Hawaii: Part 2

To continue...we got back from the PCC way tired, but really happy. The next morning, Wednesday, the family wanted to do different things so we split up. Rachel and I think Matthew and Mom went shopping at a flea market, Caroline, Andrew and Dad and I went on a hike, and Daniel and Leah went back to the PCC. 

What's a trip to Hawaii without a little shopping?

On our hike we saw a BUNCH of different terrain the higher up we went, and at the top of the mountain had an incredible vista view. Honestly I would take hiking over shopping any day. I think Andrew lucked out on that one :) 

Caroline had a thing smelling flowers the whole trip. Idk...

When everyone grouped up again, we went to the beach a few feet away from where we were staying and wandered out to a little island that was in wading distance. I also tried snorkeling for the first time which wasn't too hard surprisingly!

Those were the major events for the day...I think some more games and sightseeing was involved. But I'm going off of what I have pictures of.

On Thursday we started off super early with the traditional Diamond Head Hike, which was basically hiking to the rim of a very massive and inactive volcano. It was pretty touristy, but hey, that's because it was pretty sweet. There were some WWII bunkers at the top as well which were cool to see. 

Honolulu in the background.

And later that afternoon we went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We got pineapple whip (delish) and I also convinced some of the siblings to do a maze through a pineapple grove with me. Did you know that it can take anywhere from 2-3 years for a pineapple to fully form? Crazy. 

Which brings me to Friday...our last day in Hawaii...in the morning we saw some of the sights that hadn't been checked off our list yet. My favorite was probably a buddhist temple which I now do not remember the name of. But they had a huge gong that you could ring for good luck, which we all did.

There was also a Japanese rock garden and overall the temple just had an incredibly sweet and peaceful feel which I truly enjoyed.

The last thing we did in Hawaii per Rachel's request was to visit Turtle Beach. We were all skeptical of there actually being sea turtles, but we walked a ways around to a little alcove and found a TON of them--like 19 or 20. It was kind of freaky, but mostly just awesome. 

We also snorkeled with some sea turtles back at the main part of Turtle Beach. 

And of course, Caroline got her shrimp. She had been talking about it all week and we stopped by the famous Giovanni shrimp truck on our way home before we had to get packing.

And....that is it!! We flew back to Utah the next day. The trip was a blast. I had a great time checking out the sights and getting to spend time with the Kennedys all together. This was our last big hurrah as a family before Caroline left on a mission to Hungary last summer, and it was a great way to be together having fun and seeing amazing things that you don't get anywhere else. Thanks to everyone (mainly Ken and Nancy) who made it happen!