Hawaii!

We had a nice flight to Oahu (the airline fed us a meal-we were shocked!)and arrived in the early afternoon. We picked up our rental car(which was BRAND new and nice), and then drove up to Laie, where Chris, Katie, and Jared live.

We spent time catching up (as it has been since August that we've seen each other) and then Chris and Jared showed us a neat place right by their house. We spent the rest of the evening talking and enjoying each other's company.

Tuesday Ian woke up and went for a nice LONG run, and I enjoyed the time relaxing. Then we decided to get out and go see some places. Here is where we went.

Waimea Bay

The North Shore/Haleiwa for some Matsumoto's Shave Ice

The "Lost" beaches (where most of Lost is filmed) where Ian decided to do some 4 wheeling when the road ended.
And drove by a few familiar places...

Wednesday we went to breakfast at a little local place called the Hukilau Cafe. Jared was a little confused as to why he was in his PJ's eating breakfast other somewhere other then home, but loved eating the food-we all did! Then Ian and I went into town to do a few things. We stopped at a few places/beaches on our way down to Honolulu. Ian REALLY wanted to hike up Koko Head Crater like he did last time (I gave up 2/3 the way up!) and since I PROMISED him I would make it to the top this time, we went and hiked this...... I almost died. We made it!After hiking my not so favorite thing, we went to the swap meet @ Aloha Stadium, then did some shopping at the Ala Moana Mall and hung out in Honolulu.

Thursday we spent some time at the Hukilau Beach where Ian found him some treasures, then spent the afternoon at the Polynesian Cultural Center-which was so fun! On our way home (we walked there because it is so close) Ian found another treasure...two coconuts had fallen from the tree. He brought them home and cracked them open like the Samoans do.

That night I went with my sister to her Relief Society Enrichment Birthday Night, which was fun! She had a speaking part and talked about one of our ancestors, Catherine Hagel.

Friday, we went to Kaliua, then met up with Chris, Katie, and Jared to go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. There were lots of fish! Ian and Chris also saw a turtle! We spent the rest of the night relaxing and packing up....

Saturday morning we left really early to get to town so that Ian could compete in the Biathlon (run and swim) he signed up for! We made it just in time and had fun watching him. He placed first in his division! Good work! We then left to go up to a place called Valley of the Temples and to the Dole Plantation---places we hadn't been that EVERYONE goes to! Despite the pouring rain, we enjoyed our time looking at the Temple. And the pineapple ice cream, other then the cost, was very tasty!


And then after eating some Hawaiian food, we were dropped off at the airport and headed home! The End! Thanks Chris, Katie, and Jared for all you did for us! We really enjoyed seeing and being with you, despite the not so ideal Hawaii weather!