Hawaii

I've just put Lucy to "sleep" but I hear her wide awake in her crib. Anyhow,

I have some photos n thoughts from our recent Hawaii vacation if you'd like to see...

Hawaii has rainbows on their license plates, and for good reason! There were so many. Brent and I were in Hawaii for about a week right after Thanksgiving, and it was a rainy, misty, humid, wonderful, hospitable jungle. When I think back on our Hawaii trip now, I picture us driving in our rental convertible with the misty mountains in the background- and the beatles playing on the radio.

We went zip lining at this big ole cattle ranch called Kualoa Ranch (several movies have been filmed there- like Jurassic Park and the tv show Lost). It was really lovely- not too scary at all.

our tour guides, 3 guys, maybe in their mid twenties, were funny and made lots of jokes which really made it fun. They also showed us these cool little ferns- nicknamed sleeping leaves- that would curl up when you poked them. Also, all over the ranch and the whole island, were these beautiful monkey pod trees. They were so wild and jungle looking. Brent teased me about this, but I love how different the Hawaii plants were- all the crazy trees, green mountains, and hanging vines, it made it feel like such a tropical, totally different from Utah location

one of the tour guides had mentioned how the waterfalls on highway 3 were going crazy that morning, so we took a detour the next day to check them out. Our rental convertible really pulled through for these views! Brent made the suggestion to rent a convertible a few vacations ago, and it is an AMAZING DECISION that I keep loving over and over again

THis photo doesn't quite do it justice, but the beach we went to with the most tropical looking teal water was Bellows Beach at an air force base- only open to the public on weekends. It was such a beauty- especially because before this we hadn't been to the beach without it being rainy and cloudy. So it looked especially tropical and lovely.

The last bit of our vacation, each day we would go up more towards the north shore to Sunset Beach, to watch these HUGE wave surfing competition. It was amazing- a real highlight of the trip. We would pay $5 to park in this lady's backyard and sit on the little beach with the rest of the crowd to watch these 20-25 foot waves and the crazy surfers on them. When we would see them surf out of the tunnel of the wave- that would always get the cheers. And then sometimes they would crashed by the wave, and I couldn't see them pop out of the water for like 2-3 minutes! I can't imagine what sort of thrashing they were getting. And then, after the thrashing, sometimes their board would float to the top of the water BROKEN IN PIECES. i mean, what the heck.

another rainbow...

We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center- and I wasn't sure if it would be too touristy and kitschy- and it was little bit- but it was really worth it for the fire dancers and all the dancing with grass skirts- mesmerizing how fast they go. I got a Dole whip though and was SEVERELY DISAPPOINTED. I was wanting soft vanilla ice cream in a hollowed out fresh pineapple with the cut pineapple on top. Instead I got a yellow artificially pineapple flavored soft serve. No pineapple juice. No shell. DUMB.

Happy new year to all and wishes of Hawaii vacations for everyone.