Aloha, Oahu!

I have been blessed to have been married to the best match for me for 10 years on August 3rd. We balance each other out in so many ways that you'd think we are too opposite, but it's a combination that seems to be working for us...for the most part, at least.

We went a week early for our anniversary trip along with my brother and his wife who are expecting their first baby in November, so they were celebrating via "baby moon".  We were hoping that my sister and her husband would be able to join too, but baby James was still just a little too young for everyone to feel comfortable leaving him for a week. I guess maybe in another 10 years we will ALL be ready. It's hard to imagine I'll have three kids in the double-digits at that time. Wow! Anyway, I digress...

This was our "ohana", or Home, for the week that we stayed in Oahu, Hawaii. The house was surrounded by native tropical plants in the inner courtyard and garden. We each had our own room that shared a living room. It was PERFECT!

We literally walked across the street to our own beach, pictured here. GORGEOUS! Jeremy and I missed the sunrise by 5 minutes the first day and the other days were too jet lagged to bother. Poor excuse, I know. 

Tamy and Rick, our house hosts, have a sailboat that they offer to take guests out on for the day to "tail gate" at Coconut Bay, a HUGE sandbar in the middle of the bay. Here are Mandy, my sister-in-law, and I on the trip out.

This wasn't our boat, but it has the best picture of the sandbar behind it. Boats just pull up on all sides, drop anchor, and hang for the day. Rick and Tamy kept the cold beverages coming our way while they cooked us a killer dinner on their on-deck grill. Phenomenal way to spend our first full day on the island.

All of us on our way back home as the sun was setting. The couple on the left had just checked out of the house the day before us and asked if they could join. We, of course, said the more the merrier. 

Our second day, we woke early and went to Hanauma Bay, a marine conservation bay that is open to the public to snorkel. Words cannot express how awesome this place was. I could have stayed all day. The turquoise pockets are deep pools of sand on the bottom, while the darker areas are rocks and coral. The best part was weaving through the rocks to get to the pools and seeing eels and fish all in the reef. They are so used to seeing people, they let you get right up close.

What I also liked about Hanauma Bay was that there was a nice sandy beach area to catch some rays, snack and relax then go back out for some more fish action. You can see how crowded the place becomes...but didn't slow us down a bit.

This one is actually from our sailing trip...I added it as an afterthought. The land sitting in front left of photo is actually an island...Giligan's Island to be exact. That's where the filming of the show took place. Pretty neat trivia.

So that is a recap of our first few days. Part two, coming soon. Mahalo!