wait until a wave comes, then you jump

(logan climbing in waimea bay.)

another super enjoyable day!  i think logan and i have done a great job of making this honeymoon fun and exciting without being redundant.  each day seems very different. 

we started today in search of some good old rock climbing.  it's been more than a week since logan's climbed so, you know, his head is about to fall off or something.  we cruised over to waimea bay on the north shore and i watched some sweet waves and surfers while logan bouldered along a giant rock.  we noticed some crazies jumping off one of the cliffs into the ocean.  the drop didn't seem too bad at about 20 feet above the water so, duh. logan had to do it, too.  he jumped in, no prob, and so did lots of other dudes. 

(fearless!  jumping off a cliff.)

i must have had my big girl panties on today because i thought "well darnit, i did the haiku stairs yesterday.  i can jump off a rock into some water!" 

what is wrong with me.  yall, i am afraid of the garbage can when it starts to smell a little.  i get nervous walking up stairs with too many groceries in my hand because i think i'm going to fall.  i have got to be about one heart palpitation away from being a clinical over-worrier.  so why do i keep doing these irrational things that are outrageously out of character??

i'm at a loss.  i must have some craving to prove to myself that i'm still years away from having to check myself in to a mental health clinic.  case in point:  i just spent a paragraph worrying about how much i worry.

(look closely, you can see me screaming)

anway, so i climb up the rock to take a little looksee and shock and dismay are two for two this week.  i held my breath, looked straight out (not 'down,' this is key), and left the rock.  i screamed all the way down, hit the water, and bobbed to the top.  didn't like it.

after the impromptu cliff jumping, we went in search of giant sea turtles over at turtle beach.  this was pretty funny/embarassing because we walked out onto the rocky shore and kept looking, straining our eyes, and saying "i don't see any .. they're supposed to be everywhere?"  guess what turtle shells look like?  giant rocks!  there were two huge turtles napping about 3 feet in front of us on the sand!  they were a boy and a girl so i decided that they are married and i named them manny and estelle.  manny sleeps a lot and estelle likes to body surf when the water comes up high.  i caught them kissing!  cutest ever.  logan said manny was actually trying to eat estelle's face, but that's not nearly as romantic as them kissing.

(manny and estelle <3 )

we stopped and got a couple more shave ices - these things are better than ice cream!  kinda like sno cones, only way better.  i got blueberry coconut cream, mmmmmmmmmmm.  we walked around a shopped a bit and i found the neatest hawaii dress to wear to dinner!  so cute. 

we spent the afternoon out on waikiki beach.  the water here is like a bathtub!  calm and comfortably warm.  logan signed up for some surf lessons and i opted to try the stand up paddle boarding.  this is where you get what basically looks like a thick surfboard and you stand up on it and cruise around with a paddle.  i had no luck standing up so i just sat on it kayak-style and puttered around thusly.  well this was just super.  i absolutely loved floating around the bay of waikiki watching all the surfers up close and riding a few waves myself.  logan got reallllyyyy tired, as one does when paddling against waves for an hour.  so here logan was, out of breath and exhausted, soaking wet, and floating up to me: "why aren't you surfing?"  i am dry from the waist up and perched happily atop my surfboard, cruising all over the place: "umm, i AM surfing."  hello!  i was on a surfboard bobbing up and down.  that's "surfing" from what i can tell about the athletes on waikiki beach.  plus my hair stayed cute while doing it.



(view from our table at dinner)



we paid our respects to happy hour, as usual, then went to dinner at the house without a key at the halekulani hotel.  logan gave this place five stars!  he said the food was fantastic, the music was fabulous, and the service and atmosphere were wonderful and inviting.  this place wins for best meal of the trip - logan had the seared ahi with creamy pesto pasta.  readers - this is worth a trip to the middle of the pacific.  the band played lots of hawaiian music and also some hawaiian versions of christmas songs!  very fun, indeed.

(such a romantic evening!  look at my pretty dress!  and when i went to get my hair flower for the evening, flower lady gave us two leis because i come every night :)