Paradise

Nathan and I were fortunate enough to go to Oahu for a very fun trip with his business partner/friend Donald and his wife Amy. We stayed at Turtle Bay on the North Shore and had an extraordinary time relaxing, eating waaay too much yummy food, and seeing some sights. Nathan's parents held down the fort and gave our children a wonderful time at home. They were very gracious and kind. To top it off, they acted as if taking on our brood was no problem, but a pleasure. Thank you, thank you. These pictures come in no particular order...I just didn't have the concentration or brain power to be organized.
Our view at Haleiwa Joes (restaurant) during our last dinner on the North Shore.

Nathan and Donald watching a playoff game through the window of the restaurant we were waiting for a table at.


The last couple days of our vacation it rained pretty much constantly. During one of the breaks in rain, we decided to go for a walk on the beach and got caught in the rain...awww romantic. Here we are trying to take cover...but not really succeeding.

Here we are eating at "the shrimp trucks"...although technically Romy's wasn't out of a truck at all. The shrimp was tasty and garlicky. They even provided this sink outside with a handy ketchup bottle to dispense soap after this messy meal.


Unfortunately for us, I forgot my temple recommend at home so we weren't able to go inside. The grounds were beautiful though, and we enjoyed exploring them.

Getting yummy pie at Ted's Bakery.

The Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center...not the tastiest dinner we ate on Oahu.

Me at the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. It was a tad bit windy.

Amy and I leaning how to do some Tahitian dancing.


Amy, Donald, and Nathan during the river floats at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Here we are at the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We didn't take the tour, but we did treat ourselves to some delicious pineapple ice cream. We drove passed the plantation several times. I never got sick of looking at it...it was just so gorgeous and amazing.

Nathan and I are not good sleeper-inners. Most mornings we were up by 5. The second morning we were there, we headed out early to hike Diamond Head, get some Malasadas (yummy doughnuts at Leonard's Bakery), and be to Pearl Harbor early enough to beat the crowds. We did all of that by about 11. We know how to pack it in I guess.

Let's just say that it rained A LOT while we were in Hawaii...couldn't get me down though. It was still beautiful, and we got to enjoy this rainbow after one rainstorm.

One of my favorite things we did at the resort was lay in these hammocks just outside the rooms. As you can see, it doesn't take too much to please or entertain me.

Nathan doing two of his favorite things...surfing the Internet while watching people surf.

A not-so-good self-timer photo of us outside our room.

We did some fun snorkeling at Hanauma Bay before it got too crowded. However, it was a bit chilly and windy that day which are not my favorite weather patterns when I am submerging myself in water.

Nathan catching some rays at Ko 'Olina.

Our first full day on the island. Here we are after an entire day of soaking up the sun on the beaches around Turtle Bay. It was bliss...at least until we realized our skin was toast. Ha ha.