Wrapping up Hawaii

Okay, so this is my last post about Maui, I promise. In the evening, after our adventures surfing, with spiders and getting sun burnt, my parents decided they wanted a night out to dinner by themselves. Justin and I got the jobs of watching Katie (mostly me) and cooking dinner for ourselves (mostly Justin) while Betsy worked on stuff for a class or something...who really knows :) jk. After Katie was asleep, we got out the ingredients we had gotten at the store that afternoon and made a delectable meal of teriyaki salmon (not my favorite, but whatever), coconut rice and sauteed vegetables. It was a lot of fun. We put on some music, danced around the kitchen and cooked, adding a little of this and a little of that. We got a little loopy and at one point Justin grabs me by the shoulders, looks me in the eye and proceeds to describe to me his passionate love for mushrooms. he was like "Danielle, I think I love them. I don't know why and I don't know what to do." I then explained that we may have to have an intervention...that didn't go over too well haha. I worry about him...Oh, yeah we're sophisticated...we even had some Bach playing in the background at this point. Well, we are almost sophisticated...





The next day, we went to this cool little pancake place called the Gazebo for breakfast. While we waited for a table we managed to amuse ourselves...


My mom's camera's exposure freaked out in the sunlight and these were the result, but I think they turned our super cool...especially the bottom one.

We plan on starting a band, since we have a potential cover for our album :)

There was a giant checkered board where you could play with coconuts while you waited, so Betsy and I decided to play. By the way, that is not a reflection from the board on the back of my legs; they were literally that red from the sunburn I got while surfing. One of the most painful things of my life. Cute, Justy, cute. Yummy breakfast pose? Here is some cool guy painting a watercolor...I liked the scenery.

So, after breakfast, we embarked on yet another adventure up the the hills for a ziplining/challenge course excursion. Since Gary didn't go, he was kind enough to sign the four of us (Mom, Justin, Betsy and I) up for the challenge zip course and who knew what that was. It was just us four and then another family of four that did it, but basically it was an obstacle course about 200ft up from the ground. Of course you were harnessed on, but you still didn't want to fall off because it was pretty tough to get back up when you are just hanging there. The guides ask who is the fastest and would like to go first as to not slow everyone down. Justin immediately goes "Danielle is fast and would love to go first!" So, i get harnessed up to go first and as I step out onto the wire, they call for the next person to step onto the platform. Justin pushes past Betsy saying he wants to go next so that he can "help me". The minute he got out there on the rope he was jumping up and down and swaying it left and right to try and throw me off. Unfortunately it worked once and I fell off; I got back up though and then tried to throw him off, but also unfortunately I weigh less than him and couldn't bounce the rope with him standing on it. Eventually I got him back by gathering all the ropes for handholds so that he couldn't move any further on the course. Great stuff. Betsy was glad she didn't go in front of Justin because she had enough problems with the obstacles as it was. The final challenge was going back down to the ground and then climbing up the the top of a totem pole looking thing, standing on top of it and jumping off, trying to reach a bar to grab on to. It was intense...obviously you were harnessed in, but you still didn't want to fall off and hit the pole or something. It was really hard to stand up on it at the top too. It was just big enough to hold both feet side by side and there was nothing to hold onto while you were trying to stand on it. Balance was key. No one in our group grabbed the bar (it was six feet up...no way I was making that without a running start haha), but it was still fun to try.

Here are some pics of us when we were out and about in Lahina one night. Going out to dinner proved to be more exciting than any of us thought. This night, we ended up eating at a cute local burger-Hawaiian type place that was all outdoors on the second floor and complete with live music. However, while we were deciding where to go, we were walking along the street out in front and all of the sudden this car stops, two guys get out and start yelling at these other two people crossing the street in front of them. No one saw what happened to start this, but two of the guys started yelling at each other and then fighting. One of them got thrown down in the middle of the street and all the men walking began yelling at them to stop. Everyone just turned and watched. Gary and Justin were so funny and got all protective, grabbing my mom, Betsy and I by the arms and pulling us upstairs. It was weird to see them so defensive. Eventually the guys got back in the car and left, probably figuring out that there were mass amounts of people around that could intervene or call the police, but what an exciting start to dinner...kind of nerve-raking. why doesn't he just smile? haha

Oh, mom, what are you doing? haha :)

Oh, I also scraped my knee while we were were going to dinner...how exciting...and random

Another night we were also going to go out to dinner, but since it was so late, we were thinking we might just get take out because Katie was tired and no one wanted to sit there with a screaming 4yr old. My parents were inside looking at the menu and the rest of us were outside, trying to entertain Katie. Betsy was spinning her around by her arms and then Justin turns to me and goes "Hey, Danielle, I bet we could do that." I told him that I didn't think so, but that I would try it (what was I thinking???). So, being us, we go into the middle of the asphalt covered parking lot, instead of the grass that was 100 yards farther. He actually did spin me around a couple times, but then lost momentum and my knee collided with the ground, oh, and did i mention I was in a dress? Seriously, what was I thinking haha? I didn't even know I had hit the ground until Betsy, laughing on the sidewalk goes "Did you touch the ground?" I said I wasn't sure, then looked down at my knee that was covered and dripping blood. Yeah, I'm hardcore :) Justin felt so bad and kept apologizing. I told him it wasn't his fault and that it didn't even hurt. Then he goes "I can't believe you actually tried that. You are pretty tough." Why thank you. :)

So, I think I'm going to have a pretty awesome scar...now I need an awesome story to go with it. Preferably one that doesn't show my stupidity. :)

Well, it was an awesome trip! And I'm leaving Friday morning for Zion National Park, where we are meeting the fam from Utah. So excited!