Monday, July 13, 2015

Shaka Shaka, Brah!

We just got back from ten days of pure bliss.
June 30th we found ourselves aboard a plane soaring towards Oahu, Hawaii. 
If you know my dad, then you know that he LOVES Hawaii. Every so often, he gets the itch and we save up our pennies, pack up the family, and head to the prettiest beach in the south pacific! 

Among the thousands of photos and videos we took, below are a few of our favorites: 

DAY ONE
Highlights:
Arrival
Beachin'
Boogie Boarding








DAY TWO
Snorkeling at Sharks cove and Three tables
Finding sea creature friends
Boogie boarding, stand up paddle boarding, and kayaking with Brandt


(Meet Brandt...Holly's buddy who lives on the North Shore)

DAY THREE
Hiking to Goat island at low tide
Polynesian Cultural Center
Beachin'





Practicing our Rapi Nui faces
Fishing at Samoa

DAY FOUR
Hale'iwa for some Matsumoto's Shave Ice (aka the best shave ice on the planet earth)
Dole Plantation to learn all there is to know about Pineapples
ClimbWorks Keana Farms ziplining





Look! This is how pineapples grow!

Baby Pineapples and Baby Asians


All this pineapple information is exhausting. 




 YeeHaw!!

DAY FIVE
Snorkeling Three tables
Beachin'
Fourth of July celebration at the PCC












the "cute chubby girl" as Kiley so loving called her. HA!

DAY SIX
Church
Scoot scootin' 
Hike overlooking Hale'iwa





Hot Mama!

DAY SEVEN
Holly's last day :'(
Snorkeling Three tables
Hale'iwa for shave ice and shopping
Beachin'
Temple Visitors center for FHE








DAY EIGHT
Pearl Harbor
Shark diving for dad and Brando
Photo adventure to my favorite fixer-upper

 Arizona Memorial
 Tour of the USS Bowfin


 The best farmers stand on the North Shore...even though this photo may be blurry, I just love seeing all the bright colors of the different fruits!
Towards the end of our trip we decided to be a little adventurous, and this became a big hit...the Dragon Fruit! 
It tastes a little like a kiwi....it's white inside with a bunch of tiny black seeds.  

I spy with my little eye...a waving Tyler!
 The first time we visited the island we noticed this building. Chris lovingly dubbed it "the real fixer-upper". I've always loved this building, but we've never stopped to explore. (Maybe because of all the NO TRESPASSING signs... oops!) Tyler and I finally decided to pull in and do some research. We found out it used to be an all boys school for troubled teens. There's a ton of history behind this and three other buildings in the vicinity, but I can't remember the name of this place or the website with all the info...if I remember it I'll letcha know, because I know y'all are dying to know. ;)
Behind the fixer-upper we found the coolest tree with a swing!


DAY NINE
Snorkeling the Drop Off
Exploring the graffiti wall
Beachin'
 I don't know if you can see that little guy right there...but that's my new friend Crush the sea turtle!



 Dad saw this building and wanted to stop and take pictures. Turns out this building was a part of the "fixer-upper" that Tyler and I had explored earlier. It was the music building where the school band would practice. It's now covered in graffiti...and it is so brilliantly bright! It's so neat! Not to mention, this place was MASSIVE...once we started walking around it just kept going and going! 





 Kiley and Brooke Brooke finally braved the waves and decided to go boogie boarding. 
Once they tried it out they didn't want to stop! Pro's!

Mr. Turtle!
Tyler's favorite thinking spot...every night at sunset you could find Mr Camp right in this chair looking out over the ocean pondering life. 


DAY TEN
Breakfast at the Hukilau Cafe
Packed up and headed home

We had such a great trip, and are already missing those green hills and beautiful blue waves. Hopefully we can get back soon, but until then it is nice to be back home in this DRY heat and a normal routine. 
(Even though my skin misses all that moisture in the air...my crazy curly locks sure don't miss it. :))
Mahalo family, for the good memories. We love you!

Aloha!!