After a fun four days in the city side of Oahu we headed up to the North/East shore to my stomping grounds. That is where BYU Hawaii, the temple, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and many of the great surfing beaches are. It was so much more relaxing, no traffic, way less people. Just more like everyday life. Real vacation. Ahhh....
Our first stop was the Dole Pineapple Plantation.
The Pineapple Express. I hadn't ever gone on this before. The fields were in resting mode. Boring. Save your money.
Pretty cute though.
After we took these pictures we realized Justin was the girl and I was the guy. I just wanted the ukelele. I really did get a real one from the swap meet. Look out Jack Johnson.
Farmer Justin tending his pineapples. He got that hat at the swap meet too. PERFECT gardening hat=happy man.
We did the maze. It was fun. We had to follow the little cheaters map they gave us. It took us 52 minutes. The fastest record was 5 MINUTE'S!!! How?! HARD!
The other highlight of the plantation. Dole Whip! We also tried the chocolate covered pineapple. Good, but I prefer it separate I think.
This horribly embarrassing but awesomely perfect tourist picture was to document us snorkeling at Shark's Cove.
Yep, that's Justin surrounded by his brown brothers as he floats on his pink floaty in Waiamea Bay. Man, we had to fight for parking at this place.
What a hunk!
We also headed to Haliewa to cruise the little surf town and eat famous Matsumoto's Shaved Ice.
We then headed to Sunset Beach for some chocolate haupia pie from Ted's bakery. Delish.Like I said. Watch our skin get darker and our cheeks rounder...
Justin did this. What a photographer hon!
My swap meet hat. Had to do it.
Where we went to church on Sunday. A beach front chapel in Hauula. SO nice! Do they know how lucky they are???
view from the parking lot.
The other direction. Bea-utiful!
One of my favorite things to do in Hawaii. Cruise down the Kamehameha Hwy.
Where I lived my second year year at BYU Hawaii. The Ghetto! It was right across the street from the PCC ON the ocean. Recognize this Mariah and Jamie? :) Good times.
One of the most beautiful streets in the world.
In the Laie Hawaii Temple Visitor's Center.
The grounds of this temple are so beautiful and so well maintained.
These trees are so cool!
My other favorite thing about Hawaii...the roadsides stands. Oh papaya...how I've missed you.
The view from the back porch of our condo in Punaluu. It was beautiful!
The Polynesian Cultural Center! I love this place.
The hilarious chief if the Samoan village. Yep, he made fire right in front of me. Not gonna lie, the jokes are all the same as before, but they still make me laugh!
This guy was hilarious.
See him standing on his tip toes? And I'm still taller. He is just a little bit more toned than me.
Justin's part in the Aotearoa Village (New Zealand). I pretty much volunteered him to be part of the welcoming ceremony. Love you hon!
Yes, Grace is my middle name. Justin snagged this shot during the Hula lesson.
Mmmmm. The Luau!! I've never been to this before. The Kalua pork was delish and so was this little beef square.
Happy Birthday to Justin! We went to the temple and did a session there. It was beautiful.
We used to walk these grounds every Sunday.
Hibiscus!!
The infamous Hukilau Cafe! This place is yummy! I had never been there before.
A burger with an egg, teri beef strip, and all the other goods. It was delish!
Waiamea Valley.
These trees are awesome!
Wow.
Walking trees.
Baby bananas.
Waiamea Falls
Swimming at the falls.
Eating at the famous shrimp truck in Kahuku.
Delicious buttery garlic shrimp and rice. SOOOO yummy.
The 28 year old man!
We went to the bowling alley and arcade at BYU Hawaii. It was so fun.
Before the 10th frame I was really close to beating him.
I've got skills. :) Actually, I was just happy that I hit the ball with the stick and that hit the other ball!
Snorkelling at Hanauma Bay. It was fun. I think it is funny how you feel like you are deep sea diving seeing all of these awesome fish and then you look around and see a million more bums sticking out doing the same thing you were! Also, I've discovered my face isn't fit for snorkeling. I have too small of a space between my lip and nose. Anyway, this trip was pretty short because we heard the tsunami alarm go off (the monthly test apparently) but we weren't going back in. We had our fill.The entire trip Justin was always planning an escape route in case of a tsunami.
An awesome restroom sign at Hanauma Bay.
Sandy Beach. These waves were NUTS! And it wasn't even winter! You could tell only locals came here.
Where I lived my second year year at BYU Hawaii. The Ghetto! It was right across the street from the PCC ON the ocean. Recognize this Mariah and Jamie? :) Good times.
One of the most beautiful streets in the world.
In the Laie Hawaii Temple Visitor's Center.
The grounds of this temple are so beautiful and so well maintained.
These trees are so cool!
My other favorite thing about Hawaii...the roadsides stands. Oh papaya...how I've missed you.
The view from the back porch of our condo in Punaluu. It was beautiful!
The Polynesian Cultural Center! I love this place.
The hilarious chief if the Samoan village. Yep, he made fire right in front of me. Not gonna lie, the jokes are all the same as before, but they still make me laugh!
This guy was hilarious.See him standing on his tip toes? And I'm still taller. He is just a little bit more toned than me.
Justin's part in the Aotearoa Village (New Zealand). I pretty much volunteered him to be part of the welcoming ceremony. Love you hon!
Yes, Grace is my middle name. Justin snagged this shot during the Hula lesson.
Mmmmm. The Luau!! I've never been to this before. The Kalua pork was delish and so was this little beef square.
Happy Birthday to Justin! We went to the temple and did a session there. It was beautiful.
We used to walk these grounds every Sunday.
Hibiscus!!
The infamous Hukilau Cafe! This place is yummy! I had never been there before.
A burger with an egg, teri beef strip, and all the other goods. It was delish!
Waiamea Valley.
These trees are awesome!
Wow.
Walking trees.
Baby bananas.
Waiamea Falls
Swimming at the falls.
Eating at the famous shrimp truck in Kahuku.
Delicious buttery garlic shrimp and rice. SOOOO yummy.
The 28 year old man!
We went to the bowling alley and arcade at BYU Hawaii. It was so fun.
Before the 10th frame I was really close to beating him.
I've got skills. :) Actually, I was just happy that I hit the ball with the stick and that hit the other ball!
Snorkelling at Hanauma Bay. It was fun. I think it is funny how you feel like you are deep sea diving seeing all of these awesome fish and then you look around and see a million more bums sticking out doing the same thing you were! Also, I've discovered my face isn't fit for snorkeling. I have too small of a space between my lip and nose. Anyway, this trip was pretty short because we heard the tsunami alarm go off (the monthly test apparently) but we weren't going back in. We had our fill.The entire trip Justin was always planning an escape route in case of a tsunami.
An awesome restroom sign at Hanauma Bay.
Sandy Beach. These waves were NUTS! And it wasn't even winter! You could tell only locals came here.
The Blow Hole.
Wild tropical chickens. EVERYWHERE!
Pali Lookout. SOOOO WINDY!
China(wo)man's Hat.
I couldn't resist.
Thanks Justin for pulling off the road and making my idea happen. You are so fun and spontaneous. :)
One more view.
Oh, I miss this.
Waiamea Bay.
Oh, I miss this.
Waiamea Bay.
Delicious calamari in Haliewa on our last night.
Gotta love the tentacles.
This was so cool!! A real live Green Sea Turtle! Look but don't touch.
Just basking in the waves.
Is this real??! So cool. This is turtle beach, right east of Haliewa.
I was starting to get sad here...realizing it was our last day in paradise.
The last sunset.
I randomly got up early the last morning and went out to see this beautiful sunrise!! I had no idea that the sun rose right outside our door!
So beautiful.
On our last day we visited my stomping grounds. BYU Hawaii. That was such a cool place and an AWESOME experience. I give it high recommendations. GO if you can!
As we left our condo, the landlord guy gave me this BEAUTIFUL lei that he made from the flowers from his plumeria tree in his front yard. SOO nice! These are my favorite color plumerias, yellow and pink. They are gorgeous and smell SO good. I started getting a headache after a while because they are so fragrant!
Laie point
At the airport getting ready to leave. I had to take one last picture with the leis because I thought that Canadian customs would take them away. I was going to give or throw them away, but I couldn't! I wanted to bring some Aloha home with us so I just brought them, declared them, and they let me take them!!! YAY!!!
Gotta love the tentacles.
This was so cool!! A real live Green Sea Turtle! Look but don't touch.
Just basking in the waves.
Is this real??! So cool. This is turtle beach, right east of Haliewa.
I was starting to get sad here...realizing it was our last day in paradise.
The last sunset.I randomly got up early the last morning and went out to see this beautiful sunrise!! I had no idea that the sun rose right outside our door!
So beautiful.
On our last day we visited my stomping grounds. BYU Hawaii. That was such a cool place and an AWESOME experience. I give it high recommendations. GO if you can!
As we left our condo, the landlord guy gave me this BEAUTIFUL lei that he made from the flowers from his plumeria tree in his front yard. SOO nice! These are my favorite color plumerias, yellow and pink. They are gorgeous and smell SO good. I started getting a headache after a while because they are so fragrant!
Laie point
At the airport getting ready to leave. I had to take one last picture with the leis because I thought that Canadian customs would take them away. I was going to give or throw them away, but I couldn't! I wanted to bring some Aloha home with us so I just brought them, declared them, and they let me take them!!! YAY!!!
Reuniting with the kids was so great. We gave them their goods and had a lot of fun just being together again. We really missed them. But it was SO great to get away and just be a couple again too.
Zach LOVES his ukulele.
The keikis in some of thier Hawaiian attire.
Oh yeah, and their Hawaiian bubble blowers.
We went from warmth, to this. I had to put the girls sweaters on over their dresses. AND it was cold enough that morning that they probably should have had pants on too. I was just in denial.
I brought some beach home for them. DON'T DRINK IT! :)
Zach LOVES his ukulele.Zach played the music while the girls danced. We know we made a mistake with the no shirt thing. Now they always want them off. What did we start??? Don't worry, they wear shirts now. Just once won't hurt, right?? Scandalous!
The keikis in some of thier Hawaiian attire.
Oh yeah, and their Hawaiian bubble blowers.
We went from warmth, to this. I had to put the girls sweaters on over their dresses. AND it was cold enough that morning that they probably should have had pants on too. I was just in denial.
I brought some beach home for them. DON'T DRINK IT! :)
