i'm trying to write a quick bit about our first week in hawaii that hopefully has some good notes about what we're doing and actually makes a little sense!! please forgive my crappy writing/spelling as i'm just trying to get out all the information on our fun week!! :) oh, and i'll update about the wedding reception in just a bit.

we started our journey on the plane, and were told that we got to play a game while on the flight. "oh boy," i thought, "scrabble for 300." the captain got on the intercom and told us we'd be estimating the time (in local hawaii time) we'd be at the geographic mid-point of the flight. he gave us the time we left, approximate time we'd arrive, speed we were traveling, and the air resistance we were experiencing. james busted out his iphone to take advantage of the calculator, and took some time in making his calculations. a guy next to me spent about 20 minutes on his, and i looked down at the paper and thought, "i'm just going to go with an average given the starting and ending time." that got me around 9:50 or 9:55, and i thought i should guess 9:53 cause 3 is my lucky number. we also had to add in seconds, so i put 30, just cause it was the middle. we turned in our papers, and while i didn't get the closest, i was the second closest!! the woman who got first was 15 seconds off, and i was 17 seconds off!! so much for james and his so-called "math" skills. hahahahahahah!! i did end up winning a gift certificate for hilo hattie that i still haven't been inside of....

we arrived to warm weather ("perfect" as our pilot stated) and then we were off to the moana surfrider. um hello, this is the most amazing resort i've ever been to!! it's small compared to others located around us, but is beautiful and stands out as THE place you want to be at. there are large rocking chairs on the porch, so you can sit, rock, and watch the world go by. the lobby is opened up (no windows or doors) and full or large comfy chairs. the back has nice comfy chairs and tables along with a restaurant, bar, pool, and private part of the beach reserved for guest and an umbrella and beach chairs. we had an ocean view room, and it was incredibly comfortable with a beautiful view. i loved the sound of the ocean at night, too. juuust perfect. :)

sunday - i believe we just spent today swimming and walking around, checking out the shops.

monday - we drove around a ton of oahu and found a random beach and cool rock pool. we hung out for bit hear and got to hear the monday morning tsunami warning. let me tell you, it's REALLY REALLY loud. :) after that, we drove down to check out the uss missouri. i was super duper tired by the end of walking around this huge battleship, but it was awesome to see the place where WWII ended.

tuesday - breakfast downstairs at the moana (soooo delicious and right next to the ocean), trip to monoa falls. it's the perfect little hike, not too short - not too long. then grabbed a drink at the coffee bean since we were dripping hung out at the ocean and pool again. i did some shopping, and grabbed dinner to go so james could watch the election results. i got a text as the sun was setting and the whole sky was pink. great news and a beautiful moment near honolulu (where obama's grandma lived). i am so proud to be an american.

wednesday - early trip on ferry to maui. we barely made it on in time since they told us it would leave at 6:30, but we actually left at 6. it took us 3 hours, and we had a little nap, got some food, and sat and watched the sunset on the beach once we arrived. got a nice walk in after as it slowly got dark.

thursday - we rented snorkel gear for a week - $25 for fins/mask/snorkel, and great directions to a spot not many go to. james taught me how to use everything, and even dive down to see the very bottom. we saw maybe 20 different types of fish and freaked out at each one. i love snorkeling, and may never come back to the bay area!!

friday - snorkeling again and i saw a three legged turtle!! well, james saw him and we followed him as he swam away from the crowd. it was unreal to swim with him, and i hope that he's doing well without a leg!! we also checked into a cute b&b. it's called kai's bed and breakfast, and it's slightly different that a normal b&b. we have a nice place with a small fridge, sink, microwave, and kitchen area, but breakfast consists of a few muffins, fruit, and sunny d delivered in a basket the night before. not really the "breakfast" one's given while staying at a b&b, but it's nice and quiet when the dog and rooster aren't waking you up at dawn. :) i think it's nicer than the hotel we were just staying at. it doesn't get as hot, and has free washing/drying, beach towels, sunscreen, snorkeling gear.

saturday - snorkeling again...surprise surprise!! we went to this beach: and apparently it was voted THE best beach in the US. it was super hard to find, but james was a great looker, and driver!! once we got on the beach, i knew this was going to be fun. we put our feet in in water, and a fishie swam up to us!!! omg!! it was the clearest water ever, and a fishie actually swam up to our toes!!

we put our snorkeling gear and hopped in the water!! i freaked out when i saw i rock jump in the sand!! i thought my eyes were fooling me, so i looked down at this rock, and then noticed he had red and yellow fins!! i got so excited that i tapped james on the shoulder, spit out the mouthpiece, and swallowed a ton of sea water. i finally told him that there was a rock fish and it jumped for us a bit more!! we saw like 6 new fishies this time, and the water was so clear and the beach was pretty small and private. all perfect except for a STALKER fish!! OMGOMGOMG!! this greenish fish with white polka dots and weird fins that made circular motions while he swam was our friend at first. we had never seen a fish like this before, and he just sort of hung out with us. but i slowly grabbed james' hand, and swam behind him cause that fishie was scaring the crap outta me. he followed us everywhere, even when james tried to make him go away without touching him. we finally hadn't seen him in a minute or two, and decided to hop out since we had been swimming for a while. i felt something odd behind me as we were getting out of the surf, and i turned around. oh hello...that crazy ass fish was behind us!!!!! i totally screamed and james came to my rescue again!! i got my fins off and got outta that ocean!! james said that fish was being all nuts and he hopped out as well. i still had a blast at that unreal area to snorkel, and i'm sure i'll be out there again soon.

here's a link that james and i have worked on to show others our fun times and cool spots we've found!! i've tried to write details about parking for snorkeling spots, and we were very specific about where we placed the markers. hopefully it's helpful to anyone else going in the future, or for us when we return!! here it is!!