diamond head hike {and other things we did that day}

oh, the the sights of hawaii.

kai and i were just copying the actions of the people before us. :)

this day was great! hiking, shopping, and running trying to run. it would have been better if my dad was able to come along, but he had to work. we planned to leave the house at 6am, but ended up leaving at 6:30- i'd say it was successful. that's how it goes when you have to pack lunches, eat breakfast, get dressed etc x6. :) this hike has no shade whatsoever (besides the 30 seconds of tunnel you walk through), so getting there early is key to beating the heat. we finished the 3-miles round trip hike before 9am, and before a ton of middle schoolers pulled up in 4+ school buses. success again! the rest of the day was spent window shopping at an outdoor mall (a mall nate and i had piano recitals at every year long ago). good times. in the afternoon, the younger boys had sailing lessons so i drove over there with everyone and ran home; i think it was about 4 miles. i probably did more walking than running because of the heat & humidity, but i eventually made it home. i haven't sweat that much in a very long time (tmi? probably), but it's true. good old ice water was my friend afterwards. and of course i can't forget about elias' bath. isn't he beyond adorable?!?

an afternoon at bellows beach

as the title suggests, we did go to bellows one afternoon. 

this is the place i did most of my boogie boarding eight years ago, and i would like to say i was better then than i am now.

this is also the beach i got stung by a jellyfish... twice. 

it hurt, yes. but it obviously didn't stop me from swimming there again. ha

 beach baby & my mom going out to catch some waves.

 hanging around

oh! my hammock finally came in! it's blue & yellow, and i've already taken a 2 hour nap in it.

 someone woke up from their nap and didn't know where mama was.

a secret place with three waterfalls

on monday my friend, kelly, took me on an adventure.

i've known kelly since 3rd (maybe 4th grade). i always have a blast when i hangout with her. and after eight years of separation, we were finally able to meet up again! woohoo! :D

she has an adventurous spirit like me, so i think we get along pretty well. 

this hike/climb/swim wasn't your average touristy hot-spot. in fact, there were no signs to get there. it was just at the end of a road. you get out and start hiking. thankfully, kelly was a wonderful guide :)

her & i before we jumped in

this picture doesn't really do justice to the color of the water. it was gorgeous.

between here and the next picture, i don't have any picture-proof to show you what we did (i need a lifeproof case for my phone), so i'll just describe it.

we swam to the rope on the left side of the waterfall, climbed up, swam through another pool, climbed up the middle waterfall and again for the last fall. at some points i was questioning whether or not it was safe. some most of those rocks are really slippery. it was a blast though. something i imagine from the movies.

 (swiss family robinson, anyone?) :)  

kelly made it down before me, so i told her to take pictures of me climbing down. then she went back up so i could take pictures of her. :)

when i got to about this point, i jumped :D

yay! we made it safely down with no injuries. 

and then we proceeded to take pictures of the locals. :)

 this fire was just getting started when we left. it probably didn't last long because of the lack of dry wood, but it was a nice touch while we were there.

 it's kinda hard to see, but there's a girl under (in?) the waterfall! :D

that guy waaaay up there... yeah, he jumped. 

crazy, i tell you!

i'm really bad at guessing the height, but it was probably about a 40-50 foot drop.

the trek back up to the road- very muddy, steep & muddy

 i wonder how long that car's been there...

shaka brah

i'll have more pictures of recently enjoyed things in the near future. :)

here in hawaii

the plane ride over the pacific was long & uneventful. i slept most of the five and a half hours. sleeping so much was probably caused by not feeling well. i had congestion mixed in with a headache. :p great way to start out my summer in hawaii.

it's SO nice to be back though! being with my family is the best. 

tea and a lei. what's better?

this little boy is 1 now! happy birthday, elias!

elias peter and lucy belle

if you give this dog attention, she will love you forever. seriously.

home.

i love fruit. any size, shape, color, texture, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

this island is spoiling me. i've eaten mangos everyday since i've been here.

(thank you, Lord, for growing a mango tree in our backyard). 

i tested out nate's hammock. it's good enough. if you follow my instagram (@arosewithhappiness), i said i needed to buy one. well, i did- using a 30% discount at rei. score! i'm sensing many more hanging days in my future.

lunch: aloe vera juice & spam musubi. 

it's one of those meals where you don't look at the ingredients, nutrition facts, or calories. 

just eat and enjoy the deliciousness.

best climbing tree i've seen in awhile. <3

i've missed this polish pottery bowl with its hawaiian vibe.

church meets here? ok, i'm fine with that. :) 

(side note: jurassic park and lost were filmed in this area!)

my  indecisiveness won; i basically put everything on two pieces of bread and called it a sandwich.

(peanut butter+avocado+tomato+dried cranberries+walnuts+lettuce+ hummus)