A whole year! *Part 2*

I know that everyone is posting something to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attack at the World Trade Center (as well as the Pentagon and the site of the crash in that Pennsylvania field), so I will say a few words. The event itself still gets me upset, and I wanted to do something to help remember the victims, so I volunteered for the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5k this morning, which honors the bravery of Mr Siller, a NY Firefighter who ran (in full gear) from the Brooklyn Tunnel to the world trade center to help out his fellow brothers and sisters at ground zero. He had to run from the tunnel because the traffic was at a standstill and he was originally on his way home from his overnight shift when the call came in about the planes hitting the towers. Mr Siller perished on 9/11, as did many of his brothers and sisters in the department. This race is celebrated all over the country, benefitting families of our servicemen and women and firefighters/police/EMT's, and I thought it was fitting to volunteer for such an amazing cause! I had a wonderful time taking pictures and cheering people on!! I will have more on that event tomorrow!

Now, without further ado.....
*This post is continued from yesterday*

Ahh, where did I leave off?? Oh yes, I remember! I finished up the major photographed events up until the end of August, and I was going to add random pictures of things we have done throughout our first year here.

The pictures from the first few days of September can be found in my recent posts! :)


Lets see.....Kevin had never went snorkeling before we arrived here and I was excited to show him how fun it was! Unfortunately, the first snorkel gear that we bought was defective, so our first first trip out snorkeling ended in an epic fail (This was at Hanauma Bay). Thankfully, we ended up purchasing some really great equipment later, and now he really loves snorkeling!

Not the best pic, but it was his first time! :)

Being the rock climbing enthusiast that he is, Kevin quickly made some friends in the jeeping world, and soon after we got here, we went rock climbing in the mountains!

Here's Betty Jeep at a place called Peacock Flats

We also made a vow to be more outdoorsy, since Hawaiis climate allows us to be outside year round! We made another trip up to Peacock Flats--not to rock climb, but to camp!!

The views were amazing!

Here are some more awesome things we have done!
Right after we arrived here, we made it a point to visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial

 We sampled some more beaches!

Sunset Beach--the North Shore

Bellows beach, near Waimanalo state park

 We visited Dole Plantation, which is right up the road from where we live!

Goofing off in the giant maze

No trip to Dole Plantation would be complete without Dole Whip, a yummy pineapple ice cream treat!

 We (well I) grab some delicious shave ice (a local favorite here!) every time we go up to the north shore!

The best place on the whole island to get shave ice!!!

We visited a real Buddhist temple

We have also gone on several hiking adventures!!

This was our most recent hiking adventure up the Diamond Head crater!

 While here, I have developed an unhealthy obsession with taking photos of the local flowers!

 Yeah, those were just a few. I have a flower picture taking problem. Kevin will agree lol

We have also eaten at the famous Haleiwa (North Shore) Shrimp Trucks! They have delicious food, by the way!!

We (well I, again lol) have sampled some of the popular local mix drinks :)

Mai Tais and College football--can it get any better??

Speaking of college football, another big adjustment for us was getting used to the fact that college football comes on as early as 6am here!!! Eep!!
So those are just a few of the little adventures we have gotten into since arriving on island. We are hoping to do alot more here this coming year :)

Tomorrow, I will be posting pictures from the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5K that we did today. I took a ton of pictures, and I have to go through them all! Kevin did great though!! He did the run in 30 minutes, which is great for his first time out jogging since the surgery. Way to go, love!!!
I will also be heading back to the gym tomorrow morning (to work off all of the calories I consumed this weekend--I'm not proud of the amount of little debbie snack cakes I ate). See yall tomorrow!!!