8 years ago, we took Nichole and Nate to Hawaii to spend some time with them before they graduated from High School and left home. What a great tradition we started! Time with our teens in Paradise! Noah is a Senior in High School so it was time for our trip to Hawaii with Noah and Brigham. We had such a wonderful trip. These 2 boys are amazing young men. It was a delight to spend so much uninterrupted time with them. We went to Oahu and stayed 20 minutes West of Honolulu in Ko Olina at the Marriott Beach Club! It was just BEAUTIFUL!!! We did drive a lot to get to places, but it was worth the drive. Everywhere you drive has such lovely views. Do you ever get tired of palm trees swaying and those rainbows and sunsets!!! On the car radio we found a Hawaiian station that played only Hawaiian Christmas Music. Some of the music was interesting, but most was perfect for a December week in Heaven, oh, I mean Hawaii! Warning: Picture Overload!!!
Boogie Boarding where the locals go. The boys got beat up a bit by the waves here. It was high tide and a windy day.
Me doing what I do best in Hawaii. Laying on the beach! Although I wasn't as relaxed once I saw that sign. This was our first day in Hawaii and I was worried we'd spend our week in the emergency room!
An evening walk on Waikiki
The first night in the room. The boys wanted to watch tv late and get some homework done. This is how I found them at 9 PM. (Midnight Utah time) I sent them to their beds.
LDS Church in Honolulu. The Bishop is someone John has contact with through his work and so he knew we were coming. He was so sweet and gave me a lei to wear! We have been here before when they have all the windows wide open during Sacrament Meeting, but it was cooler this day and so the room was all closed up.
The trees in Hawaii are amazing.
Brig swinging on the vines. He went too far before letting go and ended up in the bushes.
The Punch Bowl. An amazing memorial to those who died in WWI and WW2 and the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Look how neat they have shaped these trees. Both sides of the memorial were lined with these.
Diamond Head in the background.
We went for a hike to see a waterfall. It rained the entire hour of the hike. And Oahu is in a drought so there was only a trickle of water on the waterfall! But gorgeous anyway!
The parking for the hike was all blocked off because they were filming Hunger Games 2 there! Part of the set in the distance. We didn't see any actors. Only security, much to Brig and Noah's disappointment.
"Hats" in the rain. It made all the Asian Tourists laugh.
Noah swinging over another waterfall and pond. The boys loved this and could have stayed all day but . . . . .
The tour book we has with us warned of mesquito's here. And boy were they right. These are pictures of Brig and Noah slapping and scratching at the bugs! I only stayed long enough to get a few pictures and then I RAN back to the car! We had to stop and buy anti-itch cream for us at Target!
Oh, the sunsets! This is from the beach at our Resort. Noah and Brig
Again, something I do well! Relax at the beach, barefoot!
Brig
Noah and Brig at our Resort. Below are several pictures of the resort. I can't believe I didn't take any photo's of the 3 great pools on the property!
There is one of the pools in the background. I never got in a pool, but the boys did. It was a little cool and windy for me to be wet most of the time! It was perfect weather for being dry! I did get in the ocean a few times.
Christmas Tree in the Lobby.
Boys introduction to P.O.G. Passion Fruit, Orange and Guava Juice. Delicous!
John and Brig on a Sail Boat.
Brig steering the Sail Boat. Waikiki in the background.
Me with Diamond Head in the background. I got a little motion sick on this small sail boat. It was a cloudy day, a lot of wind so the boat was bouncing around a lot. I have done larger catamaran type boats before and LOVED them. This one was too small for me to enjoy very much. But we saw about 10 turtles while we were snorkeling. Very cool!
Snorkeling from the Sail Boat. Noah above, Brig below.
Dole Pinapple Plantation.
Shaved Ice at Matsumoto's on the North Shore! Yummy snow cone with vanilla ice cream in the cone.
A Hawaiian Surfing Santa at the Polynesian Cultural Center
New Zealand Demo.
Samoa Demo.
We went over to see the Temple while we were waiting for the evening show to start at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We came back the next evening for the boys to join in with a local ward youth group to do baptisms for the dead. (Proxy baptisms).
Temple Visitor Center
Pearl Harbor Memorial over the USS Arizonia
The Swap Meet at the Aloha Staduim was a couple of hours of great fun!
Dinner at this wonderful local grill in Laie was a highlight. HUGE burgers and yummy stake fries. And the boys would add: Cute Mormon girls from BYU Hawaii!
Hanauma Bay, Great Snorkeling
Buying Chocolate covered Macadamian Nuts was a must!
John and the boys went on an hour Sea Plane ride over the entire Island. The boys were so excited that the plane took off and land on the Ocean! I did not want to go. I did a helicopter ride in Hawaii 8 years ago and lets just say with my motion sickness problem, it WAS NOT pretty! I gladly spent the afternoon all alone on at the resort on the beach! And I ended up seeing Whales out in the ocean from sitting at our resort. I was sad that John missed it. He has always wanted to see Whales in the wild.
The men really enjoyed the ride and the views. It was an OLD plane. John said if I had come I wouldn't have let any of them get on it!
The documents saying this plane had been inspected for safety dated back to the 70's!
A view of Diamond Head
Hanauma Bay
The first beach we had stopped at to boogie board almost a week earlier.
