into the water and played on these floating mats. They were super slippery so we'd all try to knock each other off. It was pretty funny.
After the sand bar, we tried kayaking. Then we relaxed in a hammock for a minute and then played a game of volleyball with Julie and Adam. They won, darn it. Then for the last 30 minutes we did paddle boarding. It was a little choppy so it was a little tougher to stay up. It was a great day at secret island!
After we changed and headed straight to the pcc for the luau. Woo! I always love the pcc. We got lays, green juice And enjoyed our dinner and the entertainment. The dinner is a little different where they serve poi rolls, poke, salmon and a few other weird things. But the pork and beef are always good.
Then we had the night show. It was so hot in that theater that it just drained us all. I think I fell asleep a couple of times during it. But woke up when the fire dancing started! Love that part!
We got out of there fast after the show and drove home where we fell asleep almost immediately. Long but great day!
Another early day! It was my day today. We've been switching off calling the shots for each day. It works nicely cuz they have to make the final decision. Today I decided to go to climb works at keana farms to go ziplining! My friend Caitlin's husband works there and hooked us up and got us in for free. They are the greatest people. We joined with 2 girls and a guy and 3 guides for the zip tour. It was so beautiful to be above that farm! Amazing views. The guides were so fun to be with. Dan, Caitlin's husband, was hilarious and just awesome as always. Then there was justus who did cool things while ziplining. He was nice too. And then Connor was the one who sent us off. He was born in Hawaii and he works at the pcc too and is a fire dancer! Apparently we saw him last night. It was fun to talk to him about all that. He was great!
The ziplining was awesome, i had my camera with me the whole time and was filming everyone for our music video. We all were hanging upside down and doing fun things. I was so proud of Kathy for going with us. She did great and I couldn't even tell she was nervous. On one zip, I didn't quite make it to the end for Dan to pull me in (or so I thought it was my fault), so I went back to the middle and Dan came back to get me. It was funny! He told me it was leg day as he was bringing me back in. That's a tough job for them! He sometimes has to go get 250+ people. Holy smokes! We finished the last rappel and walked back to the office. Caitlin works there in the office so we chatted for a bit and she gave us all of our pics that the guides took for us for free. It really was the greatest and a highlight of our trip!
After the zipline, we rested up a bit and then went to the pcc to do the village activities. We went to the Tonga show which is my favorite. We went to Tahiti after that and then made fishes out of the coconut leaves. We watched the canoe show and Then finished off the tour with the Samoa show which is my other favorite. Kap is great and so funny! We decided to leave after that. It was a pretty hot day.
For dinner we went to seven brothers. It was a pretty tasty burger but I loved the fries the best! We went back home and hung out and rested up a bit. Then went our separate ways. Julie and Adam went to the beach, Dave and Kathy stayed home and I made Dan go in a hike with me. We went on the sunset pillbox hike. It was a little steep but it was so pretty at the top! It was definitely worth it to see those views. We made it right in time for the sun to set. And made it back in time for it to be pitch black. It was fun to have a little outing with the two of us! Another great day!
Dan and I slept in a bit (until about 7) but we got ditched by everyone who went out to breakfast. I think I overslept because i was a little grump in the morning. We got breakfast sandwiches from Teds which were pretty great. Then we went to Sharks cove for snorkeling. Today is Julie's day! I sat out because it was a little chilly and didn't quite feel like going in yet. Plus cait was meeting up with us later to take us to go somewhere else.
Well I was just chillin on the beach when it started raining. I hid under a blanket and then went to wait in the car. Soon everyone else showed up because I think they felt bad for me. Oops! But Caitlin told us directions to the turtle beach so we went there next. We saw so many turtles out there and so we hurried and got our snorkeling stuff on. The water was very murky and choppy and so it was making me nervous! Then I saw a turtle. It freaked me out. I was afraid it was going to hit me. We stood in the reef for a bit and watched them swim around us. Then we decided to get out and feed them seaweed. It was the coolest experience. We had like 6 turtles eating seaweed out of our hands. It was amazing! Soon cait joined up with us and joined in. We did that for about an hour. So cool to see those amazing creatures! Little did we know what we did was illegal. Oops! Another definite highlight of the trip!
We went and all got lunch after at the food truck place. Dan and cait got Thai and I got Mexican. It was super yummy. Next Julie picked for us to go kayak the river in haliewa. It was much better kayaking there because it was so calm. Cait came with us all too and paddle boarded. It's been so great to catch up with her. She is so fun to be with, I miss her! We took it slow and enjoyed the scenery. Dan and i paddled under a coconut tree and i made another fish out of the leaves. We watched some kids jump off the bridge and saw some turtles in the water. It was great to relax. We went and shopped and got snowies too. We bought some Father's Day gifts. A back scratcher for my dad and some sandals for dans dad.
After that, cait went home to get ready and we did the same. We relaxed a bit. Then I met up with dan and cait while everyone else went to get dinner. I took dan and Caitlin's pictures as a thank you for planning our trip and getting is free tickets to the zipline. It was fun to be with them. They're so cute. We went to kawela bay and toon pics in the fields, grasses, by the banyan tree and then ended on the beach. They even went in the water for me. They are best. The rest of the group met up with us to see the pretty sky. Then we went home. It was a fun last evening in Hawaii!
We had to go to the beach one more time so we went to Waimea to hang out. Julie boogie boarded and we all watched her haha. There wasn't very good waves. Then they took Dan and k to try konas, that yummy breakfast place. It was delish! We went back home to pack up and then set off for the airport. It's going to be a long night.
I'm so dang excited to see my chubby faced little kids! I've missed them! They have had a blast with my family. They went to the curiosity museum with Sandee, then to the zoo. They went to wheeler farm with my mom. Then went swimming and to the park with Mindy and Erika. I don't think they will want to come home!
