Diamond Head and Waikiki

Well, my sister has been in town for almost 2 weeks! It is so great to have Ruthie here!! We have been doing our best to show her the sights of O'ahu. Last weekend, we took her hiking at Diamond Head, then to Waikiki for the Aloha Festival Parade, and finally for some surfing at Canoe's (a great beginners break at Waikiki)


A lookout partway up the inside of Diamond Head crater.

Hamming it up!


The view of Diamond Head Light and the break beyond.


The top of Diamond Head offers some great views of the city and mountains of South O'ahu.



Waikiki is always a mob scene...

Surf's Up

While my parents were here a couple of weeks ago, we spent an afternoon on Waikiki. They were excited to see the girls try to surf and we had been talking about giving it a try, so we rented surfboards for an hour or so!


Gabbi and Jacqui had a blast! They loved catching the waves and did a great job. Danielle and I would give the boards a push as the wave come close. The girls would hop up and hang ten!


Then Danielle and I gave it a go.....we weren't nearly as graceful, but had an awesome time trying!

Honolulu Festival

We ventured into the city for the Honolulu Festival this weekend. There were a number of stages set up around Waikiki and the Honolulu Convention Center. There was definitely a heavy Japanese influence at the festival as most of the performances that we saw were Japanese.

The first act that we saw was a Japanese drumming/woodwind group that performed a number of songs and did a "bone dance".


We also saw a Japanese halau (hula school) perform.


After sitting in the hot sun for a while, we needed to stop into the Yard House for some treats.

Then we went to the convention center to see the exhibits. We did origami. The girls got a flower (Gabbi) and Cat (Jacqui) painted on their arms. Finally, we watched part of a hula contest before heading back to our apartment.

Waikiki

We've had a couple of trips to the world famous Waikiki Beach since we've been here. It certainly isn't the most beautiful beach on the island (that would probably have to go to Lanikai, so far). It tends to be pretty narrow, lined with hotels, and crowded.

On our last trip there, however, we strolled through the Hilton Hawaiian village and saw flamingos! Jacqui was particularly excited!

There are also some nice views of Diamond Head along the way.

And you can catch a sunset on this side of the island!