Hawaii

Rob and I arrived home from our wonderful vacation to Hawaii on Thursday. Since I no longer have to go to work, I thought today would be a good day to sit and blog. I'm sure all of my three readers have missed me. :)

We flew from Cincinnati last Tuesday morning and were greeted in Honolulu (located on the island of Oahu in case you were wondering. Believe me, I had a hard enough time keeping all the islands straight!) by Rob's parents, Bob and Lori, and his sisters, Lauren and Kayla. We stayed in a gorgeous hotel right on Waikiki Beach and in the midst of the main shopping/restaurant district. I'm not kidding when I say there was some intense shopping going on in this district -- Coach, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Armani, etc., etc. I guess this area caught on to the fact that people are more likely to spend money on vacation.

Needless to say, being unemployed we skipped the shopping part of Waikiki Beach. Instead, we spent our time hanging out on the gorgeous beach, hiking a dormant volcano called Diamondhead, drinking smoothies (and sometimes a little stronger drinks ;) by the pool, eating out, going to Pearl Harbor, and visiting the North Shore. Here are some pictures from this part of the trip.

The view down the beach out the back of the hotel

The sisters hanging out by the pool

Waiting for our seats at the restaurant the first night we were there

The four of us with Rupert the Fish (he travels with the fam) on the top of Diamondhead. We made it!

The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor

The family at Pearl Harbor. We're complete with our audio guides. And yes, Pearl Harbor is very beautiful and sad at the same time.

Pineapple fields on our way to the North Shore

A snorkeling cove on the North Shore

On Saturday we flew over to the island of Kauai which is much more peaceful and less touristy than Oahu. We stayed at this amazing hotel with these really neat pools. The beach by our hotel was pretty rocky and the surf was rough, but the hotel made up for it with a salt water lagoon and labyrinths of pools. On Kauai we relaxed, but also went on a snorkel boat ride up the Na Pali Coast, a very remote and beautiful coast, and went to a luau at the hotel.

Racing each other in kayaks in the salt water lagoon. Can you guess who won? Clearly the triumphant sister

A view of the pools from our hotel room

Swimming in the pools. (I don't know the person to the left of me with the weird goggles....)

Being silly after dinner one night

On our way to the luau

Fire throwers coming into the luau

The Hawaiian sky over the luau

Lauren & I got invited up on stage to dance some hula. Let's just say I have a little too much Mennonite blood in my body to be any good at that!

Hanging out on the trampolines on the Capt. Andy's catamaran on our snorkel boat tour. On our way back we all rode on the trampolines and got soaked and bounced around in the waves. It was so fun!

The dolphins who came to play with our boat

All of us on the boat. You can see the coastline in the background

On our way back to the hotel from the boat ride we stopped at Waimea Canyon which is also known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." It was so deep and beautiful.

Playing Settlers in the airport on the way home. Rob and I have totally brought Lauren and Kayla over to the wonderful world of Settlers!

Me and my best bud

Overall, it was a great Bedinghaus vacation, as they all are. We had some funny moments, some good conversations, and of course great memories. One of the things I love the most about the Bedinghaus family is they are very intentional about making memories together. We will not quickly forget finding a bathroom for Kayla or Lauren's broken suitcase. :) Mahalo Hawaii for a great time!