Aloha! Welcome to Hawaii. We just arrived (with leis) to our hotel room...on the 27th floor!

Our second day, taking a driving tour of the island. What do you get when you add beer from a gas station...

...and shrimp from the shrimp truck?

Shrimp and beer! The best, Jerry, the best. (If you ever go to Oahu, be sure to visit the north side of the island and eat at Giovanni's shrimp truck. Watch out for the many imitators. There's only one Giovanni's)

At the Pali Pass. This was a historic location, near the top of some mountain, where the wind is so great that people who try to jump off and commit suicide and pushed back up by the wind. We were happy with life, so we just tried leaning into the wind...and were unable to fall down because of the wind.

At the Polynesian Cultural Center, where you can learn all about the history and traditions of the Polynesian islands/cultures (Hawaii, Tonga, Maori, Tahiti, Fiji, etc.). So that's what "Hawaiian/Pacific Islander" refers to on application forms, under "race".

The canoe show, where each island came out on a canoe, wearing traditional outfits and performing dances. This was Tonga.

These are the Maoris (the native people of New Zealand). You can spot them easily because of the makeup under their mouths, making them look like their tongues are sticking out.

Fiji, I think. By the way, did you know most Polynesians are Mormons. I didn't. Which explains why there was no caffeine served in the Polynesian Cultural Center. Luckily, Polynesian Mormons are more laid back then normal American Mormons.

Ricky and I display our new tattoos.

A Tonga monkeyman climbing a tall tree.

At the luau. This poor pig was cooking under the sand all day, and he's now being taken out to be chopped up and served as our dinner.

The big nightly show at the end of this very long day.

Bright and early the next morning, heading to the western and northern part of the island on a boat for some snorkeling.

I present to you our boat...a sweet catamaran. Lucky!

Who knew, but Oahu still has some desolate parts and beaches. This view was actually very nice, and not surprisingly, Cameron Diaz owns a house around here.

The famous flipping dolphins of Hawaii, which swim and play with the boat and occasionally jump out of the water and do flips in the air. Smart animals...smarter than some people I know.

Our old hotel room just didn't cut it, so we requested a change and got this room with an awesome ocean front view. The view doesn't get better than this.

Or this.

A view from our hotel in the evening, when all the surfers hit the water after a work day.

Ricky and Breanne (and me too) the next morning, aboard a boat to go scuba diving.

Ricky descending. Our scuba skills are finally being put to use in tropical water!

Ricky waving. We're approximately 40 feet below. This was during our second dive of the day, after our morning dive of a ship wreck.

This big fish was just chilling on the rock. Not swimming, sitting.