Monday, April 4, 2011

Hawaii Spring Break

Ok, time to put all this April Fools day madness behind us and update everyone on our trip to Hawaii. This was my first time to the island of Oahu. It was great! Our hotel was awesome. Here is the view from our room in the day.

And here is the view during sunset.

It was so pretty!
One thing about Oahu is that there was SO much to do. Here is me trying to do a quick recap of all the fun things we did...
Sean and I joined his parent on a time share sales pitch so we could go on a free whale watching cruise. You should all be very impressed the both Sean's mom and I did not get sea sick at all and we even saw whales!
The beautiful Oahu coast from our boat.
We had all enjoyed a wonderful boat ride and had basically given up on the whole whale thing. We had turned around and were almost back at port when all of the sudden... THERE SHE BLOWS!!!
Me: I DON'T SEE IT!!!
I STILL DON'T SEE IT!!!
OHhhh! I SEE IT!
Actually, I think there were three, but we all saw them! Yeah!


On another event filled day we were able to see the Laie temple.

From the temple it was a few blocks down to drive through the BYU Hawaii Campus and to the Polynesian Cultural Center. On a personal note... Some of you may know that I always thought that I would go to BYU Hawaii. In fact, I got in 3 times! They rejected me the 4th time, probably because they knew by then that I wasn't really going to go. Well, visiting the campus for the first time I was so grateful that I didn't go there. I know that sounds weird because it was beautiful and fun and all but I feel like I had so many opportunities in Utah that I never would have had there. Most importantly I met Sean! If nothing else I ended up with the best man possible. I know that we aren't supposed to say that there is just one person out there for you but I just couldn't imagine any any one better for me then Sean. We just work together! On top of that I have great friends that I never would have met, I never would have majored in Athletic Training or worked at the MTC or gone to New Zealand... How different my life would be! Anyways, there is my little self realization for you. On with our trip...
Here we are getting into the mood for the Polynesian Cultural Center.
We made it just in time for the Parade of Nations. Very cool!
Here is me trying to relive my New Zealand days. :)


While in Oahu we were also able to spend a day at Pearl Harbor. It is very moving to be at the place where so many people lost their lives so unexpectedly. It is crazy that the events of one day changed the course of a nation as the US joined the War. The USS Arizona is a large battle ship that was sunk that day and was allowed to lie where it was as a memorial for the soldiers who went down with their ship and lie there still.

They say that the oil that slowly leaks from the wreckage represents the tears of the men and women who died that day.
From the USS Arizona we were then able to go to the USS Missouri where the treaty was signed with Japan which ended the War in the Pacific.


After a history filled day we then had a beach day which included snorkeling and searching out the wild life of Hawaii. Here is Turtle Bay where we went snorkeling. We did not see any turtles there though.
Unless you count me that is. My goal in Hawaii was not to get burned. I have finally given into the fact that I am too white to tan.

On the other side of the bay we found this guy.
Don't worry, even though it might not look like it, he IS alive.
We were all were a little disappointed not to see turtles so before we called it a day we tracked them down. Success!

One more cool boat I have to blog about. There was a marina across the road from our resort and we noticed a cool looking old boat docked there when we first arrived but didn't think much more about it. Come to find out the cool old boat is the Black Pearl! That's right, the real one from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies! How cool is that!
Who knew that boat was so crazy with detail!

Well, I think that brings us to the end of our trip. Fun times were had by all. Tune in next year to see what adventures we find next spring break.

2 comments:

Chelsea said...

Kyler loved your pictures, especially the turtles! He's an island boy at heart. Looks like you had a good time - one day I hope to take a vacation!!!

Megan said...

Soo fun, Amy! We were just on Oahu the beginning of March...and I have some almost identical pictures to you. Ha.
Looks like you had lots of fun!