Playing Tour Guides

The past week has been amazing! My parents came to visit Petey and I in Hawaii. It was so nice to finally see them again. They've been planning this trip forever, and it was finally here! Petey and I tried to jam as much into the days they were here as we could. Unfortunately, Petey only had 3 days off of work while my parents were here - so the rest of the time I got to play the main tour guide! Here is a break down of our fun filled week!

Day 1: My parents landed in Hawaii around 11:00 AM. Petey had to work so I was the one in charge of picking them up. I've driven to the airport numerous times here in Hawaii, but I still make myself sick with nerves when I have to drive there. I don't know why I do that to myself! Driving to the airport from our apartment is actually really easy. Silly me! Once I picked them up I gave them both lei's that Petey and I had picked out. They were surprised to get them, which made Petey and I happy! Their flight went really smoothly - which was good news! After the airport we were on our way to our apartment. My parents were both surprised at how dry the side of the island is that we live on. We live on the Leeward side of the island where it hardly rains. Since its the summer season it rains even less now. Once we got to our apartment my parents started to settle in. I took them to the store to buy some food and other items they wanted. After we got back from the store we headed to Ewa Beach. My dad counted and the beach is only 149 steps away from our apartment. Not too shabby! We later picked up Petey and had a relaxing night. My parents were still thrown off by the time difference. Both our apartment and car don't have air conditioning, so the 24 hour heat was not the funnest part for them. Haha.

Day 1: Welcome to the Island!

Day 2: This was my parents first full day in Oahu and I was going to keep them busy! Petey had to work so I was the guide! We first went to the Lana'i Lookout. It was so fun to see my parents react to the beauty of the island. I'm still in awe! We then headed to hike the Makapu'u Lighthouse Trail. The hike is only a mile each way and on a paved path. It is a pretty easy hike - it's the heat that makes it harder. Sooooo hot! We made it to the top and explored a little more than when Petey and I hiked there, so that was fun! After the lighthouse we headed to see Queen Emma's summer palace. I'd never been there before. It's not the most exciting thing to do, but we enjoyed it! We got a guided tour of Queen Emma's palace. We learned a lot about Queen Emma and Hawaiian history from our guide (an overwhelming amount of information) and it was really cool to see the actual furniture and artifacts that Queen Emma, King Kamehameha IV, and their son Prince Albert used. The grounds around the palace were beautiful with green lush trees, bushes, and flowers. After our tour we then headed to the Byodo-In Temple. It is a non-practicing Buddhist temple where everyone is invited to appreciate it's beauty. It is located at the base of the Ko'olau Mountains - which are amazingly green! We all really enjoyed the beauty and peacefulness of the temple. After we had walked the grounds we headed back to Ewa Beach to pick up Petey from work. After we picked up Petey and got dinner, Petey wanted to take us on the H-3 freeway. The H-3 travels from the dryer side of the island through tunnels into the wetter side of the island. Once you drive out of the last tunnel the view is amazing!! Once we got on the H-3 our car was making a weird sound like we had a flat tire. We pulled over but Petey couldn't see anything wrong. We continued on our drive and the sound got worse. We pulled over again and Petey realized that our rear left tire was literally splitting in 2! If we continued to drive our tire would eventually blow up. I tend to be a worry wort and this situation was stressing me out!! Petey said it would be easy to put the spare tire on... until he realized that the car we had bought came with a spare tire, a jack, BUT NO LUG WRENCH! We couldn't drive and get off the next exit to buy a lug wrench because the next exit wasn't for over 10 miles. We called our friends Sterling and Laura and they came to help us. They showed up, but it turned out that they didn't have the right size of wrench we needed. They then left to try and find the right sized wrench we needed at the next exit. We had two cars of good Samaritans stop to help, but they didn't have the right size of lug wrench either. By this point it was dark and the tire was on the side of the car nearest to the freeway... so that was scary! We called our landlords Scott and Sophie who came to help us. Luckily they had the right wrench we needed! They showed up right as one of the cars of good Samaritans was going to leave. They saw Scott had the right tools to fix the car and stayed with their lights shining on Petey and Scott and had their flashers on to help keep everyone safe. Scott and Petey changed the tire in a matter of minutes! We were so grateful for everyone who helped us change the tire! It was a stressful situation - especially since we don't know that many people in Hawaii to call for help! We then proceeded on the H-3 and then got off at the first exit 10 miles later. We bought Sterling and Laura ice cream for helping us out. We then  headed home and went to bed. It was quite the night!!

Day 2: Makapu'u Lighthouse, Queen Emma Summer
Palace, Byodo-In Temple

Car problems! Grrrr!

Day 3: This was the start of Petey's 3-day weekend. YIPEE!!!!! This morning my dad and Petey headed to a sketchy tire shop to get a good 'used' tire for our car. We are selling our car in a few weeks and we want to put the least amount of money into as possible. It only cost $35 to get the tire and for them to put it on. The cost could have been a lot worse! Once that was taken care of we headed to Waikiki. I told my parents we'd have to do Waikiki on a day Petey had off because driving there, parking, and walking are crazy! The prices to park are ridiculous (so is finding parking) and there are people EVERYWHERE. We showed my parents the beach and then went to the International Market. They have a Christmas store where my parents bought their 2013 Christmas ornament. We walked around for a little while and then came across King's Village. It was a cluster of cute shops and food establishments. We also took some pictures with the statue of the famous surfer Duke Paoa Kahanamoku. We then took my parents to Spitting Cave. They loved it! We also saw a huge sea turtle riding the waves while we were there. It is such a beautiful spot! We then made our way to Lanikai Beach to show my parents. The water is crystal clear, really calm, and so beautiful. The sand also feels so smooth at Lanikai. We didn't have our swimming gear but it was still fun just to get our legs wet. Once we were through at the beach we got some dinner and headed back. We made a a pit stop on the way to our apartment to show my parents the Halona Blow Hole. We then headed home to get some shut eye. Our next few days were going to be even busier!

Day 3: Waikiki, Spitting Cave, Lanikai Beach,
 Halona Blow Hole

Day 4: Our agenda today consisted of going to the Laie LDS Temple, see BYU Hawaii, and then spend the rest of the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We made a stop somewhere near Kualoa for my parents to get pictures with the green mountains in the background. The Laie Temple is so beautiful! Its tucked away from the main road, so you have to know where to turn to find it. There was a couple getting married while we were on the temple grounds. We saw the bridal party waiting for the happy couple to come out of the temple, but we weren't able to stay long enough to see the bride and groom come out. Dang! We then drove around BYU Hawaii (it's pretty small) before heading to the PCC. My parents have a family friend that was able to get us 3 free tickets to the PCC day/night show experience! That was so nice! She also answered some questions we had about doing a Luau. She told us that the luau is cool but really overpriced. She told us the island buffet is still good food and a lot cheaper. While at the PCC we first visited some countries. We visited Hawaii, Tahiti, and Tonga first. We did some activities like making fish out of coconut leaves and actual fishing with a bamboo fishing pole with bread dough as bait. Petey and my mom both ended up catching little fish! We watched the canoe parade on the river before heading to see the other countries. We saw Samoa, Fiji, and then Aoteara (New Zealand.) At each country we learned about their history, their music and dance, and some of their activities and customs. The performer for Samoa was so funny!!! Each countries performers were pretty funny, but Samoa was the funniest. The performers name was Kap. He taught us how to make fire, open a coconut, how to get the meat out, and how to get coconut milk. He also had a fellow performer climb a palm tree for us. He told us that he would be in the night show 'Ha: Breath of Life' later that night with his two sons fire dancing. Once we'd see all of the countries we went and saw the IMAX movie that displayed all of Hawaii's beauty and natural wonders. For dinner we ate at the island buffet before we went to the show. We had front row seats for the 'Ha: Breath of Life' show! Our family friend hooked us up with sweet tickets! The show was really good. Each act/chapter of the show displayed dance and other customs from each country we'd learned about earlier. The overall message of the show was about how everything we teach, give, and experience with our children lives on through them once we are gone and how they pass that on to their children for generations. I have to say that my favorite part of the show was the fire dancers though. So amazing! By the end of the night we were all pooped and ready to go to bed! 

Day 4: Laie LDS Temple

Day 4: Kualoa and Polynesian Cultural Center

Day 5: Pearl Harbor was on today's schedule. My parents first did a tour of the USS Bowfin and the Bowfin museum. Petey and I had already seen the Bowfin on a previous visit, so we didn't want to make my parents pay for us to do it again. While they walked through the museum and the Bowfin submarine, Petey and I just hung out in the shade and got some snacks. Once they were through we walked through the other museums at the main Pearl Harbor site. At 12:30 PM it was our time to head to the USS Arizona Memorial. It was really cool, yet chilling to see the boat still in the water. To think of how many people lost their lives and how many people the USS Arizona is still a tomb for is saddening. The wall of names of all who died during the Pearl Harbor attacks was overwhelming. The USS Arizona Memorial sits above the fallen Arizona, but does not touch it. Oil still leaks out of the boat and will continue to do so for many years. We didn't get to spend too much time at the memorial before it was time to head back. Our next stop was the USS Missouri. I think we were all amazed at how HUGE the USS Missouri is. We got a guided tour and she gave us a lot of information and facts about the ship and it's history that we wouldn't have known otherwise. The ship was home to over 2,500 people during its prime. It has a post office, library, store, dentist office, lawyer office, counseling office, game room, huge cafeterias, and much more. The boat is self sustaining! Once our tour was over we got to walk around the boat. It is so big! There are so many hallways and levels, it would be easy to get lost in there. We could have spent forever in the USS Missouri, but we had other things to see. We then trekked over the the Pacific Aviation Museum. We were able to see a lot of old planes and even go inside a few of them. Going to Pearl Harbor was a great experience and we were all able to learn a lot more about the attacks! After Pearl Harbor closed (we were at Pearl Harbor 7 hours and still didn't see everything) we went and got some dinner. After dinner we watched the sunset on our beach before heading back into town to get ice cream and malasadas. YUMMY! It was national ice cream day - so I had to get a clown cone :) We then went back to our apartment to call it a night. 

Day 5: Pearl Harbor

Day 6: Today was Petey's first day back to work. BUMMER! I always love when he has days off to play!! Today was an even bigger bummer because I was sick! After I woke up and took Petey to work I wasn't feeling good. My parents and I were supposed to go to Hanauma Bay to snorkel. They waited around to see if I felt any better but I wasn't. I told my parents to go without me. I'd already been to Hanauma Bay with Petey, and I really wanted my parents to go!! The last thing I wanted was for them to stay home with me and miss out on something. They ended up going and having a great time. I was sad/mad at my body that I couldn't go with them, but what can you do?? My mom and dad spent a few hours at Hanauma Bay before heading home. They got a late lunch and went to the store and bought  Petey and I all sorts of things we needed (but didn't want to buy) for our apartment. They are so nice!! LOVE THEM! Later that night my parents and I ended up playing some card games (Petey was asleep.) When I was going to tell my parents goodnight I noticed a scorpion on the floor right by my parents bed!! I have never seen a scorpion here before! I have no idea how he got into our apartment or how long he'd been in here. Gross!! My mom went to squash him with a shoe when his tail perked up like he wanted to sting her! So creepy!! She killed him and then we got rid of him asap. I'm still grossed out! We all eventually got to sleep that night!

Day 6: My cute parents at Hanauma Bay

Day 7: I still wasn't feeling very good today, but I wasn't going to let that keep me home again! Today was a North Shore day. My parents and I (Petey was at work) first went to the Dole Plantation. We rode the Pineapple Express and then my parents finally got to have some Dole Pineapple ice cream that they've heard so much about! They were not disappointed! After ice cream we walked through the Dole botanical garden. Dole also has a maze you can go through but my parents and I didn't really want to. It was such a hot and muggy day!! It was really cloudy, which made the humidity seem even worse. Once we were done at the Dole Plantation we went to Laniakea Beach. This is a a beach where sea turtles like to come ashore to sleep. We drove by and were disappointed when there weren't any turtles there. We then went to Hale'iwa Beach Park. This is where Petey and I have seen tons of sea turtles before and even snorkeled with them. Hale'iwa Beach Park came through once again and we saw probably 10+ sea turtles. It had started to rain, which made the mugginess a little better. My mom and dad had a lot of fun watching the turtles! It was fun seeing them excited :) We then got lunch when it started to downpour. It was the hardest I've ever seen it rain in Hawaii since I've been here. It was kind of nice! After lunch I really wasn't feeling too good so I sat in the car for a bit while my parents went and walked through some of Hale'iwa's shops. I started to feel better and eventually met up with them. My parents ended up buying this really beautiful blown glass sea turtle as a souvenir. We saw one of the workers actually  making the turtles, it was fascinating to watch! It was still raining pretty badly when we decided to head back to our apartment. Once we went to get Petey I was feeling a little better, so after we got him we went on a drive. Petey and I wanted to show them the Nu'uanu Pali Lookout. In order to get to the Pali Lookouts we had to drive on the Pali highway through the canyon, then turn around and get back on it the other direction since the lookout we wanted to show them is only accessible from one side of the highway. Its a pain to get there, but worth it! Such an incredible view!

Day 7: Dole Plantation

Day 7: Nu'uanu Pali Lookout

Day 8: Today is my parents last day here :( :( I don't want them to leave! It's been so good having them here with us! On weekdays I usually don't do a whole lot (besides go to the beach) since Petey is at work, so it was fun to go out and explore during the week while they were here! Today we headed back to the North Shore. We could've spent another day at the North Shore if we had time. We first stopped and got pictures with the famous Hale'iwa North Shore sign. We were typical tourists today! We then went to Waimea Valley (across from Waimea Bay) to walk to the waterfall and see their botanical garden. It was kind of expensive to get in, but we thought it was worth it. The path to the waterfall is only 3/4 a mile on a paved pathway. The botanical garden surrounds the main path with all sorts of beautiful flora and fauna. There were a bunch of side pathways that took you to see other plants, streams, and Hawaiian displays. At first I was struggling to walk because I was weak from being sick the past few days and from not eating much. I eventually caught a second wind though! All of the flowers were beautiful! Once we made it to the waterfall we took some pictures and decided to hop in the water! The waterfall created a 30 foot deep pool at the base that visitors can swim in. Life jackets were mandatory though. The water was pretty cold, but felt so good because of the heat! There were a lot of people who didn't get in the waterfall, which my parents and I didn't understand. If you have a swimsuit - why not get in the waterfall pool? After all, you paid money to get to the falls...silly people. It was fun! My dad got right up under the waterfall, but I didn't feel the desire to do that haha. My dad took some pictures of my mom and I in the water and then we took some of him. We probably spent around an hour at the falls taking it all in. It was gorgeous. After the falls we headed to Sharks Cove to do some snorkeling. I had never swam/snorkeled in Sharks Cove before and didn't really know what to expect. The entry is pretty rough because the water is really shallow and there are rocks everywhere! I think my dad drew blood 3 times coming in and out of the cove. It was so shallow in some places that all you could do was walk and stick you head in the water, while other places you could fully snorkel. We saw lots of amazing brightly colored fish! I swam right through a couple schools of fish. It is really cool to see them in their natural habitat. When we were done we tried to see if there were turtles on Laniakea Beach again and sure enough there was! There were 2 sea turtles sleeping right next to each other! They have volunteers at the beach when the turtles are there to help keep people back (since they are endangered) and to answer questions. My parents were so happy to see them that close!! It is a lot easier to get a good picture of a sea turtle when they are on land then when they are in the water! After spending some time with the turtles we headed to Matsumoto's to get a famous shave ice! The line was really long (it always is) but it went by really quick. My dad got a matsumoto shave ice (rainbow with ice cream) and my mom and I shared a pineapple raspberry shave ice with ice cream. It was amazing!!!!! We thought it lived up to all of the hype! We then headed back to our apartment for my parents to start getting ready to leave :( We picked Petey up from work, went out to dinner at Big City Diner, and then took my parents to the airport. It was so amazing having them here and we really hope they had a great trip! We sure do love them!! 

Day 8: Waimea Valley, Hale'iwa, Sharks Cove

Shaka

Day 8: Laniakea Beach - TURTLES!

Day 8: Matsumoto's! YUMMY!

We had a busy week!! It was amazing! We love you mom and dad!! Thanks for everything!! They were here for 7 full days and Petey and I still didn't get to show them everything we had on our list. Maybe next time....