Hawaii

Be prepared for a lot of pictures! There is so much to share. We really loved our trip to Hawaii. We got to spend a lot of time with my cousin and her family, and also fit a lot of touristy things into our schedule. Also, Britton gave a great presentation on his research which was the real reason for our trip.
Elliot experienced many firsts on our trip. Elliot enjoyed his first airplane ride across the ocean. He charmed the people behind us, and chewed on everything in sight.
This was Elliot's first time on the beach. He didn't catch too many rays thanks to our handy sun shade. I put him in the sand for a bit hoping he would learn that sand is actually not fun to eat. After a few fistfuls into his mouth I decided to keep him out of the sand the rest of the trip.
This was the first time for Elliot to get together with his second cousins, Emalia and Rockne. They were really sweet with him, and loved it when he "chased" them around the house.
This was our first sunrise in Hawaii. We woke up really early because we were still on California time, and were able to watch the sun rise over the ocean from my cousin's back yard!
It was so nice to see my cousin Leilani again. It's been seven years! We were able to spend a lot of time together, and catch up, and I finally got to know Makoa and the kids. It really made the trip meaningful and I hope it's not another seven years until we see each other again. Actually, Will was just looking at these pictures of Elliot with cousins and asking if he could go to Hawaii too.

We hit up all the tourist traps near the north shore starting with the Dole pineapple plantation. The Dole whip is delicious! It totally exceeded my expectations. We learned some astounding pineapple facts like it takes about a year and a half to grow a pineapple! Appreciate your next pineapple. It took more time to grow than a newborn baby.
We also went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, complete with the villages, canoe show, luau, and night show. We found out most of the employees there are students at BYU Hawaii next to the PCC. We were throwing spears with these two shirtless, buff guys from Tonga, and found out one of them is by day a math major and by night a flaming sword dancer. That's a pretty wide range of skills.
We also visited the temple in Laie. It's beautiful and recently renovated!
There's lots of yummy food on the north shore too. We stopped by Giovanni's shrimp truck, got some chocolate haupia(coconut) pie from Ted's Bakery, and I even found a stand selling Okinawan potato pies. We completely missed out on the shaved ice. The shaved ice that got away! Next time...
I also wanted to go on a hike somewhere. We did the Hauula loop trail. We parked near the trail head by this sign that says, "high theft area." It was still pretty early so there was no one around except this chicken crossing the road.
We didn't see anyone else for the entire hike. It was just us, the extremely chirpy birds, and the wind coming off the ocean. The vegetation was very dense and different from the plants we're used to. We saw a papaya tree and a Noni fruit tree, but that was all we could recognize. Leilani watched Elliot for us so we didn't have to carry him around. It was so nice for us, and Elliot got a good nap out of it.
We also went to the Waimea Valley Park with Leilani and her kids. It's a really big area with a waterfall at the end of the walk. We didn't make it very far, and mostly spent our time at the craft table eating lunch with "Auntie."
We did get to see some interesting plants and trees. The most impressive was this tree called the "Cannonball Tree." Like its name suggests, it has huge cannonball-like things hanging from it.
All of that was done the weekend before Britton's conference started. On our way down to Waikiki we spent a morning snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. We got there about 7 AM, and just in time to beat the crowds! The water was very clear and we saw a lot of different colorful fish and coral.
Elliot was with us so we had to take turns going in the water while the other person hung out on the beach with Elliot. While Elliot and I were sitting together under a towel waiting out a burst of rain, this gigantic centipede started crawling towards us. It was about as long as my foot! I pointed it out to the lifeguards, and asked if it was poisonous. They smashed it into oblivion with a flip flop for me.
We finally got to our hotel on the beach. It was amazing! Thank you American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. They ran out of the type of room we booked so they had to upgrade us to an ocean-view room!
It was nice to have something interesting to look at out my window while Elliot was napping. I could watch the surfers, the boats and catamarans, swimmers at the hotel, and these sea turtles pictured below! They swam near the hotel every day.
After day one of watching the sea turtles from my window, I couldn't wait for Britton to get back so I could go swim and try to catch a glimpse of them. I was a little hesitant because no one else was swimming there even though tons of people could see the turtles. But I couldn't help myself so I dove into the ocean with my snorkeling goggles. The water wasn't as clear as Hanauma Bay so I couldn't really see anything with the goggles. I swam over to where I had seen them, and saw some big turtles as they came up for air a few times.
Britton took pictures of me from our balcony. After a few minutes I got kind of self-conscious because there was probably a lot of people watching me try to swim with the sea turtles so I gave up. On the swim back I kicked a rock, and came out of the ocean with a very bloody foot. Maybe that's one reason no one else was swimming with the sea turtles. But we saw them every day, and there was a few other times I saw other people attempting to swim and take pictures of them.
Elliot spent a little time laying out by the pool. Another reason people probably weren't out in the ocean was because of the hotel's many fabulous pools. Leilani and kids also came out to swim with us.
When Britton came home from the conference we would usually go out and try to find something not too overpriced to eat in Waikiki. A real challenge. We walked past a Ferrari store one day and let Elliot try out the Ferrari bike.

One day while Britton was at his conference I took the bus to see the only residence of royalty in the USA, 'Iolani Palace! I was very excited, especially for the air conditioning. Unfortunately, kids are only allowed in the basement... So Elliot and I checked out the basement. They had a lot of pictures, info, and the crown jewels! So it was still worth my effort to get over there.
Another day, I booked a tour bus for the Pearl Harbor Memorial. It's a floating memorial over the sunken USS Arizona. There's a park with museums to learn more about the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. They also have a movie for you to watch before you are taken over the memorial in a boat.
1,177 crew members lost their lives December 7, 1941. Over 900 from the USS Arizona alone. It sank in nine minutes and burned for two days. You can look out of the windows of the memorial and see down on the deck of the underwater ship. There is still oil leaking from the ship which floats up to the surface looking like black tears. I gained a lot of respect for that infamous day which also happens to be my birthday.

Hawaii was a great experience for us, and we were able to hang out with family, experience the local culture, and indulge in tourist heaven.
Mahalo for reading this whole thing! Share your favorite Hawaii memories if you like.