Hawaii Day 4

Tuesday

I have a new love.  That new love is kayaking!  On Tuesday we went kayaking up the Wailua River.  It was so much fun!  We were in double kayaks, so Kelli and I got to share.

We paddled up the river with our 18-year-old-stuck-in-a-30-year-old-body, Johnny.

He took us on a hike to an amazing waterfall.  Along the way, Johnny showered us with fun facts about Kauai. Did you know that mango leaves smell like the mango fruit?  I carried one around with me for a long time. mmm

We also got to walk through a lot of mud...

Eat flowers that taste like mushrooms (This was close to beating our helicopter ride as the coolest thing we did while we were there. It was so great!)

And play in the waterfall

Then we kayaked back down the river.

Of course we had to get our shave ice for the day.

For dinner, we made a BBQ chicken salad at the house and took it to Hanalei Bay to watch the sunset.

I'm pretty sure this was also the night we went into town to listen to a local band.  The drummer worked at Ono Ono (shave ice place from the day before), and she invited us to come.  They were playing at a little bar.  I made a couple friends as we sat outside listening to them.  Very entertaining. :)

Hawaii Day 3

Monday
Most of the island of Kauai is not accessible by your average transportation.  We had to pull out the stops to see all we could.  New favorite mode of transportation: Helicopter!  This very well may have been my favorite part of our trip!

You can see Joleen in there getting buckled in by the man who flipped her off.  Friendly guy. :)

 Kelli, Jessica, Annie, and Marie were in the back.

 Joleen and I were in the front.

 The whole front was pretty much just a window, so we had a pretty stellar view!

This is called the Garden Island for a reason.  Everything was so green and beautiful!  

 

Mount Waialeale is the wettest place on earth.  We never really saw the whole mountain because it was always covered in clouds.  But we went right up to it on the helicopter!  

 Our pilot, Josh, did an excellent job of giving us an up close and personal tour.

After the helicopter, we went to Bubba's for lunch.  Delicious hamburgers, fries, and onion rings....and lots of random signs.

 

 

Then we hit the beach!  We went to Poipu Beach, which was named one of America's Best Beaches by The Travel Channel.

 

 

I couldn't believe how clear the water was there!  It was beautiful!

We also made friends with this guy (okay, not really...but he did strike up a conversation with Jessica in the water).  He was using a magnifying class and a welding mask to burn scriptures into wood.

On this day, we also started our quest to find the best shave ice on the island.  We went to two places this day :)

 Ono Ono ended up being my favorite!

Hawaii Day 2

Remember that time I wrote this post?  Then remember that time that Blogger freaked out?  And remember how it deleted that post?  Yeah...super cool.  So here it is again...with some additions and probably difference pictures.
Sunday

We stayed in a house on Kauai that is owned by a friend of Joleen.  It was BEAUTIFUL!

 In the back yard

 The room Annie and I stayed in...it was beautiful!

 Okay, so for some reason it won't let me rotate this, but I was in love with this mirror in our bathroom.  It's a good thing it wouldn't fit in my suitcase, or I may have taken it!

When we woke up on Sunday, our mouths were gaping when we looked out the window.  We were in paradise!!

We went to a little Branch for Sacrament Meeting.  It was so fun.  They really do say "Aloha!" when they get up to share their testimonies.

For the rest of the day, we drove around, 

took naps, 

took a walk down the golf course, 

 

 

 

watched Calamity Jane (great movie...Marie "loved" it), 

and watched the sunset at my new favorite place in the world...Hanalei Bay

Hawaii Day 1: Traveling

I'm sorry if I've been keeping you up at night in anticipation of seeing pictures from Hawaii.  

All 6 of us finally got together on Saturday to exchange pictures.  There are a bagillion (approximately) pictures, so I've been trying to figure out how to narrow them down!  

I think I'll be doing a post for each day of our trip.  

Sound good?  

Okay, here we go!

Here is what we left:  Snow!

I've never been so excited to see snow.  It made our trip to paradise that much better!

Here we are before we left, minus Kelli who met us at the airport.

 Excitedly waiting for our final flight to Lahui...this after our flight from Salt Lake to LAX and LAX to Honolulu. 

(Sidenote: I had Party In The USA in my head the whole time we were in LAX)

We were all jealous of this beautiful/festive outfit...complete with a bright moomoo, white leggings, and two (yes, two) beach hats.  She also had a large kickboard with her (not pictured).

We made it to the airport in Kauai!

Do we look tired?  It's probably because we were!  This was after 12 hours of traveling and about 2:30am in Utah.  And still an hour drive to our house ahead of us.  Who cares!  We're in Hawaii!  Let the fun begin!

Tonight I went on a quick run at 8:30.
8:30!
It was light enough to go on a run at 8:30!
Do you know what this means?
Summer is coming!
19 school days! :)

Teacher Appreciation Week

It's Teacher Appreciation Week here at my school! 

Background:  Between classes, they play music in the halls.  When the music stops, it means the students have one more minute to get to class.

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, the PTSA let the teachers choose the music for the week, especially songs that were popular when we were in middle school.

You can't imagine the joy I felt this morning when I heard Bye, Bye, Bye blasting through my door.  I wanted to get up and do the dance, but Rachel came in and beat me to it. :)  Now Bye, Bye, Bye actually came out when I was in high school (as did Oops, I Did It Again, which I may have also requested but haven't heard yet), but I couldn't help but request it.

'N Sync brings joy to my soul as I face the grueling month of May.

What songs come to mind when YOU think of middle/junior high school?

This is a little test. I'm sending this from my phone!