Oahu

Okay, get ready for about a million pictures again. Let's face it though, Hawaii is best described by looking. It's so beautiful! So, we left Maui and flew to Oahu to meet some great friends Dave, Jenny, Zach, and Amber to spend a week with them. It seemed like we had a lot of relaxing down time while we were there, but looking at all the pictures of what we did makes it look like we were always on the go. We stayed in a beach front condo, but that wasn't the only beach we visited. Waimea Bay was one of the favorites for all. The boys especially loved the beach because of how HUGE the waves were!! They were so big people weren't allowed to get in the ocean some days. The girls soaked up the sun while the boys braved the ocean. This gives an idea of how big the waves wereTaking a little break Shark's Cove was another fun place to visit. It's a really great snorkel sight and Zach found some sea creatures for us to hold. Turtle Bay was a lot better this year than last. We actually got to see turtles up close where last year we just saw them playing in the water. Halloween happened while we were on the island and since Ben absolutely loves Halloween, he was a little bummed about not doing our usual Halloween festivities. However, we found something to do that beats any other Halloween activity The Haunted Lagoon was AMAZING!! We were taken through the Lagoon in a canoe and I think the scariest part was the fact that I couldn't stand up and run away when I got scared. To top it all off, we were in the very back so some scary swamp creatures would climb into the boat of hit it and I didn't handle that very well. On Halloween I did something I've never done before...jumped out of a plane! Yes, Ben and I went skydiving and it was AWESOME! Ben has been before, but it was a first for me. Here we are on our ride up to 12,000 feet.Here is the view from the plane before the jump Ben's jumpMy jump Another adventure was Waimea Falls. It was a refreshing change to swim in fresh water. 2 days before we left it rained like crazy and this is what happened. They plowed some of the sand from Wiamea Bay beach to let the water drain into the ocean. This is what it looked like It was crazy! Zach and Ben played in it, but it was moving WAY to fast for Amber and Me to even think about getting in. We hung out on the North Shore for a lot of the vacation and we would have eaten at a shrimp truck for every meal if Dave had his way. Another North Shore beauty is the La'ie Temple. Unfortunately it is closed for a big remodel process so this is as close as we could get. Although we stayed on the North Shore, we did make it to the other side to have some fun. These are the things we did in the Honolulu: Ate the famous Dukes on Waikiki BeachShopped at International Market Place

Hiked Diamondhead volcano Went to Pearl Harbor And of course we hung out on Waikiki Beach. The boys even went surfing!!Well, the waves weren't very good and it started raining, so the surfing was cut a little short. However, that trip was followed by hot chocolate with coconut syrup...YUM! We were in Hawaii for 13 days and it only rained 2 of them! Pretty lucky this year! The weather was absolutely perfect the other 11 days and the rain produced a good time for our husbands who are just little kids at heart :) Beautiful WaikikiThe groupMe and the Hubby