it’s not often that my family and i get the chance to sneak away to a tropical paradise and soak up some sunshine. that fact was best represented by our pasty white skin and our let’s-fit-in-as-much-as-we-possibly-can mentality. and sure enough, we found ourselves quite satisfied when we boarded our flight back to the mainland. some people relax on the beach sipping mai-tais all the day long. but us shipleys tend to pack in much more activity than most. during our eight day trip to oahu, we drove around aimlessly far too much. snorkeled twice. road horses. surfed waikiki. watched waves at waimea bay and pipeline. visited pearl harbor and the uss arizona memorial. ate hula pie. got snowcones in haleiwa. and survived the tsunami scare. no big deal. so needless to say, we had a wonderful time and very much enjoyed our time together. hopefully it won’t be another five years before we embark on an other family adventure…

[above: the reds…left to right. the barn at kuaola ranch. snow cones at island snow in kailua. the garden at the house we stayed at. catamaran cruise in waikiki. the syrup bottles at island snow. missile at pearl harbor. cool vw bus at dannah’s house. sign at pipe. the barn at kuaola ranch.]

[bird of paradise, kailua]

[sister and me beaching it up]

[my mom and dad at kailua beach. later this year they will have been married for 30 years, so we went to hawaii early to celebrate]

[horseback riding at kuaola ranch]

[palm]

pearl harbor a-la-iphone. the uss arizona memorial. left to right: 1) entrance to the uss arizona memorial. 2) flags in the first room. 3) names of the fallen crew members. 4) gun turret. 5) oil still leaks from the hull. 6) another part of the wreck. 7) the brilliant architecture of the memorial’s center room. 8) view of the memorial from pearl harbor. 8) view of the uss missouri from the arizona memorial]