Hawaii!!!

 Tyler and I went to Hawaii on May 11th and it was the best vacation!!! We seriously had a relaxing, amazing blast the entire time. Back in January, some friends from work were talking about going to Hawaii and it gave me the Hawaiin bug so I felt like I had to go! We found great flight deals out of Vegas on Hawaiin Airlines so we drove to Vegas and kept our car at Tyler's Aunt Kathie's house. She drove us to the airport and picked us up when we were done. It's funny because the timing worked out to where it was perfect to leave on the 11th which is the exact day that we left on our honeymoon to Maui four years ago!

We got to Honolulu at 9:30 on Friday night and picked up our rental car then drove to Laie which is where Tyler's cousin Katie and her husband Brent live. We made a quick stop at McDonald's because we were so hungry! They live right across from the Laie temple and their backyard was the beach. We stayed there for the first 4 nights and they were amazing hosts! They told us all of the great beaches to go to, took us surfing and told us where the best places to eat and hike were. They have to kids, Eliza and Frank, who are both adorable! Tyler's cousin Zach is doing cancer research this summer in Honolulu because he's in med school, so he and his wife were at Katie and Brent's house when we got there. We all stayed up late talking.

The next day we woke up, made breakfast (walked across the street to the grocery store) and then headed out for some snorkeling at Shark's Cove. Brent was scheduled to leave for Indonesia that day but had passport issues so he met up with us later on that day and left for Indonesia on Tuesday instead. After snorkeling and Tyler using his new GoPro video camera that he got for his birthday, we laid out for a bit then went to get a snow cone at Matsumoto's. We walked around the shops at Haleiwa, then went back to the Speeds to hang out. Later that night we went to Kahuku Grill for cheeseburgers and they were delicious.

 The next day, Tyler and I woke up and went for a run then came back and got ready for church. We normally don't run on Sundays, but we wanted to enjoy the beautiful Hawaiian scenery! After church, we walked around the temple grounds at the Laie temple and went to the visitor's center. After that, we got a yummy sandwich and acai bowl for lunch then went on a beautiful hike to Manawili Falls. 

 The next day, Ty and I relaxed on the beach all day then we all rented surf boards and went surfing at Waikiki as the sun was setting. It was seriously amazing. I didn't think that I would be able to get up and surf but I actually did pretty well and got up and surfed quite a few times. When it was pitch black, we returned our surf boards, changed our clothes and went to Duke's for dinner and got the salad bar and fish. 

 The following day, Tyler and I used the Speed's surf boards to try to surf again but our ribs were so sore from surfing the night before that it was hard! I ended up laying out for an hour and reading my new favorite book, "The Forgotten Garden." After we left the beach, we went to Ted's Bakery to have breakfast. I got a donut and a hot dog croissant. Healthy, I know ;) They were so good! We showered then went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. They have a lot of fun villages where you can see what the natives do in those countries.

 Tyler participated and did wonderful dance for all to see :)

 At 5:00 we wen to the Luau and had a delicious dinner with pork, chicken, and other Hawaiin food. They had dance performances all throughout dinner, and Tyler and I got called up for a slow dance since it was our fourth anniversary.

 After the Luau we walked around the shops and bought some magnets. Tyler and I decided last year that wherever we travel, we will buy magnets so that when we are older, our whole fridge will be covered with magnets of all of the cool places we have been! After shopping around we went to the night show where they had a cool story, lots of dances, and best of all the fire dancers. 

 After the night show we got settled into our condo. We stayed at the Turtle Bay condos for 3 nights and it was really nice. It had two floors and everything you could need to be happy, including a full kitchen. 

 The next day we decided to go get a snow cone at Matsumoto's for lunch and head into Honolulu to go to the flea market around the stadium to get souvenirs and go to Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was amazing and we did a tour that I hadn't done before which went to the Arizona Memorial. The tour and memorial has a solemn feeling about it and it was sad to think about all of the lives that were lost that day. It was really neat learning more details about the bombing at Pearl Harbor and the war. 

 We were starving on our way home so we stopped again in Haleiwa for pizza at Pizza Bob's. The pizza wasn't that good, but it was one of the places that we went to eat at when I came with my family so it was fun to remember that. After dinner, we decided to take in the sunset at Waimea Bay. This is my favorite beach because I have such great memories of jumping the waves when we went there with my family a couple times growing up. We were sitting watching the sunset when all of the sudden we felt rain drops hit our heads and turned around to see some clouds and a beautiful rainbow! It only rained for about a minute but the rainbow was so pretty. 

 The next day was our last full day. We got up and ate Ted's Bakery for breakfast. They have really good breakfast sandwiches. After that, we then went to Waimea Bay for several hours just laying out, enjoying the gorgeous weather and reading. Tyler decided to jump off the big black rock and I got a good picture of him jumping off. For lunch, we got grilled corn and went back to Kahuku Grill for their hamburgers. That night, we went to see the Avengers at the little movie theater across from the Speed's house. 

 This is Frank, the Speed's adorable 1-year-old son. Their kids were so fun to be with!

 I was so sad that we had to come home on our very last day!!! We woke up and checked out of our condo, walked around Turtle Bay then went to the beach for an hour. Tyler as splashing in the waves trying to soak up every last second! 

We took a shower at the Speed's then drove down the gorgeous freeway along the ocean back to Honolulu to return our car. We had a bit of a scare when Tyler left his backup in a Jeep that he was sitting in at the car rental place. It had his iPad, phone, iPod, his workout watch, nice headphones and new GoPro video camera. We literally almost missed our plane because the car rental company couldn't find it, then did at the last second and had to bring it to us. We were some of the last people on the plane and we were so stressed out! Not to mention, Tyler had downloaded most of our trip pictures onto his iPad then erased them from my camera so that practically all of our trip pictures would have been gone. It all worked out but it was a scary half hour!

We got into Vegas at midnight and slept at Kathie's then drove home the next day. It was SUCH AN AMAZING TRIP! Now I just need to figure out how I can get back there as soon as possible ;)