Sharing the "Aloha Spirit"

Finally, I am here to report the fun times with the parents and Kathy in Hawaii! They had a blast. They flew in on Thanksgiving day, and stayed for a week. When they first came to my apt, they were completely blown away by how close I was to the ocean. It was cute to hear my mom on the phone as I was giving them directions to my place, saying things like, "oh, and we just passed a car with surf boards on top!" and "Wow! it's so GREEN here!" it was great.

Here's a few pictures of things that we/they did:


Enjoyed the beautiful Laie temple


(the tour guides...)

Showing off their buys at the swap meet...oh boy. If these 3 aren't the ultimate tourists, I don't know who is!


My dad and Kathy went on an awesome (small) plane ride tour all over the island. We got a really great deal thanks to connections through the "landlord" that Wolfgang's family stayed with when they were in town. We were so grateful for their kindness. Here are just a few of the pictures my dad took on that flight



View of campus



View of Hanauma Bay, a great place to snorkel that they took advantage of


Pearl Harbor

OF COURSE, the Polynesian Cultural Center



Aw, aren't they cute?
Shrimp at Giovanni's shrimp truck


Oh, and let's not forget, the beach.
It was fun to watch a little bit of the surfing competition going on, the O'Neil World Cup of SurfingI was so happy that I was finally able to share what I have been enjoying for the last year. It was a miracle that everything seemed to work out so perfectly, and I'm excited for the next time they come, because they didn't do everything that was on "the list." You would think that a week for vacation would be sufficient, but not for Hawaii. I guess that just means they'll have to come for 2 weeks next time. :)