Hawaii

Grandma and Grandpa are currently spending a year in Hawaii doing work with BYU Hawaii. When Kayla heard, she insisted that we go visit. Just as the weather was turning cold and rainy here in Seattle, we hopped a plane to enjoy the tropical humidity of Oahu's north shore.

Grandpa welcomed us at the airport with a traditional lei greeting. Grandma actually made the Hawaiian shirt Seth is wearing in the picture below.That first afternoon Kayla enjoyed picking flowers and collecting golf balls in the condo's back yard.During the week we visited Pearl Harbor......the Waikiki Aquarium......and enjoyed the beautiful Hawaiian landscape.Mostly we enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa.Kayla learned to hula dance from a pro.


One of the big highlights of the week was visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center. It has 8 villages each representing different Polynesian Islands with cultural shows and activities.

We learned how to start fire in Samoa......throw spears in Tonga......hula dance in Tahiti...
...get tatoos in Fiji......watch a haka dance (Kayla's favorite)...

...fish off a pier with coconut bread as bait...
...watch a canoe pageant......pose with a Fijian dancer......and have dinner at a real luau.It was all followed up by an amazing night show with dances from each island.

Because we were there in October, we also got to ride the Haunted Lagoon canoe ride. Grandpa took Kayla to home to bed so she missed out on that one, but it was very fun. The scariest part is that as you are riding along suddenly a ghoul (one of the people working there) will just pop out of the water right next to you! Very scary.

We had a wonderful time and are so grateful to Grandma and Grandpa for hosting us. Most of all, Kayla got to know her Poppy and Tootsie a little better.