The Road to Hana

So we did the Road to Hana the day before we traveled home. All the pictures from in between are on Walter's Sisters cameras (we forgot our camera a couple times). I haven't gotten those pictures yet so I am sharing what I do have. Anyway, I was so excited to do the road to Hana for 2 main reasons. #1 To see and swim in the Seven Pools #2 To See the Amazing Bamboo Forest (We didn't stop there, so I was a lot bummed, I will just have to go the next time I am in town, ha ha) The first stop on the road to Hana is Twin Falls. There was a nice trickle of a waterfall and a shallow swimming area. I was waiting to go swimming in the 7 pools at the end of the road to Hana. I thought this tree was pretty cool, it looks like it is holding up the cliff above.At one of the stops along the road, there was a picnic area with a beach, trail, and caves! We really wanted to go and see the caves. They were along a nice little trail and they were filled with fresh water.Here is one of the lookouts from the trail.
This is a picture looking up at the 7 pools. There is one pool up at the top and it empties into the next one down and so on, till it makes it to the ocean. This was a great place to swim and I am so glad we went the whole way to hang out there.

Maui Sunrise and Bike Ride

While on Maui we signed up to do a Sunrise Bike ride down a mountain. I was a lot of fun. We woke up at 2 AM in the morning to get to the meeting place and our guide took us up to the top of the mountain and we watched the sunrise together. It was Really cold but Really cool!

Here is a picture of us Freezing and waiting, and waiting and waiting for the sun to come up. I think being cold made the wait seem a little longer than usual.

This looks our over a crater. What is so cool about this crater is that you can hike down in it and camp and lots of other fun stuff. We didn't do that this time around because we had other things we had planned, maybe next time.So happy to be up early in the morning. I am totally a morning person, and Walter is not. We were so excited to see the sun come up because it meant we could get back in the bus. It was a beautiful view. I will bring more clothing next time.
This is us in all our gear for the bike ride down the mountain just waiting to get our bikes. It was a lot of fun to ride down the mountain. I like that we were the first ride of the day because the traffic on the road wasn't bad. Anyway, the whole way down, our group was going for speed, it was SO Fun! I think we were the first ones down the mountain!

Hawaii Day 3 on Oahu

While we were in Oahu we went to one place for breakfast every day! Our friends recommended this place for their Famous Haupia Pie (oh it is REALLY good), so we went the first morning we were there and got a few pieces of pie and some breakfast to eat on the beach. Everything we ate there was just fabulous. And what is this wonderful place??? It is called Ted's Bakery, and you will find it on the highway up in North Shore. Thanks Megan and Keli'i for the great recommendation!! Next time we are on Oahu, this will definitely be on our itinerary. So I didn't want just a picture of Ted's all by its lonesome, so I had Walter do a little posing.

So after we stopped at Ted's we went on this Sailing/Snorkeling/Lunch Trip up on the North Shore. It was a lot of fun. We Sailed out to a good snorkeling spot and saw some baby turtles and some fun fish. They provided all the snorkeling gear and even noodles to help you stay afloat. When we were done snorkeling they fed us lunch and then we sailed back. It was a lot of fun.

I think these pictures are after we had gone snorkeling.

After our snorkeling/sailing adventure, we went to the Dole Plantation. I just have to tell you that I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. When we first arrived, they had some very pushy salesmen trying to sell pearls. I like pearls, I just didn't like the attitude of the salesmen, they weren't very nice when I told them that we would like to wait till after we were done seeing things. Anyway, the best part about the Dole Plantation was definitely the Dole Whip! There are only a few places that you can get one of these delicacies. One place it The Dole Plantation and the other place I know of is Disneyland. A Dole Whip is a Soft Serve Pineapple Ice cream, YUMM!! Anyway, I have to laugh at the above picture, because Walter and I look like tourist (well we are, but who wants to stand out like that?). I was trying to protect my face from the sun because I don't like it when I get sunburned on the face, I get just miserable when it happens.

So these pictures are from the Dole Garden Tour (not really worth the money). I thought the flowers were pretty and they had some cool looking pineapples.

Like this red one. Yes, pineapples grow on a bush, it kind of looks like an aloe plant, not a tree like most people think.

Next up Maui

Hawaii Day 2 on Oahu

While we were on Oahu one of the must do activities was to go to the Polynesian Culture Center. I had been many years before, but I didn't get to experience all the villages. So we bought ticks as soon as we had gotten our tickets to Hawaii. So we got them really early. So anyway, here are a few photos from our day spent there. I have about 30 more, I just picked out a few of my favorites. This picture is from the Samoa village, he is showing us the different ways they use the coconut.

There is also a guy who climes the palm tree. Sorry the picture isn't the greatest. Anyway, he was posing for all the cameras. This is a picture of a little boy who is learning how to clime the tree.

This is from the Rainbows of Paradise. They kind of do a parade of all the islands all on boats.

Our group we were with took a boat ride down the river that runs through the PCC. I kind of look pregnant in this picture, ha ha. I think it is just the way my shirt is sitting.

So this picture is just to show you how awesome our seats were at the Horizon Show. We were smack dab in the middle and we were in the second row. How cool is that!

This is the Tahitian dancer from the Horizon's Show.

These guys had fire, so cool! We both really enjoyed the day at the PCC, the dinner was really good. Walter was so excited that he could eat as much Sashimi (Raw Fish) as he wanted. I think he at least had 3 helpings. And the Show just topped it all off! Enjoy some of the videos taken throughout the day.
This is just a quick sample of the drumming at one of the villages.
So we were in the village Tahiti and they had all the men do a Tahitian dance. So I had to capture Walter dancing on video. Sorry that the video is sideways, it was the only way I could get the best picture.
So Walter had to get me back and get some video of me doing some Tahitian dancing. You all have my permission to laugh.

Hawaii Day 1 on Oahu

Let me first start off saying we had a wonderful trip to Hawaii and all the thanks goes to my parents and family for watching the 3 kids for us! Thank You! Not having to worry about the kids the whole time was a great relief, I knew they were in good hands. So our vacation started once we were on the airplane to Hawaii. Wow! I didn't know airplane rides could be so enjoyable. No, we were not in First Class, although it would have been nice, for sure. The nice thing about it was we didn't have kids that we had to struggle with just to stay in our laps. If there was a baby crying we knew that is wasn't ours, and we didn't have to worry about disturbing the people around us. Yes, it was absolute Heaven! So once we arrived in Hawaii we picked up our rental car and figured we would go straight to Pearl Harbor (we had a half a day still left). We went and saw the free sights at Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona Memorial. I have heard that it is the best out of all of them too. So you watch a little documentary about Pearl Harbor, and then you get on a boat and they take you out to see it. This is us on our way over. I think we are just so happy to have some time to ourselves. Again, thank you family!
This is what the memorial looks like on the outside. The entrance.

Inside is really neat! The architecture is cool too! I think the coolest thing was that everyone was very reverent and quiet the whole time we were at the memorial. I really like this picture, I love my country.
Still happy as ever to have some time to ourselves! Thanks mom and dad!!
These are all the names of the people this memorial is built for.
Here is the other boat that taxis people back and forth. So after we were done at Pearl Harbor, we decide to head on up to the North Shore, where we stayed at one of my friend's house. They just happen to be out of town the whole time we were in Oahu and they let us stay there while they were gone, how sweet is that. Let me just tell you that they are great people, they have a beautiful home and they have a lot of movies. I think we only got around to watching two of them though, we had lots of things to do. Thanks Megan and Keli'i!!!! On our drive to North Shore we took a detour and went all the way around the island, instead of cutting through like we should have. I blame it on the map that we had because it was all pieces of a big map, not one big one to see the whole island with, but that is okay because we almost saw the Magnum PI house. Anyway, this picture and the next two were on our drive. The drive was so pretty!
Could you imagine living here, talk about beautiful!! It was so nice to spend some time with Walter and not worry about the kids! So have I said thank you to my family? If I didn't then . . . Thank You!!!!

Shaelyn's Piano Recital

A few months ago Shaelyn started taking piano lessons and she loves it. Her piano teacher, Debbi, had a recital in May (yes I know, I am a lot behind in blogging). Anyway, her are some pictures from her recital and some video of her in action.
I asked Shaelyn to stand by the piano for a picture, she was more than happy to.Here is Shaelyn and her teacher, Debbi. She is so awesome!

These are all the kids who were able to show up for the recital. I know she has at least one other student, she unfortunately hurt her arm. Anyway, it was a very fun recital. We look forward to the Christmas recital!

This song is called A Little Smile

This song is called Little Bird