Hawaii - Day 3

This morning we all got up at our leisure.  So nice to be able to sleep in.  Well, I didn't make it past 6:00 but it felt good to sleep that long.  Better than 4 a.m.  I think I'm finally with the time change.  It's Mallory's birthday today so, of course, we sang happy birthday to her.  She turned 27.  We played a game of Shanghai which Lynda Ann and I were soundly beaten by Emmi and Mallory.  Emmi fixed us some hot chocolate and we had some of her home made banana bread - which, I might add, was delicious.  I thought sure she had purchased it from Kneaders!!!  It was that good.   

Today we decided to go over to Pearl Harbor and see all the sights.  It wasn't crowded at all and we were able to get on the boat and go out to the Arizona Memorial.  Very quiet and thought provoking experience.

Every time Mallory got out of the car her glasses fogged up. Nobody else had that problem but Mallory sure did.    

Got a picture of an Egret.  Very interesting looking bird.  Emmi says they are all over Hawaii.    

The memorial

This is a huge Banyan tree that we were fascinated with.

We were all hungry after leaving the park.  It was about 2:30 so Mallory chose The Cheesecake Factory for her birthday dinner.  Delicious food and we all ordered cheesecake and a chocolate cake to go.

The four of us do have a jolly time together!  We are now headed for the beach.  It is 5:00 p.m.  The beach was fun and going down just before sundown was a perfect time to be there and taking pictures.

Annie had seen something on Etsy that you could take a picture from down in the hole and it would look like all your faces were in a heart shape.  While Annie was digging the hole a rather large white crab came scrambling out, scaring both of us.  It made a fast get away to the water.  

The camera goes down inside the hole and then all of us looked into the hole.

This was the result.  Didn't turn out exactly like she hoped but pretty close.

Some other fun pictures:  We wanted a picture of the four of us so Lynda Ann tried to set the camera on the chair, set the timer and make a mad dash to us.  

This was our first attempt.  Obviously the camera tipped a bit and only got our heads.

2nd try:

This ended up pretty good after a few tries.

These next pictures were Mallory and I making it look like we were walking into the water and disappearing!  

Honolulu in the distance and Diamond Head

Celebrating Mallory's birthday in Hawaii!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Love watching these jets come flying overhead.

Finally it was time to head back to Emmi's.  We played games.  Had our Cheesecake Factory dessert and are now getting ready to turn in.  What an incredible fun day!  Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

Hawaii - Day 2

 I don't think any of us slept very soundly last night because of the time change.  Four hours makes a huge difference.  But, we all survived and woke up this morning, one by one.  We decided to go out for breakfast at one of Emmi's favorite eating places.  KOA Pancake House.  Emmi and I had their special French Toast, Lynda Ann had a ham and egg omelet and Mallory had chocolate chip pancakes.  Of course, I had to have a cup of hot chocolate.  I should have taken a picture of it.  Piled high with whipped cream.  Very good!

From there we headed to the salon to have pedicures.  Mallory and I went in first, then Lynda Ann, and then Emmi.  

Mallory and I comparing the size of our feet.  We were laughing.

All finished.  You can figure out whose feet belong to (is it "who" or "whom")?  You can figure that out as well!!!

We hurried home from getting our toes all beautified, changed and off to the temple.  It takes a couple hours to get to the temple.  It is on the other side of the island from Emmi's apartment.  We did initiatory work.  What a beautiful experience.  We did get a young lady to take some pictures of us outside the temple.

We then drove over to the visitors center and talked with the missionaries and then changed our clothes into our casual wear.  Our next stop was the Polynesian Cultural Center.  We spent our time there wandering around and looking at things and did some shopping.  They had a lot of fun stores to browse through.  We found some great treasures that we just couldn't live without!  I bought a couple shirts and bought Neal a couple as well.  We had to face time him and let him pick out the shirts.  They were too expensive for me to by them and have him not like them.

Ready for the show to begin.  We also had a delicious buffet dinner that was part of the packet.  Then in to the center for the evening show.

Annie was trying to take a creative picture of a plumeria flower and, of course, I had to try and annoy her and get her laughing - which I did.

The day was fabulous with lots of laughs and giggles.  That is what I love about this group is that there are always reasons to laugh until I can't breathe and I love it.  Goodnight everyone and sweet dreams.  

This ends our 2nd day in Hawaii.  Exhaustion has hit us all.