Aaron and I recently returned from a wonderful get-away to Hawaii. The girls stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while we flew over an ocean to a fun-filled and romantic island paradise (I know, I know...it sounds like a travel ad, but I'm being so sincere!) We really packed in the good times during our five day stay on the island of Oahu. We spent ample time at the beach, but didn't do much laying around. We swam, played frisbee, snorkeled, kayaked to a small island of the shore, and surfed! Yes, surfed...we took lessons from an awesome lady on the north shore of the island who has lived there most of her life and used to compete professionally. She was an excellent teacher and Aaron and I both rode the first waves we attempted. What an amazing feeling to catch a wave standing on a surf board! The lesson lasted about two hours and each of us caught several good waves. I was so surprised at my ability to get up and hold my position as I glided through the water, and at how much I enjoyed the feeling! This was our favorite part of our trip for both of us.
We also went on a beautiful 6-mile hike/trail run that was breath-taking. Although we stopped a few times to take some pictures, we ran quite a bit of it (some of it was unrunnable because of steep inclines, exposed roots, and slick footing.) In the end we both wished we went a little slower so we could have enjoyed more of our spectacular surroundings, but it was still so much fun. We spent an entire afternoon/evening at the Polynesian Cultural Center. It is truly a fun cultural experience and a great representation of several of the Polynesian islands. Our favorite spot at the center was the portion that represented Samoa...the guy that put on the show was hilarious. We also enjoyed a Luau there that night followed by their nightly show which was a delightful production of singing, dancing and story telling. Earlier in the day we also checked out BYU Hawaii and the Hawaiian LDS temple which were both close by.
We ate at some amazing restaurants (I think we had sushi at least 3 times...both of our favorites), went dancing, went for walks on the beach, and ooooed and awwwed at our spectacular view of the ocean from our balcony. We could actually lay in bed and see the water out our big window (we totally got hooked up when we checked into our hotel, with an unexpected room upgrade because the guy liked us!) I feel so blessed to have been able to go on this trip. I loved being able to spend every minute with my best friend and companion. I am so in love with my husband! He makes me laugh and we have such a good time together. He truly made being in paradise paradise!
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| Our first night on the island, after an evening of dancing and a walk on the beach. |
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| A night view from the beach right outside our hotel (in Waikiki) |
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| The view from our room's balcony early one morning while the moon was still in the sky. |
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| There were so many cool trees on the island that we fell in love with (a tree-climbers dream!) |
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| The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints church building in Honolulu where we went to church on Sunday...such a cool building! |
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| Aaron at the beginning of our hike/run |
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| During the Hike |
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| One of the splendid views on our hike |
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| Aaron as he's catching a wave! |
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| With our surf boards following our north shore surfing adventure. |
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| In front of the Laie, Hawaii Temple |
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| One of the shows at PCC during the day |
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| Just after our Luau at Polynesian Cultural Center |
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| A stop on our scenic drive to Kailua Beach |
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| Kayaking from Kailua Beach (ok, so that's not us, but we couldn't take a picture of ourselves kayaking so we took a picture of these guys doing it...but that's more or less what we looked like!) |
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| My knight in shining armor! |
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| This is Hanauma Bay...the amazing location that we snorkeled. I was surprised by the many different types of fish we were able to see. It was fun to have such a close encounter with sea life. One little fish literally stared into our face masks for quite so time, which made us laugh under water! |
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| View of the Bay after snorkeling in it. |
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| Aaron swimming "laps" in a calm section of beach. |
