Sunday, January 30, 2011

Hawaii Video

I know, I know...you thought I was done bragging about our Hawaii trip. I was going through my video before I moved on though and found some of these clips I thought you might like. I couldn't find Nate doing his Polynesian dance, but these are still pretty good.



These two are both from the PCC. We learned different cultural games and past-times from the respective islands.


This is just a random video that Whit took of Ellie at the beach.



Thanks everyone! Hopefully I'll get some more current items up soon. If you want, visit Whit's blog for more current pictures and "Whitty" commentary.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Goodbye Hawaii

Pizza Bob's was way overrated! We don't recommend it to anyone. We do recommend the Dole Pineapple Plantation though. We just stopped in for some ice cream and had a great time.
I'm pretty sunburned by this point.
We hit up Pearl Harbor when Deb had to go into work. Nate and I took the ship tour while Ellie and Whitney got breakfast.
This bathroom is just a hair bigger than our NYC bathroom.
Do'n my thing at the turret.


The main Pearl Harbor memorial rests over the USS Arizona. The whole time we were on the island memorial, Japanese women kept following me around to take pictures of Eleanor. They would smile and say a million Japanese words and then say "Baby!" and wave to here...then take more pictures.
We couldn't take the stroller out on the memorial, so I had to shade Ellie as best I could from the Sun.
These guys served at Pearl Harbor in WWII. I have a lot of respect for them.
We also don't recommend the Honolulu Flea Market. Really not that impressive since every other booth sells the exact same thing. The scones and pineapple were awesome though.I accidentally made us miss our flight back to the main land. We ended up making an extra stop in Denver and arriving about 6 hours after we through we would. I am quite certain that Whitney has never been angrier at me...ever. What a trip! Thanks Deb and Nate! We loved every minute of it! We'll come visit again as soon as we can.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

You Guess'ed 'er Chester--Hawaii

Hukilau Beach, close to BYU Hawaii and the PCC, was our favorite beach. We spent almost 2 full days there.


Ellie even liked it--and that's saying something! She didn't really like all that sand and sun.

Whitney cruising in on a boogie board.

At one point Whit and I took a stroll along the Hukilau- it was really great to just be babiless on the beach for a few minutes. (We asked a bum to watch Ellie for a little while)
I keep getting fan mail asking for more shirtless pictures of myself on the blog. I'm such a crowd pleaser...

That night we went to get Sushi at a place downtown. It was so packed we didn't get in soon enough to get full use of the conveyor belt.
Nate and Deb are super close with Josh and Julie and their two kids. They live in the same complex and refer to Deb and Nate as Uncle and Aunt.
16 sushi plates Nate...an impressive display.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

More Hawaii

Hot Dang! I want to go back just blogging these pictures! Day two we went up to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was an awesome day, complete with Samoan Dance offs, a trip to see the temple, and a fire-knife competition.

You really can't go to Hawaii and not wear some crazy Hawaiian shirt right?
The sun was so bright, it blew Ellie's mind.
At lunch time at the PCC, they have all of the different islands represented come by on big boats and dance. Its pretty cool.



Nope...didn't buy it...a choice I have to live with every day of my life.
Wanted to share this picture to highlight Nate's shirt. We call it "The Passport" he could not only strike up conversations using this Samoan National Rugby Team shirt, but it got us discounts pretty much every where we went.
Sunday we went up to the Punch Bowl, where they have a monument and cemetery dedicated to the WWII Vets. It's inside a super old volcano.

The view of Honolulu up on the rim of the Punch Bowl is pretty spectacular.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Hawaii Day 1

WaaaaaHoooooo! Welcome to the Joe, Whitney, and Ellie graduation present to themselves! Taking a 5 month old with you to Hawaii is no easy task I'll tell you that! Luckily we were staying at her Aunt Deb's and Uncle Nate's. The blacks were the best hosts you could ask for because they were stay-cationing right there with us.

Nate Black is currently studying nutrition at the University of Hawaii. He speaks fluent Samoan and knows most everyone on the island :). Deb teaches school and is in love with Hawaiian shave ice. They are some of our best friends ever.

The first day in Hawaii we started out at Waikiki. We hit every ABC store, bought a sun dress for Ellie and a speedo for me...naw, just mess'n--I already have one.
I love the trees in Hawaii. Each one is a mass of hundreds of little trees and the wood carvers just set up shop under them.
On your right you'll see the classic tourist shown in Polish books about Americans (Dead Serious)
When we visited, Nate was hooked on egg salad. We must have had 5 egg salad sandwiches when we were there.
Deb, giving us a tour of the kitchen.

First official beach visit was to Kailua Bay. It turns out babies and sand don't mix very well- which is a bummer because there is a A LOT of sand in Hawaii.
Cutest baby...EVER!
The water is soooo warm. Especially compared to the water at Santa Cruise!Driving in Hawaii is kind of trippy. You always feel like you're in a tree tunnel.

After a day at the beach, we went up to Mount Kamehameha where you can see the whole island.Heading to Utah tomorrow morning and won't be back until the 5th. Expect more Hawaii when I return!

Joe