ALOHA! last day

Unfortunately Trent and I had to leave 2 days before the rest of the family in order to get back to work and kids and travel back home. We decided to have a beach day on the last day. We were going to rent snorkeling gear and go to Hanalai Bay and Tunnels Beach. The weather did not cooperate and they would not rent the gear to us if we were going to be on the North side because it was too dangerous. We decided to go and check it out anyway because it wasn't worth it to drive all around the island and back before our flight. It was raining when we got there. Most people were upset and disappointed, but I was in heaven. I love the rain especially because I don't see it much anymore. It stopped raining for a while and we had some really nice sun.

We went in the water and saw a few fish until "Shark Man" appeared. A man came swimming by us decked out in a full body wet suit and some sort of spear. He had some fish hanging from a belt. We went up to see him and noticed that one of the fish had a huge bite out of it. He told us that just beyond the reef, about 30 yards away, a shark bit the fish as he was pulling it in. Crazy! My brother-in-law is not a fan of sharks so we decided it was time to head in. It was pretty cool to see something like that though.

After the beach we went to another "real gem" called Bubba's. It's just a hamburger type of stand known for horrible service and great burgers. It was pouring down rain when we got there and they told us it would be about 45 min. for our burgers and fries. We waited and had some Hawaiian "shave ice" at a nearby stand while we waited. The food was really good and it was a fun experience.

After Bubba's we took a short drive to the lighthouse on Kilauea Point. It's an old lighthouse that is not used anymore located on a Wildlife Refuge. We got there right before closing and decided not to pay to walk all the way down there, but we got some beautiful pictures.

We went back to the hotel and got cleaned up and Trent and I packed up to go on our all night flight back to get the kids. We were really sad to leave because we had a fantastic time, but we were ready to see our girls. My sisters and their husbands drove us to the airport while Mom and Dad stayed back at the hotel to rest. Before we went to the airport we stopped at Dukes restaurant for dinner. We ate outside right off of the beach, there were tiki torches everywhere and lots of tropical plants.

We had so much fun on our trip. My parents are the greatest and really made sure we had a great time. It was fun to be myself again instead of just mommy (although I wouldn't trade being mommy for anything). Mom and Dad you are amazing, we love you so much and we had so much fun spending a week with you and the rest of the family. We now have even more fantastic memories to reminisce about.