Ekins Express

HAWAII!!!


A few days before leaving for Hawaii, I was able to celebrate my birthday at my parents in Utah. We had Mandarin take-out and a peanut butter chocolate ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Mmm mmm good! Thanks everyone for being there to celebrate with me.

Then, after saying goodbye to the kiddies, we headed out for Oahu! One whole week away from the cute rugrats. It was a little hard to adjust at first, but we quickly got used to the idea that we could do whatever we wanted without carseats, strollers, diaper bags, etc.







Uncle Tom being silly with Abby and cousin Elsie. Abby didn't quite know what to think!


On our first official day of the trip, we went to the first hour of church at THIS building. From the street, I thought it was anything other than an LDS church. It was beautiful, so we just had to take a few shots.



This is the official banyan tree and this particular one was on the church grounds. These trees are amazing. Their branches grow out and then fall to the ground to plant themselves into the soil. Some trees look like their own forest of branches.

Wouldn't this make the coolest treehouse?


After church, we headed to a swap meet at the Aloha Bowl. Probably not the best activity for Sunday, but it was the only day we could go. We got coconut shells and a grass skirt for Abby, as well as other misc. items.

Then we headed over to Pearl Harbor. We toured the visitor's center and got aboard the U.S.S. Bowfin Submarine. What a cool tour. I could never live on a sub for days. Major chlosterphobic. The living conditions had to have been crazy. But this sub saved a lot of American lives.



Ashley and Adam on the deck of the Bowfin.



Matt having fun with the telescope.


And then we ate dinner at a burger joint in the mall. This mall is the coolest because there is no roof for the main walkway on the top floor. There was a private club across from us with a live guitarist/singer. The music was awesome as we enjoyed our food.



Ashley and Adam dancing after dinner... oh so romantic.


Going for a stroll on Waikiki Beach after dinner. It's so cool at night. All you hear are the ocean's waves, yet in the distance you can see tall buildings and lots of lights.

The next day we went to Sandy Beach and boy, was it sandy! I'll spare you the details. The waves were a bit harsh, but we had fun riding them.

Then we went to Hanauma Bay. Probably one of our favorite, if not our very favorite, stops on the trip. Pictures don't do this place justice. After going here, I'm kind of addicted to snorkeling. So awesome. We saw tons of fish and Adam even swam for a bit with a sea turtle.




The next day we hung out in Waikiki and enjoyed the crowds of tourists. Matt and I went running early in the morning along the beach... something I've always wanted to do. That night, we both went on a dinner cruise. The dinner was great with tasty (virgin, or course) drinks and the entertainment wasn't so bad. But the best part was to see the sunset on the top of the boat. So beautiful.












Matt did some "Electric Slide" with the performers. He was the best one up there with a little of his own country swing added to it.


The next day we headed up to Laie for a session at the Temple and then on to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was a long day, but one of our best yet. The temple is beautiful, of course, but a lot smaller than we imagined.

Matt's old bishop from his hometown now lives there with his wife who is from Tonga. They greeted us at the PCC with beautiful lai's that she made just for us.



In the Island of Samoa, we learned how to husk a coconut and make a fish out of palm tree leaves. We even saw a guy climb up a tree. Crazy.


The Canoe Show was cool to get a taste of all the Islands - their dress, music, and dance styles.






Matt and Adam learning how to dance Tahitian style.

Myself learning the Hula. Harder than it looks.

At night, they had a buffet and luau. The food and entertainment were great. They gave everyone another lai as we entered. By now, Ashley and I had three around our necks, and the boys two. They smelled so good!

Adam and me showing off our tattoos that we got in the Island of Tahiti.

Our server just got baptized in October. We had fun talking with her, even though she didn't understand a lot of things we were saying. Did you know that 70% of PCC employees are students at BYU-Hawaii? Kind of cool.

To end the day, there was a performance at night that involved all islands. The fire show was the best. Of course we had to get a picture.

The next day, we headed up to the North Shore. Ashley and Adam did the unthinkable and went "swimming with sharks". They were put in a cage for 30 minutes while shark bait was thrown into the water to attrack sharks to swim around the cage. I admire them for their bravery because I couldn't do it. Jaws stills haunts me every time I get in any body of water. So while they were doing that, Matt and I went to the Dole Plantation. Yippee. I wouldn't recommend it, although they have really good pineapple ice cream in waffle cones.

A peacock at Waimea Falls. Didn't see the Falls, but this made it worth the stop.

We drove around that afternoon just to see the scenery on the north side of the island. Matt was quite the navigator all week and managed to find a couple of fun beaches. One had no one else on it and the water was aqua blue. But since there wasn't much of a beach, we headed to the next one. Ashley and I had fun taking "Baywatch" pictures for the family to laugh at. Inside family joke. Maybe we'll send more to the family blog. :)

On our way home, we hiked up to Manoa Falls. Not the best picture, but what a fun hike. It's a rain forest so everything is so green and lush. The waterfall reminded me of the one in The Last of the Mohicans. I'm kind of into that movie right now, can you tell? I even watched it when we got home. "Just stay alive!"

The next morning, Matt and I got up early to hike Diamond Head for the sunrise. Harder hike than I thought, but so worth it. Beautiful!

That night, we went to dinner at Duke's. Duke is famous around Waikiki as he was one of the first surfer boys. He won a bunch of medals at the Olympics so he's revered as a king of surfing on the island. His restaurant rocked! The fish was awesome. Ashley and Adam just joined us for the ultimate dessert...

Mmmmmm... it was so good.

This was the coolest thing. They have surfboard lockers of sorts. Just rows and rows of lockers for surfers to lock their gear up.

Matt standing next to Duke's statue.

What a fun trip. Thanks for viewing my oodles of pictures. I took over 200 so you're lucky I only posted a portion. It was 82 degrees when we left and 32 when we got home! Kind of hard to dress for the temperature change, but we managed. I still have a bit of a tan to show for this good ole time, but even that's fading. We'll have to go back sooner than later because it's too amazing to pass up. And oh do I NEED the sun. Maybe we'll move here someday. Ha!