Haley pays us a visit

My dear cousin Haley flew out to visit me a few weeks ago.  She will be leaving to go serve an LDS mission in Panama in less than a month and I am so glad I got to see her before she left!  Here are all of the fun details of her stay with us.

Saturday: Haley arrives in Hawaii in the afternoon.  She is tired so we let her get settled in, play games, and watch a movie.  This is the lovely lei I got for her when she arrived.  As a side note, the best place to buy leis is at the airport.  Strange but true.

Sunday: We all go to church together in the morning.  After that we visit Lanikai Beach, which is said by some to be the most beautiful beach in the whole world.

Monday: The girls head off to the North Shore for the day.  First, we stop at Matsumoto's for some shave ice.  We stopped at a beach and watched a sea turtle climb out of the water, which was incredible to see.  Then we stopped at Shark's Cove to watch the waves.  It rained most of the day, so when we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center for the afternoon we also got ourselves some super sexy rain ponchos.  We finished the evening off with dinner at my favorite Mexican place on the island and were seated at a lovely table with a lovely view of a lovely painting. (You will see what I am talking about in just a second...)

Tuesday: All four of us went snorkeling at Ko Olina and then enjoyed filled malasadas.  We had dinner at a favorite of ours, the Old Spaghetti Factory.

Wednesday: We started the morning with a lovely hike to the Makapu'u Lighthouse.  From the top of the mountain we were able to see whales spouting in the ocean.  It was incredible.  After that we all went to the Laie temple for a session, and then to Matsumoto's again. 

Can you see the whale spout above?

Thursday: We spent the morning snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, where Haley got to follow a little sea turtle and I froze to death.  After that we went to Sea Life Park for a fun afternoon of dolphin watching and baby sea turtle petting.  We had dinner together at a fun restaurant where you get to sit outside right next to the water, and then we brought Haley to the airport to fly home.

I cannot describe to you how much fun it was to have Haley here!  I was actually kind of depressed the day after she left because I enjoyed having her here so much, and from knowing that I won't see her again for at least a year and a half.  She has always been a big part of my life since the day she was born and I am so glad she is my cousin!

The Larsen Family Vacation to Hawaii!

My family came to visit me during December.  I was so happy to have them come and see where I live and work and play. 

Here's a synopsis of our vacation:

Day 1: Saturday, the family arrived and they came to pick me up from work.  I got to see my brother for the first time in over two years!  Then we checked into the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club.  It was a two bedroom with a full kitchen that was bigger than our apartment (and way nicer.)  

Day 2: Sunday, they all came to my ward for church.  Then we decided to take the scenic route to get Blake from work since there was a marathon going on that closed the highway between church and the bay.  We stopped at the Halona Blowhole and then visited the chickens at Hanauma Bay.  After that we went back to the hotel and enjoyed sunset on the beach.

 

Day 3: Monday, was our early Christmas!  We decided to have a Christmas together in Hawaii instead of waiting until December 25th.  As always, my mom got us awesome gifts.  We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the hotel, snorkeling at the lagoon, and participating in the craft classes the hotel offers.  We finished off the day with dinner at the nice Italian restaurant Assaggios with our boss Ryan. 

Day 4: Tuesday, we visited the shark pools at a nearby hotel before heading up to the north shore.  We stopped at the Dole Plantation on our way.  Peeps got a pearl out of a clam there, and we saw teeny baby pineapples.  Our first stop on the north shore was Matsumoto's for some shave ice.  Matsumoto's is the best!  We stopped at a beach where you can see the sea turtles riding the waves, which was pretty awesome, then waded at the Pupukea Tide Pools (very cool.) After that we stopped by to see the temple grounds in Laie.  On our way back we stopped at the Maunawili Falls trail and I hiked it in flipflops.  It wasn't the best idea, but not too bad.  After that it was dinner at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants on the island (good ones are very hard to come by) and back to the hotel.

Day 5: Wednesday, we snorkeled at Hanauma Bay and visited Sea Life Park.  We saw sea turtles in the bay.  Sea Life Park is always lots of fun.

Day 6: Thursday, we spent the day relaxing at the hotel.  We went snorkeling and found more sea turtles.  There was a lei-making class and other craft classes.  I spent a long time reading at the beach and enjoying the beauty there.

Day 7: Friday, we did some more snorkeling at Ko Olina.  The visibility was really bad that day so we didn't see much.  We spent some time together at the hotel and then went out to a movie. 

Day 8: Saturday, was their last day here.  We spent a bit of time at the beach early in the morning and then checked out of the hotel by 10.  Then we went and got Blake from work and stopped at a nearby lookout.  We explored Kokohead Crater and brought home some malasadas.  Our last event together was watching a classic episode of Hawaii Five-o and then they drove off to the airport.

I am so glad my family came to visit me!  It was amazing having that much time to do whatever we wanted together.  And as a big bonus we got to keep Aaron with us instead of sending him back to Utah.  I can't wait until I can see the rest of the family again!