Our Trip to Paradise

I don't think there could have been a better way to start off our vacation in Hawaii. After a full day of traveling, chilling out on lounge chairs on the beach and watching the sunset was SOOOO nice.
We started off our vacation bright and early the next morning on the North Shore. (It took us awhile to get used to the time change. We woke up before 6 a.m. most days. That is about 10 a.m. at home. . .) We ate breakfast on Sunset Beach and then headed to the Wiamea Valley Botanical Garden. We hiked up to this waterfall.
The gardens along the way were very lush and tropical.
What a beautiful setting! I took a bunch of pictures here. If you want to see more, check out my Garden Geek blog in a day or two. This garden was to die for!!!
Okay, so these pictures are a little out of order. The next morning we went snorkeling at Haunama Bay. It was really fun to swim with the fishes. I don't recommend having any run-in's with the coral though. Just check out the picture of my legs. (It's down a few pictures.)
Jeremy, enjoying the view of the Bay from the visitors center. It truly is an awesome sight.
Okay, this picture should really go after the garden pictures. After seeing Wiamea Valley, we drove the short distance to the Polynesian Cultural Center. I definitely recommend visiting the Cultural Center, and the Hawaii Temple tour that leaves from the PCC. We got to talk with some wonderful Sister Missionaries there, and we also got to meet Bro. Eubanks. (That's right, Utah's favorite retired weather man is serving in Hawaii. What an odd place to run into a familiar face.)
This is another picture out of place. This is the view of the lower lanai of the resort we stayed at. These few tables over look the massive koy pond and one of the pools on site. Chuck's steakhouse is located just to the west of here. You can eat dinner and watch the sunset from here. Talk about a great ambiance. BEAUTIFUL!
I realize the lighting and perspective of this photo is not the greatest however, let this be a warning to all who plan to go swimming in a coral reef. Coral can give you horrible cuts and skin irritation. My legs aren't really sunburned in an odd splotchy way, they are irritated from the coral. It was not pleasant. This is what you get when you try to swim over the top of a slightly shallow reef. Fool me once, shame on me. . .
After Haunama Bay, we drove along the coast to Kailua Beach Park. Kailua is on the windy side of the ocean. This beach is known among windsurfers and kite-boarders. Jeremy decided to do a little windsurfing. He did an awesome job! (He has windsurfed before, but it has literally been over a decade since the last time.) It was really fun to watch everyone out on the ocean. Especially the kite-boarders. It made me realize how powerful and strong the ocean is. Wow.
On Friday, we went to Pearl Harbor. We had a two hour wait for the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial tour, so we spent the time taking a tour of the U.S.S. Bowfin, a.k.a. the Pearl Harbor Avenger. Here, Jeremy is standing at the controls of some kind of gun (I am not sure what it is called, exactly.)
More pictures out of order. However, this is the view from the 12th floor of the Ko Olina resort. This is the most beautiful place I have ever stayed. Hands down. This is a view of the cove right off of the resort.
This is just one set of pools at the resort. This pool actually has two levels, a cave, a water-slide, multiple waterfalls and two bridges to swim under. Talk about a paradise.
Back to pearl harbor pictures. This is the "Captain's Suite" in the U.S.S. Bowfin submarine. I am assuming that there weren't very "big" or clausterphobic people in the Navy. Small accomedations, very small.
This is where the majority of the crew slept. On the other side of this room, there is another row of bunk beds. Can you imagine all of those sweaty, stinky men sleeping in the same room?
Here I am sitting at another one of the weapons on the upper deck of the sub. You could actually still use the binoculars. Way cool!
Here I am again steering the sub. I thought this picture was pretty cool, until I learned that there is a lady who's whole job is to polish all of the copper and brass everyday. What a crappy job. This room in the submarine was gleaming with all sorts of knobs and steering wheels.
Here is Jeremy coming through one of the doors into the next room of the sub. It definitely wasn't roomy.
I thought this clock was cool. All of the numbers are there to tell you the military time. We took the picture to show to Connor. His class has been learning how to read clocks this year.
After Pearl Harbor, we took a trip into Waikiki. Waikiki is really busy. It kind of reminds me of Las Vegas without the casinos. This is a view of Waikiki Beach. Wall to wall people and surf. It didn't seem nearly as relaxing as Ko Olina.
This is a picture of the monument and the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. It is amazing to think that until 9-11 this was the greatest casualty on American soil. It is very solemn to stand in this room and look at all of the names engraved here. It gave me quite the opportunity to reflect on the attack on Pearl Harbor, and my Grandpa who was stationed here and lived through the attack.
Jeremy and I posing in front of the U.S.S. Arizona's anchor.
We spent a lot of time watching the ocean from right here. This is a picture taken from one of the hot tubs at Ko Olina. Viewing the sunset from here was absolutely gorgeous.
On our last day, we took a tour of Doris Duke's Shangri La. Doris Duke inherited her father's fortune at 12 years old. On her honeymoon, she took a world tour and fell in love with the Taj Mahal and islamic art. She built a home in Hawaii and decorated it with Islamic artifacts. Besides being a literal art museum, her home was amazing. I wish I had gotten a picture of the view of the ocean from her dining room. It was so pretty I am speechless. Here is a picture of her backyard gardens and her swimming pool. Believe it or not, her pool was 17 feet deep and included an olympic height diving board. Beautiful!
I know this seems like a million pictures of my trip when, honestly this is just a small portion. Jeremy and I had such a wonderful time. Ko Olina is truly a paradise. We had such a great time we can't wait to take the kids back in a few years. I can't wait!!!