Happy Father's Day!

We love our fathers!

Us As Morning People

I don't know how we did it, but somehow Matt and I convinced everyone to wake up at 5:00 am and come with us to the Honolulu Fish Auction. Random, I know, but we were really excited to see this thing! The sight of so many giant fish in one place was mildly nauseating and my shoes still smell fishy, but it was definitely one of the coolest, most random adventures that we've had so far. Well worth the early morning wake-up call (despite Hannah's surliness).

By 9:00 am we had already hiked to the top of Diamond Head.

 By 10:00 am we were exploring Waikiki, and on our way over to the International Marketplace for souvenirs and Puka Dogs.



We also. . . went to Costco, Ala Moana Mall, Office Max, a doctor's appointment, drove all over Honolulu, and made it home by 3:00 pm. A swim at Temple Beach, an episode of Sherlock, and we were ready to crash. How do morning people do this every day?

Random Bits and Pieces

 1. Matt and I went on another "couple adventure." Last time we went to Haleiwa, this time we drove up to Kaneohe. We discovered, among other things, a discount Asian market that brought us both back to Japan! Calpico, the bubblegum soda with the marble in it, Hello Panda . . . these are just a few of the things that we both loved while we were there. I went to Japan with a school exchange program when I was 13, and Matt went with his family when he was in high school. This whole trip has been bringing back some major Japan nostalgia!

(Sorry the picture is the wrong way. It's uploading flipped, and I can't figure out how to rotate it on blogger. Does this happen to anyone else??)

2. Pali Lookout. One of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen. Legend has it that this is the place where King Kamehameha shoved all the bad guys off the mountain. Or something like that.



3. Maleakahana Beach (I think I spelled that right. . .)

We have been to this beach twice now and I just think it deserves a shout out on the blog because I love it SO MUCH. The water is crystal clear, warm after the initial chill, and you can just float out there for hours. Good  bodysurfing waves, not too many people, and shady areas that are perfect for laying out, enjoying the warmth, and not getting sunburned. I'm just living for the beach these days!

4. Byodo-In Temple. Gorgeous, serene, located in a lush valley, and it's been in an episode of Lost. Plus they have the most enormous Koi I've ever seen. Need I say more? 

Laie Falls and Pearl Harbor

We've been having another fun-filled week here in paradise! Matt and I went hiking one morning to Laie Falls, one of the hikes that everyone over here seems to have done. We just had to do it! My sister told us it was only 3 miles round trip, we're pretty sure it was 3 miles each way . . . but either way, we loved it. Most of our hikes together have been Utah, National Park, deserty, pine foresty hikes. This whole jungle thing is all new to me (Matt's been hiking through the Amazon so it's no big for him) but I was getting excited about every little thing! The misty air, the fresh breeze cutting through the humidity, green green green everywhere you turn, the giant dripping leaves, and wild orchids?? Growing in nature?? Amazing.

Dad, Becca, Stephen, Matt, and I also made it out to Pearl Harbor. Finally! First we went through one of the submarines, the USS Bowfin. All I have to say about that is those guys were champs for squeezing so many guys into that little space and actually being able to run the submarine effectively. Then we went out to the location of the USS Arizona. Did you know Pearl Harbor is a national park? I love those national park people. They have done such a wonderful job with the memorial there. I mean, the memorial itself is beautiful, but they also have you watch a movie before you take the ferry out to the site. It contains a lot of actual footage and photographs, and it's pretty sobering to watch that and then go straight out to the ferry and into the harbor. I had forgotten a lot of the history so it was nice to have an overview. Matt and I will be going back next week to see the USS Missouri and go through another one of the museums.

Dole Plantation

My parents have had their van for years. A giant, 15-seater Ford that has seen all fifty states and most of the Canadian provinces. It's also the van I drove quite a bit in high school. It's huge and getting more rattly by the day. But it works great, most of the time, and it's a welcome alternative to the bus! We're so grateful to them for letting us take it on our outings, even though I get a little nervous driving it sometimes . . .

Today we went out to the Dole Plantation! It's a mega tourist-y destination, so much so that most of the locals haven't even been there, but we actually had a lot of fun.

Rode the Pineapple Express and learned some interesting facts.
Did you know it takes like 3 years for pineapple to grow and ripen?

Finally got to see how pineapples grow! They come up right in the middle of these spiky plants.

And my personal favorite, the pineapple ice cream. Yum!

Ps--I'm not quite sure how I managed to end up in every single picture today . . . I'll be sure to get plenty of Matt in the next post :)

Underwater Adventures

Matt's parents were kind enough to let us borrow their GoPro camera for the trip so we've had fun taking underwater pictures and movies! Here are a couple gems from our adventures at Waimea Bay and Goat Island. 

Here is a close up of the eel we saw on Goat Island.

A view from above. We're pretty sure it was a Moray Eel.

A movie of one of the turtles we saw while we were snorkeling at Waimea. Short but sweet!

I'm pretty much in love with sea turtles these days.

Is there such a thing as too much sun?

Most days here have had cloudy moments, usually some rain, but we have had two gloriously sunny beach days in a row this week. I have a red back and shoulders to prove it! Yesterday we spent the day at Waimea Bay. Our first day there was fun, but the water was a bit cloudy. This time, though, the water was clearer than any water we've been in so far. We were out pretty deep and you could see the bottom perfectly. It was hot, the water felt perfect, we snorkeled for almost an hour and saw so many amazing fish. We even got to swim with a sea turtle!

I borrowed this picture from a travel website, but it seriously looks like this!

Today we walked out to Goat Island during low tide. The walk out there was pretty tricky--lots of uneven coral, slippery rocks, and strong currents--but it was worth it! Poking around in the coral we found some cool shells, saw crabs, lots of little fish, even an EEL.

All ready for our walk out to the island



This is how we're tanning these days...