As a recommendation from some friends, we decided to check out Lanikai Beach. I'm so glad we did! It has topped my list of most favorite beaches ever. Aside from the terrible parking, this beach is pretty special. The sand is the softest sand I've even felt, the waves were not overbearing and the water was a beautiful shade of aqua green. It was not ideal for snorkeling, but that didn't matter to us. We returned to this beach several times throughout the week. We preferred it over any other places. While there were tourist there, like us, I think it was more of a spot for locals.
On Sunday we went to the local ward and then back home to have a nice dinner that didn't include chicken strips or french fries. And then we decided to hang close to our house and explore the beaches right close by. We had to walk down a kind of hidden path to get to this private secluded beach to watch the sunset.
It was pretty dreamy
We made several stops at roadside fruit stands and food trucks. This was a favorite of ours on our last trip, we just knew we had to stop there again.
After we gobbled up our fresh fruit we drove over the the LDS Temple and did some temple touching. We thought it would be fun to take Carmen to do baptism, but she left her recommend at home AND they were closed for cleaning.
After the temple we rode over to the Polynesian Culture Center for the rest of the day. We explored a lot of different islands and had a fun, HOT, long day. I didn't take a ton of pictures here. We were on the move most of the time. But we made these cool fish out of long leaves.
Watched guys climb trees to pick coconuts and open them likety split.
And made music with these rain sticks.
Watched the parade of floats
And paddled through the canal
And ended the evening at an authentic Luau and show.
The next day we took a scenic drive around the south shore and up the east side of the island. We had started out in anticipation of snorkeling at Hanamau Bay. And after a lot of driving and trying to figure the heck out of how to get there, we discovered they were closed that day... so we continued back to our new favorite beach, Lanikai Beach.
After soaking up the rays at the beach, we decided to head over to Sharks Cove to do some snorkeling. This spot is so great because it's really shallow and perfect for kids and first timers.
Dallin was pretty stoked about snorkeling, until he actually put his face in the water and saw everything that was swimming right around him. Then he pretty much refused to be in the water! He was pretty scared of all the fish.
But these girls were fearless! They kept swimming out deeper and deeper and getting so excited about all that they saw.
David was a saint and hung back with Dallin who just wanted to hang out on this large rock. What he didn't realize was his rock was getting smaller and smaller as the tide came in.
I loved every minute of watching my girls discover so many beautiful things under the water. My underwater pictures skills are pretty poor, but trust me, it was amazing under there.
Here's a panoramic view of Sharks Cove, where we snorkeled. And where David had his Fitbit stolen...
Our final stop of our trip was Pearl Harbor on our way to the airport. We had to leave on an educational note, so here we learned about the attack at Pearl Harbor. It was such a solemn sacred spot to visit. I felt a real reverence there.
Then these kids and myself went over to explore a submarine. Dallin had been so excited about this possibility all week! But once again, when we were actually down in the sub, he was pretty nervous about the whole idea of being in such a tight spot UNDER the water.
You should have seen the look of sheer horror on Dallin's face when I picked up this phone and pretended to talk on it! And just beside the phone was some sort of wheel, that could have looked like a steering wheel to him. I pretended to steer the sub away and he was horrified! He told me to put the phone down and to leave the submarine where it was!! Us girls got a good laugh out of the whole thing.
This was on our layover in Los Angeles on the way home. It pretty much sums up how we all felt. Exhausted and ready for our own beds.
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