Aloha Lisa!

Every time I'm on the mainland, people always ask me what its like to live in Hawaii, and I always say, "Well, you should totally come and stay with us and I'll show you around!" 

Finally, someone said - "Yes! I think I will!" Lisa was our first non-family visitor in over 3 years! She arrived earlier in November and stayed for 10 whole days! It is always so much fun to play tour guide while visitors are here. Both Scott and I get such a kick out of watching people experience Hawaii for the first time! 

On her first morning here, Mark was playing at a friend's house, so we took advantage of no kids and visited the USS Arizona memorial. This was my 3rd visit, and it's always such a humbling experience!

On the next day, Mark and I took her to Ko'olina for some beach time.

We also showed her around the Aulani, the Disney resort. Can you tell by his expression that he liked having Lisa around?

On Friday, we visited the Macadamia Nut Farm and took the Alii Tour, which I'd heard great things about, but never tried. Here's me and Lisa on the Jungle Bus!

This tour was amazing! It is definitely something I will insist that every one of our visitors do from now on. They took us on a tour of their property and showed us where many movies were filmed. We also got to watch them make fire and then do a real fire dance!

They showed us how to crack a coconut and let us drink the milk straight from the coconut!

Then they put us in this huge canoe and showed us around the giant freshwater pond, dating back to days of Hawaiian royalty.

This guide was hilarious. He kept insisting we stand closer and closer to him for this picture. It was extremely awkward and uncomfortable. Hence, the genuine smiles!

On Friday evening, we took Lisa to get her first Mai Tai at La Mariana, Oahu's oldest tiki bar.

Then on to the Hilton Hawaiian Village for the Friday night fireworks!

Saturday, we took a drive up to the North Shore, stopping at all our favorite lookouts, including Laie Point.

She even got to see some pretty decent waves for early winter. Pictures never do the waves justice!

Of course, we had to get shrimp from a truck!

We tried a new truck this time, because they stopped making my spicy garlic shrimp at Zane's. It was delicious!

Shave Ice from Matsumoto's! There was still a line out the door even though it was pouring down rain!

On Sunday after church, Lisa and I headed down to Waikiki to the Moana Surfrider (Hawaii's oldest hotel) for afternoon tea!

It's always so much fun to get dressed up and enjoy fancy tea overlooking the Waikiki surf.

Of course, she had to get her pic taken with Duke!

Monday was Veterans Day, so Scott had the day off, so he had a jam-packed day full of stuff for Lisa! First up, hiking the Makapu'u Lighthouse trail. 

After this, we had lunch at Kona Brewery, and then hiked down to see the spitting cave of Portlock (sorry, no pics)

Next, we took her to the National Cemetery of the Pacific. 

It seemed appropriate to visit on Veterans Day.

 On Lisa's last morning, we got up early to hike to the Lanikai pillboxes!

Whew! What a fun 10 days! We so enjoyed having Lisa around! She was so helpful with the boys, and even did dishes (BONUS!). Plus, she's a nurse, so it was super handy having her around every time Mark bonked his head or had a mysterious rash appear (both of which happen almost weekly). She was such a good sport, getting woken up before 6:00 by my boys who were eager to see her every morning!

Hopefully, we won't have to wait another 3 years for a friend to come visit. Who's next??