Hawaii - Part 1

The post you've all been waiting for, right? ;) I finally got around to posting about our trip to HAWAII!!! We were busy every single day and I took tons of pictures; therefore, I will let the pictures do most of the talking since this post is fairly long. I would hate to loose your interest ;) The pics are in order starting from day 1 of the seven days we were there.  We went with my entire family (14 people total including Kory and Nate (my sister's spouse)).  We left Sydney home with her Grandma Teresa (Kory's mom) and they had a blast together.  We knew the the 4 hour time change to Hawaii would be difficult for her since she would probably want to go to bed at 4pm and wake up at 3am. We had a lot of late nights so it was really the smarter option to leave her home with grandma.  We'll that's enough background info! Let's get to the pictures...

Day 1: Wednesday, Sept 28th

We arrived in the afternoon and took a scenic stop at Shark's Cove on our way to the Condo.

My dad arranged for us all to stay in a 4-bedroom condo at Turtle Bay for our 4 days while on O'ahu. Kory and I got one master bedroom and my parents got the other.

Master Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Our balcony view of the entire condo and bay

Day 2: Thursday, Sept 29th

Laie Hawaii Temple

 It was kinda a mucky day... (you can tell from our faces if you click on the small pics)

SO pretty! Tell me again why we didn't get married here?

 The Polynesian Cultural Center! 

I loved this place. It was one of my favorite things we did our whole trip.  My mom found a great discount through Deseret Book. At the PCC, they have different "villages" of each Polynesian island in the Pacific (well the main ones anyway). You'll see a series of them later in the Canoe Show pictures...

 At the Samoa village.  He showed us how to make fire, crack open a coconut and make coconut milk, and climb a coconut tree.

 (He's posing..haha)

 Then we got a chance to try...

 Haha, I failed miserably. Ok, I got up a little bit but not nearly as good as my little sisters.  It's definitely proof that kids are more agile and that Samoans are amazing because they practice from childhood.

 A coconut

 The Canoe Show: Each island came out one by one and performed their unique dances.

"Hawaii"

 "Tonga"

 "Tahiti"

 "Aotearoa" (New Zealand)

 "Samoa"

 "Fiji"

Combination of chieftains

 Free tattoos!  They were free so we had to get one, right? Sydney will never know. ;)

 My brother, Dustin, throwing a spear.

 Me hula dancing in front of a China-man tour group. It was fun :)

 Fire dancers. There was a lot more of this in the night show (called Ha: Breath of Life)

 Dinner buffet and my sister's, Savannah, birthday.

Day 3: Friday, Sept 30th

Diving with Sharks. Kory's idea. :)

 My brothers and dad (from Left to Right: Derik (24), Dakota (17), Dustin (26), and Dad)

 Me and Derik

 

 The Dole Plantation

 How Pineapples grow. I had no idea. We thought they grew in the ground.

 The original reason why we all decided to go to HI: Shantel's Soccer game (USU vs. Univ. of Hawaii)

Go team, go team go!

Day 4: Saturday, Oct 1st

That morning, some of us went snorkeling in Shark's Cove. No, there were no sharks. :) But it did have amazing snorkeling. I wish I had pictures because it was like a whole new world down there.

Afterward, we had lunch on the beach. One of the players from my sister's team is from Hawaii and her family made lunch that afternoon for the team and everyone's families that were there. I wish I had gotten pictures of all the food because it was so delicious and authentic! I can't believe I didn't. After lunch, Kory and I with two of my sisters (Sabrina and Savannah) went into Honolulu for the Flee Market at the Aloha Stadium for some souvenirs. I got two Hawaiian dresses for myself and two for Sydney, and Kory bought a wooden turtle. We have a tradition to buy a wooden figurine whenever we go to a new place together. (I.E. we brought home a bear from our Honeymoon to Ensinada, Mexico).

After the Flee Market, we went over to Pearl Harbor and then to the Airport that night for our flight to Kaua'i!

Dakota and Savannah

Me and Savannah

 Lunch on the Beach.

 Pearl Harbor

 

 USS Bowfin. One of the most successful submarines that survived WWII.

 The inter-island airport. Love the culture splashed all over the walls and the colorful work shirts!

 When arriving at our Condo in Kaua'i, Koloa Landing, they greeted us with leis. So fun!

It was late. We were tired.

Day 5: Sunday, Oct 2nd

We explored Waimea Canyon on a Sunday drive. It is also known as "The Grand Canyon of Hawaii".  Kauai is also know as "The Garden Island" because it is one of the wettest places on earth. Ironically, we hardly saw any rain while we were there.

 (one of my new dresses :) )

Our condo had a gorgeous wrap around porch and huge sliding doors as the two walls. The doors could slide open completely or you could leave the giant screen doors closed behind them. Gorgeous location and so close to the beach. 

This was our first attempt at watching General Conference that morning...Nate (my bro-in-law) pulled it up on his iPhone, but then we were successful on Sierra's computer. 

My dad (this is funny because my dad's fingers are demented and her can't do the hang loose sign (which people do do there by the way). If you look close, his index finger can't go all the way down. hahaha I love my dad. :)

My bro, Dakota. Doesn't he have such a cute smile? ;)

 (In case you're wondering, the wind was blowing hard and I was constantly trying to hold my dress down)

 My little sisters were fascinated by the wild chickens. They were literally EVERYWHERE!

 At the very top there was this view of Na Pali Coast, which is the northwest coast that can only be accessed by boat.

We then took a hike to get a higher view of this gorgeous gorge.

To Be Continued...