The Hawkins Family

Monday, October 17, 2011

Pearl Harbor


On Monday, we packed Ashley and Alexis up for the airport and took them to Pearl Harbor.  They have a great walk through museum that sets up the events of December 7.  There is also a submarine and battleship that you can tour (which we didn't have time to do).  After the Arizona, we did lunch, dropped Taris off at work, and explored the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island.  It was so neat.  The museum is actually housed in original hangars from the area.  It was a great way to end the weekend.  We were so glad that Ashley and Alexis were able to stay a few days extra to see us.


View of the Bowfin, Ford Island bridge, and Honolulu


Ready to watch the informational movie before getting on the boat

Part of the Arizona






All of those that have survived the Arizona and have since passed away



View from the memorial wall



One of the two anchors that are on battleships




A diagram of where the memorial is located in relation
to the ship under water



The parks service guide that answered all of the questions

Entrance to the Arizona Memorial


Bowfin submarine



We tried out the simulators.  Taris would NOT have been proud.

Getting ready to hop into the cockpit



Alexis had a hard time landing.  Fourth time was the charm...sort of


Tractor used on the only privately owned island in Hawaii.  The Robinson
family (the owns...still) tilled the entire island so that it was not able to be
used as a landing area by the enemy.

Plane from the Doolittle Raid



Close up of a plane from the Doolittle Raid


One of the original hangars during the attack has
now been added to the Pacific Aviation Museum

Original gun from one of the ships from battleship row

The blue glass is original glass with original bullet holes from the attack of
Pearl Harbor


Sunday, October 16, 2011

North Shore


On our last full day, we took Ashley and Alexis to the North Shore to see some LOST sights and to experience Matsumoto's...the BEST shave ice on the island.  The shave ice did not disappoint.  It was SO good!  It was a bit windy and not super warm, but we had a great time enjoying the sunshine and relaxing after all of the excitement from the snorkeling and luau from the day before.



Policeman Beach...the original beach used for LOST.
This is where the first season was filmed and where the
plane crash and original camp was set up.
(Alexis LOVES the LOST show.)


Plenty windy.  Great day for kite surfing!



More snorkeling.  I supervised and kept an eye on our stuff.





Taris holding ours...we shared.  Lots of sugar
for us, since we don't eat any,

Everyone in front of the sign

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Paradise Cove

While Ashely and Alexis were here, they wanted to make sure that they went to a luau.  I did my research and Paradise Cove was listed as number one.  So, we tried it out.  They had lots of activities to partake in and they put on an excellent show.  Once again, tons of pictures!



Another great sunset








Snorkeling with the Rogers

Alexis and Ashley (my sister and brother-in-law) were on a cruise thru the Hawaiian islands and when it was discovered that we were moving to Oahu, they were able to extend their trip and spend an extra couple of days with us touring Oahu.  We had quite a full few days planned.  They got off of the boat at 8 am and we were off to Ko'Olina for some snorkeling.  (For those that know me, you know that I DON'T swim...at all.  So to say that I was looking forward to this trip would be slightly inaccurate.)  The Ko'Olina area is a beautiful area that is literally down the road from us.  The snorkeling was great and I think that everyone had a great time.  We saw a ton of fish, great sea turtles, and even some dolphins!  I took a ton of pictures of our little adventure....you have been warned.



The area that we took off from


First dolphins spotted


Getting ready to go in

Had my life jacket on the whole time



Alexis ready to go in


Ashley getting ready for snorkel #2



Attempt #1 to float with the dolphins


Getting ready to go over the edge and hang with dolphins


Floating with the dolphins next to them...and underneath them



Boat from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie