HAWAII (part 1 of who knows how many)

hello, hello! I hope everyone's Christmas break is excellent! I know mine definitely was. it's not over yet, but it was definitely the best one in my (almost) 18 years of living. it was also the warmest. so 10 years ago, I never really thought of "vacation" meaning anything except California or Bear Lake. but when my dad told us he was going to a conference in Hawaii, I decided that Disneyland wasn't my dream vacation anymore (after all, I had already been there over 50 times because I was blessed to have been born in California). all I wanted was to go to Hawaii. it was the first place on my travel bucketlist.

10 years later, I was finally able to cross it off. my dad had another conference there, and instead of being selfish and just bringing Mom like the last 4 times, he would bring the whole family! so this was our big Christmas present/senior trip.

I fell in love the moment we got off the airplane. the air was humid, there was Japanese tourists everywhere (Justin even asked if Hawaii used the same money as America, or if they used yen), it felt like Tokyo, but the air smelled of the ocean and fresh flowers instead of subway station. I was extremely jet lagged, so the rest of the day was just spent eating dinner and sleeping. sorry if you had to suffer through the boring part. here's the exciting part where we actually do stuff.

DAY 1: my dad left early in the morning for his conference. so it was just mom, the boys, and I. without a detailed schedule filled with museums, restaurants, lookouts, and historical sites that we needed to be at certain times, we just had a relaxing day at the beach. both my brothers headed straight for the water, but I just enjoyed sitting in the sand and looking at the ocean, hoping that I would get as tan as I was in the tennis season (minus the embarrassing tanlines). I just sat there while my mom rented 3 boogie boards and a surfboard. I enjoyed the boogie board, but the waves weren't as big as I had expected. so I went back to my spot and just looked at the ocean (keep in mind that I have ADD and sitting still is something that can be physically and mentally painful at times. apparently it isn't if you're looking at the ocean). once we got the surfboard. my mom would sit on the boogie board and push one of my brothers on the surfboard while I stayed at the beach with the other brother. finally, it was my turn to try the surfboard. my parents love surfing and I was hoping that I would be the same way. however, the second I paddled out on that board, I felt exhausted. when a wave came, my mom launched me on it, and it felt good, until I wiped out and cut my foot on some coral. but I wanted to try again, and this time I was more successful, but I almost nailed a Japanese tourist. I tried again, but I was feeling really seasick and if I was out there another second, I was going to throw up all over the ocean, so I paddled back to shore and gave the board to Justin. after a few hours, all of us were really hungry so we went back to the apartment to rinse all the sand off and found a substandard sandwich place. after lunch, the boys decided they didn't want to get any more sandy, and Justin cut his foot and Wesley had a horrible rash all over his chest, so they chilled in the apartment while Mom and I walked around Waikiki, went window shopping, enjoyed the fresh air, and went back to the beach to do what? LOOK AT THE OCEAN, OF COURSE! it was a very relaxing, beautiful day.

 Waikiki beach at 8 am

DAY 2: my dad had to go to his conference for most of the day, so again, it was just Mom and us kiddos. first, we went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation, which, according to my mom, it's pretty boring except it has great pineapple ice cream. we got there a half hour before it officially opened, so we just walked around, took some cliche touristy pictures, fed some fish, and chased the wild chickens. our ice cream was absolutely delicious.

 I'm the oldest in this family....

the next phase of our adventure was Shark's Cove. it had the most beautiful, clear water I had ever seen and you could even see fish. however, it was extremely rocky and just walking around in the water got annoying, so Mom got out the snorkel gear and we went snorkeling! the first breath underwater felt really weird, and it took a minute to get comfortable, but I loved it. I thought I could see a lot of fish when I wasn't underwater, but that was nothing compared to what I saw underwater. (also, I don't even want to think about how many people saw me peeing in the ocean.) we spent a good hour there, and then drove further up the North Shore to Sunset Beach. holy crap, these waves were huge! Mom told us not to get too close to the surfers and we couldn't get in very far, but we could body surf close to the shore. it was surprisingly really fun getting knocked over by huge waves. I made a mistake and wore my worst swimsuit that day and had a few embarrassing malfunctions. oh, and there was sand in every place imaginable and as fun as it was getting thrashed around on the beach, we had to leave before Mom lost a contact, I lost my swimsuit, or before one of my brothers got swallowed in the sea.

 shark's cove

 if you look closely, you can see Wes's banged up chest

 Sunset beach

before we moved to the next part of our adventure, the first thing we had to do was get all the sand out of our swimsuits. however, this was a lot more difficult than I expected because the only showers are public ones. since we had to move rather fast. Mom was the only one who could wash her hair. I was left with the leave-in conditioner and my hair was an absolute wreck for the rest of the day. we found some bathroom to change in. however, Justin forgot his undies and there was no store nearby that we could acquire a pair, so he was stuck in his sandy swimsuit for the rest of the day. after getting food, not finding underwear, and doing my makeup in the only public restroom in Lai'e, we moved on to the final part of our day: the Polynesian Culture Center!

I loved this place. for those who have no idea what I'm talking about, the PCC is a place where each of the Polynesian "islands" puts on a performance that tells about their island, and we learn about the different cultures. there is also a movie theater, a boat ride, several different places to eat, and many different gift shops. my favorite "island" was Samoa. the guys were really funny and showed us how to break a coconut and make coconut milk, and one of them even climbed a coconut tree. my favorite part was the fire dancers. I was expecting the guy to burn himself, but that never happened. I was amazed. I wish I could do that but sadly, I would end up in the Burn Center of some hospital. I also enjoyed the Aotearoa (New Zealand) performance and playing with the poi balls (and whacking Wesley in the face while doing so), and the Hawaiian hula dancers. contrary to popular tourist belief, "hula" is not where you wear grass skirts and coconut bras and shake your hips. that is from Tahiti. Hula is actually where you are fully clothed and dance and sing about nature.

after we watched all the performances, we got seated for the luau and Dad finally joined us. it was amazing. there were so many meats to choose from, and if anyone knows me well, they know I LOVE MEAT. I decided to try everything. my favorite was the pork from the big pig. we feasted while we were entertained by more dancing, singing, and more fire dancers. at the end, anyone who wanted to could go up and learn how to dance. everyone in our family but Justin went up and danced. I don't know how I looked up there, nor do I want to, but it was really fun.

finally, we got to see the big show: Ha: The Breath of Life. this was a 1.5 hour performance complete with music, grass skirts, singing, cool outfits, chest pounding, and you guessed it-- MORE FIRE DANCERS! this was the best part. there was more fire, and they did even more tricks, and didn't burn their bums! we weren't allowed to take pictures or videos, so all I can say is GO SEE IT YOURSELF. It is amazing! 

 cute flowers in the PCC bathroom

 Justin, apparently still upset about not having any underwear

 the canoe pageant (really Justin? GET OVER IT. we know you are still in your swimsuit and have sand in your bum)

our very photogenic family

well, that's the first 2 days. I know, so many pictures! so that's why I am choosing to end this here. but tune in next time to see Pearl Harbor, more beaches, failed sea kayaking adventures, more Waikiki sunsets, waterfalls, and more pictures of our lovely photogenic family! also, find out if Justin ever found some underwear! ok for real. the Beatles are on spotify and it's hard to type this and explain to Wesley that they were really high on LSD while they wrote a good majority of their songs, so that's why they are so weird sounding, but so amazing as well.