Lantern Ceremony

After changing and grabbing some lunch after the Memorial Service at Punchbowl, I headed down to the Hale Koa to meet Leisa and her family for some relaxation by the pool. Around 5:30pm we started walking to the beach park so we could catch the Lantern Floating Ceremony. Once we arrived we were amazed at the number of people there! 40,000+ jam packed like sardines on the beach. We found an open section of sand and plopped down to watch the introduction. It was very interesting how they swtiched back an forth between the Buddhist customs/culture and the Hawaiian customs/cultures but it did end up flowing nicely. Once the sun had begun to set they ask everyone with a lantern (3,000 individuals/families) to make their way to the edge of the water. I snuck in with a family because I really wanted to get some good photos and where we were in the sand was so far away.

It was a really interesting and beautiful experience and I am glad I attended, however if I don't go again I won't be heartbroken, I really did feel quite claustrophobic at times and was really sick of people pushing and bumping by the end of the night.

Punchbowl Memorial Day Service

Yesterday I woke up at 6am in order to get ready and drive across the island (and find a parking spot!) to attend the Mayor's Memorial Day Ceremony at Punchbowl. Initially I arrived at 7:20am which sounds early but ended up being a very good thing. HPD were only letting people with passes or who were participating in the ceremony enter the cemetery at that time, however they all commented on how much they liked my American Flag scarf, I found that funny! I drove a couple streets past and found a spot in a neighborhood and began walking. I arrived about 10min before the actual ceremony started at 8am, the funny thing is I ended up sitting next to the same lady I did at the ceremony we attended the year before! She's Australian and her husband is in the Marine Corps League, she even remembered Quinn (since he had been in the color guard) and asked how he was doing! Small island, right?

The ceremony was nice with the presentation of the wreaths/plants, the Mayor's speech, the 21 gun salute, multiple songs sung by the Aloha Choir accompanied by the Royal Hawaiian Band, ending with taps and a missing man fly-over:

The night before I had a really bad sweet tooth... so I had made sugar cookies, the problem was I made like 50! So I bagged them all up and passed them out to people throughout the day, including: the color guard marines at Punchbowl, HPD officers, and the gate-guards on base. They were all really surprised and thankful, especially the younger guys that got stuck working on everyone's day off.

Makapu'u Blow-hole & Tidepools

Earlier today a group of us set out on a grand adventure... well it was just an adventure until we had some major waves hit us... but I'll get to that... 

We did the Makapu'u Lighthouse hike, all the way to the top. Then we branched off near the whale look-out diagram and hiked down, down, down... until we reached the blow-hole and tide pools. The waves were huge and we later learned there had been a small craft advisory for the area (aka- rogue waves). When I ventured out into the deeper tidepool we got hit by three waves in a row... the first two I held my breath under water and clung to a rock, when I came up for air  after the 2nd it looked like one of the girls was getting beat up pretty bad so I tried to time it right to swim thru the channel with the next wave, I was a little off and hit my elbow on the rocks. She got really scratched up but it ended up being more cosmetic than damage. I , however, bruised my bone.

After we made the epic hike back up we were starving, and what better a way to end a great day with friends than chow down at Teddy's Bigger Burgers?!

A glimpse at the blow-hole:

Cheryl's Wedding

I left mom and dad home to relax and recover from their final two days in Maui (I came home before them to get to a work meeting) and headed to a wedding for one of the ladies in my women's group. Despite a down pour, some family drama, and being planned in 2 weeks, the wedding was still beautiful. Adrien became the quasi wedding planner while I became the quasi photographer. It was a fun evening.

If you want to see the actual wedding photos I took you can click here.

Tear stained pillowcase

I'm laying in bed (beauty of technology right-blogging via my phone) surrounded by tear drops on my pillowcase and wet cheeks. I followed the advice of my friends to not see the movie "Act of Valor" without my husband, especially not while he is deployed. Which is fine with me considering I know he is going to want to see it anyway... I also enjoy reading books prior to seeing the movie. So when Target had the book on special during opening week I bought it. I didn't start reading it until this past Thursday... Then I couldn't put it down.

And now here I am. Wondering how I was privileged, honored, dare I say blessed to marry a man so much like the Boss & Chief. So much alike, that it scares me knowing he would do the same things they both did. God chose me to marry a warrior. I just pray I am as strong, independent, and tough as Julia & Jackie (their wives)... Wow.

I never saw this life as one for me.
Potentially spending more time apart than together.
Missing holidays, family events, and more...
Tons of training hours, classes, and sleepless nights.
Duty, TDY, TAD, and deployments.
Moving somewhere new every 2-3.5yrs.

God had different plans, and I'll just keep reminding myself I'm exactly where I am suppose to be! Not to mention soaking up every second I get with my husband!

Maui day #4 (pt. 2) - Surfing Goat Dairy & Lahaina

After driving down Crater Dr. we ended up on a back road driving through some beautiful neighborhoods. After a few turns we ended up at this cute beachy dairy!

Look an actual surfing goat!

After enjoying our dessert, wandering the farm, and taking photos of the babies... we jumped back into our "mini-mini" (Mazda5) and headed towards the town of Lahaina to see the oldest/largest Banyan Tree and shop in the cute stores.

We all started getting super hungry, as it was my last night in town and we still hadn't celebrated mom & dad's anniversary, we headed back to the hotel to change then go out to the Hula Grill!

We got to watch the sunset while eating. The food was delicious, my fish was so tender! Then we had a card for a free dessert... a macadamia nut brownie ice cream sandwich! Oh my goodness. It was a great way to end my last full day there.

Maui Day #4 (pt.1) - Haleakela

We decided to drive another crazy road to the top of the Haleakela Crater! We got stuck behind one bad driver but he eventually turned off at the gift shop (thank goodness!). We drove thru lots of clouds and then   all of a sudden... we were ABOVE them, without a plane!

Looking down into the crater...

That's right... my family can FLY... or, "fall in style!"

10,023ft in the air! It was chilly!

Driving down we hit some major coulds/fog...

After we checked out the gift shop we changed clothes and headed to our next stop...
{to be continued}

Maui Day #3 - Black Rock

After our long day-trip on the Road to Hana, we decided that a "low-key" rest day was necessary! So we drove down to Black Rock and after a few unsuccessful attempts at free parking we managed to find one empty space! It was a bit of a walk down to the actual snorkeling location but it was definitely worth it.

Ate  breakfast with the birdies... well they ate my leftovers anyway...

Swam with a giant honu! I will never get tired of this!

So many beautiful fish!

After we'd had enough sun and were tired from all of the swimming, we loaded everything back up and mom and I headed to the Whaler's Village parking garage with the majority of the stuff to wait for dad to move the car. We shopped for a bit then headed back to the hotel for the night.

Maui Day #2 - The Road to Hana

The road to Hana was absolutely breathtaking (the parts I got to see anyway... with it being so windy & narrow I spent a lot of time laying down avoiding motion sickness!). It never ceases to amaze me the beauty that God created on this earth. The waterfalls, swimming pools, lava tubes/flows, beaches, jungles... such an amazing masterpiece!

Twin Falls

Ke'anae Peninsula

Upper Waikani (Three Bears) Falls

Black Sand Beach

Seven Sacred Pools - Oheo Gulch

We started fairly early in the morning and by the time we hit Kahului it was night and we were starving so we headed to Panda Express, exotic I know! Overall it was an amazing day, I'm pretty sure dad was the most tired of the three of us since he drove the whole way and we managed to get stuck behind some terrible drivers at points! If you ever make it to Maui... I highly recommend making a day out of the Road to Hana.

Maui Day #1 - Ka'anapali Beach Club

After mom flew in on Friday we woke up early in the morning the following day and headed to the airport... destined for... MAUI!!! Once we arrived, got the rental car, hit up Costco, and checked into our hotel I wandered around taking photos and then ended up catching the sunset.

The layout of the hotel was beautiful- waterfalls, koi ponds, flowers, and of course outstanding views of the ocean! I felt bad crashing mom & dad's anniversary trip... but man was I spoiled!

Makapu'u Hike & Kailua Beach

Dad and I hiked up Makapu'u Lighthouse then headed to Kailua Beach to hang out for the afternoon!

It was a nice leisurely walk followed by an afternoon swimming in the waves and soaking up the sun... completed with an Island Snow shave ice!

Supermoon!

Tonight was the supermoon... man was it HUGE and BRIGHT! Dad and I started out at the Classic Car Show in the Aikahi Shopping Center where we first saw it rising:

It's simply gigantic!

Then we drove down to Kailua Beach:

Rising over Lanikai Pointe.

The sky looked like it was on fire, and the clouds were rainbow colored! (not photoshopped)

Finally we headed back home and took our cameras down to Ft. Hase Beach:

The black water is kind of creepy looking...

How many people can say they have a picture of their MOON shadow?!

Dad's silhouette.

My silhouette.

What a truly amazing event to experience!