Hawaii-Day 7

It as Monday, our final day.  Everyone begged to extend except Eric who was anxious to get back to his busy life for some reason.  We started the day with some boogie boarding after I watched the sunrise.  But our fun ended when Mario got stung by a jellyfish.  He ran into the cabin to take care of it and the kids and I decided to go in also.  We were scared to get stung as well.

We packed up and barely fit all our luggage back into the SUV.  We said our goodbyes to Bellows and headed to the east side of the island near where we lived before. Saying goodbye to this beach wasn't easy.

Mario wanted to hike down to Eternity Beach.  There are signs like the one below posted but it didn't look dangerous as long as we didn't go in the water.  I'm sure we are bad parents missing good teaching opportunities by ignoring these signs.  Oops.  

The water was way too rough to swim. Even the locals weren't swimming that day.  I didn't remember hiking down there before, but Grandma sent me this picture of the big kids inside a cave down there:

After hanging out there for a few minutes, we headed to Hanauma Bay in Hawaii Kai.  It normally costs $7.50 a person but they let us all in free for military. That was great because I wanted to give Nathan another chance to snorkel.  He was so excited (and scared) because he saw an octopus.  He started to swim really fast away from it.  So fast, that I thought he saw a shark!

After snorkeling, we headed to the Boston Pizza by our old house.

Then we went right next door to 7-11 for Slurpees. We would walk by that 7-11 after school every day when Eric was in kindergarten.  We stopped every Friday if he didn't get in trouble with his school teacher all week (stayed on green.)

There's his old school.  That is his kindergarten pod.

And here's our old town home. What a beautiful place to call home for a year.

After touring our old town for a few minutes, we headed to the Hale Koa to swim and take showers before our flight that night.  We then rushed to the airport, turned in our car, checked our luggage, and took a walk down the street to one of our favorite restaurants there-The Big Kahuna.  The location moved so it wasn't the same.  But the food was just like we remembered.  Even Eric remembered their sandwiches.  It was with much reluctance that we boarded our plane for home.  Red eye flights are horrible and we didn't get much sleep.  It gave us plenty of time to wish the plane would turn around and return to Hawaii.  We had a wonderful week and I look forward to the next time.  This time, I'm not waiting 11 years to go back.

Hawaii-Day 6

The next day was Sunday.  Sundays are always a little tricky on vacation.  Serena and Katie had to take Kayla to the airport early Sunday morning.  They wanted to get together with us afterwards.  The best activity that I could think of for trying to keep the sabbath day holy was to do a short, easy hike up to Manoa Falls.  We had done this hike many times in the past.  Zach had told me several times that he wanted to visit the rainforest and this was his best opportunity.  He was excited to hear that part of Jurassic Park was filmed here.  I can't even describe in words how beautiful the scenery was on this hike.  I'm sure my family was sick of hearing me constantly tell them how beautiful I thought it was there. At one point I thought of Erin and wished she was there with us to enjoy the beauty.  But I felt at peace knowing the veil is very thin and she was probably right there with us.  I also had the feeling that what we were looking at couldn't hold a candle to what she is experiencing everyday.  So that eased my mind.  But I could tell that Mario was sad throughout the hike.  He thought of Erin the entire time.  It broke my heart.  She is sure loved and missed. What comfort to know that we will be together as a family one day.

Here's a picture from the falls many years ago:

After the hike,we returned to Bellows to rest and shower up before Sacrament meeting.

We decided to attend church near Bellows and it was very different than our military ward we attended when we lived here.  I loved the spirit of that ward and they were very friendly to our family.  We left after Sacrament meeting and spent the rest of the day playing games and taking walks on the beach. It was by far the most relaxing day so far which is good since it was the sabbath.

Only one day left before we fly out the next evening. Those trees with the beach behind it was our view from our cabin.  Unbelievable!

Hawaii-Day 5

Saturday was the days Ben and Katlyn's sealing.  Mario and the boys asked if we really had to go.  Of course we did, that was the whole reason we had flown to Hawaii this exact week.  Of course, I think they were only joking.  But it was hard to pull them from Bellows.  We headed up to the temple early Saturday morning.  The sealing was at 10.  When we pulled up to the temple, we were told the power was out in all of Laei and that the temple was closed.  Fortunately, they have generators and were able to still hold the two sealings they had scheduled that day.  It was a beautiful sealing and I'm glad I was able to attend.  The temple president was the one that sealed them and I always love listening to their words of wisdom.

After the sealing, we left to go get some lunch.  One thing that is really popular in Hawaii is the food trucks.  As you drive around, you see these trucks parked on side of road that sell lunch.  We stopped and I got their speciality, shrimp. 

After lunch, we drove around until we found the "turtle" beach.  Up on the North Shore, there's a beach that sea turtles like to lay out in the sun all day.  It was exactly what I had envisioned because they are roped off and we aren't allowed to get too close.  But it was still cool to get within a couple feet of them.  They weigh over 200 pounds.

After watching the turtles nap for a few minutes, we headed out to the famous Matsumoto Shaved Ice in Haleiwa.  I don't really know why this place is famous because there are places all over Oahu that serve shaved ice.  I've been told the other places are equally as good too.  But you come to this one for the "experience."  You stand in a long line and wait while places just around the corner have no line and even offer discounts.  We were suckers and waited in line. It was delicious. It even has some ice cream at the bottom.

After shaved ice, we headed back to "the rock" as my kids call Waimea Beach with the cliff jumping.  They were anxious to try it again.  Unfortunately, the waves were a little too rough and they didn't feel safe jumping.  It is a little scary because there are signs posted everywhere that the surf is dangerous and the cliff jumping can be fatal.  The signs say not to jump but even the lifeguards just say to jump on one side so they can help if you get into trouble.  The boys didn't play much in the water because it was too dangerous that day.  But Mario and Eric had a blast playing in the surf.  It made me very nervous and I was so grateful when we left with no injuries.

We quickly showered off at the outside showers and changed into our nice clothes and left for the reception that was held at Laie point.  It was at a very nice home located right on the ocean.  We had some luau food which was great since that was the only time we had a traditional Hawaiian dinner.

It was another great day in Paradise.