I am finally breaking radio silence, or in this case, blog silence! I was on here the other day and hadn't realized that the last time I posted something was in March. Figures!
For this post, I decided to write some more about my trip to Hawaii as well. I will be placing a number to each line that corresponds with each picture so that you can visibly understand what I've talked about. (However, once again, Blogger is not allowing me to upload anything Hawaiian. Hopefully soon, ya'll!) Also, one more note. These won't necessarily be in order.
Enough said.....enjoy!
1. For Thanksgiving we decided to add a little Hawaiian flair to our meal. Grilled turkey (thanks to Rod!), Hawaiian dinner rolls, Tropical Ambrosia Salad, and....Purple Sweet Potato Pie! YES, there are such things as purple sweet potatoes.
2. Thanksgiving day also included my first try at snorkeling. Rod helped coach Steph & I to the proper ways of breathing. We swam in the tide pools which very in depth. You would never guess that those fish were lurking down there just by observing from the top!
3. We visited Kona where the water was the most aqua blue I had ever seen in person in my life! LOVED it! We snorkeled more and got to be about 8 feet away from a Sea Turtle. Also, I finally got to experience a sun setting on the Pacific Ocean. (LOVE those, too!)
4. Used flippers for the first time, too.
5. Swam in a lava-heated pool. Lots of algae floating in there -- but it felt great! It was almost like being in a "Jurassic Park" movie.
6. Drove through dense tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle). Saw so many unusual plants, trees, and exotic flowers!
7. Tasted Maui Gold pineapple, Star Fruit, Liliquoi (sp? Passion Fruit -- fresh, I might add!), fresh coconut & coconut water, Liliquoi-Tangerine lemonade, Rambutan (wild looking stuff, but surprisingly good), Nonni fruit, papaya boats with banana and freshly squeezed passion fruit juice, and sugar cane. Oh, and I was also "introduced" to peanut butter and honey sandwiches. ;-)
8. The morning after we arrived, Tanner caught a gecko in the corner of the window -- INSIDE the house.
9. A banana tree growing right outside the house.
10. Having the windows open at night, listening to the croqies (frogs that sound very similar to crickets).
11. Gentle rains coming and going several times a day.
12. Walking through Sherwood Forrest. This was due to the boys' machete work in the rainforest growing in their backyard.
13. Driving past an avocado farm, mango, banana and macademia trees, as well as coconut palm trees.
14. Biking down to the lava cliffs with Steph one day, seeing exotic looking chickens crossing the path, and putting flowers in our hair.
15. One morning, Steph and I watched the sun rise while sitting on the lava cliffs. There were some spectacular shots from that morning!
16. We really wanted to hitch-hike our way back to the R's home, but it just didn't work out. Shortly after we arrived, we were told that hitch-hiking is actually a very normal thing to do over there.
17. Going to the Farmer's Market in Hilo. We bought papaya, Kona coffee, (even chomping down on one of the coffee beans), looking at Poi face-to-face, (no, I did not try it!). Rochelle even bought us an exotic flower arrangement for our room, which was wrapped in banana leaves.
18. Went to an "outdoor church". They met in a building that had garage-like doors opened up and the Hawaii air wafting through.
19. Saw an ad for the "Hawaiian Nutcracker Ballet". Overheard "Baby It's Cold Outside" playing in one of the grocery stores, and driving past houses with Christmas lights & decorations. (It's wierd seeing that in someplace tropical.)
20. Visiting a total of three waterfalls, Kahuna Falls, Akaka Falls and Rainbow Falls. While sitting in the parking lot at Rainbow Falls -- a rainbow appeared overhead! No joke.
So, those are the first 20 things on my list -- and there's much more!