Weather Report: 18 to 80 degrees today!

Our wonderful friends, Chris & Sarah, have invited us to Hawaii with them for the last 2 years. Their family has a house on the beach in the famous North Shore in Haleiwa, a few miles down the beach from Pipeline and Sunset Beaches where they hold all the world-renowned surfing competitions. Last year we went in August, when it was gloriously hot sunbathing weather. This year they invited us out the day after Thanksgiving, which is when the competitions take place since the waves are biggest in the winter. So needless to say, we were very pleased to experience snow and sunbathing weather all in the same day when we flew out there 2 days after Thanksgiving!

At the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing '09. The bottom right picture is of the day that we were waiting for it to start and they ended up canceling cause the surf wasn't good that day, so that's why there is hardly anyone around.

Waimea Valley-this is a GORGEOUS nature hike/walk that ends at a waterfall. Here they preserve vegetation that is indigenous to the Hawaiian islands as well as other tropical areas, including some plants and trees that are nearly extinct. Top right is the cannonball tree (from Fiji I think?) and bottom left are some sweet lily pads.

It started to rain while we were taking the walk, and everything only seemed to enhance in beauty! It really was quite remarkable. We started to walk the rainforest-like path in the top/bottom right picture just as it started to rain. It could not have been more captivating.

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The water was frigid though! I was the first to brave it and jump in, as seen in the top left. Some highlights-top middle is me braving the waterfall to find the "pocket" behind the falls that the Hawaiian lifeguard told us about. Yeah, there was no pocket. Ryan and Chris actually made it all the way in and were basically suffocating under the pounding water. Bottom left-Chris is all about the action shots.

Apparently this is the waterfall from one of the first few episodes of LOST. This definitely was the highlight of the trip for me. It was so breathtaking and adventurous all at the same time.

Playing in the water at Waimea Bay. Top left-Ry loves the boogie board. Just look at that face! Top right- Too cute Chris & Sarah. Bottom middle-Me attacking the wave. Left middle-Er, the wave attacked me. Bottom left- Sarah and me having way too much fun. Bottom right-Sarah HATES the initial steps of cold water, and Chris LOVES to take advantage of that.

Chris had fun with the digital underwater camera. I think we had about 300 rapid succession shots after this day! But he did get some great pics of the big waves crashing over him. Brave guy!

I don't think there is a place in the world that has sunsets quite like the Hawaiian sunsets. Top right is Waimea Bay. Bottom left is the beach we went to on our very last day called Lanikai. It is a very secluded beach that is not overcrowded, yet it is rated the top beach on Oahu. I think that's because it's just so unique compared to the other beaches. It has a very Caribbean feel with the turquoise water, and the sand was seriously like walking on baby powder! I even bottled some to take home cause I could not believe how soft it was.

Thank you Tuttles for another wonderful trip to Hawaii!