Nathan and Lara: HAWAII

Okay so the reasons why this blog is so late are two fold. 1) There were A LOT of pictures to sift through, not that I did a great job of that because there are A LOT of pictures in this post, but it still was daunting. 2) Looking at these pictures still makes me sad that this trip is over. In the middle of January we headed to Turtle Bay on Oahu with Nathan's family and we had a blast! Here are the pictures:

This picture was literally taken right on our back porch. That was what we woke up to every morning. *sigh* Take me back!

On the first night we were there it got super windy so we stepped outside to take some pictures of it. Notice the crazy hair...

See? Windy.

On Sunday morning we woke up and went to a farmer's market in a little town nearby. It was fun looking around and sampling all the local products.

After the farmer's market we took our first (of several) trips to Matsumoto's to get shaved ice. Please excuse the lack of make-up and my crazy hair...I was in Hawaii after all.

Enjoying our shaved ice.

The next day we headed over to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. The little kiddies were super excited to go through the maze, which is the largest in the world.

Here we are in front of the sign. Sadly, we did not get all the way through the maze. It was very hot, but interesting nonetheless.

I liked this post that they had showing the distance and direction of major cities. We were far from home.

Everyone inside the maze

We then got on a little train that took us around the plantation.

Us on the Train

Brooke, Max, Scout, and Zac. I'm gonna be honest, the train ride was not the most interesting thing, but we managed to make the most of it.

We finished off the trip with some Dole Whips. We certainly ate well in Hawaii...that is for sure.

Here is Lindsay's sweet ride for the vacation. Max and Zac were thrilled when they got to ride in it.

The next day we headed to Pearl Harbor

Me at Pearl Harbor

Nathan and Hollie

We watched a video and then got on a boat that took us out to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial.

Oil still leaking from the U.S.S. Arizona below the memorial.

Me at the memorial

Nathan-it was more difficult than you might think to get this photo...this spot was really crowded.

We took the scenic route back to Turtle Bay from Pearl Harbor and stopped at the Temple for a quick picture.
One of my favorite things we did on the trip was hiking up to Waimea falls. It was about a mile hike and ended at a waterfall where we went swimming.

Max and Zoe taking on the hike...I love this picture.

Scout is also ready for the hike.

At the falls.

We finally got in! The water was FREEZING! This is a nice action shot, there just wasn't one of all of us looking at the camera.

After the falls we headed to, where else? Matsumoto's to get some more shaved ice. I just love this picture of Nathan and Scout.

There was supposed to be a big surfing contest the week we were there but was canceled because the waves weren't just right. They were, however, extremely large. We ventured out one day to take pictures of them.

No this wave isn't particularly large, but the ones before and after it were. It was difficult to get a picture with a good one. Also, ignore Nathan's sunscreened face, there wasn't one without it. :)

There is a big wave.

Of course, the trip was also full of games...

Swimming...

And beach time!

I love this picture of Scout just laying out by the beach.

On our last full day we got the chance to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. On the way there we stopped at the temple again to get a few pictures.

The kids in front of the temple.

Once we got to the PCC we had a little bit of time to kill before the Luau so we saw a few of the shows and went on a boat ride.

Nathan, Hollie, and I on the boat

Here is the illegal picture I took. I almost didn't get it, but we really needed this picture because it was the one time that all (well almost all) of us broke the number one family vacation rule: No Hang Loose Signs in Photos. Whoops! What can I say? We weren't on the Mainland and the guy taking the picture told us to! :)