Oahu, Hawaii 2012

Warning: Picture Overload..

This year on July 26th we left for Hawaii with my family! It was such a wonderful trip. We had my parents, Adam & I, Trevor & Linzi, and Gabe & Taylor.

Beware of my picture overload..

We went down on Thursday but didn't fly out until Friday morning. We decided to head down early so that we could meet up with my Uncle & Aunt and cousins that were in town from Colorado! It was a blast, we had dinner and walked around the strip a little bit.. The last picture is a really pretty picture of my view from the Mirage of the sunrise. We had to be up at 6 a.m. to catch our flight out. .

Airport pictures! Getting really excited to start this vacation!

Day 1 :   Finally arrived in Paradise.. and as you can tell on our faces, we are quite excited! 

View from our hotel room....

My Parents rented 2 vehicles for the trip.. a Ford Explorer and a Ford Convertible Mustang! Tay and I in the back seat with no hair ties yet.. the Mustang was way fun but was pretty hilarious to watch Adam get in and out of and even just be able to fit comfortably in.

 First stop in Oahu.. Leonards.

Day 2: On our second day there (first full day) we headed down to the Swap Meet first to get our goods.. Afterwards we decided to go to Pearl Harbor. Most of us have seen this site except Linzi and Gabe and its definitley something to see when you visit. It's such a peaceful feeling when you get to go out and see the Arizona Memorial. We had a really good time walking around the site and visiting it again.

Day 3: Lazy Day at the Resort, well lazy morning relaxing by the ocean, and then my dad decided we should all head to the North Shore for some Dole ice cream and to Sunset Beach. I wish we would have had more lazy days at the resort since this place is so beautiful! Adam, Gabe and Tay decided to snorkel around the cove here and we also jumped in the ocean, it was freezing water, but probably because we went in at 9 a.m. We also ate lunch at the Resort and they have my all time favorite drink, a Lava Flow-virgin (picture below). . Sunset Beach was beautiful! The boys decided to bury Linzi in the sand, she's such a good sport because I would never let them do that to me! :) The water was freezing here too but once you got use to it it felt great! We played around in the ocean, well four of us, Linz Trev Adam and I! Supposably this beach is one of the best to watch the Sunset.. pictures don't do it justice! We also found the HE>I store, which we love! 

Day 4: Hawaii Temple, Polynesian Cultural Center and drive around the island! This day was by far one of our most busy days there! We left pretty early drove about 1/2 hour to the Hawaii Temple in Laie. We walked around the grounds a little and also went into the Visitors Center. That temple is so beautiful! After the temple we drove a little ways to the BYU campus and bookstore.. it's kind of tradition that we always go there and get a few things! My sister also still claims she is going there for college one day so she's likes to go and see the campus! Afterwards we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Adam hadn't been for a really long itme and neither had I so we were excited to see this place! It was a lot of fun to see the different culturals and all their traditions. It was also really humid that day so don't mind my disgusting pictures! In one of the 'villages' at the center I think we were in the Hawaii village the guy was telling us some traditions of Hawaii and then taught us the hula dance - He was having us all swing our hips and we happened to be in the front row, we all know my mom is hot stuff and my dad was kind of behind her, and the instructor said, 'Sir, you need to stop starring, that's not part of the hula' - it was hilarious and my mom got so embarassed! But it was a really great day. We went to the really pretty look out where the cliffs are, this is such a pretty place where the waves crash and the water looks so turquoise! We drove around the East side of the island and then through Honolulu on our way back to the Resort and stopped at Dave & Busters for dinner. The bottom picture is just Adam and Trevor playing some bball in the arcade. 

Day 5: Relaxing morning by the pool and Fia Fia Luau at the Resort! We spent our morning this day relaxing and playing in the pool! We then drove to Matsupoto (spelling?) for some famour shaved ice! It was delicious! When we were done there we came back to the resort to get ready for the Luau Fia Fia! It was so fun! Every year I've gone to Hawaii we've gone to this luau and every time I have a blast. They are so entertaining and full of life! I love listening to their music and their humor. It also is a great excuse to watch the sunset which is the best at this resort. . as you can see in the pictures below! Such a great night! :) 



Day 6: This day we headed out for a hike to a 150 ft waterfall! None of us had hiked this before and we were really excited to see the waterfall.. well some of us weren't so excited for the 'hiking' part.. (Adam & Dad) .. But the hike was set to be 'easy' so we weren't really nervous. Well the hike was beautiful it was seriously back in the jungle part of Hawaii and the waterfall at the end was gorgeous! It definitley wasn't an 'easy' hike though! Especially because it was so muddy and there were a lot of stairs and rocks to climb up on. All of us got really dirty from the hike! Afterwards we went to this restaurant called 'Boots and Kimos' and they are famous for the macademia nut pancakes! And yes I tried them yes they were delicious! Since we were close to Waikiki in downtown Honolulu we decided to go down there and play on the beach! Adam remembers it a little bit from when he went when he was young and I had never been on Waikiki before! It was actually an absolute blast to play on the beach and in the water! It was packed, as to be expected on this touristy part of the island, but it was so fun. We all got in the water right away since it was so hot and had so much fun letting the waves beat us back and forth! I had a couple pretty good hits that got me down a little but it was a lot of fun! Even my mom got in the ocean that day and that is definitley saying something! Adam and I left separatley from my family from Honolulu just at the perfect 5 o'clock hour, haha.. yes we hit Honolulu traffic! Not our favorite as you can tell by our sad/mad picture below! For dinner that night we went next door to the new Disney resort next door to our Marriott! It was such a gorgeous resort! It made me want to have a bunch of kids and take them there! It was a kids fantasty and mine, ha.. They had beautiful grounds and play grounds and a lazy river, it was just great. We ate at a really good buffet that night there, our 2nd to last night on the island. I hope to go back one day!

Day 7: Our last official full day in Hawaii we went snorkling that morning! Unfortunately I didn't take any photos from the snorkling adventure! We went on a boat that morning early that takes us out to Electric Beach which is just northwest of our resort. The water was a little chilly and I always get nervous before I get in the water but it was a beautiful morning and we saw some amazing colorful fish! There was a big reef below where we were snorkling at so there was a lot of fish by the reef. There was some bright turquois fish, yellow stripped fish, and all kinds of black white green and even red fish! It was so fun! Adam and I were sitting on the net they have on the boat and Adam went to get his sunglasses on and lost his grip and they fell right through the net's 'hole' :( he was so sad! Other than that, we all had a great time snorkling! Afterwards we went back to our favorite spot.. the North Shore and bummed around a little and went back to the HE>I store..Adam got his sunglasses back and a cool shirt..We also ate at Ted's Bakery - where they have their famous and yummy pies! I think that might have been the best hamburger and fries I've ever had! Afterwards for our last night in Hawaii, we wanted to get great pictures and enjoy the sunset! We were right back at our resort where we had the best view of the last  hawaiian sunset we got to enjoy. As you can see in our pictures we had a lot fun! I didn't realize we were taking a lot of pictures and I changed into comfy clothes.. my Dad said I look 'sporty' so I just kept that in mind as my mom snapped pictures :)



The next morning we drove to the famous Zippys Bakery for their great doughnuts and then to Rainbow Drive In - and then to the Airport.. which is always a depressing arrival! Our plane ride home was pretty short and smooth for the most part. We got in to Vegas around midnight their time so we decided to stay the night there again at the Mirage. It was nice to be able to not drive home for 2 hours and then to sleep in finally! After we all got breakfast we made our way home!

And that's my big vacation wrap up.. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to go on this trip with my family and I'm so happy my brother was home to come with us and the two additions to our family! It was kind of different having both of my siblings paired off but it kind of gave me a 'complete' feeling and that was nice. I love this beautiful island and know that I'll be back again hopefully soon! :)