Dream Vacation to Hawaii

Jason and I took a 10 day dream vacation to Hawaii to celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary. We just got back this week. The timing of the trip worked out perfectly because Jason got released as Bishop a few days before we left. It was great because he was able to leave with so many fewer responsibilities and he was able to really relax! We are also able to really be able to enjoy ourselves because we knew our children were being loved and wonderfully being taken care of by Jason's parents. They were so kind to come and stay at our house and play parents, chauffeur, animal feeder, etc.. for so long! We chose to see the Hawaiian islands by cruise ship. This worked great for us because it was cheaper and easier to see the islands this way. We flew into Hawaii on Friday and stayed down on Waikiki.

On Saturday we went first drove to North Shore to try and see the World Championship surfing competition, but unfortunately the waves were not big enough so they cancelled it that day. BUT, we LOVED North Shore!!! It was the prettiest beach we had ever seen and just enjoyed relaxing on the beach and watching the pro's do hot-dogging tricks.



We then went and ate lunch at Giovanni's shrimp truck and got our first shaved ice (which quickly became our favorite treat). We then drove to Dole Pineapple Plantation and toured the grounds there.

Next was Waikiki Beach. After North Shore, Waikiki Beach was a total let down. It was crowded, dirty, rocky, and had nasty sand. North Shore's sand was amazing!


That evening we boarded our ship "Norwegians Pride of America". We had a nice dinner on the boat and saw a hilarious comedy act and sailed to Maui. We loved that when we woke we were at a new island. We rented a car on each island so that we could have the flexibility to do whatever we wanted. We went to church on Maui and just walked the beach and the town that day since it was Sunday. That evening was a fun Polynesian show on the boat.

Monday was another Maui day, and it was AMAZING! I had booked us on a charter boat that only took 6 people out snorkeling. Captain Woody was so much fun and was very knowledgeable about the island. He took us to the northern tip of Maui to snorkel. He was prepared for me since I told him I am very prone to sea-sickness. He had me take Dramamine and wear sea-bands. They worked wonderfully and I never got sick. We came upon a pod of around 150 spinner dolphins and he let us get in with them and swim. The 5 of us swam with them for an hour and a half. We were the only ones in the water with them and it was unbelievable!!!! There were baby dolphins, they would put on a total show for us, and we loved that you could hear them under the water. We then went to another area and snorkeled with sea turtles (one of them was over 4 feet long, 300 lbs., and 90 years old). We also saw eels, spotted eagle rays, and tons of kids of tropical fish. We have no pictures of this though as we did not bring an underwater camera (what were we thinking!). Our trip lasted 6 hours and was an unbelievable day!!!



Tuesday morning we woke up in Hilo, Hawaii. Jason got us a jeep that day which was super fun since we had a lot of driving to do. We drove to Volcano National Park and drove all the way down the Chain of Craters road. We saw the steam vents, lava tunnels, the smoking craters, hardened lava flows, museums, and the amazing rock formations caused when the lava hit the ocean.





We then drove to a black sand beach that is home to many sea turtles. It was so cool to see sea turtles just sitting on the beach. Turtles were one of the main things I wanted to see so I was very excited to get to see so many. We also went and toured a the Mauna Loa macadamian nut factory. That evening we went to a Murder Mystery Dinner that we signed up for. It was so much fun!



Wednesday morning we woke up at Kona, Hawaii. We went and snorkeled at Turtle Beach where again we were with many sea turtles and lots of tropical fish. This was a gray sand beach. We were amazed at how many different colors of sand Hawaii has (white, tan, green, gray, and black). I love this picture of Jason because it shows that he really can just lay back and relax. That was my main goal of the trip, and we accomplished it! We also went and shopped a the local market. Jason went to a nut lei making class that evening and really got into the Hawaiian spirit - he had to buy a Hawaiian shirt to wear with the nut lei to dinner and he got me a beautiful flower lei to wear as well. We also went dancing that night on the boat which was super fun.






Thursday and Friday we were in Kauai. We went on a helicopter ride Thursday morning. We were able to sit in the front so we had an amazing view! 80% of the island can only be seen by air. I have never seen such beauty! We flew over Waima Canyon, the Na Pali coastline, flew through rainbows, went to the wettest place on earth, saw the filming locations for many movies, and even got to land at a private waterfall and walk around (this is the large waterfall on Jurassic Park). Our ride was an hour and a half and was gorgeous!!! We went then drove to the southern part of the island and went to Poipu beach. Jason took a surfing lesson here and thought it was great fun! He did an amazing job and rode almost every single wave he caught. His instructor was very impressed! We also went and saw some awesome blowholes. Friday we drove to the north part of the island to Tunnels Beach. We have never seen such large waves (over 10 feet tall). Jason had wanted to practice his surfing but it was raining and the waves were just too big. We had to board the boat that afternoon to sail out so we spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool and packing. We also had dinner and attended an evening show with a very sweet older couple we met on the flight over.










Saturday morning we disembarked the boat in Honolulu and went to get our car. Jason decided that we should end with a bang so he got us a Mustang convertible. We loved riding with the top down since we had another long, beautiful drive. We took off towards Laie, Hawaii. I have never seen water the color it was there! On the way we stopped off where the tv show Lost was made - I am a huge fan, so this was fun to see. We continued on to BYU-Hawaii. After that we went to the temple - oh my goodness...how beautiful! The temple there has been closed for 2 years for renovations and just opened back up 2 weeks ago. The temple grounds go all the way to the ocean and the view is just breathtaking. Next was the Polynesian Culture Center. We had a great time here seeing all of the show and attending the Luau dinner.















Sunday was our last day so we went to church that morning in Honolulu. We then went to Pearl Harbor which was so interesting! We finished up the day with our last minute shopping and dinner and caught the all night flight home. What an unbelievable trip! I loved every minute of it. I REALLY loved having all of that uninterrupted time with my sweet hubby.