Hawaii!!

First off, Hawaii was incredible.  It truly is beautiful.  Everywhere you look you are amazed by the gorgeous sites whether it be the mountains, the ocean, the trees, the fields, or the flowers.  It was AMAZING.  This post has been a long time coming because the mass amount of pictures is quite intimidating but as I looked through all the pictures I couldn't help but smile because I remembered the fun we had.  I think it is such a rare treat that my ENTIRE Winn family was able to go together.  Mom, Dad, Jess, Kip, Briele, Steve, Jodi, Madi, Halli, Cody, Lexi, Raymond and Nicole.  Incredible, right.  This was a once in a lifetime trip for us.  Not in the way that we will never go back (trust me, I have already looked at flights) but in the way that I have no idea when my ENTIRE family will be able to go on a trip of this magnitude again!  Be warned, there are so many pictures but its my blog, so ha!

 Raymond and I had the opportunity to fly into Honolulu the day before the entire family.  That meant we flew solo for the day and were able to stumble upon some pretty cool things.  First, we hit up Aloha Towers and got some lunch.  It was delicious and incredible laid back.  They only took cash, which we didn't know, so they told us to go to the ATM and come back.  We could have had a free dinner but when people are that trusting how in the world can you take advantage of them!  We strolled over to Waikiki where Raymond fell in love with the hog with big green wheels.  We took it for a spin, which was exhausting.  Oh yeah, we were the only ones near the water fully clothed and wearing a sweater.  Ya, we are cool.  We were able to see a turtle cruising around while we were out there and I got incredibly sea sick and spent the next hour trying not to share my lunch with the turtles.

As we were driving around we went through several tunnels and every time we did there was another amazing view on the other side. We had several rainy and dreary days but they were still gorgeous and the rain never lasted for very long. I swear we have now lived through a monsoon.  It would be bright gorgeous blue skies then it would downpour for 10 minutes so hard that the streets were flooded and there were hundreds of waterfalls coming down the mountains. There were rainbows everywhere which was also quite cool.

There were so many pretty trees, they were all so different but yet so AMAZING! I wish they would grow in Utah! As you drove along the roads there was green everywhere, sometimes you would think your lost in the jungle!

This was our first meal, as well as a shot of the beautiful lie's that my grandma sent home with us for everyone.

Our first night in Hawaii we stayed at my grandparents house.  It was so fun to be able to see them, they have been serving a mission in Laie for nearly a year.  They took us to breakfast at the Hukilau Cafe which was so good we ate there several times during our stay.  They also took us to their favorite stretch of beach and we got to enjoy the breeze, a quick rain storm, and some wind surfers.

After we picked up the rest of our crew from the airport we got some delicious lunch at a shack on the side of the road.  Sounds sanitary, I know, but ALL the shacks on the side of the road were incredible! Oh and this is our beautiful rental car which makes us miss our jeep more than we already do!

The house we stayed at was perfect,  the views were amazing, there were flowers all over the property with trees and grass.  I would definitely recommend it to everyone!

The little girls loved being able to play at the house and just let loose.  We also ate lunch at Surfin Tacos which we visited several times while there.  The funny looking fruit was picked off our trees in the backyard and although it didn't taste that great it was nice having fresh limes to put in our drinks and guacamole.

We headed down to the beach just across from our house to watch the sunrise.  It was breathtaking.  It was pretty fun watching my dad and Raymond chase the crabs all over.  While down at the beach there was a totally random rain storm in which it down-poured and soaked us all!  We took refuge under a tree which helped a little but it was really so fun!  Lexi had a blast playing on the beach and in the water which was so WARM, not like bath tub warm but definitely better than California Ocean temperatures!

We ate at some pretty questionable restaurants/buses but I think this one was hilarious.  It seriously was a little scary building that you couldn't see out of the windows and it was so gross and dirty but the food was actually really good and CHEAP.  I got steak and shrimp for like $8!! The mountains everywhere were incredible and the top left is our backyard at the house.  Amazing, right!

We went on an outing to see a blow hole thing that didn't blow but the waves crashing against the rocks and the gorgeous bright blue water at a lookout near the blow hole was beautiful.  The little girls loved that they could wear their swim suits pretty much everywhere we went!

We went to Turtle Bay and saw the giant turtles.  It was funny we didn't notice the turtles until someone pointed them out, we just thought they were rocks.  While we were at Turtle Bay Steve went swimming around getting close to one of the turtles in the water.  I was standing with my ankles in the water and Raymond was going to take a picture of me with the ocean behind me.  Bad idea, I have learned not to turn your back on the ocean!!  I was standing there as he got the camera out and a wave that Jodi claims was up to my shoulders came crashing in, soaking me from head to toe, throwing me into a rock as I laughed hysterically, the tourists snapped pictures, the wave went clear up to the rocks where we had all stuck our shoes so the little girls started crying hysterically because they thought their shoes were going to get taken away, my mom was screaming because she thought I was going to drowned, and well we were quite the spectacle.  People were just watching like WOW they are SPECIAL! I got a bruised and cut up knee, a good laugh and a 10 year old local boy that walked over and said "DUDE, YOU GOT WORKED!"  It was hilarious! And yes, I did get worked!

We went up to North Shore and got some delicious shaved ice, Matzumoto was way to busy for our liking so we went next door to Aoki's and it was equally delicious and a fraction of the wait! I got beans in my shaved ice because apparently that is really good but no it's not.  It's a little weird. But the vanilla ice cream in a shaved ice was delightful.

We had the chance to spend a day at the PCC.  It was a pretty fun place with lots going on.  Lots of Asian people taking pictures of Briele, which was hilarious.  Every where we went she would be flocked by Asians.

By the end of the day we were EXHAUSTED!  It was such a long day of walking and watching and learning and it was probably the most humid and hot day we had the whole week. 

The little girls LOVED all the dancing and enjoyed adding their sweet moves to the show!

We all got some tattoos, Raymond looks pretty hot with his and his bulging muscles.  Steve realized after the fact that he didn't really want a tattoo down his face and the little girls picked out my tattoo which ended up representing a queen...very fitting, I know.

We made it a little late to the Hula lessons but the guy was willing to give the girls a private lesson with a live ukulele player even.  They did wonderfully, we have some very fun little dancers with some sweet moves in the family.

We had a blast at the luau.  We got gorgeous fresh flowered laies.  The pineapple smoothies were DELICIOUS, see Raymond couldn't even put his down for a picture! The final show was pretty cool, lots of fire dancing and the story line was pretty fun too.  The lighting wasn't conducive to great pictures but trust me it was cool.  

We went to the Dole Plantation for the afternoon and got to ride the train, it was a gorgeous plantation in which I learned how several fruit grow.  I had no ideas pineapples grew on little plants in the ground, I don't really know where I thought they came from but it was not like that.

 They had some gorgeous trees that have very multi-colored trunks, and the grounds were so pretty.

While we were at the Plantation I got suckered into picking an oyster and hoping to find a pearl inside.  Well I am a fabulous oyster picker, you go for the ugliest ones you can find.  The first one I cracked open had a perfect black pearl in it, we decided to get it put in a fitting so they let me pick another oyster for free and I got even luckier.  I got twin pink pearls!! I know, just lucky!  We decided since they were such a nice match we got them fitted in earrings, they are little drop down swivels that represent the ocean waves.  And since I was such a good customer the lady gave me 2 more matching black pearls so I could get earrings to match our first fitting, maybe some day but they had suckered me into enough jewelry for one day so I just took those pearls home. I thought I was cool stuff until my dad informed me that they plant the pearl seeds inside the oyster and then let them grow, way to ruin my buzz...oh well, I still think I was pretty cool.  We were able to go play in the water at North Shore and watch the sunset.  It was such a nice beach.

We went to the Swap Meet in which we were excited for all week!  Jess got a coconut drink, which is not good but it looked incredibly fun.  We got some cool treasures.  I got a nativity in a coconut shell and Raymond got a hand carved surfboard which caused us some grief but it is still a cool decoration.  We ordered it Wednesday and they guy was going to start carving it then but we requested a specific color of board and we were leaving soon so he said to stop by Saturday morning and he would have it for us.  Well Saturday morning on our way to the airport we stopped by and no surfboard, no carver, and a plane that was leaving in just a couple of hours.  We got it arranged that they would mail it to us but with the incredibly laid back Polynesian culture we didn't know if it would ever come.  But it did a couple weeks after we got home and its beautiful and they even mailed us a hand carved turtle. 

We went to Pearl Harbor which was very worth seeing.  We took a boat out to the USS Arizona which is still submerged but a memorial has been erected over it.  You could look down and see the ship and its rusting  parts under the water.  In case you have missed tons of history classes, news, and documentaries the crew was unable to escape and are still buried within the ship.  There were very few crewmen that were not killed with the ship but as they have passed away they have been cremated and divers take their remains down to be buried within the ship with their crew mates per their request.   Every member of the crew besides 3 that are still living have been returned to the ship and the 3 are requesting to have similar burial treatment so once they pass the entire crew will have been returned to their ship.It was a sobering place and the wall with the names of the crewmen was heartbreaking.  We are truly blessed to have so many willing to defend our country.

They didn't give you much time at the memorial but it was still incredible.

The little girls got matching dresses from the swap meet and instantly had to change into them.  They looked so cute!  We headed to lunch at Bubba Gump's after Pearl Harbor and it was DELICIOUS.  I love seafood, Raymond loves it too...as long as it is not a crustacean. 

We spent lots of time lounging at the house which was a nice break from all the sight seeing.  The girls got hula outfits or "boob necklaces" and "grass dresses"  as the girls call them.  They were hilarious dancing around with them on.

We ate at the Famous Giovanni's shrimp bus.  Raymond doesn't eat crustaceans so he had a delicious garlic hot dog.  The grilled corn was AMAZING.  The boys dared Raymond to drink this firey hot sauce for I think $20 and he did.  We are bad people to dare because we will do it.  At first he didn't think it was bad but then things got worse.  His sinuses were cleared, he was gagging, dry heaving and nearly crying.  It was hilarious to watch.

We played at Waimea Bay in the ocean.  Raymond, Kip and I were terrible boogey boarders but we still had a blast.  Briele LOVED the ocean!  She did not want to leave the water and loved the waves crashing against them.  Lexi got incredibly brave and would lay on the boogey board on her belly and would ride the waves into the beach.  Since she is just a little squirt the waves would push her up onto the sand and then pull her right back out to me which was maybe 5 feet and we would wait for the next wave to push her in.  It was hilarious because we did it for probably 15 minutes and she would go right up to the beach and right back to where I was sitting in the sand.  I wish we would have gotten video of it because she really was so brave and just loved it.  We did some snorkeling while we were there and so some pretty cool fish and coral.

Raymond, my dad and grandpa went on a hike up to a waterfall. I am so glad I did not go.  They got poured on which made the trail super slick.  Then it got dark and the trail wasn't exactly easy so they were lighting it up with their cell phones and praying they made it off the mountain!  They did get to the waterfall and Raymond was able to go for a dip...before it rained.

While we were playing at the beach earlier Jodi started videoing Raymond because she thought he was being weird.  One of her favorite you tube videos is "Party in the USA", the one done by the gay men.  So her and Steve edited their videos of Raymond and put them to Party in the USA.  We couldn't stop laughing, if I had a copy and Raymond wouldn't kill me, I would post it.

We spent many mornings going to the beach to watch the sunrise and everyday it was so different yet still breathtaking.  

Our house was on Hula Hula Place in Haula, which is about 10 minutes from the temple and if you still don't believe me it was the most incredible place to stay.  The only shower for the main house was outside!  We loved it!  The bottom left corner is the shower room, yes it has a door, and even when it was raining it was the best place to take a shower. We had the living quarters above the garage as well and the bathroom up their was equally amazing.  It was a giant shower in the middle of the room with a foot tall rim around it.  There was no shower curtain just very open and nice.  It was heaven.

Raymond stayed an extra day after everyone left.  We went to Hard Rock in Honolulu and got a hurricane glass to match all our others.  We went to the Pali lookout which was beautiful and covered in bees.  It is so windy the bees don't really fly they just get blown around.

We drove around the Tantalus loop which was gorgeous. It is a tiny windy road which at the very top we were on a one car bridge that looked down on either sides of the island.  We were even able to look DOWN onto a rainbow, it was incredible. If you look at the picture in the top left corner, bottom half of the picture, you can see a very faint rainbow.  It was awesome!

More trees, swings and sights that I just love.  This middle tree is my FAVORITE.  It think I am going to print it onto a canvas for our downstairs bathroom.  It is decorated with all sorts of buoys.

We went to the Wamiea bay botanical garden where there are gorgeous flowers, trees and birds everywhere and at the top of their hike is a waterfall.  We didn't wear our suits so we didn't go swimming but it was still nice.

We hung out at Pipeline for awhile and watched the surfers, they have seriously skill!  The waves were huge and I would have died just trying to swim!

These pictures are a bit out of order but I took the little girls to the beach for one last play in the sand.  They LOVED it and couldn't stop moving the whole time we were there.  More pretty views of the island.  Bottom left is our flight there and then of course our luggage.  Our last dinner in Oahu was at the Kahuku Grill with my grandparents.  It was delicious and kinda funny because there were lizards all over! We LOVE our luggage and it was our first time being able to use it!  I also loved that it was so easy to pick out which bags were ours.  We overheard a guy telling his wife at the baggage claim, "Why don't we get bags like that! It would be so easy to find!" I agree sir, I agree.

Our last day there we stopped by the local Costco.  Yes we love this store, I was able to find out that a seasoning my mom had hoped to buy could be found there so we went and got us each a grande size bottle. Unfortunately, the seasoning caused us some grief but it was still funny.  Our flight plans had us flying from Honolulu to the Hilo Airport on the big island.  We had a 4 hour layover at Hilo so we figured our bags would be checked and we would catch a cab with our carry-on bags to go get some dinner.  We landed and it is the littlest airport with nothing visible around it.  We seriously landed and drove right up to the gate and didn't have to wait, didn't see any other planes, and there was seriously 4 gates and 1 runway!  We got off the plane and the only direction we could go took us out of security and right by the baggage claim which we thought was odd. What was even more odd, was our bags wouldn't automatically get placed on our connecting flight so luckily we went by them otherwise we would have been in trouble.  The entire airport spanned maybe a block so we walked over to check our bags in but first had to put them through the agricultural checkpoint.  My purse had suspicious contents in it so it got searched.  Turned out it was oreos.  Then we went and checked our bags in.  We asked a lady if there was any restaurants nearby we could go eat at and no taxis.  The nearest one was nearly 2 hours away and was already closed, after all it was nearly 7 pm.  There was a tiny airport bar that we were able to get some gross nachos and a drink at for $13.  They were probably the same size at gas station nachos but not very tasty.  The whole airport is kind of like a carport.  The baggage check and ticket areas are all open to the outside.  While we were getting checked in a monsoon type rain came and it was crazy how much water came down.  Then after it stopped raining you could hear tons of frogs croaking all over.  We decided since there was nowhere to go we would go through security and pop a squat in the terminal.  On our way to Hawaii I had to go through the x-ray machine and be frisked because although I was wearing shorts and they could see my right knee, it was suspicious.  Now on our way home my purse had been searched and then going through security my carry-on had to be searched.  Apparently the seasoning we bought had sea salt which resemble craosite(?) which is used to make explosives.  So he had to remove the seasonings, test the seals, test the outside of the bottles with a chemical to verify I was not trying to transport explosive material.  I am apparently very suspicious.  

The airport was tiny, the top right picture represents the entire thing.  We were able to claim a couch and watch a movie on our tablet.  They did however have massage chairs so we enjoyed a 15 minute sit in them. It was hilarious how little it was, when we boarded the plane, it simply turned around and went right down the runway.  No taxiing or wait.  Our last morning in Hawaii we went and did a session at the Laie Temple.  It was wonderful to be able to go there, the temple grounds are beautiful.  My grandparents are on a temple mission so we were able to say goodbye to them in the Celestial room.  It was a really cool experience.

Overall, Hawaii was incredible.  We were definitely not disappointed, and truthfully 9 days was not even enough time to see all that we had wanted, we could have stayed so much longer! It was beautiful no matter where we went.  The weather was incredible. (Raymond has tonsil problems but the whole time we were there they were great).  It was such an amazing opportunity to be able to share that with my family.  We were so blessed and thankful to be able to take this trip.  I honestly could not stop smiling as I went through these pictures (and the other 1000 I didn't post) because it just reminded me of how much fun we had!  We will definitely head back to Hawaii some day!!