We ended our Hawaii holiday in Oahu.  1.  Because we love it there.  2. Because we have a handful of friends there.  3.  We were so close – we had to.

As always, it was super relaxing and loads of fun.  We stayed in Waikiki so we could easily surf every day.  Honolulu was a lot more crowded this time than it has been the last few times I’ve been.  Tourism has definitely picked up…making it harder to surf our favorite beach without worrying about getting bonked on the head with someone else’s surfboard.  Still fun, just slightly annoying.

Landin and Missy (who might me moving back to the states – bah!) were the best hosts ever.  They always take us to new places that never disappoint.  Like the evening we had a yummy and disgustingly filling dinner followed my mochi ice cream.  Or the beautifully hidden sunset lookout.  Or on what they called a Disneyland hike.  I disagreed.  Disneyland doesn’t have hills!  We managed to squeeze in a beautiful hike, a beach stop that reminded me of where LOST might be filmed and lunch all before our flight at 1pm.  The best part is, we love their company so it really doesn’t matter what we’re doing – it’s always fun.  And they’re total nerds.  At the moment, they are way into birds and plants (last time it was the underwater creatures).  We got a mini lesson along the hike about all kinds of birds and tropical plants.  I don’t remember much of it now but it was adorable watching them geek out and get excited about a bird that they couldn’t even see.  Not sure what we’re going to do if they move to Denver!

Kevin and I went to Hawaii to visit my friend Jaymes, his wife Viv and their new baby son, Carlos. Carlos Barlos – I’m not kidding. We had a wonderful time thanks to the Barlos family and our friends Landin and Missy (and even their dog Jobi) who kept us busy with fun activities all weekend long. Here’s a picture highlight – for all the pictures, go here.

We surfed every other morning. The waves were almost always perfect. The crowd was abundant.

We got a lot of beach time in!

Shave Ice at Aoki's in the North Shore (Matsumoto's line was too long). Hawaiians put ice creams in the bottom of their shave ice - yummy!

We paddled (Landin, Missy & Jobi kayaked) out to Kaneohe Bay sand bar. It was like tailgating in the ocean!

Turkey fryer-Q and game night (Kevi and I smoked them in Cranium!).

Jaymes, Viv and Carlos Barlos

Diving with Landin and Missy at Koko Canyon and Turtle Cove.

We ate so much good food! Knowing locals has its perks! This was a sign at Ono Hawaiin Food. Also tops, Teddy's burgers, malasadas from Leonard's and Big Kahuna's cheese balls.

Like our trip to New York, it’s hard to put into words what a fantastic time we had. I think it says a lot about our friends. It really doesn’t matter what we do, as long as we’ve got good company. And Hawaii, Oahu especially, just makes me happy. The second I get off the plane I have a perma-grin on my face. I love the heat, the sun, the palm trees, the blue green ocean and all the happy memories. And I know it’s stupid, but where most people find Waikiki a total tourist trap, which it is, I love it. LOVE.IT. I love the energy, the beauty and the people watching…ooh boy, the people watching. I’m so thankful my friends aren’t spread out in places like Kansas and Iowa! I’d still visit…just not as happily

This trip, when faced with hanging with my friends v. dying scuba diving, I succumbed to the peer pressure , and shall I say, “grew a pair”…

After chickening out in Belize, where we had planned to dive, I kind of decided to “retire” from diving. If I was going to freak out every time I go and be more anxious about it than actually enjoy it, then what’s the point? That all changed this trip though as my friends Landin and Missy are both certified and were excited to hear we were too – we all had to dive together, of course! For three days I had wishy washed between diving and just taking the boat trip out. I felt like a total loser and I knew I’d be disappointed when they all came back to the boat with these great stories. Plus, I couldn’t leave Kevin sans a dive buddy. So, with some reassuring words from them all, I sucked it up and decided to join them.

I’m SO glad I did. We did two dives, the deepest we went down was 40 feet. It was considered an easy dive – and perfect for me to ease into after not having gone since October. Landin and Missy were super cute and geeked out over all the sea life we saw – little tiny critters that I wouldn’t have even noticed had they not pointed them out. On our first dive we got to hold an octopus. On the second dive we came across a sleeping sea turtle. Also on the second dive, Kevin had an eel swim into his BCD (dive vest). Our dive master freaked out and started frantically stripping Kevin until he saw the eel leave. Because Kevin and I are so not in the know about sea critters, we later found out that eels like to bite, especially when they’re scared. Kevin didn’t get bit and the eel didn’t really faze him because he had no idea such a cute little creature would want to hurt him. Now though, when Kevin relives the story, the eel has grown in size, had giant teeth and he’s lucky to be alive…go figure.

We had so much fun and it was a great dive to build up my confidence. I’m not sure when the next dive will be but it feels good to be out of retirement.