Aloha!

So Cameron and I recently took a trip to Hawaii. We decided to leave Mackenzie with her Grandma and Granddad Campbell in Orlando for the week. She did great on the trip down as long as we stopped every hour or so, which got old after about hour 2 :) She proceeded to be spoiled for a whole week and when I got her back she thought that I was going to carry her everywhere...I told her we had left the nice people's house and it was back to the real world, news she did not take well. It was my mom's birthday the week we were gone and so we went out to Olive Garden to celebrate. The pictures below were from that and before we left. Yes she is eating a garlic bread stick but I did wipe off all the garlic for everyone that's gasping at this point :)





I think that I knew that Hawaii was pretty far away but it's so deceiving when they put it in the corner of the maps with Alaska and it looks like it's just off the coast. Luckily, we were flying first class which was sooooo wonderful. We got a full meal on every flight (2 each way) and also warm mixed nuts, fresh baked cookies and milk, ice cream, and even hot towels to wipe our hands on. Needless to say we will be flying coach the rest of our lives and remembering this trip with longing. So after 10 hours of flight time and a 4 hour layover we finally go to Hawaii and took a shuttle to the Hilton Hawaiian Village where we were staying. Cameron, naturally, argued with the front desk lady and got our room upgraded to an ocean-view which was wonderful. The picture below is the view from our balcony.
The hotel was enormous and had multiple pools and a lagoon. There were also koi ponds everywhere and a wedding chapel in the middle. It even had a penguin display outside with the penguins that live in hot weather in it. We ate breakfast outside on the beach every morning and the view that we got to enjoy is below as well as a shot of the main pool.


The first day we were there we rented a car which happened to be an Escalade and drove around the whole island. Cameron thought that he was a thug driving an Escalade and had the rap music turned up and his hat on sideways -- I love my big dork. We stopped at the Dole plantation and went on a tour of their gardens followed by a train ride around the pineapple plantation. We also got free pineapple after the ride. I also got some pineapple icecream which I think they should totally make and sell here because it was delicious! We stopped at various scenic locations and were in awe of the views of the mountains falling off into the ocean.




The second day we spent the majority of the time at Pearl Harbor going around the museum and then going out to see the memorial over the Arizona. The whole thing was very interesting and very sad. There is still oil seeping out of the sunken ship that they won't stop because they don't want to disturb the graves.

After we went to Pearl Harbor we hit McDonalds (yes they have those in Hawaii) where I tried to get Cameron to buy a poi pie but sadly he refused (it was purple which just looked unnatural). We then went hiking through some rainforest to see a waterfall. The trees were huge and so were the mosquitoes. There was a couple with their 4m old girl with them -- why!? I barely get my nine month old to the grocery store. Anyway, the waterfall was beautiful and worth the hike.

The third day I made my own fresh orchid lei that I wore to the luau that night. I had been trying to get Cameron to take hula lessons with me but he had refused. So that night we got seats right in the front and a large Hawaiian man came and told Cameron that he would be participating in the men's dance. I have never laughed so hard! The video below doesn't do it justice. Later in the show and even larger Hawaiian man brought me up to dance with him. The only instruction he gave me was to shake, that's it, he just kept repeating shake and "do what I do." Needless to say, I am not going to be a professional hula dancer, my hips just don't do that :) Cameron tried some of the pig from the ground but couldn't stomach more than a few bites after seeing them rip it from the actual pig in front of him. I tried poi and decided that it tasted like paste and was glad that I didn't get a pie made out of it.








Day four we hiked a large crater formed by volcanic ash called Diamond Head Crater. It was a pretty rough hike but the view from the top was spectacular. We then went snorkeling and saw a ton of fish, by themselves and in schools, and coral and sea urchins, etc. We went in search of another snorkeling spot and found, by accident, a place where sea turtles come up on shore everyday to take naps in the sun. It was really neat. We then went for the famous Matsumoto's shaved ice. It was the best tasting shaved ice I've ever had, Cameron agreed.






The next day we spent the morning and afternoon snorkeling at a large snorkeling spot. The reef was huge but we had gotten a tip that if you went on the other side of the large reef there was untouched even more impressive coral to look at and more fish. We realized that the only way to get to the other side was by a large sign that said "Danger, strong current." We took this underadvisement and went through the small opening in the reef anyway. It was much better on the other side but we kept the 3 other swimmers out there on the ocean side of us so that if a shark came he might eat them first :) After snorkeling we went to China Town. I guess there's one of those everywhere. We ended up eating at the worst Chinese restaurant I've ever been in. I didn't know it was possible for mushrooms to be the texture that mine were. The fried tofu that I normally order was virtually unrecognizeable. Cameron's chicken in his chicken fried rice was not cooked (even I know that pink chicken is bad). So we figured that it was the "Good luck" restaurant because they were wishing you luck that you didn't die after eating the food. I had a large milkshake from McDonalds on the way home to settle my stomach. That night was the King's Jubilee that the Hotel had. There was more dancing and then fireworks on the beach -- very cool.



The last day we were there we walked around the shops buying presents and enjoying the down time by the pool. We left for home that night at 11:00pm and got to Orlando the next night at 9:00pm, like I said a very long trip. All in all, we had a lot of fun and enjoyed getting some time to ourselves.