Aloha!

We just got back from our vacation in paradise and it couldn't have been better! Jon was like a little kid in a candy shop. We could not get that boy to stop for the whole 11 days on that trip.







Day 1: we went to Pearl Harbor where we attended the Arizona Memorial and toured the USS Missouri battle ship which was really neat. I'm not high maintenance but I have alot of respect for those guys that sleep in those tiny spaces!



day 2: We went to the PCC and LDS Hawaii Temple. It was fun at the PCC that the same coconut climbing man that we fell in love with 10 years ago when we were there still worked there doing the same show so we got to see him again. It is so neat that PCC to just go around and see all the different cultures all of these islands have. It got Chris (my brother) thinking that if we were to say what our culture's games and songs and traditions were... what would we say?? We came up with duck duck goose, ring around the rosies, and nursery rhymes. Anyways, in tahti i believe my dad was selected to go on stage... if anyone wants to see that video I have it!






Day 3: Last day in Oahu we decided we wanted to surf on Waikiki Beach..... this is my attempt. (I'm laying down with the blue shirt, Jon is in the white shirt) its alot harder than I thought!!
Day 4: We arrive in Kauai! We visited the Wiamea Canyon (the grand canyon of Hawaii)



Day 5: Boat dive off south shore. This has been my favorite dive so far. Maybe becuase it was my first dive with Jon. Either way we had a blast!

Day 6: We toured the Napali Coast on a boat tour (inaccessible by car) We started the trip with the skipper turning on some music...

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour, a three hour tour. "

The funny thing was that Gilligans island was filmed on Kauai; and we too were on a 3 hour boat tour! =) Anyways it was alot of fun as we saw many sites that were used for movies including King Kong, 6 days 7 Nights, Jurassic Park etc.

Day 7: We did a lot of waterfall site seeing

on this day. We hiked down to an "80 ft" which is really 173 ft (not sure how they can be that far off!) and swam around at the bottom which was definitely a highlight. We also went to "Queens Bath"

Day 8: Today was another Scuba Day. This time it was a Shore Dive on the North Shore. I have decided I'm a boat dive kind of girl. Non of this having to walk out with all of your gear on:

Tank - 80 cubic foot aluminum, 45 lbs filled.
Regulator - 2 lbs
BC - 5 lbs
Wetsuit - 2 lbs
Weights - 14 lbs

Thats about 60 lbs to walk out on a sandy beach into the ocean and have to swim like a mile on the surface (which scuba fins are no help at all on the surface) to get to your dive spot. My dad and I have always been the 2 with the most air ending the dives; and on this shore dive I was reading an E when everyone else had at least 700!! YIKES! I'll stick to boat dives thank you! =)


Day 9: This was our last full day on Kauai and we decided to take a Kayaking trip up the waialua river to the fern grotto and "secret falls." This was such a blast! I have learned though I'm not much of a kayaker, I can't get the left and right going so I just paddled like a canoe. Hey it works!

Jon and I are the little people in the Secret Falls