Summer Vacations

Aaahh...our trip to Paradise...

I have finally found some time to post some pictures from our amazing trip to Hawaii in July. We had a great time, and took lots of pictures.


Delicious Cream Puffs

Gathering our own coconut from the coconut tree

What a man!

Our visit to the Valley of Temples. We brought some flowers to put on Kawika's grandparents grave. Pretty neat that he has family buried at such a historical site.

Haunama Bay- we did some snorkeling here one morning...so beautiful!

Having some dim-sum (sp?). It was....different. But good.

Since we were in China town, Uncle Ronald and Kawika thought they would practice some Kung Fu moves. No matter how old they get, they will always be boys at heart.

Picking up some fishy goods at the marketplace.

Getting ready for some more snorkeling! I wish I had an underwater camera to show you all the fish we saw. I will remember that for next time. I could have stayed in that water snorkeling for hours, it was so fascinating!

We were driving along the coast when we spotted these huge turtles! I was pretty close...

And... I got to pet the turtle. (Yes, the little 7 year old is stealing my Kodak moment)

Shave ice! The most delicious Hawaiian treat. Out of our 14 day trip, we have Shave ice on 12 of those days. No kidding- and it was mostly my request.

Hawaii Temple. Gorgeous.

Since this was my first time to Hawaii, we had to make our rounds to all the "tourist" attractions. (Thanks to Kawika's family for taking me along even thought it was probably their 45th time to go to all those places) Here are the pictures from the Polynesian Culture Center.

They look identical. Actually, Kawika, your tongue needs to hang a little more to the right.

I couldn't get over how beautiful the water was. Talk about Paradise!

Squid anyone? (I think I passed on this one too)

Visiting the Punch Bowl

Kawika's Parents- Yes, they didn't have a clue we were in the picture.

Boogie Boarding. It took a couple of crashes, but I eventually got the hang of it and had a blast.

This was a really cool sushi restaurant. Behind me is a belt of food that is constantly moving. When you see something you want, you just take the plate. Pretty neat concept.

This is one of my favorite pictures. Since we live in the desert, it's been a while since I have seen a good ole' rainbow. It was impressive!

We went swimming at this pool...it was right on the edge, so that it looks like it goes right into the ocean. What a sight!

Sea Life Park

We had a luau that night at the sealife park. What a show! We were had front row seats to the show. We were so close we could feel the heat!

When the thaitian dancers came out, they pulled volunteer dancers from the audience. And guess who got picked?? I must say he had the best hip shaking of them all!

And for the record- spray tans do not last. Mine came off after about 2 days. It looked great while it lasted. So my idea of trying to blend in with all the dark skinned Hawaiians didn't work so well, and I had to go back to being a good ole' Haole. Oh well! And as always, vacations have to come to an end. We can't wait to go back! We had a real busy summer this year with girls camp, weddings, and a trip to Texas (which I will have to post another day) I am back to teaching and Kawika is back to work. Can't wait for next summer!