Hawaii - Day Three

We got up early and headed to Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial.

Alison and I blocking the sign for the Aviation Museum so Andrew can't see. He thought we wanted a silly picture taken of us. No, we just didn't want to go to the Aviation Museum and look at airplanes for hours and hours.

Andrew pulling Ali away from the sign.

Pearl Harbor - USS Arizona Memorial

We hopped on a ferry and headed out to the USS Arizona Memorial. The Arizona is the battleship that sunk and took over 1000 sailors with her.

Here is the list of sailors who died. The the large quote in the middle says: "To the memory of the gallant men here entombed and their shipmates who gave their lives in action on December 7, 1941 on the USS Arizona." It was a beautiful memorial and very solemn.

A part of the ship that isn't under water.

Andrew and I.

The top of the Memorial was beautiful. I loved that it was open to the sky.

Part of the ship that is totally submerged. Something that was amazing is that there were pools of oil in the water that were leaking from the old ship still, after 68 years. They call them Pearl Harbor's tears.


Leaving the Memorial.

My first sighting of Birds of Paradise was on the way out of the Memorial.

Pearl Harbor Naval Base - USS Utah Memorial

Jason, me, Andrew, Alison, and Dave in front of the USS Utah, another ship that was sunk and taken out of service because of the damage done. When the ship listed (tipped) 40 degrees, the crew abandoned ship. About 450 sailors were able to escape and about 60 sailors were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor Naval Base - Ford Island
Sorry, you won't be able to go unless you have a military friend who can get you on base.


This is my favorite picture that I took from the whole trip so far.

This picture of the USS Arizona Memorial is taken from the original Memorial on Ford Island.

Us in front of the original Memorial.

Ford Island - Butts in a Banyan

I seem to have a love/fascination with Banyan trees, and the one on Ford Island was HUGE!!! We had fun climbing in the tree.

Dave's butt.

The Banyan.

Alison's butt.

My butt.

Andrew's butt (my personal favorite)

Electric Beach
When I first heard the name of this beach, I was a little wary and worried that it was named so because of electric eels and other freakish fish. No. There is a power plant nearby that shoots warm water into the water off the shore through a tunnel. As a result, there is a lot of coral and fun fish, so it is great for snorkeling!

Me in the waves.

The following pictures are of the rocky cliffs that we didn't swim at.





Ready to go snorkeling.

Andrew boogie boarding. That is probably his great beach love.

After a good boogie up to the shore.

Ali after she went snorkeling.

Corvin
Andrew's little cousin Corvin (CK) loves to play with Andrew. They wrestle, jump, CK takes Andrew's hat and says, "My hat!" and Andrew screams and falls down on command. It is so entertaining to watch them!



This was a very fun day in Hawaii and I hope that the pictures are showing it! Merry Christmas to all! Well, I guess I should say Mele Kelikimaka!

Hawaii - Day Two

We had a change of plans and decided to switch a day. It worked out better so we could sleep in and I could get rid of my headache. This was "MY" day, that I planned. We were flexible and also threw Chinatown into the mix. Enjoy!

We started the morning out with a lovely walk on Hickam behind the officers' housing.

Plumeria - beautiful! My favorite flowers in Hawaii.

Hibiscus - also lovely and extremely stunning.

Some random statue in front of Alura's elementary school. Lucky her got to skip out on half of school to go do cool historical stuff with us.

Check it out! There is a road in Honolulu called Salt Lake, so we had to get a picture.

Downtown Honolulu is one of the most beautiful downtowns I have been in. There were palm trees, colored glass buildings, narrow streets, and a lovely cool breeze. Excellent.


Where's Steve McGarret? (Book 'em, Dan-o)

Andrew in his element: speaking Cantonese in Chinatown. He was so happy. :D And all the Chinese people were so surprised to see a white kid speaking Cantonese!

Andrew eating Dragon Eyes.

Me eating Dragon Eyes.

The Goddess of Mercy or something like that. She's in Chinatown. I just liked the statue.


Queen Lilokalani, the last queen of Hawaii.

The interior of the state capitol building. Not the traditional dome we are used too. Instead, this one looks like it is straight out of the 1950s in modernish style. Oh wait, that's cuz IT IS.

"Sarah, do you really need to read ALL of the signs?"

Pointsettias growing in the ground with Hawaiian Santa. I tell ya, Christmas in Hawaii really doesn't feel like Christmas at all.

Kapu, or forbidden. Only the king is allowed to enter this area on the palace grounds.


Iolani Palace, which was the main attraction of the day. When you go, make sure you buy the audio tour. This is the only imperial residence in the United States, and is where Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned while she protested the US takeover.

Having a blast in my HOT sunglasses and diggin' historic downtown Honolulu.

Chilling with the tropical birds, aka my cousins' pet Polly who likes to chew on toothpicks.

Dave who took us everywhere with the other two birds, Skittles and Sunny.

Alison eating our first Hawaiian pineapple. YUM FEST!

Love you all! Pictures are coming slowly but surely (today is Day 8 of our trip...)