Hawaii Highlights

In November, we were able to go to Hawaii for Joe's youngest brother's wedding. It was a wonderful week, that we also shared with my sister and her family (including of course Joe's brother Daniel). It was quite the adventure with 4 adults and 5 kids. The kids did really well on the airplanes, Simon made quite a few friends with his sweet smile and silly antics.

With the time difference of 3 hours, the kids got up pretty early the first morning, so we were able to watch the sunrise. Here it is from the deck of the house we stayed in -- Gorgeous!

The kids sure loved the ocean! The waves were like their own personal play ground, and it made me wish we lived closer to the water.

We visited lots of the old places we all used to go when we lived there, like Sunset Beach, Laie Point, and Joe and Daniel even looked around the house where they grew up. It was an interesting experience feeling like things were so much the same, and had changed so much all at the same time.

The whole gang at Sunset Beach. The boys at the Point.

Eli was fascinated by the hila-hila grass (I don't know the real name, but it goes to "sleep" when you touch it).

We also went to the Pali Lookout. The kids thought it was pretty cool, the adults thought it was weird there was no wind - there is always wind, strong wind, at the Pali!

We took a Catamaran ride out of Waikiki that was a lot of fun. On the way out, we hit a little squall, and got kind of wet. It rained on us and the boat was like being on a rollercoaster, up and down and up and down. Joe and Daniel thought it was fun to be up front feeling the full range of the waves. Simon was terrified and cried and finally decided to go to sleep. The rest of us just sat underneath the cover, and kept mostly dry. Once the rain passed though, the water was very calm and beautiful.

Here is a view of Diamond Head from the boat.

We even had a pod of dolphins come right up to the boat and jump around for us.



The weather was wonderful, warm, and wet; the wedding was beautiful and the reception a blast; the shave ice was delicious and the shopping delightful; the family and friends are always dear. We wish we could go to Hawaii every year!