Hawaii

I know this post is LONG overdue...but as soon as I got back home from Hawaii I've been reading constantly, eating lunch with friends, and going to the pool...

Obviously, I'd have no time to post about my last vacation right?

False.

I apologize profusely.

Now on to more exciting stuff-

I spent 10 days with my whole family in Oahu, Hawaii

This is the LDS Hawaiian temple

The church has been in Hawaii since the 1890's

This is Landon, my nephew.

He is basically the only man  in my life right now

and he's pretty much a stud.

It was our first family trip with EVERYONE.

My family isn't big compared to a lot of people I know- but it sure was different having a baby around again!

Instead of giving you a play-by-play I'll just give you some highlights of what we did.

We visited the Dole plantation.

Strawberries and pineapples are my favorite fruit in the world

So this place was full of fun stuff.

Everything you can think of made of pineapples.

We rode the pineapple express train and the pineapple maze (the largest one in the world mind you).

My favorite activity happened to involve some creatures most people wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole...

Yes, ladies and gentleman I talked my dad into going SHARK DIVING with me!

We took a boat ride about three miles off shore..

To here

where ten Galapagos sharks swam around our boat constantly!

No need to be alarmed.

Since this species of sharks was discovered on the Galapagos islands about 100 years ago

No one has ever been attacked by one...yet

Our guides told us these sharks only attack what is weak.

Even if you were dipped in blood and thrown in the water,

these sharks could smell you weren't dying and wouldn't attack.

The whole concept sounds disgusting to me....but you get the picture- these guys have a big bark- and no bite, so to speak.

Here we are in the water.

We got some great shots while we were under there, but I haven't developed them yet

My dad told me on this trip that I was much more adventurous than his other children...at least, I took a lot more risks.

I took that as a compliment and asked him when he wanted to go skydiving with me.

It's in the works people. It's in the works.

For the five days of our trip we spent it on the north shore of the island in a place called Turtle Bay.

I'm personally a little obsessed with sea turtles, so when we stopped by a beach where there were at least 20 of them- I had a ball!

This is my lovely friend Jess.

She and I lived together last year in Vienna :)

Jess and her mom and sister were on the island the week before we were.

And we were able to meet up for dinner on their last night there...

So fun :)

We visited the Polynesian Cultural Center for a luau 

And we also stopped by BYU Hawaii

I couldn't help thinking- why?! Why didn't I go to school here?!

I was accepted twice 

And I really should have gone!

Not that I reget my time at BYU Utah- 

but who wouldn't want to spend 4 years in this kind of paradise? 

Driving through the island was like being in Jurassic Park

(Makes sense- since the movie was filmed here)

We also visited the USS Arizona Memorial

My dad and I love this kind of stuff.

My grandpa fought in WWII and I love learning about that period in history

This is the USS Missouri 

Hawaii is the only U.S. state that once had a monarchy.

Of course, that is just up me, my mom's and my sister's alley.

This is 'Iolani Palace

We toured where, Princess Ka'iulani, the last monarch of Hawaii lived.

Then we were off to the Sea Life Park

Where we saw lots of sea turtles

And one of the world's only Wolphins

Yes, you read that right.

A Wolphin.

A cross between a whale and a dolphin.

NOT a wolf and dolphin- just for the record.

I got to feed the sea turtles...I would have taken one of these guys home if they'd have let me

and THEN we got to swim with dolphins!

This is me getting kissed by a dolphin....pretty cute huh?

I absolutely LOVE them!

It was a lot of fun because Landon got to come with us!

We watched a few shows where sea lions strutted their stuff

And more dolphins showed off

and I had to see the sea turtles one more time before I left!

Later that night I got food poisoning. 

It was kinda horrible and I was out of commission for the whole next day...

Three months in India and I never got sick from the food once- and then I get sick in HAWAII of all places!

Oh well...the next few days made up for it

We ventured out to Hanauma Bay

Isn't is gorgeous?!

We snorkeled here to our heart's content

Hawaii has made this place a nature preserve and the sea life is amazing on the reef!

Landon is kind of obsessed with fish.

I'm not joking...his kissed that baby smack on the mouth.

On our last day we hiked to Diamond Head Crater 

There were some amazing views of Honolulu from the top

Ari, me, and James 

It was an amazing trip and I was sad to leave. 

If you hear about me moving to Hawaii sometime soon- don't be too surprised

I completely fell in love!

With Love,

A