Hawaii: Part 1

Michael and I planned long ago to take a trip for our ten year anniversary.

We didn't really have a honeymoon when we were first married, so we wanted to do something fun.

It was a hard decision to make, but we finally decided to go to Hawaii.

Making all the preparations to leave was a ton of work, but all worth it of course.

Since Kathryn was in school still, my darling niece came to watch our kids.

I think she got a little more than she bargained for (Maxwell in particular)...but they all had a great time. 

Driving to the airport

We saw our first rainbow in the "Rainbow State" from our hotel balcony. Beautiful view!

Yummy treats waiting for us in our room.

Michael could not resist renting this car (they drive the same one on Hawaii Five-0).

It was fun for awhile, but a little too short for his 6'3" frame. 

Normally, the valet would bring the car to the front of the hotel for us,

but one day, he took us to the parking garage and said it was parked in our spot.

We were a little confused by everything, until we saw the sign. Cute! We got a good laugh about. 

Our first night we walked around Waikiki. It kind of reminded me of a "clean" Las Vegas.

Tons of shops, restaurants and street performers.

We loved hearing all the live Hawaiian music coming from the hotels and restaurants.

We also loved watching the concert under this awesome tree next to the beach.

The next day, we debated on stopping by the Dole Plantation, but decided to go in the end.

We ended up just walking around the gardens while eating a delicious pineapple whip.

We loved all the beautiful plants and trees, and Michael tried to catch a gecko about 50 times. 

They were too darn fast for him though!

One of our favorite parts of the day was just driving around the island and looking at the scenery.

 We stopped to watch the sea turtles for a while. 

One of the volunteers told me that they start coming to shore once they reach maturity...

Because they are getting older and need naps:)

We enjoyed all the fun little food trucks and and food stands along the Kamehameha Highway.

I was a little more adventurous in what I ate.

This one spot had about six or seven different food trucks...mainly shrimp.

I'm not a huge seafood fan, so I just went to the one with the most people in the line. Pretty tasty.

The waves were just incredible! I took hundreds of pictures trying to capture the beauty.

Unfortunately, my pictures don't do them justice.

The different shades of blue were so amazing and the waves were so powerful.

We also went on a hike through Waimea Valley. 

There were beautiful botanical gardens and a replica tribal village.

The hike ended at Waimea Falls, where both Michael and I went swimming.

It was the perfect way too cool off after the short, but sweaty hike.  

Roosters and chickens aka Jungle Fowl ran wild all over the island.

We ended our day by watching the Hilton firework show.