June 19, 2012

ALOHA, Hawaii! Nice to meet you…again!



It was great to land in Hawaii. The first thing I noticed? It is COLD! The trade winds and the lower temperature made it feel like it was winter compared to the Philippines. (Then I looked at the thermometer and it said 71 degrees! Haha!)

It was so nice to drive with the windows down and feel the fresh ocean air—unpolluted. The first place we stopped was BYU-Hawaii campus. As we stepped out, it is amazing how at home it all felt after being gone for over a year. To smell fresh cut grass, to hear the lawn mower for that matter, to hear the familiar bugs chirping and the birds singing to eat other—we are home! We went to eat at the Polynesian Cultural with Lady Hiva’s family and while we were there two different Filipino students came up to me and said, “Hey! Is your last name Bradshaw? You interviewed me for my student visa.” It was crazy to sit and talk with them about their lives and how grateful they were to be studying in the States. They even came over and sang for all of us while we ate.





Over the next few days we visited family and friends and went to the Water Park. That is something we never did while we were here. It was a blast. We all walked away laughing but full of bruises. Stories abounded of flying out of inner-tubes or falling onto someone else as we plummeted straight down a slide. It was a great experience. 










We also stopped by and saw the headstone of the kids for Father's Day. 


One of the best parts of the day was eating a shave ice at Matsumoto’s. That is just one of the things checked off our list of “Things to do while in Hawaii”




More to come….

1 comment:

  1. Looks like you're having a great time in Hawaii! You always have such amazing photos to share! Yum, I love Matsumoto shaved Ice! That and your description of the fresh clean air makes me jealous. :)

    ReplyDelete