Hawaii!!

cYou can see some of the Coral Reef in the back ground. We didn't plan it, but the Marathon was the same day we came here to this beach. We had the place to ourselves. You can see that in the next few pictures.



This is our family walking down the path to Huanauma Bay. It was the day of the Honolulu Marathon, so we had the whole beach to ourselves.
My beautiful family standing in front of the Laie Hawaii Temple.

Standing on the North Shore beach
The world famous Dole Pineapple Plantation.
According to our tour guide, the television show "Lost" films on this beach quite often.
Savannah looking down at Haunauma Bay during our tour of the island on Saturday.
Such a pretty little girl.
Distant picture of Haunauma Bay.

Mommy and Cole, along with his green Percy Train, standing at the lookout over Huuanuma Bay.
Cole and Savannah sitting on the canoe ride at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Cole and Savannah sitting in a large hole on Waikiki Beach.
These are pictures taken in the early early morning on Waikiki Beach. Savannah and Cole both woke up at 4:00 a.m. local time.
Running into the water. The kids both loved swimming and playing at the beaches in Wakiki since there was no waves and it was super shallow

You may think this looks like a beautiful night playing on the beach. Nay it is a beautiful morning. The second morning Savannah decided to wake up at 4:00 Hawaii time and of course Cole woke up shortly after!! We didn't know what to do, so we hung out for an hour and decided to walk down the street to the beach. It was actually 74 degrees already and ended up being nice since we were the only ones on the beach!! Before the crack of dawn at Waikiki...
Daddy and Savannah in front of a small water fall.
Nicole and Cole standing in front of a statue of future President Barack Obama's father. Not really. I don't know who this statue is. But we did get to see where barack was born and where his grandmother lived and died (last month). It is pretty ghetto. The white house will definitly be a step up if Barack ever lived there with her.
There is our cute little boy. Oh, and look. He has his Percy train with him still.
Daddy, Savannah, and Cole sitting on the bus on our way from the Polynesian Cultural Center to the Temple. It was pouring rain that night so we had on on ponchos. Cole also pleasured us all with the experience of throwing up in the middle of the buffet dinner
Savvy and Mommy in front of the Easter Island Statues at the Cultural Center.
Mike showing off his tree climbing skills. We learned lots of really useful skills at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Mommy and Savannah in front of another waterfall.

We were lucky enough to go to Hawaii for five days. We stayed just off Waikiki Beach and from our hotel room, could see the ocean on one side, and Diamond Head Crater on the other. The first day there, we just settled in and enjoyed the beach for a little bit.
The second day, the rain's came and came down hard. While we were trying to decide what to do, we drove a short distance in our rental car to Punchbowl Crater National Cemetery. After taking a couple pictures out of the windows of our car, we headed back down the hill to Honolulu. It was raining so hard I couldn't see through the windshield with the wipers on all the way. I looked down and noticed that a caution light came on that read, "check front right tire pressure. I stopped the car along the curb and walked around the car to the passenger side and discovered the rear back tire was completely flat. Nicole called Alamo to get the roadside assistance people to come out and fix the tire. They told Nikki they could be to us in an hour to an hour and a half. So rather than sitting in the rain for that amount of time, I decided to just get out and change the tire myself. Lots of fun. After that, Savannah and I went to the Waikiki Aquarium while Nicole and Cole did NOT take a nap.
On the third day, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was an amazing and fun trip and we had a lot of fun seeing all the different cultures from the Pacific. It was a very long day though for our two little ones, and with the final show starting at 7:30, 9:30 pm Cali time, they just couldn't go on. We tried staying as long as we could, but when Cole climbed down from Mom's lap and layed down on the ground, we decided it was time to go. The rain had again started while we were watching the show, and when we exited the Center, we made it about 1 mile before traffic came to a complete stop. We were stopped for about ten minutes when a man came walking past us. We asked him what the hold up was and he said a power line had fallen across the road. Traffic, he said, had already been stopped for about two hours. The only other way back to our Hotel, a long journey all the way around the island.
On day four, we decided to let someone else do the driving, so we went on the Island Cirlcle Tour. It was a nice break, being able to just sit back and see all the beauty the island had. We were able to see a couple light houses, Diamond Head Crater, Punchbowl Crater, the Stair Way to Heaven, which is a stair case that climbes 3,962 steps up the mountain. We also saw Huanauma Bay, North Shore, the Dole Pineapple Factory, several military installations, and so much more. We were also able to see the Temple one more time, and this time during the day, and without all the rain.
On day five we decided to go back to Huanauma Bay to do some swimming and snorkling. We were told that it is one of the busiest beaches for snorkling because it is a protected area, much like a National Park. But just getting there ended up taking about 40 minutes, when it should have only taken 15-20. The reason, the Honolulu Marathon. Over 25,000 runners were participating, not to mention all the help people. But once we got there, we discovered that we had the place to ourselves. It was amazing. We have been to Cayman, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, and now Hawaii, and by far, this little Bay was the best for snorkling. After the snorkling, we drove across to the other side of the island to the water park. Nothing special, pretty much like Raging Waters or 7 Peaks. But Savannah and Cole absolutely loved it. The following day we woke up , got ready, and left for home. What a great way to spend a week. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to spend so much time with my wife and two kids. We are going to be heading to Utah now to finish up the rest of the month. That too should be a lot of fun.