Hawaii Day 3

On Christmas Eve we decided to take a trip to the North Shore.  I had a list of things to see there, so I was excited to take trip there.  We started in Haleiwa with breakfast at Cafe Haleiwa that was recommended by some friends. Check out our view at breakfast.

Al and I shared the halibut with eggs, potatoes and toast, so yummy.  I think I had fish almost everyday and I loved it.

Alex most likely eating a Puff

Cafe Haleiwa a must try.

I spotted a Giovannis shrimp truck that is super famous with crazy reviews.  I was dying to try it, but we never got a chance to stop when it was open.

We stopped at the shops in Haleiwa to look around.  I loved their ornaments hanging in the trees.

On our way out of Haleiwa we stopped at the famous Matsumotos for Sno Cones.   MMMM so good.

We stopped at Waimea Bay to lay in the sun which was sadly not shining and waited while the boys played football in the ocean.

Such a production to lay on the beach.

We stopped at Ted's Bakery for some pastries.  Al and I had their famous chocolate pie and the most amazing chocolate brownie.

It was kind of chilly when we stopped at Shark's Cove, so no one snorkeled.

A friend told me I must try the Ahi Burger at the truck stand across from Sharks Cove.  My mouth was watering while I looked at the menu, but after 15 minutes of standing there we finally asked how long it would take to get food and she said 30 minutes.  Boooo for bad customer service and she could have cared less because there was a line of locals waiting for their food. If anyone is going to Hawaii soon you must try this for me and let me know how it is!!

We were starving after we left the food truck and planned to eat lunch at Hukilau Cafe which is from the movie 50 First Dates.  CLOSED, worst ever.  There isn't a ton of places to eat at on this side of the North Shore besides all the Shrimp Trucks, but we ended up just going back to Waikiki.

Our last stop was the Temple.  There wasn't a soul here on Christmas Eve besides about 10 Sister Missionaries.  

Last time I was here was in 2008 with some girlfriends when I was dating Al.  

Trevor left his shirt in the car, but that didn't seem to discourage him from walking around the temple with us...lol

Al thought it would be funny to get our picture by this Maternity statue.

How beautiful is this view?  I could have sat there all day!!

BYU Hawaii.  I don't think I would have ever gone to class if I went to college here.

Our drive back was breathtaking.  Loved North Shore

We arrived back to Waikiki with just enough time to go sit on the beach.  It started raining and I spotted another rainbow, best ever!!

Sweet little Alex taking a Christmas Eve nap

That night we met in Al's parents room to talk about our most memorable Christmas gift.  Al's parents Hawaiian Hotel Christmas tree.

14 people in one hotel room

Kajsen who only responds to the name Duggas.  Al's dad gives all the grandkids nicknames.

Briyler who's nickname is Bri Bri Be Ju.  Alex was lucky and got the nickname Prince.

Hawaii Day 2

Alex woke us up between 5:30 and 6:00am every morning in Hawaii.  First things first a morning Puffs snack. This is how he takes the lid off with his teeth.

That morning all 14 of us went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.  This is Lexi and I before we got tan :)

I'm so glad our hotel room had pack n plays instead of cribs.  We wouldn't have survived at the beach without them.  

Briyler getting lathered up with sunscreen.

Al after his successful snorkeling trip.

It was really windy that day and the sun kept hiding behind clouds so it wasn't very appealing to jump into the cold water.

I finally decided to go snorkeling and probably waited a little bit too long because their was a lot of people snorkeling which causes the water to get murky.  I'm glad I went, but once you've scuba dived snorkeling is lame..

Trevor got buried in the sand.

Alex got a piggy back from Dad

Our view of Hanauma when we left, so busy.

Lexi carried Alex all the way up the hill after we left and he fell asleep.  If you've ever been to Hanauma Bay you know that hill is steep especially since they offer rides to the top for $1.

For lunch I had a yummy Ahi Tuna Gyro followed by one of my favorite treats.....Sno Cones!!  

They had a picture of Obama in his earlier years in the window with a Sno Cone.  Looks like we have one thing in common.

After lunch we stopped at the Halona blowhole and lookout, so pretty.

 It was extremely windy as you can tell by my hair in the picture.  There is a breach to the right that you can hike down too and swim in the cove, but we never got a chance to do it.  Next time!!

Our last stop was Sandy Beach!!  

This beach was my favorite one we went to.  The sun is in perfect position so you can alway be looking at the water. All the locals hang out here and by what I could smell, get high all day long.  

In the distance you can see the cliff which is the lookout point to see the blow hole.

Alex was such a trooper.  He hung out in the pack n play everyday at the beach and just played and ate puffs.  He loves the beach like his mom:)

I was warned by several people that you shouldn't get in the water here because there are dangerous shore breaks and a lot of people get broken necks here every year.  That didn't stop these boys and luckily everyone was ok when we left.

You can tell how windy it is by Al's amazing Pauly D hairdo

Alex was chowing down on his feet after the beach....Love Him

That night we had sushi with Lexi and Chad at Doraku Sushi which came highly recommended by 2 of our friends that live in Honolulu.  It also had amazing Yelp reviews so we knew we had to try it.  

My favorite was the  Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno slices.

On our way back to the hotel Al spotted this sweet bike rack that he decided he would try to ride like a tri bike.  One bad thing about traveling with infants is you are trapped in your hotel room once they go to bed, so we were in bed every night by 8:30 or 9...lol   Alex was waking up 3-5 times a night to eat and it was awful.  It was like he was a newborn all over again.