Trip to Hawaii - Day 2 (Oahu)

Today we were up before dawn to drive the hour or so from our condo back through Honolulu to Waikiki Beach for our surf lessons!  We wanted to be there when the sun came up at 7am because there was an Early Bird deal that let our whole family get an hour long surf lesson for much cheaper than later in the day.  It was so worth it!  The water was perfect and we beat the crowds that show up later.  Mark, Bryan, and I had one instructor, and Morgan, Colton, and Kyle had another.  They were both awesome instructors who were also a lot of fun!  They taught us what to do, would get us ready for a wave, then give us a shove to get us started - we pretty much caught a wave every time!  That ended up being one of all of our family's favorite things we did on this trip.  Such a blast!  And now we can say we went surfing!

From Waikiki we drove about 15 minutes away to the famous Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling.  We saw a crazy, big spider right at the entrance.  This was fun, but the water was pretty shallow over the coral, which made it hard to swim.  We only stayed for about an hour because we still had other things we wanted to get to today, including snorkeling at Shark's Cove!

After leaving Hanauma Bay, we drove about an hour over to the North Shore to go to Shark's Cove.  The water was deeper here, which made it easier to get around...

After leaving Shark's Cove, we HAD to stop at the famous Matsumoto's Shaved Ice for a snack!  This was yummy stuff!!  On the way there, we saw all the famous North Shore beaches.  Those waves were much bigger than the places we snorkeled, at the surfers were out in full force.  Fun to watch!

 After hitting the condo for a quick shower, we headed over to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  We got to see some fun shows about the islands of the Pacific, and then attend a traditional Luau Dinner.  From there we saw their famous live production that was kind of about the circle of life.  It had crazy, awesome dancing, and even brought me to tears.  Such a great show!  Such a great day!!

Colton got pulled up on stage to try fresh coconut water.  He wasn't really a fan, but he drank it!

These guys could climb palm trees SO FAST!