A Trip to Paradise

Tad, Dallin and I were able to go to Hawaii (the "Big Island") for week. We left Ethan & Gavin home with our great friends who happen to also be great babysitters. Tad and I decided the 13 hour plane ride (2 layovers later) would be way too long for them.....and US! It was nice to be able to give Dallin some one-on-one time once again. Hawaii was beautiful and we had a great time. We spent half our time visiting sites, and half the time at the pool getting some sun. After the week was over, I flew home to relieve the babysitters, and Tad and Dallin flew over to Oahu to enjoy 3 more nights there.

A view from the hotel on the Big Island.

A view from the hotel on Oahu.

The first day we spent re-orienting ourselves as the time difference is 6 hours, then swam at the pool. The second day we drove over to the other side of the Big Island where the waterfalls are. Here we are at Rainbow Falls. It is like a rainforest on that side of the island. Everything is green and it was sprinkling all day.

Another gorgeous waterfall, "Akaka Falls".

That night we went to a Luau. With plenty of food, great hula dancers, and great company, it was a memorable night. Here they are pulling the two pigs (which we ate for dinner) out of the "oven" they build in the ground.

Dallin with his two new girlfriends; dancers from the luau.

The next morning we went with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and my two nieces to go swimming with dolphins. It took our guides about 40 min. or so of cruising the Pacific Ocean to find the dolphins (they spot them by their fins). We then put on our snorkel gear and they watch the movement of the dolphins and have us quickly exit the boat and swim by them. Here Dallin has his snorkel gear on. He eventually ended up using a kickboard with a glass hole in it that allowed him to see underwater. He saw quite a few dolphins too.

Tad (the one closest to the bottom of the picture) and my nieces with the dolphins in the top of the picture. They would swim underneath you. It was really amazing!

My brother-in-law Vance took this shot of the dolphins and I happened to swim into his view at the right time. At one point I was about 5 feet away from them.

A beautiful sunset. I was sitting on the porch of our hotel room and couldn't resist the shot.

Tad and a coconut tree. I absolutely love Palm trees. I told Tad that we need to move somewhere that they grow.

On the side of the island that we were on, there is ALOT of black lava rock, as there have been many, many volcanoes over time. The waves crashing against the lava rock.

As we were walking back from taking the above shot, there were shallow little areas where the water was calm. That is when we saw this sea turtle. He is sticking his head out of the water, I thought it was so cute! We later saw a couple more.

We visited a black sand beach. The sand was really course.

The fifth day we went to the southern part of the island and saw the active volcano on the Big Island. It has been active since 1983, with it's last "big eruption" last March. You can see the smoke coming out of the crater. There were several cracks in the earth that were vents for the volcano. You could see steam coming out all over and the strong smell of sulfur. We didn't see any red lava flowing, as it runs underground in lava tubes.

We are at the tunnel of an old lava tube, where the lava used to flow underground until it reached the ocean. They have made it possible to walk through to give you an idea of how big they are.

It's kind of hard to tell, but this is the inside of Thurston's Lava Tube, which is close to the volcano. They have installed lights so you can see.

I think Dallin's favorite part of the trip was swimming and waterslides. Here is one of the waterslides at the hotel, which he probably went down 50 times!!

Dallin juimping into the pool at the hotel in Oahu.

Tad and Dallin in Oahu.

Tad and Dallin were able to visit Pearl Harbor in Oahu. This is the Memorial for the U.S.S. Arizona, which was sunk during the bombing at Pearl Harbor. You can look down at see rusted parts of the ship just above and below the water. To the left of the white building is part of the ship.

This is the U.S.S. Missouri, which Tad and Dallin were able to tour. In this battleship, the treaty was signed to end World War II. It was stationed just off Japan when the treaty was signed on Sept. 2, 1946.