Aloha

We were lucky enough this year to be invited to Hawaii again with my mom and dad. Since neither TJ or I are ever inclined to pass up a fun vacation we jumped at the opportunity. So on April 29th we hopped on a plane and headed to Honolulu to spend a week at the Ko Olina Marriott resort on Oahu. We were looking so forward to this vacation and for the chance to spend some time with my parents, Marilee and Adam and some close family friends, Richard and Mahalia Bird.

The first day there us girls hung out at the pool and the boys got their golf on. It was a beautiful day and as an added bonus we got to hang out with my adopted sister Jenny and her cute family. After a lovely day at the pool we headed into Honolulu to eat at THE BEST hot dog place ever...Puka Dog! If you're ever in Honolulu or on the Island of Kaui I HIGHLY recommend giving Puka Dog a try.

Now, you may be asking yourself why Puka Dog is so good? Well let me tell you...you choose what kind of dog you want, a polish sausage or a veggie dog. Then you choose if you want garlic, jalepeno or hot pepper flavor. Then you choose what kind of mustard you want. There's coconut, pineapple, mango, passionfruit...all sorts of exotic mustards. And finally you choose a sauce to top it off...mango or passionfruit. So after you choose everything they take a delicious bun, drill a hole in the middle, toast the inside, put all the toppings in the hole and then stick the dog in! The puka dog with some fresh squeezed lemonade is to die for yummy!

If you didn't know how good PukaDog is you would pass right by. It literally looks like a dirty little hole in the wall joint.

Dad, Jenny and Mar enjoying their dinner.

Me with my cute nephew Wallace. This baby is soooooooooooo yummy!

Sunday morning we got up and went to church. Then we went over to the JW Marriott for Sunday Breakfast Buffet. And because everything revolves around food may I just say that this place has the best Eggs Benedict I've ever had! Plus they have yummy waffles with coconut syrup. YUM!

After brunch we headed into Honolulu to visit the Punch Bowl Crater, which is The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. I had been there before but I was really little when I went so it was really cool to see it again. We ran into a group of college students from Missouri who were there on a trip. There were 10 kids and they were grouped into 2's and each group of 2 were put with a Veteran. 2 of the Veteran's were brothers who fought in WWII and one of them was a survivor from the USS Arizona. It was really interesting to see them...especially because there are not too many WWII veterans left.

After the Punch Bowl we went over to hike Diamond Head. Again, I had hiked it when I was a little girl so it was fun to do it again, and actually remember it!

Mom and Dad down the trail

TJ, Adam and Richard...not quite to the top.

Mahalia, Me and Mar. We were most likely laughing at the antics of our hubbies in this picture.

Me and Teej at the top. Waikiki is in the background

Mom and Dad! I was so proud of Mom for making it to the top. She almost threw in the towel right after we started but we convinced her to persevere!

The rest of the time we were there the boys golfed and us girls sat by the pool, except for a day of shopping. It was pure heaven!

Marilee with her silly hat. Whoever has Mar for Christmas needs to buy her a new sun hat!

Mar and Adam at dinner at Turtle Bay.

Me and Teej at dinner at Turtle Bay...crab stuffed salmon=GOOD!

Richard and Mahalia

Me and Mom at Kolohe's, the restaurant at the resort.

TJ under his towel tent at the beach

My happy place!

TJ going down the waterslide. We thought the waterslide would be lame and it totally wasn't! My kids would've LOVED it!

The Leader Board for the weeklong golf tournament! This is TJ's creation and he was so proud of it, even though he didn't play his best golf!

View of the Marina out our room. The big ship is from the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We think its BlackBeard's ship. It was cool looking!

So there ya have it. A huge shout out to mom and dad for inviting us along. We had such a fabulous time and we can't wait until Thanksgiving 2012 Maui...with the kids! YAY!