Bye Bye Hawaii!

We didn't have to catch our plane until the afternoon so Dad and I were lucky enought to find a Jamba Juice and the made Acai fruit bowls!!! They weren't nearly as good or big as the ones on the other side of the island, but they made us happy. We took them down to the beach to have breakfast on the beach. It was relativley quiet and we just enjoyed sitting in the sun eating. Afterwards I showed Dad where Lisa Werner's parents condo was, so we had a nice walk a long the beach. We were so sad to say goodbye to our vacation. We had the best time!!!!!!

Our day ended with our plane ride home. We got on the plane at 1:45 PM and right off the bat we had an our of sitting on the plane waiting.....because they had to fix a problem. It's ok though, because I would rather be safe. Anyway.....then we were late getting into San Francisco because of the mechanical error and delays at San Fran. Our plane was scheduled to leave San Fran at 10:35 PM but they had delays so we ended up leaving at 12:30 AM and getting into Spokane at 2:30 AM!!!!!. The Astin's were supposedly leaving our car at the airport for us, so when Alan went out to get the car for our luggage, what should we find???????? Well it was Randy and Wendy waiting for us right outside with their car. Now mind you, Wendy is a teacher and she had to at work at 7:30 AM and RAndy had work too. They came to pick us up and surprise us!!!!! We have the best friends!!!!! They wanted our trip to end with one more big happy memory. They had been checking the internet so they knew we were delayed the whole time. Sneeky friends. It was a fabulous end to a fabulous week and we are so blessed to have the memories and such wonderful friends all the way around!! Until next trip..........

Sights from Pu Pu Ka Ka day....

We went to the beach for a while and then went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Another Yummy dinner. Enjoying the sunset.

View from our hotel.

The last supper. Sorry about the blur on this pic.

In the sun with 2,000 of our closest friends.

Pu Pu Ka Ka day!

This was our last day in Hawaii and since we weren't aloud to speak of this day or call it our last day, Alan had the real Hawaiin word for our last day. We could never remember what that word was so Marilyn just always called it our Pu Pu Ka Ka day. It seemed very appropriate. This is our hotel that Alan and I got for the last night there. It is right at Waikiki, but not right on the beach. Totally different from Haleiwa, but we liked it. A place to rent surfboard in Haleiwa.

Overlooking the ocean by Waikiki.

Cleaning up our condo.

So we just had to go back to Haleiwa one last time before we left. Alan had a hard time keeping his face from burning. This is what he had to do to protect himself. We hung our here for a couple hours then went and got our belongings, and did one last stop in the town of Haleiwa and headed to Honolulu. Brad and Marilyn's plane didn't leave until 10 o'clock, so we had plenty of time to spare. We got to Honolulu, checked into hotel and set off for the beach at Waikiki. We were only 2 blocks away, so it was perfect.

We are not Papparazzi!!!!

So it was another kind of chilly (for Hawaii, low 70's) and cloudy morning, but we were bound and determined to hit our favorite beach again, so when we showed up they were filming and since it was still early to get in the water we got to watch them do some of the filming on the beach. This is the movie "Soul Surfer" that they are filming about the Bethany, the girl who got her arm bit off by the shark. Helen Hunt plays her mom. They broke for lunch and Marilyn kept saying "Take a picture of her, take a picture." I felt so ridiculous. I am not Papparazzi! If my friend Lisa was here she would have been telling Helen that she was adopted and had MS at this point, but I don't like to bug people. This was the best I could do.
Dennis Quaid plays Bethany's dad in the movie. He looks ok for his age, but Dad is still wayyyyyy cuter.

This is Dad catching a wave while body surfing, just before he discovered what he had in his pocket. Ahhhh, so carefree.

Oops, I washed the key......

So Dad was having soooo much fun in the water, and as Brad, Marilyn and Dad came out of the water Marilyn asked Dad if she could have the key so she could get something out of the car. Dad says, "Sure". Just then he realized that he had the key in his swimming shorts for the last hour and a half. Normally this wouldn't be a problem. Luckily the key was still in his pocket, but this was a key with a FOB, that has a computer chip in it. We thought, oh well let's give it a try. Marilyn headed up to the car and a couple minutes later we hear someone's car alarm going off. I said, "I bet you $10 that that is our car." Sure enough it was. She was able to get into the car, but it set off the alarm and it wouldn't turn off. Here they are filming a movie on the beach with this car blaring in the background. Everyone was giving her dirty looks like, "Hey lady, turn off the car!" Dad and Brad went running up there and after what seemed like 10 minutes they got the hood up and somehow disconnected the alarm as Marilyn and I sat on the beach giggling. Long story short, Dad had to get ahold of AAA after 1/2 an hour of getting the run around from Enterprise Car rental and $300 later and 2 hours of waiting they had someone out there to reprogram our key. Expensive swim Dad had. I am proud of him though because he didn't let it ruin his day. After the car ordeal was over he spent 2 more hours in the water. This pic is of Brad taking the key FOB apart and trying to fix it. No luck. Brad letting loose.....
Long day coming to an end.

We love this beach.

After the beach we went and had Mexican food in Haleiwa. The clock is ticking......our time is almost up.........

Haleiwa

Today was sort of a wash. It was cloudy and windy, so in the morning we went for a run and then went to watch the big waves at the beach. We were almost extras in the movie they are making about Bethany Hamilton (the surfer that got her arm bitten off by a shark). I say almost, cuz we just showed up on the beach when they were filming and weren't really suppose to be there. Marilyn and I were willing to stay and be part of it, but the guys didn't want to so we left and went to another beach to watch the big waves and have our THIRD fruit bowl at Kava Root. Later we walked through the little town we are staying in and went to the best Thai place for dinner. I love this picture of our little town. This is the authentic Hawaii. This is the place that is very famous for their shaved ice. Had to try it, but the fruit bowls are better.

Our first day here for lunch we got our lunch from this bus. It was sold out of this bus. We got the best steak and shrimp I have ever had.

Here is the rooster that we would like to catch and fry every morning at 5:15 am. I was laying there trying to go back to sleep this morning and counted 8-10 seconds between each crow. I am not kidding........the problem is that I think that they are on the endangered species list because they have chickens and roosters all over this town. We could get arrested for trying to capture them. We even saw a hen and her chicks roosting in the parking lot of the grocery store.

Hikes and Sight Seeing

Today we had a windy, cloudier day so we decided to go on one of Dad's hikes that he had planned. Along the way we stopped at one of the beaches that Dad loved when he was here at BYU-Hawaii. I love this pic of Dad watching the waves. They were only about 10 feet, but they were beautiful. We hiked up to a waterfall and it was in the middle of lush vegetation. Very Beautiful.
Here we are standing in the middle of a bunch of bamboo.

We made it to the waterfall.......

.....and Dad was the only one brave enough to jump in. He only had to jump twice for us to get the shot right. Way to go Alan!

Luau and Show at the PCC

Tonight we went to a Luau and show at the PCC. I got my first real flower lei. I have wanted one forever and was so happy to get it. They were beautiful and they even matched my shirt.....Jessie would be very happy to know that. The food was great and so was the entertainment. Sun was in my eyes in this pic, but put it in anyway.
This was the big pic they took out of the pit.

We have the BEST freinds. This pineapple had a smoothie drink in it that was really yummy.


Hai.....the Breath of Life show.

Beaching it at Waiema Bay

Today we spent almost the entire day at Waiema Bay. It is a very popular beach. I think it's the one that the surfer girl Brittany got her arm bit off by a shark. We know this because they are making a movie of her accident and they spent the whole day setting up to shoot the fillm on this beach tomorrow. They are also gearing up here to film the next Pirates of the Caribbean. They are also getting ready to film a Clint Eastwood movie. Little piece of Hawaii news. Anyway.....this is a beautiful beach and perfect for Dad to play in the waves on. These ae the high wave warnings they had up. This didn't stop your Dad or the Gerrard's. For our late afternoon snack we went back and got the fruit bowls that we had yesterday. I am going to have to figure out how to make that stuff at home.

Playing in the sun

We felt so lucky to have such beautiful weather. Clear blue skies, a little breeze and big waves.
The waves churned this area up and they weren't letting people swim in this part of the beach today.

Dad had so much fun! I think he spent about three hours in the water. I tried so hard to get a good picture of him catching a wave, but couldn't get one. I had a blast just watching him though.

There he is in the wave. He caught this one all the way in to shore.

My Body Surfing Experience

Ok. These pictures have a story. This was me coming out of the water after being totally pummled by a wave. I am talking water up the nose, in the mouth, in the ears, etc. I was going to try body surfing in bigger waves than I have ever been in before and was nervous (because you know that I am such a thrill seeker.) So Dad gave me a couple brief instructions as the waves were coming in. There was a REAL big one coming in and he goes, "Ok. Now dig your feet in the sand and dive into and under the wave."...................so this is me getting ready for the wave. As you can see I am standing stationary with head down, ready for the wave. Well, I didn't dive. I just let the wave hit me full on and I got tossed around like a rag doll. I totally gave Brad Gerrard years and years worth of harassment material. We actually all got a good laugh. It took about 1/2 hour for all the water to come back out of my sinuses and ears, but I will try again before we leave.

We are in HAWAII!!!!!!!

So we will try to do a little day by day update of our trip in Hawaii. Our first night here went pretty uneventfully except for the fact that when we got to Hawaii they had lost Alan's luggage.....just as we were at the local ROSS store getting ready to spend money on new clothes for him, the airport called and told us they found his luggage so we were able to go pick it up. We were so relieved! Brad and Marilyn Gerrard were waiting for us at the airport when we got there, and once we received the luggage we headed out to Hale'iwa where our Condo was. It was dark when we got here, so we couldn't see very much, but this is what we woke up to in the morning. What a beautiful site to see. The only negative thing I have to say is that about 5 AM we were awakened by a COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO right outside our window. Yes.....they didn't tell us we had a rooster that would be waking us up in the morning! I can only suppose that he will be in the same place tomorrow morning. When we were on the beach in the afternoon he was still crowing away.......... Alan planning our day and Marilyn starting the day with our oatmeal.

Our hike along the beach

We went on our first hike in Hawaii out along the shore. It was beautiful and it felt so good. Here are Brad and Marilyn stopping to watch the surf. This little cove supposedly has good snorkeling, but the waves were coming in too strong to snorkel here.