Well, after our first two days in Paradise (aka, Hawaii), we had 5 days of fun left.Sunday we drove up to Laie, home of BYU Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center. The drive was breathtaking...absolutely fabulous. We attended a student ward on BYUH campus--man, that was a weird flashback (church in a classroom...haven't done that in nearly 6 years!). The people were super friendly, which I think if my favorite thing about Polynesia. Well, that and the sunshine, food, and ocean!
We stayed in Turtle Bay for the remainder of our trip. Man, it was waterfront property with more gorgeous views. They have a private little bay where we were able to snorkel (super fun once you got over the panic of trying to breath with your face in the water), hot tubs overlooking the surf-side, and great views of the sunrise and sunset.
We got oriented on BYU-H--they really do amazing things to help out students from the islands who otherwise couldn't afford to go to college and allow them to graduate debt-free (which is good, since they could never afford to return to their native countries and make a difference if they had to try and pay off loans).
Tuesday we were able to spend the day at the Polynesian cultural center, which is also amazing. They have 5 different villages you
can visit, with presentations from each culture and the chance to learn different skills (coconut cracking, tree climbing, spear throwing, poi dancing, anyone?). Our favorite? A big surprise for anyone who knows anything about me--New Zealand! We attended a far more authentic luau with TASTY food and saw the night show, which included the Samoan fire knife dance. Man, I was glad that Jack couldn't see that, since playing with fire is expressly forbidden in our house!Wednesday we checked out Hali'ewa and ate at KauAina--tasty burgers and sandwiches with 1/2 an avocado on them--YUM. We also snorkeled and played in the ocean. It was the warmest day on the North Shore and wasn't too blustery, so we could finally enjoy the beach.
Thursday we visited Pearl Harbor
, which was very sad but good. We saw more rainbows in Honolulu (seriously, I finally understand why they've got rainbows on their license plates--we've never seen more frequent, full, vibrant rainbows!). 
Drove out to Kailua beach off the Pali Highway--more amazing views. At 10:45 PM we flew out and had almost no sleep. This is what we came home to!
A fabulous adventure--I'd highly recommend Hawaii, esp if you get out of Honolulu!
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