Monday morning we only had to drive a little ways to get to the Kualoa Ranch where we were going to be spending our morning on a secret island. As we checked in and waited for our tour group to leave, we took pictures at the main ranch. I love these pictures by the sign because you can see the beautiful mountains behind us.
This carved pole was near our waiting point, so the girls asked for me to take a picture of them by it. They liked picking out all the animals they could see on it like a turtle, a snake, and other ocean life. They had horses too and the kids were so excited to pet them and watch as they got fed by the workers. Aubrey is our animal lover.
Horseback riding was another option to do at the ranch, but we just got to see the horses for a minute. They definitely must be used to humans because these horses were very friendly and didn't mind being petted by all the little hands.
We lathered up with sunscreen while we were given instructions by our tour guide and grabbed one last picture before getting on the bus that took us to the secret island.
Tony took a selfie of all of us on the back of the bus. We drove for about 5 minutes and then turned off the main road and drove down to a small, hidden coast where we waited for a boat to pick us up to take us the rest of the way to the secret island. The first thing we saw was this sign saying it was a Lost film location. I watched that show faithfully when it was on, so I thought it was so cool that I was there where they had filmed some of the show.
We tried getting some pictures as we took the little boat ride to the island, but the sun was so bright, it's hard to see everyone in the pictures.
We did get a good one of Tyler and Tony, since most of our pictures are of just the kids and not the adults. They were ready for this day of adventure at the secret island.
On the island, there were plenty of things to do like kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, volleyball, hammocks, beach toys, etc. The kids went straight for the kayaks first and I grabbed these pictures of Aubrey with Tyler and of AJ with Tessa and Sam. They figured out how to work the kayaks quickly and had fun roaming around the ocean in our quiet bay.
There was another sunbathing turtle, smaller then the one we saw yesterday, but roped off so he could have his space. Taryn and Abby started their day building sand castles.
The secret island workers took groups of people out to a sandbar on this 16-seater boat. And this is where we met our awesome Hawaiian friend, Bekah. She told us that the boat holds 16 adults but it can fit more because the kids can just sit between seats and be little stow-aways. So we all worked together to get the boat in the water and paddle out into the ocean until we got to a sandbar where we could get out of the boat and walk around in the middle of the ocean. It was amazing!
Bekah is from Hawaii and the kids instantly loved her because when they told her she looked like Moana, she said "didn't you know, I am Moana." And then she started singing songs from the movie. The kids were mesmerized and instantly her best friends. She also played tag with them on the sand bar and told funny stories like how her mom used to babysit Dwayne Johnson when he was a toddler. She was so fun. She took these pictures for us and even had us do the jumping one for fun.
Here's Taryn getting a piggy back ride with Bekah during their game of tag. Aubrey latched herself onto the other worker, who she said looked like Belle. They were so fun.
Since we had a picture of Tony and Tyler, Audrey and I decided we needed a picture of just the two of us as well. We took this one on the sandbar with the beach we came from behind us. We made sure to take another picture of the kids with "Moana" and "Belle" before our morning was over.
We had to try out the hammocks so I took this picture of Taryn and Aubrey laying on me while we ate a snack and hung out on the hammock. The other cool thing about Bekah was that we found out she's from Laie where our hotel was, and she's a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and she works at the PCC. We told her we were going that night and she said she was supposed to be dancing that night and she was going to try and get us backstage before the show. We were super excited and swapped numbers to stay in touch.
Here's one final picture as we left our secret island. This was the boat that hauled us from the island back to the main island. It was the best morning yet. Our adventures just kept getting better and better.
While we waited for the bus that would take us back to the main ranch, we took some more portrait photos. I loved how all of these turned out.
All the girls with their sun-kissed faces and pretty smiles.
Aubrey had two great pictures that I couldn't decide which one to use, so I had to keep them both. After we got back to our hotels, we cleaned up and got dressed in our new Hawaiian clothes to head to the PCC, which is the Polynesian Cultural Center. It is run by BYU Hawaii and almost all of the workers are students who use their jobs to help pay for college. They have a shopping area full of food trucks and stands before you enter the actual villages of the PCC, so we stopped there for lunch on our way in. I took pictures while we waited for our food.
Here's another good one of the four girls.
I also love this one of Tyler and Taryn. We all bought our Hawaiian clothes from the swap meet. Tyler and I got matching prints and all the girls got dresses except Aubrey who loved the skirt she picked out. So she found a shirt to go with it. They picked out jewelry too and a couple other souvenirs because almost everything at the swap meet was a great deal.
Here we are at the entrance to the PCC. Tyler got a map of the villages as he checked us in and was told by the worker which route to take to make the most of our time.
We started by the river where they do an overall show, so while we waited for that to start, we hung out, took pictures, and met up with the Kasallis's.
We also got some pineapple smoothies to share which were very tasty. I thought this first picture was cute because Tyler and I are so cute, but Taryn photo-bombing us in the background is my favorite part. Another picture of Tyler and I while we waited for one of the village shows to start. Tyler's wearing a coconut leaf headband that was given to us in the Samoa village.
There were so many people watching the river show, and a lot of workers too that helped us learn a dance that we all did together. At one point we had to hold hands with our neighbors and Taryn was on the end of our family. She didn't want to hold a stranger's hand so she quickly moved to the other side of me. The lady next to us and I just laughed and finished the dance with everyone else. It was pretty cute.
We went to different villages to learn about their island customs. Samoa was one of our favorite stops as the guy talked about coconut trees and what all they use them for, from food to shelter to toys. The village of New Zealand did a dancing/singing number and showed us the balls they use to swing around when they dance.
We took some pictures outside their village and asked one of the dancers to take the picture of our entire group. He surprised us by adding a few extra pictures of his perfect selfie-taking skills. He was pretty funny.
We went to the Fiji village where they danced with fire. There were so many cool picture spots that we had to take pictures even as we walked from village to village.
Tonga was another favorite village where they talked about drumming and used people from the audience to give it a try. It was entertaining and fun to watch.
We waited in line to take a boat ride down the river as the tour guide talked about each village, so we took more couple pictures as we waited for our turns to get on the boats.
Between Audrey and myself, we just kept taking pictures. We decided with all of our fancy clothes on, we had to take come good couple pictures. So here's Taryn with Teagan and Aubrey with Sam.
Tessa had her picture taken with Logan and Abby was with AJ. Everyone looked so nice all dressed up and very festive. We definitely fit in with everyone else in our bright, floral clothes.
Here's a picture of our family on a bridge overlooking the river and boat that we got to ride. One of my favorite family pictures.
We had to wait before our luau started so we took some final portrait photos. I think that Taryn was done posing for my pictures, but her sassy-faced picture turned out cuter than I originally thought it would. Here's a picture of Aubrey's full outfit so you can see her pretty skirt that she picked.
I was trying to make sure that I got siblings together too, so here's the one I took of Tessa and Aubrey.
We got leis as we entered our luau and we had this picture taken of our entire group. I love it!
Audrey was able to catch a picture of Abby actually getting her lei. They were so pretty, full, and smelled wonderful. The buffet luau was delicious. We got to try new foods like poke and they had the pig that had been cooking in the ground all day. It was all very tasty. And the show we got to watch was awesome. Our favorite part was a young boy who twirled fire. He was so good. They say they start learning young, practice at the luaus and then when they're old enough and good enough, they can perform in the evening shows.
We stayed in touch with Bekah and she was able to get us backstage before the big show started that night. She walked us around and showed us things like the skirts that the fire dancers use, and the dance room where they all learn their dances. She said it was special to her because it was the same room where her mom had learned the dances when she used to dance during the show.
We got to see the costume room and all the hundreds of different costumes and the set up they had to move them around to get to the ones they needed. We also got to see the drum room which was pretty cool. We took a picture of Tessa in front of the drum room so we could send the picture to Grandpa Black.
We took one final picture with Bekah at the end of the tour before she had to hurry off to get dressed for the show.
We couldn't take any pictures during the show, so we grabbed a few before it started so you could see the stage. It was a huge production and we were excited for it to start.
We were sitting in the center but near the top back. We grabbed this picture of our entire row right before the show started.
The show was called the Breath of Life and it told the story of a boy who grew up on the islands and how he went from boy to man and then had his own child and how that starts the cycle over. It was really good. After the show, we went on the stage to see Bekah and we grabbed a picture with the two main characters.
And then we had a final picture taken with all of us and Bekah who's in the middle front, right behind Aubrey, in her final dance outfit. It was so cool. We loved everything about it.
Tuesday morning was our final day in Laie. I woke up early and went for a run. I ran down the main road to the road that leads to the temple. We kept driving by a sign that said temple garden and I wanted to go there, so finally during my run I stopped there to take a picture of the ocean and of the temple. From the garden you can look up the path to see the temple like in this second picture. It was breathtaking.
I ran over to a beach right outside our hotel and took a panoramic picture there to see both sides of the beach from where I was standing. It was pretty cool.
After my run and after we all got ready for the day, we walked down to the beach that I had just been at to say our goodbyes to this side of the island. The girls wrote "Aloha Hawaii 2019" in the sand and I took this picture of them looking out over the ocean. It's one of my favorites. We're definitely going to miss it.
We drove up to Laie point for a few more pictures and took one with me and the girls and one with Tyler and the girls.
We met up with the Kasallis's one more time at the Hukilau Beach so we could take a picture by the sign. We also got a picture with just the adults.
We checked out of our hotels and headed back to the PCC for a final few stops that we missed the day before. We went to the Tahiti village and learned about their drums and dancing. Taryn volunteered to learn a dance so she got to wear the dress and dance in front of everyone. I was so proud of her for raising her hand to volunteer and for being brave enough to do it in front of the entire audience. She did great. She got this headband with flower as a gift for helping. She was so proud.
Aubrey really wanted a picture with the lady worker in Tahiti because she loved her red dress and fancy headdress. She knew we were from Texas and was excited to tell us that she had just been in Dallas for the New Year visiting her boyfriend, so that was a fun connection. We also got to visit the village of Hawaii where we learned a hula dance and took a picture with some of their dancers.
We took our final pictures as we left the PCC. The story of the shaka sign was told on a plaque in front of this statue where there was a man who had lost his three fingers, but would wave to all the passersby when they were doing their luaus on the beach. And that's where the shaka symbol came from. We also took a picture by the PCC sign in the parking lot as we got ready to leave that side of the island for the final time.
We drove to Waikiki where our family was going to stay for one more night until our flight in the morning. The Kasallis's were flying out that night so they turned in their rental car, but Tyler went to pick them up from the airport so they could swim with us one last time. The resort was beautiful with multiple pools and this lagoon. The girls practiced the hula dance they had learned while playing in the water as the sun when down. It was a nice relaxing final night to our vacation.
Audrey took one last sunset picture from the lagoon and pool where we hung out while the kids swam. It's the perfect picture to remember our trip by. We loved being in Hawaii and we loved being with our friends. It was an awesome start to 2019 and we can't wait to go back some day.
