Hawaii - Day 2

Day 2 was another jam packed day.  We were up fairly early as we had to drive though continuously horrible traffic.  There is one interstate/road to everywhere so of course everyone drives it and no matter the time of day, 35mph tops.

So we head off to KO 'Olina Adventures. I very highly recommend this company.  The captain and his mate took excellent care of every single person on the boat. The testimonials are their website are not an exaggeration. It is everything the folks write. 

http://koolinaoceanadventures.com/index.html

Ok, we got there a bit early so we hung out along the waterfront. It was beautiful and not a bad wait at all as you can see in this first photo.



Finally we made it on the boat. Here is a family photo with John, Vern, ME, Superman, and Ann.  We all got wet suits as no one wanted to be chilled.

We had only gone about 10 minutes when we spotted the dolphins. These are spinner dolphins as they spin  when jumping out of the water.  They were so fun to watch and they are as interested in us as we are in them.

As you can see in this next photo, it looks like a dolphin carrying a wal-mart sack. Well it was.  They find stuff and actually play with it. Here one is dragging it around and others will chase him and if he drops it they will go after it and continue the game.

Here are some really weird dolphins OH WAIT those are my kids snorkeling!  The water was so amazing you can barely describe it with words. It was clearer than a swimming pool. You could see so far down. I was not scared to jump in like some of the midwestern murky lakes that spook anyone!

This next photo is hard to see, but amongst the people there is a turtle trying to surface.  Behind the turtle with the legs sticking back is ME!  The turtle came within 3 inches of my face. I was trying to get out of the way but the turtle didn't care. It was so spectacular to get that close and look into its eyes.

Next we have one of the finds of the day, an octopus. As you can see the kids touched it and were very in awe. Fabulous experience for all.

Next we have a photo of me and the kids snorkeling. I just can't say enough what a good time we had.

On the way back we got to cruise by the Black Pearl.  This is the real deal and not a replica. The kids loved seeing this huge ship.  The captain told us he had visited with the captain of the Black Pearl and the entire ship is ran with a small remote controlled box.

After our snorkeling excursion we were off to the Luau.  Here is a nice family photo.

 It was quite the event. When we first got there, there were stations to try various activities. We made weaved palm leaf headbands and flower bracelets that smelled out of this world. We got to toss a javilin, and watch the hot studs climb trees and...well I don't remember what they all did but zowie were they nice to look at!  (Oopps - bad mom!)  Next there was a complete show on raising the roasted hog out of the pit. There was signing and dancing by the hula girls.  Still don't know how those gals moved their hips like that!

We attended the Paradise Cove Luau.  The food was served buffet style. I was not overly impressed with the food but the drinks were good. :-)  Here is Vern chowing on some chicken.

There was more entertainment after dinner. A lot of dancing and even a guy that did a fire twirling act.

They showed various dances depending on the islands of the Pacific.  Fun to watch and educational.

Next - day 3. Pearl Harbor and traveling to the Big Island.