Hanauma Bay

On Friday, we took a shuttle to Hanauma Bay to go snorkeling. (Our driver talked to us the whole time and was hilarious. He was a Harley Davidson guy who speaks Japanese and grows out his hair and donates it to Locks of Love every year.)

I went to Oahu with my parents when I was 16, and Hanauma Bay was way bigger than I remembered. And more crowded. But still really beautiful! Since I was there last, they have built a visitor's center and added a mandatory video about preserving the coral reef with some of the cheesiest songs I have ever heard. It was good for some laughs.

Family shot just before we got all our snorkeling gear on.

Eva was super happy at first. 

Then she discovered that fins are hard to walk in, the mask feels weird on your face, the water is cold at first, and she is not really a fan of fish swimming right next to her.

Fortunately, Mim and Bob didn't snorkel, so Eva mostly played in the sand while they sat on the beach. (How they could stand to be fully dressed and sitting on the beach for a couple of hours is beyond me. I can only stand it if I'm getting wet.)

Marc and Max went out together, while I stayed with Lucas and tried to help/console him. He could still snorkel pretty well without getting his head fully submerged. We discovered that Marc and Lucas took to snorkeling quite naturally, while it made Max and I feel slightly panicky. (I already knew this about myself.) I think it feels so strange to be breathing underwater.

A couple of times, I forced Eva to go out just a little ways with me, where we could see fish even without the mask, but some people next to us spotted a small snake (I thought it was an eel, but whatever), and then it was all over. The rest of us loved Hanauma Bay!

After our snorkeling adventure, Bob & Mim took Eva to the aquarium (the boys were too tired).

Eva prefers seeing the fish through a glass tank.

After a short rest, Marc went to see a movie, and the boys and I walked around for awhile.

Don Ho Street was right next to our condo. It cracked me up every time I walked by.

We decided we had to return to the shave ice place. This time, I got the tropical trio: mango, papaya, and haupia (fresh coconut milk). It was amazingly good, especially the coconut milk section. I was pretty much in heaven. (Lucas got peanut butter again, and Max got strawberry milk, also delicious.)

FYI: this shave ice has finely shaved ice in the bottom of the bowl, then vanilla ice cream, then more ice patted around the ice cream to form the volcano shape, then the whole thing is doused with homemade syrups and condensed milk. Delicioso!

We all went up to the owner's lounge for a prime view of the Friday night fireworks show. I love fireworks.

I was surprised by how early the sun sets in Hawaii. It seemed like every night around 7 or 7:30, it would be dark already! It took me aback every night. In Utah, we have to wait until 9:30 for it to be dark enough for fireworks.

We went out to get some dinner after the fireworks and we were right in the middle of the Pan Pacific Festival. The main street was closed to traffic and there were people and booths everywhere.

Eva did not enjoy these loud drummers, but I thought they were cool.