Hawaii

In the winter of 2010 our family decided to take a trip to Hawaii. This was going to be our 49th state as a family. Due to Jennifer and my work schedule we were not able to leave when the rest of the family did, but we came about a day or two later than everyone else. After a long flight we finally arrived in Oahu, Hawaii. One of the first things we did was have dinner near the beach and then enjoyed a night out on Wakiki Beach. We stuck around all afternoon to watch the beautiful sunset.

Wakiki Beach Sunset and a picture of the view of Diamond Head.

We took a boat ride out for a day of snorkeling.

This was the rest of the family's first snorkeling experience. 

We even saw some dolphins on our boat ride.

Here are some of the underwater pictures that we took.

I spent the most of my time making sure that mom and dad were ok. Mom can't swim really at all and she also had to take her glasses off to put the goggles on her face. As you can see she is holding onto the life preserver. She says that she saw at least one fish.

Dad also had some problems with the snorkeling. He is a good swimmer, but his goggles had a leak in them and when he went in the water they filled with water. He panicked and they thought he was drowning so they threw out the life preserver to him too. 

Pictures from our trip to Diamond Head State Monument. 

View from the top was pretty cool.

Picture at the bottom after climbing back down Diamond Head.

We took a tour of the Dole Plantation. We saw how pineapples grew and I even got to try out some pineapple whip.

Matsumoto Hawaiian shaved ice was one of my absolute favorite things from our trip. I had never before had ice cream in the bottom of my shaved ice and it made the whole thing taste amazing. If you ever visit Hawaii be sure to head over to the North Shore and stop in this little roadside store for the best treat on the island. The walls of the place are filled with famous people who have come in for a true Hawaiian shaved ice!

We went on around the island exploring everything and saw the huge waves on the North Shore.

Jennifer and I on the North Shore.

One of the few things that McKinley said he wanted to do in Hawaii was to ride a dolphin into a volcano. Mom and dad decided to make half his dream a reality. Andrea wanted to join in on the fun too. They both got kissed by a dolphin and they both got pushed out of the water by dolphins. It was really cool to watch and they said it was even more fun to participate.

We also took a tour of Pearl Harbor. It was a great memorial and it was crazy to see the site where so many men and women lost their lives. The memorial was located directly above where the USS Arizona was on the bottom of the ocean.

When visiting Hawaii you should always try to go to a luau. It was an awesome experience and we got to see and participate in some traditional Hawaiian events.We watched some dancing, took a canoe ride and I even was selected to come up from crowd and try poi! (It tasted like glue.) We would all recommend the experiences at Paradise Cove.

Dad trying out spear throwing.

Andrea and McKinley on a canoe ride.

My beautiful wife.

McKinley and I making headbands from palm leaves

The traditional roasted pig was dinner at the luau.

We made a quick day trip over to the Big Island for a trip to see some active volcanoes. It turned out to be a pretty fun little day trip.

We were unable to see any lava flowing, but we did see some steam coming up from the volcano. We also saw some waterfalls, hot springs, and some old lava tubes. 

Later in the day we took a walk out some cooled lava down to some black sand beaches. Someone in our group thought some black sand would be nice for a souvenir. It was a great idea until we were passing through airport security and they pulled my mother aside and asked to look in her purse. On the baggage scanner it looked like some type of gun powder. Mom quickly said that she didn't want it at all and she was sorry for taking it.

We also stopped at a local flower shop during our tour of the island. It is amazing the beautiful flowers that are native to Hawaii. We also found out that if you place the flower in your left side then you are taken. If on the right then it means that you are available. 

 The rest of the Heflin clan had to head back home, but we had a few more days to spend in Hawaii, so Jennifer and I caught another flight over to the island of Kauai. It was a more remote island with a lot of stuff for people who are seeking adventure in nature.

After getting off on the plane we hopped in the rented jeep and started driving around the island. Our first stop was Waimea Canyon which is considered the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It was breath taking views.

One of the most exciting things that we did in Kauai was a boat tour of the Na Pali Coast and whale watching. Some of the stuff that we saw was amazing! The only scary part about this adventure was that the boat we were on was comparable to a huge life raft with a motor and we had whales coming right up next to our boat. We also had a pod of dolphins approach our boat and the tour guides said that anybody who wanted to jump in with them could. Jennifer didn't want to, but I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. 

We also took a trip to the Fern Grotto. It was an unbelievable all the things that were growing in this lava rock that had some amazing waterfalls too!

The rest of our time on Kauai was spent exploring the rest of the island. We even rented some snorkels and did a little snorkeling right off the beach. I am so lucky to have this beautiful woman in my life. She has been such a blessing to me.

Hawaii proved to be quite a vacation. I would love to go back some day and see the rest of the islands as well as get a few more shaved ice at Matsumoto. I would have to hands down say that it is the most beautiful state. Thanks for reading and God bless!