Santa, Baby

 Almost all the gifts are wrapped...

Christmas Bandanas

We get into Christmas here at Quivas.

Ho Ho Ho

Even Mike's gettin' in the mood!  He found me these vintage-like towels at the KS; they're playful.  And perfect.

Christmas Decorating

It confuses the puppies.

Goodbye, Hawaii.

Room with a View

This is the view from Mike's parent's condo.  Gorgeous.  And every Friday they get to watch fireworks from the Hilton!  It was a great trip; we'll miss this place.

Diamond Head

We played tourists again and climbed Diamond Head.

 There were a lot of steps.

 Beautiful views.

 I don't mind directions.

 Told you.

Waikiki D&B

And you can't do Hawaii without a walk to Dave & Busters.

 Plus major amounts of the coin game. Major.

Adventure is Out There

Dole Plantation!

 And the world's largest maze!  This was actually before we ventured in...

We then proceeded to drive around the whole North Shore and almost the entire island looking for a hamburger place that was open.  We finally found Teddy's Bigger Burgers and enjoyed some incredible (huge) burgers.  It was worth waiting til 3:30pm to eat lunch.

Waikiki

We got gussied up and set our sights on a night out in Waikiki!

We ended up at the Shore Bird which was an amazing restaurant right on the beach.  The guy at our second Honolua Surf Company stop (we stock up on sweatshirts every time we go there; they're our favorite) recommended it to us when we asked for something local and less on the touristy side.

You cook your own steak on this huge grill overlooking the ocean!  I have to say, that might be the best steak I've ever had. Mike knows.

Thanksgiving 2012

We made Thanksgiving Tuesday in the Clayton family so that we'd have plenty of time to enjoy the leftovers before journeying back to Colorado.  Totally. Worth it.

Late that night Mike and I decided to venture to the beach and enjoy some mango goodness on the wall overlooking the ocean.  In the middle of our conversation fireworks errupted. 

 And we felt very, very lucky to be who we were, where we were, and for the life we lead.

Playing Tourist

We visited Pearl Harbor today.

 Informative video.

The Arizona Memorial was beautiful, but it's haunting to be standing over the ship where men are still buried from when it sank decades ago.  Actually, I felt it was downright disrespectful, to be honest.

 9 gallons of oil escape it every day.

Nest, we went to the Mississippi, which was a battle ship that served up through the Gulf War.

 My big guns.

 The computer room was a bit...antiquated.

 And the ship was very tight.

It was fascinating.

Rockin' Sushi

We ventured out for sushi and tried some new fare, including a roll with no rice!

 So tasty...it's stuff white people like.

Ala Moana Mall

I am not being sarcastic when I tell you that we ended up coming to this mall every day (except for Black Friday, which we watched from the balcony of Mike's parents) we were in Hawaii.  Whether it was to shop, stop for toiletries, try to find a late night happy hour, multiple trips to Longs, or the insufferable search for a cheap pair of flip flops, we were here for something (including Bubble Tea) every day.

It was fitting we start the first day of the trip with a farmer's market on the tip of the parking garage.  In the rain.  Which, oddly enough, it also did every day.

 My favorite was the koi ponds and the butterflies on the Neiman's ceiling.

Hi-Life

Some pre-flight breakfast burritos and mimosas!

 Aaaaand token plane shot.  Can't wait to get there!