Pics from our honeymoon!

[uptowngirl]

I seem to be right behind Stacy on all these threads!! Haha!!

Patrick and I spent a week in a condo on the north shore of Oahu for our honeymoon - it was absolutely wonderful! We chose a place that was as far away from tourists as we could get, and while that meant we had to give up on some conveniences, it also meant our beach looked like this:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0249.jpg

Instead of this:
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0402.jpg

[uptowngirl]

You can see our building in the picture. We were on the ground floor, so the ocean was literally just steps out our door!

(about at close up as you are ever going to get of a picture of me in a bikini! LOL!)
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0280.jpg

Sea turtles!!
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0516.jpg

I wish we had an underwater camera for all the corals/urchins/fish we saw while we were out snorkeling...it was so cool that we could just leave our condo, walk down to the beach and see this stuff! We did go down to another beach up the road to get these close ups:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0512.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0510.jpg

[Scrwballsgrl]

OMG! You were that close to sea turtles in the wild! I would've considered it a happy honeymoon right there!
the beach was beautiful! Can't wait to see more pic's!

[uptowngirl]

One day we went to the Valley of the Temples and walked through this Buddhist Temple.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0327.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0325.jpg

It was so incredibly peaceful - well except for the leaf blower that was going for a little bit. I loved that there were cats walking all around. For some reason we didn't get any pictures of those though...

We did see more turtles - we were a little bit obsessed with turtles :)

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0330.jpg

[uptowngirl]

The temple is a replica of an ancient one in Japan, and was built entirely without nails! It's Buddha is supposed to be the largest modern carved figure...something like 18 feet tall

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0343.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0346.jpg

There was also a huge brass peace bell - we heard it rung while we were there and it was loud!

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0355.jpg

[WBandMe]

Wow, what a romantic place! Although I have to admit those turtles would have sent me in the other direction.

[uptowngirl]

Our other big day away from our nice quiet beach was at the Waimea Valley Botanical Gardens. The park is 1800 acres of trails, with more than 5000 species of plants (I am quoting from the brochure). There was a waterfall with a pool at the end where you can swim (of course we didn't bring suits! I wanted to go so bad - I mean how romantic is that?!)

Some pictures:
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0446.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0478.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0480.jpg

Gecko!
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0449.jpg

[uptowngirl]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0487.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0483.jpg

The cannonball tree!! These things would drop and they were heavy!! It was a little scary standing under it!

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0440.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0443.jpg

[uptowngirl]

A few more flowers:
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0501.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0503.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0506.jpg

This reminded me of Monet's paintings...

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0502.jpg

[uptowngirl]

And finally the falls:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0493.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0494.jpg

We got shaved ice on the walk back from the falls -
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0495.jpg

and Patrick picked up a fallen flower for me - it was huge!!
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0485.jpg

[uptowngirl]

So, where our condo was there were a lot of farms and ranches - and chickens! We got woken up by the roosters every morning, and actually decided to get up one day and catch the sunrise - I am so glad we did!

From our lanai (porch):
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0296.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0298.jpg

And walking down on the beach we came across this guy watching the sunrise too...
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0313.jpg

Looking back after the sun came up...
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0314.jpg

[uptowngirl]

Okay, last but not least - we are one of those couples who take pictures of ourselves everywhere we go - so I thought I would save them all for last! HAha!

At the temple:
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0353.jpg

the beach:
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/hawaii2.jpg

in Waikiki:
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0421.jpg

the botanical gardens:
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0436.jpg


OKay - I have a ton more, but that is all I will inflict you with! Thanks for looking!

[kimekia5519]

Your pictures are BEAUTIFUL!!! They look like postcards, expecially the beach and the flowers. Looks like you guys had a wonderful time. Congrats Again!

[uptowngirl]

OOookay - just a few more cute/cheesy ones!

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0238.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0283.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0229.jpg


And the best meal - so good we ate here twice - Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. I didn't think to take a picture until I was half done eating it though...that is GARLIC piled on top of the rice!
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd79/sarahmoto/hawaii/DSCF0428.jpg

[SerendipityCrafts]

Gorgeous pics!!!!

[Nekochanpurr]

Beautiful pictures!!! I bet you guys had so much fun exploring!!! :D WOW! Its just so pretty...

[KMS]

I couldn't stop "oooh"ing and "ahhh"ing the whole time. After I got done looking at them all I had Chad come over and look at them too! I know y'all must have had an amazing time. What a beautiful honeymoon! I so enjoyed looking at the pictures. :grinhappy:

[KMS]

Ohhhh and I am super impressed with the biodegradable snocone cups. Something like that doesn't escape my attention!! ;)

[NOTKT]

Looks like soooo much fun and absolutely gorgeous!

[brendalin]

OMG! I can't believe how close you guys were to the ocean! It must have been so relaxing and just beautiful!!! What wonderful pictures of your trip!!! I can't believe how big those turtles are!!! I love the pic of Patrick in the ocean and the top of your feet! So cute!

[RosieAngel]

Wow, how beautiful! I loved the flowers and the turtles, though that little crab is the cutest! :D

[WebLady]

Awesome pics! I love the secluded beach!

[caligal85]

The flower pictures are absolutely gorgeous. What a scenic honeymoon! One of my girlfriend's is there now for a family reunion and I'm super jealous.

[uptowngirl]

Thanks ladies!!

We have been trying to figure out how to get ourselves back there! Hubby thinks we need to celebrate our 6 month anniversary with another Hawaii vacation! LOL!


ETA - Oh yeah - i totally forgot to mention!! - the pool and waterfall is supposedly where they filmed a scene from Lost, and there was a ranch up the road from us where they did a bunch more of Lost, and also Jurassic park!

[TeacherSonja]

Great pictures! You guys had a lot of fun. And the beach is AWESOME!

[firespirit]

Those pics look amazing. It looks like you had a really great time, what a perfect honeymoon!

Now I feel like I'm goign to have to press Ryan even more to go to an island other than the Big Island.

PS - I noticed the biodegradable plastic too! Hehe, neat!

[saltyveruca]

Smart girl, getting a secluded beach! It looks like you two had a wonderful time.