Each day gets better and better...

Yesterday was one of the best days so far of our trip, in my opinion. We started off the day by getting up early and heading out to Hanauma Bay to do some snorkeling. The bay itself is gorgeous and the coral reef makes it one of the best places in the world to go snorkeling.




As we don't have a waterproof camera we didn't get any pictures while snorkeling, although Jeff did get these of Kate and me snorkeling as he was coming back down from the car with the camera. I am the one in the back.
and Kate.

This was one of the hightlights of the trip so far for me. It is amazing the beauty that lies beneath the water. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it is. The fish are so colorful and graceful. They had no fear of us, they would swim right by us at times so close you could reach out and touch them. I would highly recommend this adventure to anyone. It was truly amazing. As we were leaving, after 3 1/2 hours, we got some more photos of us and the park. Jeff and me.

This cool sculpture.

And another awesome sculpture.

After we had our fill of the beach and snorkeling, and that was only hindered by the tide coming in, we headed back to Kate's so we could get cleaned up and rested up for the evening activities. We got ourselves gussied up and went to the luau at Paradise Cove. The activities started at 5:00, dinner at 7:00 so we had plenty of time to participate in the island activities. Once we got a brief overview of what and where different activities were we set out to enjoy them. We took advantage of the great photo ops available. This is my favorite picture of her and me so far this trip.



All 3 of us got tatoos, don't worry, no needles or permanent bodily injury were involved.





Kate and I made crowns out of palm fronds.

We watched a performance of a tree climber. At the top of the tree he showered us with plumeria blossoms.

Some activities that I don't have photos of were a demonstration on how to tie a sarong. A sarong is a large rectangle of fabric that is tied in a number of different ways to be worn as clothing. It can be used as a simple coverup at the beach over your suit, or as an entire outfit for an evening at a luau. They can be tied in a hundred different ways to give you a different look everyday. We also enjoyed volunteers from the crowd, all men, dressed in grass skirts, perform on the beach, mixed in with some "casting of the fishing nets" into the lagoon. Some women performers did a hula dance, along with hula lesson. There was always music. One man blew the conch shell to call us to dinner. They also had the unveiling of the pig from the fire pit. That was done with much ceremony a hula dance.






We witnessed a couple getting their wedding photos taken on the beach.

Once dinner was over the show began. Here are some of the highlights. Check out the different costumes and headpieces. The performers really seemed to enjoy what they were doing and put lots of energy into it.














As the evening came to a close, we received our souviner mugs and photos that were taken on our way through the main gate. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening spent immersed in the Hawaiian culture.

Once again I am amazed at God's creative and varied outlook. He doesn't make just one kind of tree, one kind of fish, or one kind of people. We are all His masterpiece and he likes variety as much as we do. Have a wonderful day and try learning about someone else's culture and perhaps you will be able to understand them a little better.

This trip has been an amazing adventure for me.