Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Hawaii ! ! !

(I couldn't figure out how to have the writing above this picture, so sorry for random dolphin opening to this post)


Yep, be jealous, cuz it was THAT awesome. I love Hawaii so much and I owe my third time there to my cute in-laws for planning the Harper family vacation there. This was my first time to Kauai though, and I loved it!! It's so beautiful and quiet there. We had so much fun doing all sorts of adventures: kayaking, cliff jumping, rope swinging off into a waterfall, snorkeling, and my favorite the boat tour of the Na Pali coast. So our boat was more like a raft on steroids. We literally sat on the sides and held onto ropes to stay put. We saw dolphins and turltes and humpback whales. Which it wasn't like, oh sweet, there's a whale way out there at sea, grab your binoculars....they were RIGHT THERE. Like, 10 yards from us. It really puts things into perspective when the whale is bigger than your "boat". Yikes! And just to give you a better idea of our watercraft, the captain told us that he had a cool experience where a baby whale came and put his fun IN the boat. Yeah, in it. Crazy eh? I was literally shaking I was so excited to have that experience. They also took us in sea caves and served us lunch on a beach. There we got to walk through an ancient fishing village and and a burial ground for their royalty. Very cool. We ate lots of good food, layed out on the beach, did a little shopping. We spent our last 2 days on Oahu where we went to the Dole Plantation, Matsumoto's Shaved Ice (yum), and Pearl Harbor. Kevin is trying to brainstorm on ways that we could move to Kauai. So far he has come up with taking my dad's and his dad's retirement money and rebuilding a burnt down hotel. So pretty sure we won't be moving anytime soon :(

inside the a sea cave
I didn't mean to put this picture in here, but can't figure out how to get it off. So there you go....
Picture of the Na Pali coast from our raft
Our raft

Us laying at the pool at our hotel
This is us on the hike down to Secret beach. Except that it's not so secret, we found it on a brochure, along with everyone else. Maybe they should call it, "Waves Will Kill You and Take You Out To Sea Beach" because I got my #% handed to me in the water. It was still fun though. It's crazy the power the ocean has.
Us getting shaved ice at Jo Jo's. Here we are kayaking down the river. It was SO pretty, this picture does not do it justice. After this we all cried from the pain of rowing for 4 hours.
My husband looking hard core jumping off the rope swing

13 comments:

Heather said...

I hate you. Next time sneak us into your luggage! I vote that our fam goes there next. Hey and you actually came back with a tan! Like I said - I would lose bodily functions and pass out if a whale came that close to my "boat", you are definitely the braver sister. But I would love the dolphins and turtles!

Beth and Shilo said...

So Chad is still waiting on Kevin to look up who owns that hotel. Chad is pretty set on rebuilding it too. Kevin called him on Saturday and Chad got all excited cause he thought Kevin was calling him to tell him he found who owned it. Silly Boys!! So much fun!! You will have to email me all the pictures that you guys took on your camera and I will email you all of ours. (minus the pictures of me and chad) but I have some cute ones of you and Kev. Me and Chad are looking into getting a Sky Miles credit card so we can start earning points for our next trip. We get 20,000 just for signing up. SCORE!!! We need to do another trip ASAP before we all start having kiddos. So for you guys that means we need to go in the next year. HA HA!!

Dellany Higby said...

What the gorgeousness!!!! I can't wait to take my husband to Hawaii, I just don't think it's healthy to not go!! Sounds like you had a blast! Still don't know how to work your blog eh??? HEHEHE oh, and I too hate you. Whales and baby whales, dolphins, turtles, I would be crying the whole trip!!! I know I'm lame. Love you lady

Katie Corbridge said...

So FUN! We are all jealous! It looks amazing. What a fun family to vacation with - you guys do it all!!!

Vierra crew said...

Annie I just have to say that i just love you!! I love reading your blog and seeing your pics. I am not really jealous of your trip to hawaii... I mean I get to sit at home and grow a child inside me, go pee every 5 seconds, clean up after a 2 year old, and just continue getting more and more fat knowing that all vacations are mostly out of the question this summer... yeah much rather be me than you in hawaii!!!!!!!! who are we kidding... I'm way jealous!!! love you!

Shandi Brown said...

Ahh I want to be there! That is the same area we just went to and I want to go back!! Seeing that it took me 26 years to get there the first time, my next trip might not be for a while :(
It looks amazing and you did so many fun things!! You two are a beautiful couple!

Natalie & Luke said...

Ok so I am so jealous!! Looks like you guys had a blast.
And no I'm not done with American idol or blogging for that matter. I'm just taking a break from blogging I'll be back soon though. ;) how have you been doing??

Casey and Britt said...

Yes I am very jealous of you! Kuai is so beautiful! I'm glad you had a good time!

Jess said...

SO JEALOUS!!!!! Oh my that looks like so much fun, you two are so cute!!!

Karlee Turner said...

Hey Andrea! This is why I love the blogging world! You get to catch up with long lost friends! I love being able to see what everyone is up to also..it's great! Hawaii looks awesome! I'm going to get there one day...

Natalie & Luke said...

Ok so I was totally with you until I saw the preview. Now I am so excited about who they have playing Edward. Bella not so much, but I didn't love her in the books anyway. I think going into the movie knowing there is no way it can compare to the books will make it alright. I'm still so excited for it.... Oh and I just started reading the books again because I wanted to read them before Breaking Dawn comes out.... Wow, I'm such a nerd. :)

..::k.toms::.. said...

Sooooo jealous that you got to go to Hawaii!
You are beautiful Andrea!

Tara said...

ok I am so jealous you went to hawaii!