Feb.- Week 2/3- Hawaii (Saturday and Sunday)

Saturday morning, we woke up, showered, and had the most delicious breakfast on the road.  This is an acai bowl!  Acai is a berry from a special palm tree.  The berries make a special kind of "yogurt/smoothie" and then they add fresh fruit and granola!  I have had two dreams about this since we've been home.  It's THAT amazing and delicious!  

We drove to the Laie, Hawaii Temple by way of the east side of the island.  The scenery was breathtaking, even in the pouring rain, and looked like the places where they filmed Jurassic Park.  We did a session and then tried to take a few pictures in the rain.  

Then we headed to this yummy burger place and Dan's burger was too tall not to document.  

Then, we headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  This was my favorite part of the whole Hawaii trip!  We arrived just in time for what they call the Canoe Pageant.  They float down the river doing dances from every Polynesian country.  Funny side note, in the bottom right picture you'll notice two ducks who happened to be doing some naughty things right there in front of everyone. Eventually, one of the guys steering the boat jumped off and broke them up.  Everyone got a good laugh out of it.

We had a lovely tour guide from Fiji who took us around to a few of the countries' villages.  One of the favorites was Tonga where we saw their drum show.  They were pretty funny calling people up from the audience to learn how to use the drums.  This Japanese guy in the bottom picture was particularly entertaining to watch because the cultures are so different.  The Tongan guy would try to get him to scream like a warrior and the response he got was pretty humorous! 

It sprinkled a little for about the first hour we were there, but thankfully it cleared up after that.  

We also took a small canoe ride ourselves and saw a few of the villages from their waterway.  No seasickness this time! ;) 

Of the 6 villages, we visited 4 and learned a little about each of their cultures: Tahiti, Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand.  Once our tour was over, we headed over to dinner!  

We dined in the Prime dining room and the food was amazing!  

Then, we did a little souvenir shopping as well as watch a short IMAX video called "Journey to Hawaii."  

Last, we went to the "Ha! Breath of Life" show! It told the story of a young man growing up in Polynesia and once again showed dances from each of the countries.   

We also had the most amazing ice cream during intermission.  

After the PCC, we drove for about an hour to a different hotel on Waikiki beach.  We had a pretty sweet view of the city from our room.  But Dan's parent's room was a SUITE and it was amazing!  

Here's a shot of the sunrise and sunset on our last day! 

Sunday, we went to Dan's parent's room and ordered room service for breakfast.  We showered, packed up, and left the hotel in time to go to 11am church.  The building we went to is the stake center/tabernacle for Honolulu and it is such a cool building and chapel.  I also took this 18 week pregnancy picture. :) 

We changed clothes and headed over to Pearl Harbor.  We got right on the next available tour boat going out to the USS Arizona memorial.  Again, no seasickness! :) 

It's a beautiful and somber place.  Definitely a humble reminder of those who sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms.  

We ate a late lunch at a delicious Mexican restaurant, then headed over to the "Punch Bowl," a Pacific War memorial.  Dan's great-uncle, John J. Webster, is on the wall.  

Next, we headed up to the Pali lookout.  In the 1700s, two tribes were fighting over land.  The winning tribe drove their enemy to the top of this point and pushed them over the edge of the cliff.  It's a gorgeous view!  Usually very windy, but on this day it wasn't too bad.  

After the lookout, we drove and chased the sun to try to catch a sunset on the beach.  Unfortunately, traffic did not allow for it.  It set too quickly and we ended up getting to Waikiki beach just after dark.  We walked along the beach and main street for a while and enjoyed some ice cream treats.  Waikiki reminded me quite a bit of Miami.  It's very busy, touristy, and dirty.  We saw a few drunk homeless people here and there doing things they shouldn't have been doing.  We filled the rental van with gas and then headed to the airport for our red-eye flight home.  I think I slept for maybe 4 hours off and on.  Not terrible, but not great.  It was certainly an amazing trip!  We saw, ate, and did SO much!  I feel like I really saw almost all of Oahu!  We can't thank Dan's parents enough for spoiling us so, so much!  Can't wait for our turn again.  ;)  

While we were gone, Aunt Lara took this video of Benny singing while she played the piano.  He had a cold so his voice in pretty cute and raspy.