Hawaii: Part 1

Hi, Blog! I'm sure you thought I had forgotten about you. Never you fear, you were always a nagging presence in the back of my mind. I'm sure you are expecting some big exciting post to welcome myself back...but prepare to be disappointed!

This post has been horrible to put together...I need to be back on a beach!!

Our trip started with of course the fun travel time. We arrived in Honolulu to pick up our sweet ride (mini-van, HOLLA!) and proceeded to nearly get divorced as we tried to navigate their lame one way streets to find our hotel. We got to our hotel just in time for our first authentic Hawaiian meal....IHOP! Those of us younger than 60 couldn't wait another day, so after dinner we wandered over to the world-famous Waikiki Beach.


I smell salty!


Day two was Russell's 19th birthday and in true family fashion, he didn't get to choose our activities (ha!). Clint was dying to go snorkeling so the three of us went to Hanauma Bay at 5:00 AM. I cannot recommend this enough if you find yourself on Oahu. Rent your gear somewhere else and GO EARLY! People started arriving around 9:30 or 10:00 and mucked up the water. There were only a handful of people around the first four hours and we had a blast! I saw my first sea turtle and my snorkeling experience was complete.





Later that day we took the long drive north to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Dad was having some trouble getting around so we didn't have as much time as we'd planned to wander around. The grounds were beautiful and everyone there was really nice...but I totally don't get the hype. I'm not sure what everyone who raves about the PCC sees in it? I will skip it next time. I would have skipped it this time if the rest of the group had been to Hawaii before. Nevertheless, here are some pictures!







Cousins can you say "it's friggin' hot and humid here?!"