Helicopter ride and a luau

Devin and I got a slow start to the morning. We're taking it easy since it's one of our last days of vacation before it's back to work. We were up early enough to take pictures of the beautiful sunrise which only takes about 5 minutes in Hawaii. After that we were planning on heading to the beach but it started pouring outside. We finally got to meet Darcelle, the woman we are renting from, when we took out the recycling this morning. She has an adorable golden retriever rescue named Friday. Devin finished reading his book and I wrote postcards while we waited for the rain to let up. Then it was off to the post office. We also stopped by the Laie Hawaii Temple to take pictures and went to the visitor center where we learned a little bit about the temple. Devin and I thought it was going to be more of an ancient temple but it was a Mormon temple. While we were there we got a call from Josh saying they had some openings for a helicopter ride so we hurried over to the Turtle Bay Resort again. After a brief safely briefing we flying over the island. Devin and I were up front with the pilot and there was another couple in the back seat. We saw a 1,000 foot waterfall, where part of Jurassic Park was filmed, Diamond Head Crater, and flew over the stadium. You could see all of the coral reefs when we flew along the coast and our pilot said he had seen whales out on an earlier tour.

Earlier in the week we made reservations for the Paradise Cove Luau. When we got there both

Devin and I got leis made of shells and Mai Tais. The free drinks we got as part of our admission were probably some of the worst drinks I have ever consumed; that was some cheap, cheap alcohol. While we waited for dinner we participated in the different activities they had including making a fresh flower headband and anklet, practiced our fire knife skills (we weren't very good), watched someone climb a coconut tree who showered us with flower petals, throwing

spears (Devin did really well), and practiced the hula (only I did that). They had a demonstration where they showed us how they used nets to

harvest fish, we watched the Royal Court procession and the unearthing of the traditional underground-roasted pig and then it was time to eat. Devin said that the pork was the best food he had in Hawaii but I did not partake. While we

ate we watched the luau show. Twice I got to go onstage and dance with the Hawaiian dancers which was a lot of fun. My favorite part of the show was the Samoan fire knife dance. It was really impressive

to see how fast he could whip around the fireballs without getting hit with them. We were both completely exhausted after the luau and I fell asleep in the car while Devin drove home.