Hawaii: Top 16 things to do on Oahu (I couldn't quite narrow it down to 10)

1. Playing Games and Doing Puzzles with my parents! It was by far my favorite part of the entire trip! It was so neat to be able to go out and have fun all day, and then just come home and relax with and enjoy my parents! I love their gutz! I can't think of many more enjoyable things to do than play games or do a puzzle with Mom and Dad!
2. Listening to my Dad teach! We were able to sit in on two of my Dad's classes. And Could there really be anything much better than hearing my Dad teach the Gospel? It was so neat. I love hearing him teach! It was kind of scary though, because while we were there he had a mini stroke. He has had a few before, and they are pretty scary. Luckily it happened at the end of the class, and by the next class his scripture memory was coming back. My Dad's mind is so amazing, and he knows the scriptures unlike anyone else I have ever known.
3.Watching the waves. While we were in Hawaii they were having record breaking waves coming in. They were holding the big Eddy competition where professional surfers would come in on jet skiis and ride these huge 40 foot 50 foot waves. The waves we saw were big but we weren't able to see the 50 footers. You couldn't really get anywhere near that part of the North Shore.

4. Snorkeling. Snorkeling is always one of my favorite things to do. It is so fun to go exploring! I love to see the big sea turtles. We didn't have as much luck seeing them this go around though. We went to Hanauma Bay and it was pretty crowded. I kept thinking, "Ooh! There is something!" And it would be some fat mans leg. But it was still a blast and we had a lot of fun. We also tried snorkeling just at Temple Beach, and saw some fun little fish there.









5. Hiking in the Mud. The one day that is was a little rainy we decided to go on this hike to some waterfalls. It was soooo fun. The trail was completely muddy, and an accident waiting to happen. But surprisingly I didn't ever fall "all" the way down. How about that? Just enough slipping to make it lot of fun. The Waterfalls were really beautiful and the vegetation was amazing!






6. Kayaking. We had fun one day going Kayaking. We kayaked out to a little island that was a bird sanctuary. It was lots of fun!









7. Going to the PCC. There is a reason the PCC is the number one attraction in Hawaii! It is so awesome! We didn't go there for an entire day like we did the last time we came, but we went there for dinner one night, and to a couple shows. They had the whole place lit up beautifully for Christmas. It was great.









8. Going to the International Market Place and the Swap Meet. The International Marketplace is always fun. And the Swap Meet . . . Talk about my kind of shopping! Next to garage saling and the American Fork DI it's got to be the next best thing! I about quadrupled the size of my jewelery collection (since I only owned like two necklaces) and bought this really pretty swimming wrap thing.
9. Enjoying the Hawaiian Atmostphere. I loved just going everywhere and hearing the Hawaiian music playing. It was fun. As soon as you step off the plane it is as if . . . you are on a tropical Island . . . Oh wait . . .












10. Going to the Sea Life Park. There was a place called the Sea Life Park that is like a miniature low budget Sea World. It was a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun watching the trainers train the dolphins at the end of the day right before closing. That was something fun to watch.









11. Going on a Catamaran Lunch Cruise. My sister Sue warned us about the Night Cruises in Hawaii having a lot of drunk people on them. So we decided to take the lunch cruise and it was really nice. We were hoping to see a whale or a dolphin, but didn't get that lucky. We did sea some sea turtles though, and a lot of fish. The water was crystal clear off of the coast of Waikiki, and you could see all the way to the bottom of the ocean floor. It was really pretty.












12. Vine Swinging. We had to go vine swinging for Sue's sake. It is her favorite thing! Lamon had a little more luck with it. His arms are a little stronger than mine. I was having a little difficulty. Finally Lamon put me on his shoulders and handed me the vine and let me go, and the video shows you how well that worked! I guess I won't be a professional vine swinger anymore!
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13. Going to the Wet n Wild Water Park. This was an activity that I insisted on. I am too much of a child at heart! I love rides and amusement parks! It was a fun waterpark too. It had some pretty high tech water slides. The rides were pretty intense. It was great!
14. Going golfing. We played nine holes on a golf course right next to the beach. It was awesome because there weren't a lot of people playing, so I didn't feel rushed. Usually I don't have too much fun because I am so terrible we have to let like four groups play through us. But in Hawaii, I just got to enjoy playing golf terribly! It was fun!
15. Working on our "Farmer" tans. All we wanted to come home with for sure was a tan. And well . . . it didn't really happen. Close to the end of the vacation we were in Waikiki and we kept on searching the stores for some like fake spray on tan stuff, and when we would ask the people would look at us like, "Are you psycho? The beach is right over there?" So all we came home with was a deeper farmers tan! But hey, what can you do?
16. Being ALONE together on a Tropical Island! Bottom line . . . we had fun together alone. And that was all that mattered. It was so fun to be with Lamon alone. It was just perfect. At first I thought that seven days would be way too long away from the kids. But it took about 3 days to stop having anxiety from being away from the kids so that I could enjoy myself! It is weird being away from my kids when I am "never" away from them!



My sister Liz is the champion. She watched all three of my children while we were gone! She is amazing. And we owe her a lot. She woke us up early one morning because Lamon had forgotten to turn the water off, and it was freezing outside. Well a pipe broke in the front yard and was shooting out water. A neighbor woke her up and told her. It had made a two inch sheet of ice in our yard, and flooded our crawl space. Some friends from the ward and John and Lamon's Dad came over and helped to get the water shut off, and helped to pump out the water out of the crawlspace. It wasn't the best thing to be informed about while you are enjoying paradise, but we are so lucky to be related to and friends with such amazing people who came to the rescue! There was very little damage. It could have been a lot worse!
What a wonderful week! It was hard to leave!!!! But it was just perfect. We felt like we had the perfect vacation, and were ready to get back to our cute kiddies!