Hawaii Anniversary Trip

So I am not sure how many people update or follow blogs anymore, but I have decided that I am not a Facebooker and want to update my blog about life in my world more frequently. So with that being said, I am going to start with the first exciting thing that happened for us this year.

Brad and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on January 23rd. Each year we take turns planning a way to celebrate our anniversary and since this was a big one we wanted to celebrate in a big, fun way. We decided on Hawaii. After talking with Grandma Patti during the summer to see if she would be able to watch the kids for a week, we got our go ahead and started planning, making reservations, and counting down. We left for Oahu on January 11th and got home the morning of January 19th. We enjoyed every minute we were there! We started our trip out with a two hour massage the morning after we arrived. It was really funny because Brad said to me that I can't leave the massage place when we get there and I see it. When you see massages taking place on tropical islands you usually think massage on the beach next to each other, well this was not the case for us. We pull down this alleyway in the middle of the city nowhere near the beach and all we see are mechanic shops and a sign for Island Massage upstairs. Now I understood why Brad told me I couldn't turn around and leave. Well, I do have to say it was the best massage I have ever had and I keep telling Brad that I need to go see Maria and not just because it is in Hawaii, she knows what she is doing and Brad's was just as good. The girl that did his massage was so good, she put him to sleep. Anyway, it was a great way to start the trip. Later that day we found our favorite beach, Waimanalo. The waves were fun to ride and the sand beneath the water was extremely soft and there was no algae in the water. It was the best! Throughout our week we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center and Pearl Harbor and we thought both were neat, but won't visit them again unless the kids are with us. In fact, we thought the 'PCC' was a waste of a day and wish we would have just done the night show. One funny thing that did happen at the Luau at the 'PCC' was they invited all people celebrating "love" up on stage for a dance. One couple from our table went up too and when they had the couples step forward who were celebrating ten years or more her eyes about popped out of her head when she saw us step forward. They popped out of her head a second time when we got back to our table and she asked if and how many kids we had. LOL! Our favorite thing to do was to drive and beach hop. We drove to North Shore and loved the town and shops and beaches there also. Its funny we have talked about the places we ate and our top favorites were at North Shore. So North Shore is known for its huge waves and we learned that waves are measured from the back not where they peak. So a 5 foot wave may look like 7 feet from where you sit on the beach. Anyway, we went to Waimea Bay expecting to enjoy calm water and that was not the case. The lifegaurds got on the intercom and gave a warning that only people with experience, a board, and fins were allowed in the water due to the 15 foot waves and the undercurrent. They would also go up to families that would approach the beach and basically tell them to leave and gave them names of kid friendly beaches for that day. It was pretty cool to see the waves and people riding them, but for a chicken like myself they were very intimidating to say the least. We did not get in the water at that bay and headed down the shore later on so that we could get in the water where those huge waves were a lot further out. Another fun thing that we did and enjoyed was Hanauma Bay and snorkeling. I remember living in Pennsylvania and having to learn to snorkel in swim class, so I figured this was something that I could do and wouldn't chicken out. Well two things, first when we lived in Pennsylvania I was eight years old and second that was in a pool and not the ocean. I got pretty nervous and finally just took the plunge and did it. I told Brad that I sounded like Darth Vader making sure I was breathing right. We had a blast and it was totally fun to do something out of my comfort zone. We had underwater cameras and you can tell who took what pictures. Brad would get right next to the fish and I would get just close enough. It was a really fun day. One thing that amazed us was the amount of Asian tourists there. Our last night there we went on a dinner cruise. We took a bus from the hotel to the ship and Brad and I were the first ones on the bus. So here we are sitting on the bus and watching every person get on and they were all Asian. We were beginning to wonder if we had gotten on the right bus until the last couple to get on was Caucasian. We had a fun time on the cruise and enjoyed our last night there. Our last day (since we had a red eye flight) we went back to our favorite spot Waimanalo Beach and enjoyed our last day. We had a spectacular time and can't wait to go back. It was so relaxing and so fantastic for Brad and I to be together without the kids. It was also great to know that we didn't have to worry about the kids while we were gone and to know that they were in good hands. Thanks Grandma!!! Thanks Brad for the trip and for the last 10 years!!!!!!!

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