We chose Waikiki, Oahu, Hawai'i for our Diversification Trip this year. We extended our trip and arrived in Honolulu on the 18th of July. When we arrived this was the view we had from the beach. It was a full rainbow over Diamond Head. I'm sure that was our special welcome sign since I've been obsessed with rainbows my whole life. :)

We stayed at the Moana Surfrider Westin Resort. It was a beautiful place. We love to stay at Westin's because they have Heavenly Beds, and they truly are 'heavenly'.

This was the view from our balcany. What you can't see are the thousands of people on the beach. One of the many things we weren't prepared for. Oh...and I think we can all speak Korean now, but that's another story!

I think it's funny that we go all the way to Hawaii to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We had never been there before, and it was right next door, so we went for dinner. It was really good, we all enjoyed what we got but were too full for cheesecake...we planned to come back another day for a 'snack'.

The next day was Sunday and we went to church. It was a missionary 'farewell' that happened to be the bishops son. He sang a song before he spoke and it was awesome. Then, on the program there were two missionary names that are in our mission. It turned out one of the other speakers was the missionaries dad. After the meeting we met him and told him we would feed his son a good meal if he ever gets sent to our area. Small world. This was the church...

The second night we had a Edward Jones group dinner and met a really nice family from Iowa. We sat and visited with them for quite awhile and Levi, Cortlee, and I had breakfast the next morning with them while the men were in their meetings.

When we left the airport I was given the map and Richie said to tell him how to get to the resort. I immediately said turn right and he turned left. The rest of the trip wasn't any different. But, I kept trying and by the last day we had a system down. Here's the navigator (dad I'm so glad you taught me North, South, East, and West!)...

Sunday afternoon we went for a drive. Everyone really talked up the North Shore, but, I have to say that my favorite part of the island was the East Shore. We found this view of a blowhole. It was fun to sit and watch. Around the corner to the south of here there was a place to dive off and we stood and watched divers for awhile.

The water on this side was such a beautiful color. On all the other shores it wasn't as bright and deep a color. I could sit and watch the waves come in and crash against the rocks forever.

Another beautiful pic of Richie's.

This was a fun day to just drive and hit every look out point and beach.

We spent Tuesday at PEARL HARBOR and THE ARIZONA MEMORIAL. This was not what the kids wanted to be doing. All they asked over and over was if they could go to the beach. Cortlee finally said, "Why do we have to go to an Arizona Memorial when we LIVE IN ARIZONA??!!!!" I was crossing my fingers the whole time that it would be worth it.

I think they enjoyed the morning okay, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. We took the ferry over to the memorial and back. We did the headset tour and it explained everything. I learned a lot and it was really a solemn experience.

This is the wall of names of all the soldiers killed.

Look closely and you'll see a Merrill. I'm interested in researching that name.

While we were there, a soldier was putting up a flag, taking down that flag, and putting up another flag, constantly. I couldn't figure it out until I saw all the postage boxes and realized those people had paid for a flag that was flown over the AZ Memorial. Maybe I'm the only one that thought this was a little comical, but does it really count if it was flown for less than 10 seconds?

Resting in the shade before lunch...

Cute boys...

Wednesday we were off to the DOLE PLANTATION.

I loved the color of a lot of the pineapples. They said it was because of the color of the rich red soil.

We took the little 'choo-choo' tour. I hate it when my kids are too big to enjoy the funner things in life!

A shot of a pineapple plantation...

The kids couldn't wait to take off into the maze.

An aerial shot of the World's Largest Maze...

Lost in the maze...

...they did finally make it out. :)

Our favorite day was spent at THE POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER. I would have gone back again if we didn't have so many other things were were trying to fit into our short 8 days.

We chose to do the quided tour. Our guide was Nat from Haiti. It took him about 10 seconds to win everyones heart.

Another Hawaiian Ice. What else are you going to do to cool down? It was a hot day with few clouds and no rain.

Our favorite village was the Samoan Village. They aren't called the 'Happy People' for no reason. We laughed and laughed during this show. The 'tree climber' climbed up and got a coconut, then as he climbed down he gave us some GQ poses for everyone to snap pictures of him.

The funniest guy of all was this one. He explained their culture and had us laughing the entire time. Did you know that in Samoa the men do all the cooking to show respect for the women and their duties? Anyone want to move to Samoa with me?

The end of the day was a Luau and then a show called Horizons. This picture is when they pulled the pig out of the ground. We got to be there on the first night of a new show, which was fun. The show was about family and the circle of life, passing from generation to generation. We loved it.

HANAUMA BAY NATURE PRESERVE:

We heard this was the best place to snorkel. It was a beautiful place, but, yet again, VERY crowded. The kids were really excited. We hadn't been snorkeling since St. Thomas and that was a unbelievable experience. This is the view as we walked down the mountain to the beach.

Here they are getting ready to swim out.

On their way...

About this time, someone on the beach told Richie that you have to go quite a ways out to really see anything. I think they started to realize it, too. They came back pretty quick.

Can I add...Cortlee was not happy about it!

So, being the great mom that I am, I said, "I'll go out with you."

HA! I don't think so! It was really murky for a very long way, then I looked up and saw how far we were from the shore and I started back. Cortlee was still ticked. We heard it was actually 200-300 yards that you have to go. After I explained how far that was, she STILL wanted to go. I felt really bad we had them looking forward to it for so long and it turned out the way it did. Afterwards, we were talking to some people and they said that the years of tourism had really damaged the bay and it was pushing the life back farther and farther. (I wish we could of had that conversation a day earlier.)

We started our last day hiking DIAMOND HEAD CRATER. It is a 0.8 mile hike to the top. We got started later than we would have liked and it was really hot. This is a view from the start of the switch backs up the mountain.

We are half way there!

Okay, ready for a story? At the bottom of the trail there are all these warnings...be careful if you have heart problems, respiratory issues, are pregnant, etc. What did they forget to mention? CLAUSTROPHOBIA!!! This is me running from the longest, darkest, narrowest tunnel ever.

This is my family going on without me...

Cortlee ended up coming back for me and told me it wasn't really that bad and that I could do it...blah, blah, blah...so I waited until there was a break in the people and I took off. By the time I got to the end I was practically hyperventilating. At one point she turned around and said, "You better not pass out on me!" When I got through I was so proud of myself, and then I saw...

More stairs...

Okay, I can do that. But then I heard a woman talking about the concrete bunker that had a spiral staircase in it, wide enough for one person, and it went up a few stories. Hmmmm, Don't Think So! I stayed put. Man and children moved on. Another tunnel...

Tell me again what I missed out on by not going to the top.....??? Thanks anyway.

As I sat below all I could think of is how far I had gotten and how close I was, but what I was happy about, was the fact that I knew Richie would be taking some great pictures. I could see everything after all. Levi and Cortlee at the top!

View of Honolulu. This is the part of Hawaii that we didn't expect. Honolulu is just another huge city. We heard on the radio that over 75% of the population of Hawaii lives in Honolulu. I believe it, even though it seems mathematically impossible.

Later that day we happened to make a wrong turn and ended up here. It's called NUUANU PALI POINT. The story goes that a King wanted to unite the Hawaiian islands and another didn't. The battle ended up here where King Kamehameha and soldiers pushed the other 400 warriors off this cliff to their death. He then united the islands and became the last king of Hawaii.

Cortlee pretending to jump over...where's LaLa when you need her :) JK There was something on the other side of the railing they were trying to get. I put a stop to that!

Okay, so the best breakfast we had the entire trip (next to the smoothie bowls...which I LOVED) was actually a lunch we had in Kailua. It was at Boots and Kimos. It is the epitome of a hole in the wall, but they make the BEST Macadamia Nut Pancakes! The syrup reminded me of Buttermilk Syrup, except better, and flavored with Macadamia. MMMM, good!

The next favorite breakfast was had by Cortlee. We ran into McDonalds for a quick breakfast and she ordered Combo #3 which was Spam, Eggs, and Rice. She loved it.

The last day we took off and drove around the entire island. We passed by most places we had already seen and that gave us time to stop at some new places. This is the BYU Hawaii campus. Levi said he's coming back. I told him, "No."

The LAIE TEMPLE has been closed for renovation. Since being built in 1919 changes are being made and everything down to the plumbing refurbished. They said it will be about another year before it opens. It was a beautiful temple. (Silly statement...aren't they all!!?!?!!!) While in the Visitors Center we ran into a family from Phoenix. After Richie did his typical interview it ended up that their son just married our bishops daughter last month. Yet again an example of how small the world is...especially within the church.

The last night we had an Edward Jones group dinner on the beach with a band. As usual, we always hate to see it end, but we are so excited to get home :)

Levi saying "ALOHA" in the sand.

As usual, it's great to go on trips, but really, it's the time together and memories made that's the best. ALOHA!!!