Monday, June 20, 2011

Hawaii Part 2

Wednesday, May 4th

After spending the day before at the Polynesian Cultural Center, we decided to hit the beach again. Not just any beach, but one of the beaches on Oahu's North Shore. During the winter, the North Shore is famous for its wild waves with surfers.

Before going to the beach, we visited The Dole Pineapple Plantation. We entered the world's largest maze as a family and I lost everyone. I couldn't follow the maze map for anything! The boys loved it.




Marcus before he ran away from me.






After eating pineapple soft-serve ice cream, we drove up to the town of Haleiwa for lunch. Dessert is always better before lunch I think. I had Kalua pork again, I don't remember/care what anyone else ate. My lunch was delish.

We wanted to check out several of the beaches, but parking was hard to find. Bert finally dropped us off at Waimea Bay parked far from the beach (bless his heart!).



We thought that since May is almost June and June is Summer, that the surf would be calm. NOT! Travis and I were out in the water on boogie boards and it was great until we tried to get out of the water. I made it out by dodging the waves, but then I looked back just in time to see Travis be swallowed by a huge wave. I yelled his name, as he crashed onto the beach. It freaked us both out and Travis said his face hit the ground.

Nathan and Bert were the next victims. Bert got slammed and lost his wrist watch. He was done for the day. We then heard the lifeguards announce to everyone to keep their children out out the water.

The north end of the beach had the calmest surf, so we spent the rest of our time there. Though the surf was more than we could handle, it was a beautiful beach.



Just as we decided to leave the beach, the skies opened up and it poured on us. Bert had to hike back to the van (bless his heart again!).


Thursday, May 5th


We started the day with a visit to the Byodo-In Temple on the east side of Oahu. I remember visiting there when I was 11 years old, and wanted to feed the koi again.








The boys loved feeding the birds more than the koi.









They rang the gong for good luck.











It was a gorgeous day.






Our main goal of the day was snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. We had heard that the parking lot fills up fast, so we had a back-up plan to hike Diamond Head. We were happy to find a spot to park, so we were good to go!








Bert, Nathan, and Travis LOVED snorkeling.




I have a phobia of swimming with any kind of critters, so I wanted nothing to do with it. Marcus and I enjoyed swimming in the sandy areas.






Buried Treasure













Hanauma Bay was a big hit with the Wagners!


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