Our Good News: HAWAII

Dustin and I actually went on a vacation together, sans kids, for the first time EVER! It only took us 10 years!! I had been planning this vacation for months and months and we had been looking forward to going for so long. It was Dustin's first time ever in Hawaii. We had such a GREAT time, I'm just praying its not another 10 years before we go back!

ALOHA! This was right after we had arrived at the hotel. Had to snap a quick pic to start the camera roll!

This monk seal was just chillin' on the beach right outside our hotel. The only time he moved was to look up at us and then he went on back to sleeping on the sand. So funny!

The day after we got there we went to see Pearl Harbor. I vaguely remember going here when I was a kid. In fact, its one of the few things I remember about our family vacation to Hawaii when I was 8 years old, so I was excited to go and see it again.

While we were waiting for our turn to go out to the actual memorial, we went through this submarine the USS Bowfin. It was so cramped inside and I have no idea how sailors spent months in there. It'd be awful, but was way cool to see.

The wall of all the names of the sailors who died in the USS Arizona. Most of their remains are still in the ship under the ocean. Very somber feeling.

The oil still drips up from the tanks in the ship

We stopped by the Dole Pineapple Plantation on our way back from Pearl Harbor. And since we were in Hawaii, we figured why not get some fake tattoos!

He thought it was pretty tight!

Here is a picture of a pineapple field. Something I didn't know was it takes about 20 months for the pineapples to grow and then a second crop comes up 18 months later and then they have to demolish the field and start over.

Waiting for our turn on the Pineapple Express!

The Polynesian Cultural Center! This was one of my favorite things that we did. There was so much to see and do, I only wish we had gotten there a little sooner so we could've done more. I don't know why, but while I was here I felt an extra special pride to be polynesian! Even though I'm only about a quarter Hawaiian, I totally claim every drop of that blood!

Climbing up a palm tree with bare hands and feet. This must be why Zack has such mad climbing skills! ;)

LOVE! Eating dinner at the luau.

Beautiful rainbows almost everyday

Here we were on our morning walk trying to figure out how to use the panoramic camera on our phone. It didn't turn out great, but this is the golf coarse we'd walk along.

Waimea Falls.

This was so awesome. It is a 3/4 mile walk up to see the falls and the entire walk is through lush, green gardens with so many different kinds of trees and flowers. It is absolutely beautiful the whole way up, such a nice walk.

Once we got to the top we were able to swim underneath the water fall. And since it had been raining the waterfall was extra big. We are those two little people in the pic!

No Hawaiian vacation would be complete with a shave ice almost EVERY single day. We drove into this cute little surfer town of Haleiwa a lot to eat and would usually grab a shave ice at Aoki's. Delish!

Snorkeling at Sharks Cove. A-mazing! Sadly, right after this pic was taken Dustin slipped and fell on the rock right behind us and landed flat on his back. Poor guy. His shoulder took the majority of the fall and was sore the rest of the vacation. But that didn't stop him from snorkeling, for the first time ever! There were so many different kinds of colorful fish. We really enjoyed it!

Our room at Turtle Bay Resort. PERFECT!

My handsome hubs. So fun to fall in love all over again!

Every time we'd drive down the coast line there would a serious traffic jam right around this particular beach. It only took us twice to figure out what it was, and we started calling it turtle traffic! Sea turtles come up to this beach every day. There is a volunteer there that talks to whomever has questions and helps keep them safe. They have 20 different turtles that come and go day after day. So cool to see them up close.

Every temple that dots the earth to beautiful, but WOW, this one really is gorgeous. We stopped by on our way to the beach and checked out the temple grounds. I couldn't get enough, so peaceful and serene... just breath taking!

Back to our snorkeling hole... Sharks Cove. Jungle-y little trail that leads to the spot.

Sharks Cove

Waimea Bay. I think I took some great pics with my phone! We had to come here again because Dustin was dying to cliff jump.

No one I'd rather make footprints with in the world than my one and only Dustin Allen.

The sign clearly stating to not cliff jump!

Here is Dust ignoring the sign and cliff jumping! (along with tons of other people!)

Another stop into Haleiwa. This time we got our shave ice from Matsumoto's.

On our last morning there we were walking along the beach and ended up at the stables. So of coarse I begging Dustin to come riding and we were both so happy that we did. It was a beautiful ride along the coast line.