Our Trip to Hawaii

Shawn and I got back from Hawaii about a week ago. It was total paraside!!! We went to Oahu, and everything I had ever heard was true about this island. The water was so beautiful and green, and the colors of the island were so bold and brilliant. Here is a picture of Shawn on the beach on the North Shore of the island.

The weather while we were there was perfect. 80 degrees during the day, and 70 degrees at night. It never rained, and was only a little bit cloudy at times. Here is a photo of a huge sea turtle on the North Shore of the island. He was just lazing in the warm sun. It was so amazing seeing these creaures, they were so wonderful! There was also a pregnant female turtle that we saw; she was swimming around in the water. It was so cool.

This photo is of Shawn and I at the Polynesian Cultural Center. The PCC was really cool; there we got to see all kinds of authentic island activities and arts. We saw this guy climb all the way to the top of a palm tree like a little monkey! We saw all kinds of different cultural demonstrations. Shawn tried fishing the "island way", I played some stick games, and we both watched hula lessons. We finished off the day with a roasted pig luau and a night show.

Here is Waikiki Beach. We hung out around there all day one day. It is definitely a busy place! This is the central place of all the travel and shopping. There was every kind of store you could ever imagine. I swear I saw at least 4 Coach stores within a 10 block radius. It was crazy. Shawn and I didn't swim at this beach, but we did walk with our feet in the water. It was so amazing how warm and clear the water was.

Here is a photo of me at Pearl Harbor. It was a solemn but beautiful place. They take you on a boat over to the USS Arizona Memorial where you can look down into the water and see the sunken ship. It was heartbreaking to see it still leaking oil. I felt so small and humble as I stood over the ship that was such a huge part of our American history.

The Big 4-0!!!

This weekend I threw a surprise birthday party for Shawn's 40th birthday. His birthday is actually not until the 18th, but we will be gone in Hawaii then. And what better timing than to throw him off than having the party a week before the big day!

We had the party at David's Pizza, our favortive pizza place in Spokane. All the details were there - we had a cake shaped like a tombstone, M&M's that had "Lordy, Lordy Shawn is 40!" printed on them, 40 black balloons, and plenty of over the hill gag gifts. It was great, and what made it the best was that Shawn had no idea it was coming. In fact, he kept bragging to me that since we would be in Hawaii on his actual birthday that everyone would forget his birthday and he would get off scott-free. No such luck with that, mister!!

Here's Shawn's face at the moment of surprise when we walked into the party.

And here is a photo of him with his "old man" cane his sister bought him

And lastly, here are two miscellaneous photos from the party. One of Ellie and I eating cake, and one of my two great friends Andrea and Leslie who helped me greatly with planning this wonderful party. It went off without a hitch!