Our honeymoon trip to Hawaii :)

Yeah, it's about time I wrote about this trip.  It's only been a month since we were there...
So, on the 2nd of May, following my first two solo weddings I photographed on April 30th and May 1st, we boarded the airplane in SLC to Honolulu.  We were flying with buddy passes, but were fortunate enough to get seats by each other.  On the way there we watched two movies that I'd really wanted to see, Avatar and Sherlock Holmes.  I must of course say that 2 tiny bags of peanuts and a couple small cupfulls of Sprite on a 6-hour flight aren't really acceptable.  By the time we got to the airport I was so hungry that I was feeling quite ill.  We picked up our rental car, checked into our hotel, and then got something to eat.  We had a walk around and I was loving the orchids and hibiscus bushes growing everywhere!  I was also amazed at the trees that were there.  I really expected there to be tons and tons of palm trees everywhere, but there were so many different kinds of crazy trees!  Some looked like they belonged on the savannah, and some looked like they'd been painted!

We got to go see the Iolani Palace, which as you know was the headquarters for the HPD in one of my favorite tv shows ever, Hawaii Five-o.  I'm afraid we didn't see Steve McGarrett or Danno though.

We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott at Waikiki, which was only a short walk away from the beach.  Unfortunately the beach there wasn't spectacular.  The next day was really fun.  We went to Haunama Bay.  You do have to pay to get in, but man was it worth it!  Snorkeling there was so much fun, and I saw about half a dozen puffers!  They were Hawaiian Whitespotted Tobies.  So cute.  And so little.  :D  Unfortunately our sunscreen didn't hold out so well, and we were fried.  We bought plenty of Aloe Vera, the green regular kind and the blue pain-relieving kind.  I mostly used the blue kind.  The next day we checked out of the hotel and then went to the north shore.  The drive up there was gorgeous.

We stopped at the Dole Plantation on the way up there.  There were lots of crazy plants up there, and the dirt was bright red.  It was pretty cool.

 We also got to do that pick a pearl thing where you choose an oyster and you get the pearl inside.  I got a beautiful black pearl.  :)  It's so gorgeous.

We spent alot of time at the beaches up there (which were much nicer than the one we went to in Waikiki).  There were wild chickens everywhere!  Peeps would have been in heaven :)

The next day for breakfast we had a large mango.  It was not ripe and therefore very sour/acidic.  Then we had some strawberries, which do not last very long in Hawaii.  We were heading back around to the other side of the island and I had to have Blake pull over so I could puke.  That was so much fun.  He took pictures of a cute lizard while I was hurling.  Yay.

More time was spent at the beaches this day, and then back to the hotel, this time in a different room, which was even bigger.  They gave us free upgrades in both of our rooms because it was our honeymoon :)  I liked that the throw pillows had fish on them.  We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center the next day.  We only got to see 2 shows, but they were both really funny, especially the Tonga one.

They also had a night show that was pretty cool.

There were only 2 souveneirs I really wanted from this trip. I got both of them, and it cost me less than $10 ;)

 The next day we wasted most of it.  Our car got towed and so Blake took the bus to go get it back and I stayed in the hotel room watching Discovery Channel for a very long time.  But at least we got to go to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner!  And our waitress was awesome.  We were only halfway done with our loaf of bread (which if you've been there you know their bread is amazing) and she gave us another one and then let us take it home.  She got a nice tip :)
The day after that we walked to the Waikiki Aquarium.  It wasn't as big as say the Aquarium of the Pacific in California, but it still had some fun stuff.  I would have liked it if they'd have had an endemic fish exhibit though.  Then there'd be some Hawaiian Whitespotted Tobies.  But still they had two different species of puffers and I was not disappointed.

This next little cutie is a Blue Spotted Toby pufferfish.

 Followed by the close relative of the puffers, but without the ability to puff, a filefish.

I love this next pic so much.

This little Stars and Stripes puffer was in a huge outdoor pond.  He was just so happy to see me.  He kept poking his eye out of the water.  Hehe.

Then we spent some time at the beaches near the aquarium.

 I loved that sign.
There were gorgeous plumerias littering the ground everywhere.

The next day I woke up early and saw the sunrise from our hotel room window.  It was beautiful.

Then we went snorkeling again.  This time we went to some man-made lagoons that were near some hotels on the west shore.  I saw lots of Moorish Idols and some other fish, but the water wasn't as clear here (and lots deeper) than at Haunama Bay, and there weren't nearly as much fish.  It was still a gorgeous place though.  Especially at sunset.  Oh, did I mention that we took my wedding dress along and Blake took pictures of me on the beaches at sunset?  Yeah, it was amazing.  I'll show those pictures off sometime.  But for now, enjoy the lagoon minus bride.  :)  (Oh yeah, and look at our cute new swimming suits!  Blake's actually fits him now.)

Our final day came upon us too soon.  Blake caught a cool little lizard and we played with him for a while.  We let him go though instead of taking him home :(  Then we spent some time finding last-minute souveniers for family and packing up.

 We had to return the rental car at 3, and our flight wasn't until 9, so we had a very long time at the airport.  For future reference, redeye flights are killer.  It totally wiped us out.

 I had been thinking if I'd want to move there... you know how you go to a place that's so awesome that you just want to stay forever.  I thought about it, then decided I didn't want to live there, I wanted Utah to suddenly become just like Hawaii.  Yes, that would be perfect.

We took about 1200 pictures, of which 200 were put up on facebook, so you can see the rest of the 200 pictures there.   If you want to see all 1200... well, you'll have to come over sometime.