Hawaiian Adventures

So, I was busy while I was in Hawaii... oh please who am I kidding, I wasn't busy at all... I just didn't want to do any work so I never got around to actually blogging about our adventures. Marie and I had intended to blog... really, we thought about it most nights, but I was jet lagged and would go to bed several hours before Marie did and when I wasn't asleep we were taking advantage of the fact that I was awake and watching movies instead of blogging (I know, hard to believe that I actually stayed awake during movies, especially given the jet lag but I did. In fact, I NEVER fell asleep during any of the movies we watched while I was there - we did only watch two but still...). The 4 hour time difference was brutal and meant that I was pretty much done for at 9:00 pm and awake at 5:00 am most days. Going to bed that early sucked but waking up early actually meant that I could go running (yes, I did get one 5 mile run in while I was in Hawaii... I should have gotten 3 runs done while in Hawaii - an 8 mile, a 5 mile, and a 3 mile - but I was on vacation...) or go to the beach while everyone else was still sleeping. 

Anyway, back in Utah now. Life is back to normal. The snow is still here. And I'm definitely wishing I were still in Hawaii... So since I don't get to be there I'll just reminisce and tell you the tales of our Hawaiian adventures...

I got there on Friday and we took advantage of the fact that we were already "in town" and stopped by Pearl Harbor. It was a quick trip to Pearl Harbor but we did manage to get a few pictures and a Pearl Harbor pin for Dan's pin collection.

I don't really remember much about this anchor but the sign did say that it was incredibly heavy... don't remember how heavy exactly (again, I was on vacation and apparently so was my brain).

This is Marie's most natural smile ever :). 

The USS Bowfin.

And Marie supposedly looking "dangerous" next to a suicide missile (yeah, she looks terrifying). 

When we decided to head back to Laie we found out that whatever highway it was that we were intending to take was closed because part of it had flooded (I don't really remember if it flooded or if some pole had fallen) so we had to take an alternate route which ended up being a good thing because we got to stop at Matusmoto's and get their classic shaved ice... I can't remember what flavors I ended up picking but it was incredibly good! 

Here we are standing outside of Matsumoto's waiting in line for our shaved ice. That about sums it up for day one. After we got back to Laie, I was introduced to Marie's friend and then I was out for the night. The next day we had breakfast at the Hukilau Cafe (those of you who have watched "50 First Dates" have heard of the Hukilau Cafe) and then went to Waimae - Marie's favorite beach. The weather was gorgeous and I was thrilled to get some sun, water, and sand. We played catch with a small squishy football (I did much better at throwing than catching - my catching was pretty pitiful), did some boogie boarding, but mostly just laid in the sun. 

The sandals in the pictures are my "Havaianas" which I purchased in Brazil - Havaianas means Hawaiians in Portuguese so these are my "Hawaiians" in Hawaii :). 

And here we are just laying in the sun...

And here we are with Bambi and Vicki after laying in the sun...

 And, as many of you know, Marie has a bit of an affinity for pyramids...

Marie also has a tradition of having people stand on her shoulders when she's at Waimae... usually this is done in the water but I had already been in the water and I had just gotten warm again and didn't really want to go back into the water so we did this on land (and survived :)). 

After the beach we stopped someplace (I can't remember what it was called) for Acai bowls. Acai bowls are a Brazilian thing and ironically the only one in the group that had never had an Acai bowl was the Brazilian... sad huh? It was fabulous but best of all the place where we got the bowls also sold bathing suits from Brazil... YAY! I was devastated when my parents moved away from Brazil because I didn't know where I would be buying my bathing suits anymore... now I know :). 

Here's Marie, fully focused, ordering our Acai bowls. 

Sunday morning I got up early (shocking, I know...) and walked over to the beach. I sat there for a while and just watched the waves... it was so incredibly peaceful and serene. 

Marie and Bambi joined me when they got up and we sat and talked for a while. 

I know, how peaceful is that for a Sunday morning? We didn't have church until 2:00 pm so we had plenty of time to just chill in the morning. 

We did eventually get dressed and go to church... here's the proof... 

This is starting to sound too much like a travel log for my taste... I realize it is sort of a "travel log" but travel logs have a tendency to get boring... so, I think I'm going to stop now and I'll do my last two days in Hawaii at a later time when my creative juices are flowing a little more abundantly and can compensate for some of the "travel logness"... Although really, if that's the requisite for blogging about the rest of the Hawaii trip, you may never get the last two days :).