hawaii:day seven

all about the food again...

ok... so remember how i said that we are now leonards fans...

well we are enough of a leonards fan that we went back for a second day...

this time brent tried their flavor of the month: lilikoi... and jones had their pao doce... or a portuguese sausage baked in a sweet bread... and then we tried the cinnamon and sugar malasadas instead of the originals... yumm!

oh... and i love that in this picture... you can see the leonards sign in the background...

on to the splash pad... thank you sheraton hotel... our hotel did not have a kid friendly pool...

jones would have played here forever if we would have let him...

we agreed that someday... we want to have a backyard with a splash pad like this... but rubberized...

next stop... matsumotos...

so my aunt and uncle who went to byu hawaii and lived there for awhile told us that we had to come here and that we had to try the hawaiian shaved ice with ice cream and beans... yep... you read it right with beans...

...my first bite... amazing... the hawaiian ice is perfectly shaved... not hard at all... the flavors are so good... i got mango and coconut... then under that is a layer of beans then the ice cream... i was a little apprehensive... i mean who puts beans in ice cream... or shaved ice... weird...

even more weird... i loved it... after my first bite... and thinking that i would hate this very different and weird concoction... i loved it... one of the best... no... the best shaved ice ever!

brent thinks not so much... he had the same thing... but strawberry and coconut... his words...

i am confused

next... dinner time... we had another place that was a must eat destination...

giovannis...

this shrimp truck is famous... and see that truck... that is all it is... not much... but they do awesome... go ahead... read about it....

shrimp was great! i had their famous garlic shrimp and brent had the hot and spicy shrimp...

so very messy, but delish...

next stop... our camp grounds... i did a little research and found some cool camping spots before we left... this is one of the things i was most looking forward to... it was so fun and it was free... all we had to do is go to a city office in honolulu to get a permit and then we were free to camp... we found an awesome place at kokololio beach park... a huge park that is right on the beach near the north shore and laie...

then we had to make smores... what is camping without a smore...

funny thing is jones didnt like smores... he liked his graham crackers dipped in chocolate...

and his marshmallows separate... funny kid...

i liked mine just the way they should be... altogether and melty good!

i love camping!

2/8/2010

hawaii:day six

we started off the day by finally finding one of the places that i read about... it is a must see... must eat destination!!! malasadas... a portuguese donut... we got the original... sugar coated ones... then one chocolate filled and one coconut filled... i love coconut flavor, so the coconut was my favorite... yum! oh, and i just remembered... we went to this hole in the wall restaurant two mornings back and i ordered coconut macadamia nut pancakes served with coconut syrup... such a good combination... my mouth is watering as i type...

we are definitely leonards fans!

jones would never pass up a donut... we actually tell him to say donut before we will take his picture... it makes him smile... if you say cheese he will freak... he does not like cheese...

on to more hiking... first we accidently hiked the wrong hike... but we were pleasantly surprised with beauty beyond belief...

our kolowalu hike was not the manoa falls hike... who would have thought... right... thank you random dude on the street for telling us this was the right way to the manoa falls hike... seriously, not mad at all, we loved the hike and there was only another 5 people we saw while hiking this hike...very unpopulated compared to the others... (ie diamond head & manoa falls... the two most popular hikes of the island)... we would have never found it without your help...

jones found a ton of cool things... leaves... rocks... sticks... all of which he had to carry for a little while... then dropping them to find something else...

yeah... almost to the top... running... love those mountains in the back... the vegetation is beyond words... so beautiful!!!

finally to the top...

waikiki beach in the far background...

who can resist a rope swing???

ok... finally made it to where we meant to go... manoa falls...

...and i dont know how... but it was even more beautiful that the first hike... in my book that i talked about in another post... oahu revealed... it said that it is an eden like atmosphere and seems to be like hearing a soundtrack of tropical birds as you are hiking because of all the different species of birds... very true... it was by far one of the most amazing places i have ever been... i wish the pictures could do justice... they will have to suffice until you decide to see it for yourself... sighhhh... the beauty of nature at its best...

brent running the steps...

the family in bamboo...

oh yeah... ps... those are my sunglasses... it only took us going to at least ten different stores and trying on countless sunglasses for me to finally figure out what i wanted... thank goodness brent stopped at 88 tees to see what was up the license plate stairs... that is where i finally found my new favorite glasses... i didnt think i was ever going to be able to replace my old guys...

sweet trees...

the falls... beautiful...

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three truths and a lie...

which is which...

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would you believe me if i told you that jones was more scared of the dog that was with these people than a crawfish... yep... he picked this thing up like it was no biggie...

can you see the size of those pinchers... i was scared...

yep... like nobodies business... i was just nervous he was going to get closer to me and show me.... yuck...

i told jones to flex for me... to show me his muscles... and this is what we got... pulling his hair...

would you believe me if i told you that brent had to push apart a log just so we could get through to the other side... the log must have rolled right onto the path and trapped us while hiking... good thing i have two strong boys... remember jones knows how to flex...

jones had to have his turn too... look at that face... he is trying so hard...

would you believe me if i told you that there is water in that tree and in that water there are fish swimming around and living there... fish... living in a tree...

would you believe me if i told you that these are the cages where they film lost... you know that episodes where kate and sawyer are locked up in different cages at one of the others holding stations...

thanks for playing our game... and wwwhhhooooooaaaa...

that was way too many pictures for one day of fun... too many cool things to not take so many pictures...

ps... no brent didnt split the log in half with his bare hands... i know you thought i lied about the lost cages... crazy huh...

well, they film all of lost on oahu and this is just the beginning... we found out that they were filming a diamond head... and a few other places that we had already been... and just you wait... we have a lot more where that came from... if you love lost... you will be jealous... so sorry!

2/7/2010

hawaii:day five

who doesnt love hiking...

one of our first hikes we went to was diamond head...

it was a very popular hike... number one on the island... so there were so so so many people especially seeing that we chose a saturday to hike it...

this is the view, i know not very good, to hanauma bay... some very popular snorkeling goes on there...

the view of waikiki from the top of diamond head...

lucky for us... there were tunnels in the hike that you had to go through to get to the top... obviously jones favorite part... this is jones and i coming out of the tunnel...

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a sign was posted... please do not feed the birds... jones does not know that many words yet... and brent.... uh... didnt read it... everyday... i would find them both on the balcony accidently feeding the birds... jones loved to eat out there so that he could drop some food...

what a great view... huh... we loved our balcony, although kind of small... it was so fun to sit and see the ocean, feel the fresh breeze and of course people watch...

this is the only way he would get in the water... we had to build his own ocean... then he wouldnt get out...

cheese burgers in paradise... yum...

love avocado on my burgers...

for dessert... shave milk ice with ice cream and mangos... SO refreshing SO good!!!

2/6/2010

hawaii:day four

we started off with a morning at the beach...

jones loved that i would fill our bucket up with sand and then dump it out for him to smash... i made a million bucket shaped sand mountains...

then on to the polynesian cultural center... or pcc... too long to type...

a very interesting place, especially when you learn what it is all about... the students who attend byu hawaii are mostly from the different islands and countries in the south pacific... this is their chance to come to a good school, learn, receive a degree and then return to their homeland with the skills and qualities of a leader to better help their communities...

they are given scholarships to attend byu hawaii... with the understanding that they will work at the pcc in exchange... there is so much to learn about each country and island... the south pacific is a whole other world it seems and you get a small taste of a few places while visiting the pcc...

jones found this cave and kept calling it a tunnel... seriously... the kid loves tunnels...

jones sweet tatt from fiji... it is the warrior tattoo...

hanging out with the tiki man after a yummy buffet dinner...

we then took a tour of the campus and saw the laie temple... so beautiful... the white temple built at the bottom of lush green mountains... we were sad to find out that the temple is now closed for an 18 month period for some major restoration work... guess we will have to go back someday...

(picture from google images and wikimedia)

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it is crazy how small of a person i found myself feeling while in hawaii... let me explain... hawaii is a state... of the united states of america... i know... you already knew that... but just read on... many times on our trip i felt so small and was learning so many new things about new cultures everyday... always surrounded by japanese, chinese, and many many other peoples from many of the south pacific islands... i am not saying that i felt unwelcomed or in danger in any way... i loved being there and seeing the different people the island had... just for once in my life felt a culture shock in a way... mexico never made me feel that way... i studied mexico in school and kind of knew what to expect... and knew it would be different... crazy to me that i did not have much of a culture shock in greece or turkey either, especially turkey when i almost got pick pocketed... did get stolen from (i still remember you cab driver)... or when to go into a church and had to remove my shoes for reverence and all women having to cover their heads with a scarf... i think i just expected it to be so different and it very much was... but one of my countries own states... to be so diverse and so different... it was something i didnt expect... it was a very cool and life changing experience... made me realize that there is so much of the world i dont understand and know... i want to learn so much more!!!

thank you for that hawaii... that you for that people of hawaii...

2/5/2010

hawaii:day three

pearl harbor

uss arizona memorial... as close as we could get...

there is such a feeling of reverence and respect here at the water front memorial and around the pearl harbor memorials... words really cant explain... if you have been there you know what i am saying... i especially loved how they wrote that these memorials are here to honor the men who are now on "eternal patrol"... we were sad to find that they are renovating the uss arizona memorial... so there were no boat rides... but we still got to see the movie which is so so so good... usually history movies can be dry and boring, but sincerely and honestly, this was so well done... short to the point and very educational... a great thing happen on december the 7th of 1941... by great i do not mean good, but huge, severe and infamous...

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then... the beach... jones and i chilled on the beach while brent went surfing...

i had to borrow brents sunglasses... still no luck in finding some for me...

i dont think he is in this picture... but i just kept hoping that if i took some pictures of the surfers that he may end up in one... they were too far away to tell...

what more could we ask for... a perfect 80 degrees... perfect sand... waves lapping just feet away... paradise...

for dinner we went to a local farmers market... we bought some fresh fruit... apples bananas, starfruit, and of course pineapple...

we ate hawaiian bbq... a local favorite... the chicken was amazing!!! and the pork was also good, but different... marinated with cabbage and a little tangy... weird, but good...

then our first try of a portuguese donut called a malasada... i had read about these and was determined that i would have to try them... they were good... but we had another place in mind that we heard was the best on the island... leonards... coming soon...