HAWAII DAY TEN: Diamond Head and Home

Up bright and early for our last day in Hawaii. Oahu to be exact. We love that Embassy Suites free breakfast, especially the omelette bar!

Looking up at our lanai. Far left row, about 4 from the top.

Olivia's fever is finally gone! Tanking up for our hike to Diamond Head, which was something she really wanted to do so we did!

Diamond Head from the side (photo from internet)

Ariel view of Diamond Head (from internet)

The view of Diamond Head Crater from inside.

It was originally called Laeahi by ancient Hawaiians, which meant "brow of the tuna."

Later, British sailors in the 1800's say calcite crystals in the soil glimmer from a distance and mistakenly though it was diamonds.

Chloe and Liv modeling the sign.

The beginning of the path

View from half way up

The top of the crater was used at Fort Ruger, a military defense of Oahu.

We had to go through all sorts of tunnels and stairs to get to the top. Kinda weird on a nature hike.

Almost there

The last stairs to the lookout

Honolulu from the top

Crater from the top

Again, THE COLORS!!!

Caught on camera and video!

Olivia, still recovering from being sick needed a ride part way down after she ran part way with the big kids (who ran ALL THE WAY DOWN!)

It's funny because just before this Russ and I were watching this couple carrying their baby and their toddler and he commented on how his kids don't need him to carry them anymore. I said "I wouldn't be so sure." Then we caught up with Liv who was too tired to run the rest of the way with the big kids and about 1 minute later she said,

 "Dad, I'm tired. Will you carry me?"

After the hike we went to the same mall we did on our first day! 

Just like our first picture of the trip! Except they're tanner and Tess is here!

First picture! So pale!

Rustin finally got to go check out the Ferrari Store. 

Keep dreaming!

Red hot!

Ferrari even smells good.

Chloe and Liv playing dress-ups

Lunch at the food court. Rustin's new hat!

Mmmm. Chloe's and my sandwiches

Chloe's and my favorite purchase, Hibiscus flower clips.

We stumbled onto this little section of Japanese shops and wished we'd found it earlier because it was getting close to time to take off. Russ did manage to find a match to Rustin's Hawaiian necklace.

New cool knife.

A final tribute to our collection of signs. The surfer girl bathroom sign.

Home in AZ safe and sound! 1:00 in the morning and ready to load our stuff into the car for the last time! We stayed at 4 different places, flew on 4 planes, rode on 8 shuttle buses, and rented 3 mini vans. 

We were not glad to be home but glad to be done shlepping our bags around!

In the parking lot ready to head up.

View from part way up. More video to come!

All the kids at the very top! We made it!

Here is a nice 360 view from the top of Diamond Head! 

HAWAII DAY NINE: Snorkel Cruise!

We woke up on day nine sad that it was our last day on the big island but happy to be heading out on a snorkel boat trip with the whole family this time. We were supposed to go with the same people that took the big kids on the dolphin adventure earlier but when we got there we found out they had messed up their reservations and had no room for us on the boat. They told us to go try this company and they told us to go try that company! Grrrrrrr!!!!

Finally we found the FairWind II that made room for us. The only problem was that it was a lot more expensive and was going to get us back later which made our trip to the airport quite hurried. We did it anyway and it was worth it!!! We had an amazing day!!

Here is our cruiser (our other boat would have been a speedboat that held about 10)

We had quite a wait and entertained ourselves by  looking at spiders and such.

Finally it was time to climb aboard and boy were we ready!

The guy who made the movie of the cruise and everything liked Rustin's glasses and talked to him several times.

On the way out to Kealakekua Bay we saw a momma whale and her baby!

Russ got these great shots.

They said that you can tell all whales apart by their tails and if you send in a picture like this they can match it up to their registry and tell you exactly which whale it is (if they have it on their registry- how many do they know??)

Heading into the bay we see little old light house.

This bay is only accessible by boat or kayak (check out those major cliffs) 

so it is not too crowded and VERY CLEAR!

Olivia was pretty cold so she got a tube to lay on while she snorkeled and could feel the sun on her back.

Dad is with her.

Don't adjust your TV sets.

It looked like someone must have poured turquoise plaster on the bottom of the bay!!

Chloe didn't last long either and went back to the boat to warm up.

We saw SPINNER DOLPHINS! Maybe the same pod the kids saw a few days before. They put on quite a show for us!

Another look at the beautiful bay from a different angle.

Dark blue deeper water.

The cliffs of insanity (Princess Bride)

Captain Cook Monument.  This is where the famous explorer Captain Cook held the first Christian ceremony in Hawaii. However, that may have led to his death which occurred just a few feet to the left of this monument where as he was murdered by Hawaiians.

 

More amazingness.

These pictures were all taken by a little underwater point and shoot Russ bought at a grocery store after our nice one got water in it. Most of the pictures turned out surprisingly great!

Looking up at Liv on her inner tube 

Chloe floating happily along

WOW! The colors and the clarity!

Hard to catch all four of them with this camera and its tiny viewfinder

Tess in her element

Tess and Chloe showing off their diving skills

Tess loves it down here! 

Rustin taking the plunge!

Olivia gives it two thumbs up!

Chloe checking out the undersea wildlife. 

An Achilles Tang on the left.

Chloe going down the slippery slide on the boat.

Rustin doing a backflip off the upper deck platform! 

Daddy and Liv exploring the bay.

Video of some video of us swimming underwater.

Olivia takes the first dive then Chloe follows. Russ and I are on the right. 

Don't worry. I later bought the video I am making a bootleg copy of at the moment!

We headed back to Honolulu and stayed at the Embassy Suites in Waikiki. We stayed on the 11th floor. Here is the view from out lanai (balcony- or patio).

Back in Waikiki for a good night sleep!

It was our last night in Paradise!