Hawaii Day 3

On Thursday April 12th we got tickets to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It didn't open until noon, so we woke up had some breakfast and then went down by the pool and played some cards.  It was a very relaxing morning.  We left at about 11 and stopped at the Temple visitor Center. 

We got to the Polynesian Cultural Center, and the first place that we stopped was at the Samoa Center.  It was so entertaining to watch.  He showed us how they peal a coconut, and then they climbed a coconut tree.  It was all amazing to watch.  I really enjoyed the show at Tonga as well.  They do a great job teaching you about their culture.  After a hot day of watching shows we got to enjoy a show at a luau.  It was fun watching them dig the pig up out of the ground. After the luau we had tickets to their show "breath of life".  We had front row seats.  It was an amazing show.  All of the students who put on the show do such an amazing job.  The whole day was so much fun, and it was a great experience learning about all of the different cultures. 

We went to Hawaii

On Easter Sunday we met my parents at Jen's house.  When we left the girls went home with them, and Brian and I headed home to pack.  I warned Brian that I was going to be a mess when we said good-bye to the girls.  I did a lot better than I thought I would but it was hard knowing that I was not going to see them for the next 9 days.
On Monday April 9th we woke up, went and picked up BJ and Neisha and went out to Breakfast.  We got to the airport and they told us that our flight had been delayed an hour.  We were supposed to leave Salt Lake at noon, but now it would be one.  At about 2:30 we got on the plane.  we headed out to the run way and they turned the plane around and took us back to the gate.  They decided that the plane needed a new part, and the closest one was in Atlanta.  Needless to say after a long day of sitting in the airport we finally got on our plane at about 8:00 pm.  We missed out on the whole day in Hawaii.  When we finally got to Hawaii we got our rental car.  We went and checked in and told them that we just wanted a compact car.  we walked out to the lot and the guy said well the lot is really full.  do you guys want something funner to drive, you are in Hawaii you know.  So long story short we got to upgrade our car to a 4-door soft top black jeep.  That was nice.  by this time it was about midnight, which in Utah time is 4 am.  I was exhausted.  and we still had to drive an hour to get to the resort.  The drive up was crazy the speed limit on the freeways in Hawaii is 55 mph, and on the other roads it is 35mph.  way to slow when all you want to do is get some sleep.  BJ and Neisha were ahead of us, and we came down a hill and there was a cop and they got pulled over.  :(  Seriously it was a long not very fun day!  All I could do was hope that this wasn't going to set how the rest of our trip would go.  We got to the hotel and got some sleep.

On Tuesday April 10th we woke up and went down to a wonderful buffet breakfast.  After Breakfast we decided to go for a walk along the beach.  It was an overcast kind of rainy day.  We decided to go for a drive and see some of what we missed on the way up to the resort in the dark.  We decided to go to Pearl Harbor.  Pearl Harbor was an amazing experience.  I learned so much.  We paid for the audio tour, so we looked like really cool tourists listening to our headphones.  It was actually really fun and I would recommend it to anyone.  What an amazing place. After Pearl Harbor we were starving so we found an awesome sushi restaurant.  It was so much fun.  We don't have anything like that here in Utah.  On the way home we drove up the East side of the Island on the Like like highway, and we stopped at a macadamia nut farm.  We also found a food truck that Neisha had seen on the TV show, "The best thing I ever ate" so we had to stop and try some of their donuts.  :)  they were good. I don't know if it was because I was still trying to adjust to Hawaii time or because we had a late night the night before but I could barely keep my eyes open that night.  It was a long fun day!

Hawaii- Day 2

On Wednesday April 11th we woke up and ate breakfast, it was a beautiful sunny day, and we went to our surfing lessons.  Surfing was one of the things that I was looking forward to the most, I was sooo excited.  It was sooo much fun.  we had awesome instructors and it was such a cool experience.  Brian of course was a natural.  He stood up on his first wave.  At one point in time Brian and I were sitting out there with an instructor and a turtle poked it's head up out of the water for breath.  This was so exciting because one of the things that I wanted to see the most was a turtle.  It was amazing.  All of us got up eventually and it was such a fun experience.  At one point in time I totally crashed and I cut my toes up on the reef.  (I still have the scars on my toes to prove it.)  I got up and was trying to get back up on my board when a wave came and tumbled me back under.  then I was getting back up on my board again and here comes Brian and another guy and I am right in the way.  I made both of them crash.  That was the worst crash I had, and then I got right back up and still think that it was the funnest thing that we did on our trip. On our way back to the resort we saw a whole bunch of people looking at something on the beach, so we decided to stop.  It was a turtle.  I was so excited.  I wanted to see a turtle!  It was so fun to see!  After Surfing we were all pretty tired so we thought we would just hand out and relax. We went and hung out in the hot tub at the resort.  We also had the surf instructor recommend a restaurant, so that night we went to a restaurant right on the edge of a golf course.  It was a really pretty and tasty.  What a wonderful day!