can you say i have been busy unpacking?!? yep, that's right we are in New York! and yes, still unpacking! i truly dislike bubble wrap & tape right now!
excuse the sidebar, let's get down to the last bit of Hawaii. maybe i haven't finished blogging Hawaii yet because i am hanging on to those warm glorious days on a tropical island.
i believe i mentioned before that we rented the van for two days! well, one of the days we ended our day of driving down at waimea bay. in the winter, this bay produces some of the largest waves in the world but in the summer it is as flat as a lake! waimea has these large rocks, roughly 25' high that people were jumping off of. justin & i had a little bet going that i wouldn't do it. here's the thing, i am afraid of heights...like really afraid of heights BUT i am also way to competitive to let him be right! it was A.MAZ.ING jumping off those rocks! such a fun afternoon! ah, pics? not so much...linds & kristen have some video/pics of it, so if linds posts it i will borrow some from her blog! :)
i love this picture of justin & laney! he is such a good daddy!we had yummy burgers this night for dinner.
the other afternoon that we had the car we went to some lagoons! it was super relaxing, the weather was ridiculous & the water was calm & warm.
this picture of laney is irresistible! she made a sweet little friend at the beach this day!our last full day in hawaii started before dawn for jason, kristen, danny & me (the flood's were not able to join us because laney had to be 3, so sad!). we were up and gone by 5:15am! why in the heck would we rise so early on vacation? well, after a little resistance from my honey, but me knowing he would LOVE me for it after we booked our excursion to go swim with dolphins & snorkel. now, this is not your typical swimming with dolphins experience. which, i still want to do. but, this was getting in the ocean and watching dolphins pass by as they cared for their young, played & chattered to each other. it was spectacular! hearing them talk & then seeing 20-30 dolphins swim past you...priceless!
it was windy...so danny helped secure the hair!
each picture gradually gets brighter as the sun rises higher into the sky. it really is a shame that i'm not a morning person. mornings are magical!
do you see them?!?
you would think that no snorkeling after that could top the dolphins. which i don't know if it topped the dolphins but it was the icing on my overly sugared sweet cake! it was honestly the BEST snorkeling adventure i have ever been on. we saw beautiful fish, sharks, spotted eagle rays and....
we are awake now!!
i love this one! danny with a BIG cheese under water!
TURTLES! not one turtle, not two turtles but 10-12 turtles all in one spot. there is a place called the "turtle cleaning station!" they come to get cleaned by little fish. the most amazing part was the turtles have to surface every so often & some of them come up right next to you!
do you see the small fish at the turtles neck? they are working hard!
the afternoon was spent resting & relaxing! we meet up in the early evening & wandered the streets of waikiki. jason spotted this guy with parrots, so we grabbed a quick photo!
linds & justin had scouted a beach side restaurant earlier in the day & it ended up being the best dinner (in my opinion) of the trip. they sat us in a private dinning room, the decor was killer (i realize i am one of the only people that cared about this!), the food was yummy & the waiter was awesome! such a special way to end a great trip!
laney was crashed out!
for dessert...even though we were all STUFFED! we enjoyed a smore pizza!yes, it was as good as it looks!
heading to the airport!
such a nice way to end our summer! our lives quickly got hectic when we got back to LA. but, this trip was so special & even more special now as i sit 3,000 miles away from these incredible people that we are lucky enough to call friends!
