The first day we flew in we were a little disappointed by the city of Honolulu. We thought it was a little dirty and not much different than L.A. or any other big city. So the first thing we did was drive up north and that's where we found paradise!! We stopped at the Dole plantation first then found a great little beach to watch the sunset. We saw a whole bunch of huge turtles and of course NO pictures 'cause we were busy getting to know HAWAII!!
After Jamie told us we HAD to go to Hanauma Bay that was a first major stop. Jared snorkeled ALL day and I did a little snorkeling and a LOT of napping on the beautiful beach!
The first time I got Lei'd on the beach at Waikiki :)
Sunday we went to church in Honolulu. This tree was just outside and Jared thought it was sooo amazing. He couldn't get enough of it. This is one of the reasons that makes traveling with Jared so fun. He always gets sooo excited about the smallest things. I really love it!!
After church I was feeling pretty yucky so we crashed at the hotel for a while and took a looong nap. After we woke up we took it easy and went to the Japanese gardens. The ride there was awesome. The mountains and cliffs are nothing like anything we've seen before!!
This is the gong thing that has some significance but I don't remember it. It was fun to hit the gong though.
There were some pretty cool birds and other animals roaming around the gardens.
A quick stop at the Honolulu temple. It was under serious construction.
We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center our last day in Oahu. It was probably the highlight of our stop there (although Hanauma Bay was pretty great!). Jared showing off his stick spear skills.
Jared won a hat for hitting a stick on target. It's actually a really cool handmade hat. All the locals thought he was pretty cool for having it.
These Tahitian girls are amazing. I've never seen anything like them!
Having some fun at the PCC
Our dinner being carried in.
Our first Luau. This time both of us got Lei'd :)
Jared's a little trickster.
The morning before our flight to Kauai I felt bad because we didn't get to do as much as we anticipated 'cause I wasn't feeling too well so we got up early and booked it up Diamond Head. I'm not kidding when I say we booked it, we were hauling up that steep old mountain so we could make our flight on time.
It was a nice view. And I always love a hike even if I feel like yuck and we have to haul our tushies. It always feels good to climb up a mountain and look down!
The view.
Kauai!!!! Ohhhhh how much we LOVE Kauai!! I'm sooo happy people told us to make a stop there. It was sooo beautiful and laid back. We will definitely be going back there!
We went hiking to some smallish waterfalls. The hike was a little creepy because NOBODY was around and I felt like I was in the middle of Lost. BUT it was gorgeous and we found a sweet car. I didn't want to look too closely just in case the driver never made it out.
We did a little kayaking excursion where we kayaked up a river to some gardens then over to a hike that took us to an amazing waterfall that we got to swim in. This was my FAVORITE part of Kauai! It was a great little hike and swimming under a waterfall is really fun.
This was supposedly the best beach for snorkeling but we found another great little beach farther up north. It was fun to see all the seals and turtles just sunbathing on the beach.
Just a nice pic of all the greenery.
This was the beach with the BEST snorkeling (according to Jared). He stayed out there forever and had a great time. I just sat on the beach and took in how beautiful it was!
We also got to watch the sunset on this beach. I don't think that's me and Jared but it looks romantic doesn't it?
Our last day in Hawaii :(
I think Jared took it even harder than I did that we had to leave :(
We were definitely sad to leave!! It was a great trip (next time we'll have to do it when I am feeling less pregnant!!!!) and we WILL be going back someday....
