Hawaii...nuff said.

Yes, I'm blessed to have been able to take a trip back to O'ahu with my fam this summer. We stayed in Laie most the time at what we call The Hukilau House for sixteen days. We also bounced to Levon's place in Waianae a few nights. The surf was really good out there on the West side and like they say, the water is a lot cleaner (you don't get the dirty mountain runoff from the river). As always, the food was ono and the beach had some real good days. The best part about it was to see Levon and his family. I hadn't seen Pohai and Kekoa the niece and nephew for a whole year and it was neat to spend a lot of time with them. There's so much to be told with many funny stories built in but you'll have to give me a call if you want the narrative. So here's a pictorial recap of some of the things I love in Hawaii.
(P.S. all of these pictures are from my phone, but you can click any one you want to see it bigger)

First stop when we arrive: Zippy's .....always Zippy's.

Chocolate Long John! Another Zippy's stop. I believe Mike and I went about 5 or 6 times.

Ahhh, Laie Bay (Hukilau Beach).



Here is the steep mountainside near Kualoa Ranch.


It was a rippin' day at Pali Lookout. Mike is Supa-Man.

The wind can be so strong you can lean into it and your body remains at an angle, or even blow you back and knock you down.

Seeking refuge from the wind for awhile.

But it's a great view of the windward side, and a "must do" event if you come here.


In the summer, it's really busy at Matsumoto's (shave ice) so here we are waiting in line. We went there four times I think. Hey, you gotta go all out when you're there.


My brothers and I and the kids went up on the heights overlooking Waimea. On the way Kekoa fell asleep...

So Pohai and I were fakers and we tried to copy his open-mouthed napping approach...

But we couldn't do it for long because we just started laughing.

We decided to take a quick detour to a Heiau I've never seen. It's the Puu O Mahuka Heiau State Monument which is above Waimea Valley. Pretty Cool.

The bay was beautiful as always.

Silly Popo-nani...

and "solid" but always busy, Kekoa.



Did I mention we love all the food here? That's one massive macaroon.


Levon collected some big daddy Portuguese Man o'War and we probed them. It was interesting under the magnifying glass.

This tentacle was a few feet long! We tried to "see" the barbs but they're microscopic.

Not sure if the tiny specs were barbs being produces, egg sacs, or if they served some other purpose.


Arizona Memorial
Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial are always humbling.


The song about the "Hukilau" was made famous from this beach. This is a local ward pulling in the net.



My friends, this is no screenplay, it's authentic fishing. I apologize for the wrong orientation.


Oh yeah, I celebrated my 22nd birthday there too. I'm filled with glee because I got a Chantilly cake from none other than Liliha Bakery.


It's hard to say goodbye to this place.

I hope you enjoyed this. I sure did!