hawaii:day eight

you know when you have a checklist and you only have one more thing to check off and how wonderful it feels when you do get that last thing... that is how day eight felt... it was absolutely perfect!!!

the morning... i love waking up after camping and hearing all the birds and the ocean just feet away...

jones loved it... we had our macbook and watched a movie just before going to bed...

i was so happy that we did a little extra work so we could have the fun experience of camping on the island... it only took one extra checked bag so we could bring our sleeping bags, tent and a few blankets... then i made sure to bring my own wire hanger for the smores and a frisbee for the day on the beach... well worth the $23.00 to check our bag...

waking up... my boy is so sweet... i love that every morning he will ask me...

sleep good?

the beach that was all ours just feet from our tent...

just hanging out... getting ready to go to our next adventure...

the beautiful park and camp ground...

the beach was just behind those trees in the background...

brent found this awesome tree on the beach...

and i love the mountains from the other direction... so beautiful!

.....

first i loved this building... such a different look for mcdonalds... but more i love what is on the menu... thank you mcdonalds for making my breakfast even funnier... no i didnt try out the spam... i usually say that i would try anything once if not twice... with spam... i am going to have to work up to it... i am still not 100% meat eater... still working on the bacon, sausage and hotdog like foods... that means spam is ever further away...

for real though... we thought it was so funny because it is all over the place... we saw signs everywhere for spam and sushi... those two things should not mix...

reminds me of the movie 50 first dates... i love that movie... and the soundtrack is even better!!! for some reason that is one movie that they always played on tv in mexico... so we have seen it quite a few times... and laughed every time...

yes... i took a picture at the drive thru... they were probably wondering why i was laughing so hard while ordering a bacon egg and cheese biscuit... nothing funny about those...

.....

to the beach...

not too far from where we camped we found another beach... papa'iloa beach...

we found this poor guy...

and this one...

the birds had a feast... there were so many of them on the beach...

then... can you believe it... we stumbled upon the beach scene for lost... seriously i think people mean to come here... but we didnt even know it was here until we were right there... it was so crazy... they have a security guard back in there that watches you like a hawk...

can anyone tell us whose huts those are???

we only have watched the first two seasons... then it was too difficult to watch because of being in mexico... they aired different episodes and different times... and you cant use hulu or anything like hulu out of the usa... anyhow... we dont know what is going on... or who these belong too...

except this one... brent knew it was sawyers hut... can you believe that i am standing feet from where they film the whole thing... crazy!!!

the burial grounds from lost...

and then...

they were constructing this plane just down the beach from the beach hut scenes... we asked some workers what they were doing and they said they were getting ready for filming that would start the next day...

i wanted to be an extra so bad... too bad we had a flight to catch at 7am...

we saw two more couples that came to see the lost filming sites and we told them about the plane... and asked them what is going on and what the plane is all about... she said... supposedly they, the original people from oceanic 815, have to get back to the island and they take the plane being constructed behind us back to the island...

after all the amazing lost sites... we just played on the beach and in the surf... the waves were so fun... and it was perfect... we were the only ones on this beach...

i love the above picture to show how alone we were... almost as if we were in the middle of absolutely no where...

when thinking what i wanted to do while in hawaii... this was exactly what i wanted...

...exclusivism...

one day of just us playing and doing whatever we wanted...

the feeling of being at a beach that is exclusively yours and to be there exclusively with the two people that you love the most... it was so... no words can even describe it...

perfect...

wonderful...

magnificent...

superb...

sublime...

marvelous...

you get what i mean...

and then to top it all off... while taking a stroll on the beach... we just happen to see some sea turtles... jones was in heaven...

these guys are huge... and they were everywhere... brent even swam with some of them... they might be slow to crawl on the sand... but they are quick swimmers! we even saw some baby ones... they are amazing creatures...

jones played so much that he actually feel asleep on my back while i was giving him a piggy back ride so while he took a nap on the beach in the shade brent and i played frisbee... one of my all time favorites!

and one of my new favorites...

brent bought a bunch of vitamin waters and i did not think i would like this flavor at all, but surprisingly i love it! so refreshing and how can you not laugh while you read the clever and witty labeling...

tranquilo...

tamarind and pineapple mix

2/9/2010

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...

.....

three truths and a lie...

which is which...

.....

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