Spring Break- Wednesday

Day 5

Wednesday April 3

We got up early again this morning drove into town for another hike. This one was Diamond Head which is an old extinct volcano. It was not as pretty on the hike up as yesterday, but once we got to the top, I think the view was better. You could see everything! This hike was a lot more crowded and not much shade so very hot.

We got to walk through a tunnel which was pretty cool and then when you came out you could pick one of two paths...lots and lots of stairs, or just lots of stairs. Charlotte and I wanted the challenge so we choose lots and lots of stairs. We got in a good rhythm of running up them and it did not take long but my legs were ready to fall off when we got to the top.

 It was magical when we did get to the top.

 I love the colors of the water.

 Such a cute lighthouse!

After making it back down I was rewarded with a nice bug shave ice! SO GOOD :)

We had a van pick us up that morning and take us to the hike and then pick us back up. Straight from Diamond head he drove us to Hanauma Bay which was probably my favorite part of the trip if you were wondering. The only bad part of Hanauma Bay is that it is a very popular state park and we had to wait in line almost an hour before getting in and then we had to watch a movie before going down to the beach.

 It's hard to get the whole bay but it is one big circle created by a volcano a long time ago. All that stuff in the water is coral so really that makes the best place to snorkel.

 It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen!

All these next photos are from snorkeling and again a big thank you to Grandma and Pappap who bought me this sweet camera last summer for my birthday! It came in handy during the whole trip, but this was the best part. 

 He was my favorite fish to see...so colorful

 We loved snorkeling! It was not uncommon for us to start yelling at each other through our snorkels to come and see something. We went far enough out in the bay that there was no one around us even though the beach was packed. It was also cool that the fish were not afraid of us. I had one almost come up to my mask and just was swimming away.

After getting back to our car we thought we had enough time to get to the dole plantation before it closed but we ran into some heavy traffic and didn't make it. Instead we stopped in some small town Haleiwa and got another great shave ice for the day....if you're counting that's number 2 today! This one had ice cream on the bottom!

The significance of this picture of chickens is great. One of the first days we were in Hawaii and driving around. Charlotte was driving and all of a sudden says, "Hey a chicken crossed the road, why did he cross the road?" She did not understand what she said at first until we all busted out laughing. I do not know why there are so many chickens all of the place but from then on when we saw one we would say, why did the chicken cross the road? It's funny to me but hey I love corny jokes.

We ate dinner at this little grill and it was nice but I had heat exhaustion and I was not in much of a mood to eat or do anything but put aloe on and sleep.

Spring Break- Tuesday

DAY 4

Tuesday April 2

One of my favorite parts of Hawaii is the fact that it combines all my favorite parts of nature together in one little island. There many many trees and it is green everywhere, there are tall mountains, large sandy beaches, blue skies and warm weather. Really that is a winning combo right there! Everyday I could just sit and look out the car window and stare in awe at everything that we would pass. It was the same when we went on a hike to Manoa Falls. It was like a rainforest hike. As we were walking along they told us that is where the second Hunger games was just filming last month, where Jurassic Park was filmed and Lost. It was absolutely breathtaking.

on the left is a huge tree next to a big hill and that is the hill the jeep in Jarassic Park rolled down. We also saw lots of places from Lost.

super duper muddy

It was so beautiful every where we went! PS. the water was freezing

We were then going to rent mopeds but that plan fell through and so it was super nice we went back to Kailua and went to the beach for the rest of the day. This is where we saw sea turtle number 3. He was hanging out with us in the water and we named him Tim Tam the Turtle Man. 

Have I mentioned yet that we went to bed everynight around 7 or 8 and then get up at 6. We would be totally exhausted and crash super early!

Spring Break- Monday

DAY 3

 Monday April 1

Before we went on our trip we were researching what to do in Hawaii and came up with these cards called Go Oahu Cards. We bought it for 5 days and could did almost any activity on the island for free. Yes we had to pay $200 for the card but man was it worth it. Monday started our 5 days of Oahu adventures. We started off right by doing stand up paddle boarding which was way fun and that is where I saw my first of 5 sea turtles. It was a little cloudy in the morning and chilly but not bad if you did not fall in!

Sea turtle

 Practicing before standing up

It was so much fun and a good workout

This is not how you are supposed to use them and also not as easy as it looks!

After our 4 hours of paddle boarding we went to a little local shop for lunch before we went sailing. I had never been sailing before, actually none of us had, and it was so exciting. At the beginning they tell you that there is a chance you will see dolphins, whales, and turtles. We figured we wouldn't see any but instead we saw all three of them! I could easily become a sailor!

Nick and Kevin you know this had to happen!

 Do you see flipper jumping for us!

 They even let us drive the boat!

We were excited to go sailing!                                             Again it was a little chilly but still fun!

When looking for a place to park for the sailing we passed Dave and Busters. None of my friends had really ever heard of it and definitely had not been there. I told them pretty much what it was and they really wanted to go! So after sailing we went for a little while to play some arcade games. Katie was exhausted and sat down for the ride!

On our way home we were trying to find a shave ice place and got lost . We found this cute little park that had these gorgeous trees I think they are banion trees or walking roots. They have got roots that hang down instead of go in the ground. We walked around the tree and I swung in some roots which was way cool and then we saw Polynesians playing basketball and Charlotte wanted to get in on a game, and she did. She played awesome and at the end got the game winning shot for her team. They said they now have respect for Utah. That is what they called us when they found out that is where we were from. I think this a Charlotte's dream come true.

 So much fun!

Best part of Charlotte's trip! She not only scored the winning shot but earned street cred from the Poly's when she stuffed one of the guys! They told us they now respect Utah. You go girl!