Hawaii Part 3

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. It was really cool! I talked to my mom afterwards and turns out this is the same place I went snorkeling with my mom when I was around 6. My most vivid memory of that trip is being bit on my finger by a fish with HUMONGOUS teeth, and I ran screaming for the shore because my finger was GUSHING blood and I knew JAWS was going to get me. That was at Hanauma Bay.

A view of Hanauma Bay from top of hill.

I took this picture because the first night we walked by it Ben was really hungry and we were looking for a restaurant and he got excited because he thought we had found a "Buffet". Tee hee! We ended up eating there a few days later.

Laie Hawaii Temple. Beautiful! The view if you were to turn the camera around was all the way down several palm tree lined blocks straight to the ocean. The temple workers at this temple are so cool. Once lady, named Malia ironically, took several pictures of us outside. She insisted.

I made Ben run from the waves 6 or 7 times to get just the right shot :)

Now don't look too close (perv) but the backs of my thighs got burned SO bad! In fact they are now starting to peel, which is my favorite part of getting burned. But in the picture you can see how red they are. This was after we went to the temple, and stopped at this amazing place called Waimea Bay. I think it's considered to be the North Shore of Hawaii. The waves were so great and the beach sloped so steep right into the ocean.

This was also at Waimea Bay. If we'd had more time, we probably would have gone at and swam a little deeper but since it was getting dark and who in their right mind goes swimming in the ocean in the dark (anyone seen Jaws?).

I am embarrassed by this picture. I was running from the waves, and trying to convey to the camera that I was having a ball. I WAS having a ball, but jeez I look like an insane person.

Underneath that puff of mist is a whale. You'll just have to trust me.

I learned this trick from my mom, and Ciara has done this to me too. Make the others in the picture think it is a genuine happy picture, then pull a face right before the picture takes. This is a very fun thing to do, I'm only sorry I haven't realized this earlier.

This was a sunset dinner cruise. My hair demonstrates the violence of the wind, and the wind was almost always present. The sunset this night, like most of the nights, was covered up by low clouds on the horizen. I thought sunsets in Hawaii were supposed to always be great. Well they're not.

Oh how fun. I got to dance. What...a....blast.

Ben is busting his BEST move and I caught it on camera!

Oh SAD! Our last night there, so we shot one last picture. The beach we were on this night, right behind some super nice hotel, was SO nice. Super soft sand and the water was such a pretty light blue-green. In case you are wondering those aren't both Ben's feet. One is mine. Can you guess which one?

The kids scored some souveniers! Malia LOVES her coconuts and grass skirt. The ties on the coconuts are adjustable so they also fit oh, I don't know, someone a little older who might also like to play dress up. NO!!!! Not ME! How could you even THINK that???

Riley got a cool hook necklace (hard to see in pic) and a shirt with a map of Hawaii. They got some other stuff too, like beach towels, trinkets, etc. By the end of the trip we REALLY missed the kids and had visions of us all rolling on the ground hugging and laughing. Well, when Riley first saw us he was all hugs and kisses and "where's my prize?". But Malia looked uncertain and wouldn't come to me or Ben! I have a feeling that in her mind she had a vague memory of us but had already moved on :) That didn't last long and now she's little miss follow me everywhere again.