Throwback...Hawaii

Oahu, Hawaii

Due to my lack of continuous blogging, there are many great stories and adventures that I have missed in between my "down times." To remedy this, I will throw them into my regular posts as "Throwbacks." Up first...David and I's trip to Hawaii!

David's brother Luke, his wife Nichole, and their 6 children have lived in Hawaii for a few years. Luke is in the Marine Corp and was stationed there. We had been talking about making the trip and decided we had better get on it before they were re-stationed! We decided to go in March since my pregnancy with Jackson was going swell. It was a fun trip, but I mus admit... its not all its cracked up to be. There is something very isolating about being on an island, and I have decided that I like our road trips much better!

It was amazing seeing the sights while we were there. My first required stop was Pearl Harbor. I am a HUGE history buff, and this was a must. When we arrived, we got tickets to go tour the Missouri, and ride the boat out to the USS Arizona. In the meantime we were able to "crawl" down in a submarine, and I literally mean crawl. I could not imagine living in such a cramped space for extended periods of time! It was really educational to see what life would be like, but scary to think of being in a small metal canister, under the ocean, hoping not to get torpedoed.

Next up, the USS Arizona. The tour consisted of a boat ride out to the final resting place of the ship, during which the tour guide gives a background of what took place that day. It is a very humbling event and one that I will remember forever. It is hard to even describe the feelings I felt for the men and women who lost their lives that day, and the fact that the US was drug into one of the worst wars in the history of the world. 

I will never forget what it was to look down on such a large and majestic ship, and to know of all the Americans who were entombed in it due to the events that took place on that day. It was something I have always wanted to see and I'm glad that I had the opportunity.

Our final stop consisted of a tour of the extremely large USS Missouri. It was large, if there weren't footprints on the floor to guide our steps we would have gotten lost! There were so many decks and rooms, and sleeping areas that it got rather claustrophobic. I nearly had an anxiety attach at the thought of being stuck in the bottom of the ship going in circles. We quickly exited back up to the main deck, and things went much better after that.

Another "bucket list" item was the Polynesian Cultural Center. Nichole bought us tickets to the Center as well as the Luau and Show that night. It was so fun!!!

The drummers in this "village" were so entertaining! It was fun to watch them perform!

Next, we went to another village and watched ethnic dancers pick volunteers from the audience to come up on stage and dance with them. These young men were extremely nervous, but did a great job!

Another great part of the Center was that you could take a small canoe ride right down the middle of the various villages. That was by far one of the most relaxing parts of the whole adventure. It is such a beautiful area!

And of course one's trip would not be complete without some INK! hehehehe.This was the best I could do on such short notice!

Finally we were able to have some great food at the Luau. One of the greatest parts of that experience were the amazing smoothies served in giant pineapples! David and I each got different kinds and then shared. Delicious!!

In the end, we had a wonderful time experiencing the different cultures from the islands. BYU did an amazing job with the way that you could visit each area, learn new things, and have something to take away.

Now that I have ranted and raved about how fun these events were, I will add my two cents about how awful going to Hawaii is when it is storming! Most of the beaches were closed due to the wind and the waves, and we were never really able to go swimming and enjoy the beaches. David did commit to taking a dip in the ocean, regardless of how cold it was. It went about like this...

Yes, that is him literally shivering because it was so cold! I was not brave enough to take a plunge, and after watching him freeze I was glad that I decided against it. It was disappointing to go to such a beautiful island and not be able to enjoy the beaches!

All in all, I only missed the kids a little (that is a huge accomplishment for me), and we were able to spend some quality time with Nichole and the kids. Nathan became attached to Uncle David and would watch out the window every night until we came over. Good thing we visited every day!

I have no desire to go back to Oahu, but am glad that we visited at least once! Plus the roadside chicken and snow cones were amazing!