On Wednesday July 18, 2012 Ashley (sis), Justin (sis's boyfriend), Tony and myself left the Columbus airport to make our way to Oahu, Hawaii. We arrived at about 6pm Hawaii time (12am on the 19th Ohio time), in Honolulu, Hawaii. Larry and Berniece (Tony's parents) greeted us at the airport and presented us each with a beautiful Lai that Berniece made from Plumeria blooms that she got off of Aunt Judy's Plumeria tree... The Lai's were georgeous and very fragrent! Unfortunately I was not thinking and I did not get any pictures of them. :(
We left the airport and drove to our hotel at Wikiki (Seaside hotel- if you go to Wikiki, don't stay at that hotel if you have a rental car...the parking is HORRIBLE!, other then that it was great!) We ate at the seaside resstaurant that is attached to the hotel and then passed out.
Thursday, July 19, 2012- Tony and I woke up really early (slightly before 5am) because we had to move the rental car from the parking spot, or else we would have to pay $3.00 per half hour we were over 6am. We took advantage of being up so early and went out to explore a little bit around the town while Ash and Justin slept in. We ended up walking the shore of Wikiki, drove a little ways up diamond head and then found a new parking spot, packed our bags and got ready to check out of the hotel. After we got Ash and Justin movinig we went out for breakfast and most of us had some version of loco moco. It as very good, but very different eatin rice for breakfast...I could get used to that. We walked around the beaches some more, drove to the top of diamondead (where the creater is) and then drove to our rental home about an hour up the coastline in Hau'ula. After we unpacked our lugage and talked to the in-laws for a bit, we went out to dinner with them and Aunt Judy, went grocery shopping and then home to sleep.
Friday, July 20, 2012- We started our day by going to Waime Valley and did some major rainforest hiking. It was so beautiful! But was also a much needed workout. After the hike we went out and searched for some of the famous beaches in the area. We stopped and looked at A few beaches, but only went into sharks cove, which is a well known snorkeling beach. It was really neat being able to swim with all the beautiful salt water fish. Hopefully we will be able to post pics from under the water after we get them developed since we only had an underwater film camera. The rocks were pretty dangerous. Ash and I both ended up with some scratches, and fell more times then I can count. After swimming we drove up to Haleiwa and each got a shaved ice with vanilla ice cream and condensed milk on top from Matsumoto's.
Saturday, July 21,2012 - Ashley, Justin, Tony and I went out to the beach across from Aunt Judy's house in Laie'a to do some swimming. Then we had to go back to the house and get ready for Keisha and Tavita's weddidng reception. Oh my gosh, it was the most amazing and emotionally moving reception I have ever seen! There were dancers from the Fijian, Samoan, Tongan and African tribes. There were also dances from the Tongan club from BYU, 3 singers that sang special songs for the Bride and Groom and Keisha performed her last taualuga, which was absolutely beautiful! There was also a very special number played for her father/daughter dance. Keisha's father passed on in 2005. He was a musician and recorded lots of songs before his passing. The boys recently found one of his cd's and played the song "One in a million" for her dance and had all the men in their family that was influenced by Harvey go up front and take turns dancin with her while her daddy sang to her and the guests! Talk about a tear jerker! And did I mention, Tavita's and Keisha were absolutely BEAUTIFUL! After the reception we went back to the beach and Tony and Larry did some body surfing and boogie boarding.
Sunday, July 22,2012 - Larry and Tony woke up at 4am so they could leave to go deep sea fishing with Ben and Tim Haverfield. Justin, Ashley, Bernice and I woke up and left the house around 7:30 and drove to Honolulu. We started hiking Diamondhead at 8:30. Justin walked up by himself while us girls took our time...nice and slow ends the race, right? At about 9:15 or so we met Justin coming back down. Justin and Ashley walked back down the mountain while Bernice and I finished climbing to the top. We reached the top 10:00, took lots of pictures and then started our trip back down, returning to the creater at 10:30. The hike down was so much easier then the trip up! But my gosh, it was totally worth it! I thought for sure that I was going to die before we exited the tunnel that we had to go through. I am just to closterphobic to handle that ever again. Good thing I made it through once for my entire life. Justin had a tee time at 2:00 at Turtle Bay Resort so he and Ashley left to golf at 1:30. Larry, Bernice, Tony and I took the fish that the boys caught to Auntie Judy's house and then drove around the north shore for a while. We came back to Aunties house and her boys cooked the fish up for dinner. Everyone seemed to lov the fish. I trid a little bite, it was okay, but I dont generally like fish. Other then that, there was leftover pork from the wedding and Auntie cooked it up with some cabbage, so I wasn't going to pass that up for dinner!
Monday, July 2/3,2012 - Us "kids" started our day off going to Turtle Beach while Larry and Bernice went to Judy's house to work on Keisha and Tavita's living quarters. Turtle Beach was GREAT!!! Parking wasn't as great, but it as manageeable today. I quickly understood why there were so many cars parked along the street. We didn't see our first turtle until we were out a little ways in the Ocean, but it was very cool to be able to see them without a crowd of people around them! At one point a turtle was within about 2 feet from me. It made me panach a little bit because Tony had warned me that if you touch the turtles they will fine you...not something I wanted to spend my money on! I backed away and just enjoyed the opportunity to swim with such a pretty, and mighty large, turtle! By the time we were ready to leave one of the turtles made its way up to the beach area. There were so many people around it wouldn't get out of the water, but we were able to take some very good pictures of it becauase of the very clear water! We ventured off to get another shaved ice and then got ready and headed to the Polinisian Culture Center. That was a pretty neat place. We watched the presentations from Samoa, New Zeland and Tonga. Samoa was my favorite! Of course it helped that we were able to watch a young man crack open a coconut, and show us how to make coconut milk...and then another guy climbed the coconut tree....and then did the "poses" for a calendar! HOTHOTHOT!!As soon as I am able to post pics, they will be added to this site! While at the culture center we also enjed a dinner luau (which was a lot of fun, and the food was GREAT, especially the pork!) and then watched the night show. The night show was also a lot of fun.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - We took the early morning time to get ready to leave tomorrow and then ventured off to the Dole Plantation. It was pretty neat being able to see a different part of the island, but I much prefer the coastal region. When we were at Dole they inforrmed us that across the road was where thee Japanese were able to......something that has to do with Pearl Harbor....my mind is blank right now...will edit this later....I have pics of it.
After Dole we went back to the beach by Aunt Judy's house and did some more body surfing/boogie boarding. The waves were great this time around. It was closer to 5pm and according to Tony, that's the best time to catch the waves...I think he was right! Dinner with Judy, Micah, Jeramiah, Keisha, Tavita, Larry and Bernice was Pizza Hut. Hit the spot, but reuined the diet....oh well, it was worth it :)
Wednesday
