Surprise...HAWAII Day Two

Sleeping-in the first day in Hawaii never works for me. In fact, it's usually not until the 3rd or 4th day that I can sleep in. The girls and I were up by 6 and after laying around for about an hour, we finally got out of bed and got going and got the boys up to start our full day on the island. I wanted to get most of the food stops checked off, so we would have a full day at the end of the week to just hang out at the resort. We started our day at Diamond Head. Ben and I had never done that hike, and decided that would be our first stop before it got to hot. Everyone else had that idea, because when we got there we had to wait 15 minutes for a parking spot. We stocked up on some waters, and then started hiking. The kids started to complain at first, and soon the scenery took their minds off the work. Breath taking views, and hiking up stairs and through tunnels made it a fun hike for all. I also was happy to start my day with perhaps the only exercise I would get for the week!:) We finished our hike with shaved ice from a Shaved Ice Shack at the bottom. Yum!

Diamond Head

We then headed around the southeast shoreline. Right past Hanauma Bay, we stopped at the Halona Blowhole. We hiked down to it, instead of watching it from above. We hiked down to the beach that leads to the blowhole. There was a nice area of sand, if you wanted to make a beach day out of it. You had to walk over rock to get to the blowhole. There were a lot of big black crabs hiding out on the rocks. We were having fun looking for them. At one point we were all standing close to the edge of the rocks checking out the crabs. Suddenly I hear Ben and Aubrie scream and start running backwards. I didn't see the huge wave coming towards us. It soaked us and almost knocked Sophia right out of Ben's hands. Luckily Ben had just put away the video camera! It was a great memory. We then made it over to the blow hole. Right as we leaned over to look down into it, a wave came in and pushed water through it, staying water everywhere. We got that on tape! The kids really enjoyed that stop.

Our next destination was up by the temple. We were ready for lunch and heard the shrimp shacks up there were the best. We stopped at Fumi's, another "Molly suggestion" The shrimp was yummy. I got the spicy shrimp and it was the best. Everyone was eating mine. After lunch at the shrimp shack, which luckily had a hamburger for Ethan, we were headed to Ted's Bakery. They have the best chocolate pie, with a coconut layer. Sophia and Boston refused to eat at the Fumi's Shrimp Shack, so we ordered them some lunch and got a few pieces of pie to all enjoy. All the tables were full, and a gentleman with a little dog invited us to sit with him. Aubrie and I ate our pie while the others waited for their lunch. Then the guys wife and daughter showed up with a whole pie. They said it was cheaper that way, but that they weren't going home so they gave us the rest. So we all got a piece for ourselves. They were locals on Spring Break. How nice of them to not only share their table, but that awesome pie.

After stuffing ourselves, we stopped at Sharks Cove. On the way there we passed a lot of the north shore beaches. All the sudden Boston squeals and says , " EWWWW I just saw one of those butt crack swimsuits!" Glad that grosses him out! Sharks cove was fun for the kids. It a shallow cove where you can find sea life. Aubrie was in HEAVEN! She got her Rocky Point after all:) We spent a little over an hour there. Aubrie found a HUGE starfish. She was going to take it home, but after walking a short distance with it, she realized how bad it was going to stink up the car, and decided to leave it. I'm glad I wasn't the one that had to tell her to leave it! We decided that we would come back again, with snorkel gear another day, because they had so much fun.

A common pass time for Ethan in between stops!

Sophia's cat Accident!

It was getting late, and the kids had been begging to go back and swim, so we ended our day with more shaved ice at Aoki's shaved ice. Everyone raved about Matsumoto's, but Molly swore that Aoki's was just as good and not as crowded. I got mine with ice-cream on the bottom. The ice was perfect and it was all so delish. The BEST I have ever had!! The kids got ice cream instead, and they missed out. Just another reason to go back.

We finally made our way to the hotel. The kids had a blast playing tag in the Lagoon's while Ben and I soaked in the hot tub. New people kept coming in and out of the hot tub that we would strike conversations with. Before we knew it we had been in the hot tub for two hours. I was just so impressed how friendly everyone was. In a nice Resort like that, it was refreshing that people were so down to earth, and not snooty. I can't handle snootiness. Thats why I always resist joining country clubs. After we had completely pruned our bodies, we finally made it back to our villa for more cereal, and some TV. Sophia knocked out right away, and the rest of us watched Cupcake Wars and Extreme Foods (I think that's what it was called). Another great day on Oahu!