To celebrate our 3 year anniversary Darren and I decided to revisit the Hawaiian islands. Oahu was a blast! We stayed on the north shore near Laie at the Turtle Bay Resort condos. What a beautiful place. I can't wait to go back. It truly was a week in paradise :)
Laie, Hawaii temple: we were able to do sealings here on our anniversary
view from the Turtle Bay Resort
Ahhh....this is the life
sunsets over the ocean = heaven on earth
my mighty warrior learning how to defend our tribe
ahh Fiji...someday :)
nice tat!
you're almost there babe! Keep going!
I loved these bright, orange plants
Where to next? Probably the restrooms :)
Darren looks pretty convincing. Me...not so much. haha
This is the scence I woke up to the morning of our anniversary. Darren had hung pictures of us from the ceiling all over the kitchen and living room. On the back of each picture was a note corresponding to the activity in the picture and his expression of love. It was so cute! It made me cry. Love you babe!
I love tree tunnels. We saw one like this over a highway in Kauai
turtles by the Turtle Bay Resort. They were everywhere. We would go into the water to swim and then their heads would pop up a few feet away. I'm sure they were harmless but it was a little disconcerting.
Crazy trees! Little branches grow from the main branches but instead of growing up, they grow straight down then root into the ground. Bizarre!
I Jane...you Tarzan
For any "Lost" fans out there, you know the significance of this picture. Spooky!
This is actually where those scenes were shot.
beautiful foliage outside our condo
romantic dinner on the beach. Dinner: $$$. View: priceless
scenery on our way to the south shore
Pearl Harbor and U.S.S. Arizona Memorial
You can still see the oil bubbling to the surface some 70 years later.
The famous north shore shrimp truck. Garlic and butter...YUM!
Haleiwa: a north shore town with quaint little shops and cafes.We had the most amazing lunch at the Waialua Bakery. It wouldn't be complete without a gecko as a guest :)
the view from our lanai
Some miscellaneous highlights
1. lunch at Ted's Bakery: apparently a local favorite but we didn't like it at all. Probably because we are not fried food fans
2. going for a morning jog through the jungle then cooling off in the ocean. Nothing too novel I suppose, unless you're from Arizona.
3. Luibuenos in Haleiwa. Yummy mahi burrito and shrimp tacos!
4. sitting in church with all the doors open and feeling the island breeze across your face
5. Hukilau Cafe: banana and coconut pancakes
6. apple bananas
7. dinner at Olas: amazing fish and "decadent" cheesecake. It will "clear your palette." :)
8. swap meet at the Aloha Stadium: red dress, barrette and polka dot hat
9. Teddy's burgers in Waikiki
10. Sunset beach, Haleiwa shaved ice (with sweet beans), fruit stand
11. Laie beach park and Waimea beach
12. snorkeling at Shark's cove. Rain!! :)
13. coconut shrimp and salmon at Lei Lei's restaurant
14. overly tan man in a thong speedo (definitely not a highlight) :(
The fun and the funny
* raptor sounding birds and rain sounding trees (we loved these on our first visit to Kauai)
* neon colored fish biting Darren's toe & then coming for his face
* Tonga drum show: Kansas, Nigeria & Japan. Hilarious!! (hopefully I can add a video for this one later)
* Samoa show: coconut guy "heeee". You'd have to be there...haha
* people living out of vans in Haleiwa
* devil child on flight to Hawaii. She screamed for almost the entire 6 hours. No discipline whatsoever. After the flight we heard her parents say to another passenger "we'll have to buy her some ice cream for being so good." WHAT!?!?
* security guard at Hickam Air Force base yelled at me for pulling out my camera. "Did you take a picture?!?!" Ok. My bad...let's move on. Argghhh!!
* Koa wood picture frame
* "Hukilau.....hukilau" lalalalala
* doing laundry with shampoo. Now that's thrift :)
* Lady Antebellum tickets: my anniversary gift to Darren
* Donkey balls chocolate
* highway sign that read "LIGHTS?". Short, simple and to the point.
* "You past a good sale"
* "Explosives prohibited" sign before entering the tunnel. Um...is that an issue around these parts?
* Sunset beach was bulldozed