Right before going home to NC for a visit, I had the most wonderful weekend. My good friend Marybeth is also an army spouse. Her husband Bryan works with Mike. He was a part of the first wave of soldiers to come home for RR. While Bryan was home they rented a cabin on the west side of the Island at one of our favorite military rec spots--Pililau (pronounced: Pee-Lee-Lau). The military owns the land and there are cabins for rent right on a lagoon. The best part of this place, minus the relaxed, slow-paced atmosphere and the killer sunsets is that this is where tourists pay money to come to swim with the dolphins. In kayaking distance, and even swimming distance if you are pretty good--you can come into contact with huge pods of dolphins playing in the lagoon from anywhere to an hour to all morning long. This weekend in particular was amazing! The dolphins came out every day, and stayed for 4-5 hours. They came very close to shore and were extremely playful. We literally spent a few hours out in the middle of the lagoon swimming with the dolphins--for free. You could stick your head under water and hear the high pitched squeals of the dolphins long before you could see them. As the squeals got louder and louder you knew they were coming closer to you. It was so exhilarating to be in the wild with the huge animals--just swimming with them. 
After such an awesome Saturday, i know you think it would be hard to top it on Sunday, but really Sunday was beautiful and relaxing and the very essence of what I love so much about Hawaii. After church Carrie, Hillary, Renee and I went to the North Shore for some beaching. We went to a small secluded cove that was so beautiful and maybe even my new favorite beach to go to. It had awesome trees and calm waters that were inhabited by many sea turtles. This beach is actually not far from where the beach camp scenes of LOST are filmed.
As tradition states, after all North Shore beach experiences, we must go to Matsumoto's Shave Ice. 
Although there has been much debate on the best shave ice in town, there is no denying that Matsumoto's has the largest selection...and I absolutely love their coconut cream and banana cream. Matsumoto's is by far the most well-known shave ice establishment and a definite tourist trap--but for that wonderful coconut banana cream flavor, i would just about suffer through any long line! Funny, in all the times of going here this is our first picture together. And if your wondering, Hillary just doesn't like Shave Ice and if you ask me, i am just not sure she is human.
As if things couldn't get any better, Carrie, Hill and I had our first bible study on Wailua Beach to the beautiful setting sun, where we were graced with sporadic breaching whales way out in the water. God's creation is so beautiful--and living in Hawaii is a wonderful reminder of that. We often play with the idea of getting rid of all our houses and all moving in together in a beach house on this very beach. There really isn't anywhere more beautiful...just take a look.
...and top all of that off with some Thai food from Haleiwa Eats.... what's not to love about this perfect weekend?
