Friday October 10th
We spent most of Friday traveling and arrived in Honolulu at 6:00 pm. We went straight to the Marriott resort called Ko Olina and checked in, relaxed for the evening and got settled in.
Saturday October 11thSaturday morning we all woke up super early because of the time change. Craig was probably the earliest waking up at 4:30 am and enjoyed watching the Texas-Oklahoma game with a 6:00 am kickoff. Texas won which made Craig an extra happy person that day. After the game we went to the swap meet where we picked up some nice gifts at a cheap price. We then went to Costco to get food for the week, and finished the day just chilling at the resort in the private laguna and pools they had on site.
Sunday October 12thSunday we woke up and went to church in Makakilo and came back to the condo and just relaxed, swam and celebrated Craig's dads birthday. It was a relaxing day and was needed once the jet lag finally hit us.
Monday October 13thWe explored the North Shore most of the day. We started out at Waimea Bay where the waves were incredible!!! We then went to eat a local bakery that serves some of the best food. It is called Ted's Bakery and it was delicious. We then went over to Laie and saw the temple and the BYU-Hawaii campus. On our way back we stopped and watched surfers at pipeline and then went to one of our favorite places on the North Shore called Matsumoto grocery store but they serve the best shaved ice in Hawaii (at least Craig thinks so). We went back to the condo to eat dinner and relax in the hot tubs for the evening.
Tuesday October 14thWe started the day at Pearl Harbor and exploring the cool history they have on site. We also toured a submarine that is still in operation. The military took this submarine to Iraq. After touring Pearl Harbor and this submarine we all gained greater respect for our military and the things they go through. Thank you to all who serve!!! We then went to Waikiki and had a early dinner at Cheesecake Factory, delicious food as always. We started the evening off by renting mo-peds for $20. The place was closing down so they told us we could keep them for as long as we wanted as long as we returned them by 9:00 am the following morning. We got our money's worth, they were a blast. We concluded the evening by walking the famous street on Waikiki with all the street vendors and all the other guys who try and make a quick buck on the sidewalks. See pictures attached for more details.
Wednesday October 15thWe ate breakfast at a place called the Hukilau Cafe, Craig's brother Andy lived over in Laie for a semester and knew of all the good places to eat and tour which made things extra fun. They had Hawaiian stuff and normal stuff. Craig was courageous and got the Macadamia Nut Pancakes. I stayed safe with good 'ole french toast but this wasn't your mama's french toast it was on sweet bread. We then went to the temple and did a session. We had 13 people in the session, 10 of which were Craig's family. It was nice to do a session over there. We ended the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center where we were provided great Polynesian culture and food. The guy from Samoa is hilarious and is definitely worth the price of admission.
Thursday October 16th
This was our last full day in Hawaii so we were going to take full advantage of it. We went on a hike in the morning called the Maunawili Falls Hike. It was adventurous. We had a few things go wrong like Craig falling in the river with our camera and broke it. Becky getting knocked down a hill, spraining her ankle and hitting her head and Andy breaking his and Beka's camera by accidentally dropping it. We then went and ate lunch and went to a gorgeous beach called Kailua. We then went back to the condo to get showered up and eat dinner because we had a red eye to catch that evening. The only thing to put a dent in the whole trip was when we got back to the condo to hear that BYU had gotten manhandled by TCU and the BCS hopes were pretty much gone.
MAHALO TO THE ONE'S THAT MADE IT ALL POSSIBLE!!!
