Hawaii

For Christmas this year I got the best present: A trip to Hawaii to see my family! There were a lot of memorable moments and laughter whether we were hiking, eating, competing at an inside joke game, or just hanging at the hotel. Hawaii is a beautiful state and we spent a lot of time wandering around to the different beaches hidden among the lava rocks. Some of my favorite moments:

Horseback riding: All of our horses behaved a bit like children with babysitters. Drifter, my little pony, did not want to stay close enough to my sisters horse although he was very responsive to any other lead. My brothers horse did a sneak attack on a banana tree. My sisters horse was ready to walk the track and did not want to wait for the rest of the crowd. Anyone that has worked with horses will tell you that they are distinct individuals. We also learned a lot about the history of Maui while riding into the valley.

Snorkeling: We traveled to Molokini Crater, a submerged volcano previously used for target practice by the navy. Now it shelters numerous fish and coral. Even my dad came out snorkeling even though he is terrified of swimming. My siblings and I got to go Snuba diving where you breath through a regulator while the air tank is on a raft. Rob ruptured his eardrum while snorkeling and so had a hard time with the Snuba. We saw a few turtles and heard the whales singing.

Road to Hana: We took the road years ago on my first trip to Hawaii and I had been very disappointed. The trees were overgrown so there were no good views. However, other people must have agreed with me because this year there were multiple areas where the trees had been trimmed offering beautiful snapshots. The real treasure of the road to Hana is off the actual road. We went to a black sand beach and climbed through and on a lava tube.

Whale Watching: We had ocean facing balconies so got to watch whales while relaxing. The whales migrate to Hawaii in the northern hemisphere's winter so there were a lot of them. Every time they showed up the whole breach froze to watch. For the first time I saw a whale breach.