Pacific Beach and the Oeanarium

Since today was Catherine's 19th Birthday she got to pick the activities.  First we went to Waimea Falls Park to check out a holiday craft fair that we saw some signs to the day before.

Just next to the parking lot is a really cook ancient Hawaiian temple.

Granny and Riley standing in front of the temple.

The craft far inside was kind of disappointing. Everything they had was great, but they didn't have very many booths.  We ended up buying some treats and looking in the main gift shop.  I took a picture of these candy Santa sleighs in case I decide to make some.  They are super cute!

Granny, The Bird Whisperer, enjoyed the peacocks, ducks, and other birds that roam around the park.  Some of theme are endangered species.

The park is actually a botanical garden that leads to a waterfall, but we are planning to come back another day to see those things.

Granny decided to buy a round of snow cones for everyone before heading out.  We didn't realize how big they were going to be.  Holy Cow!

The plan for after the craft fair was to hike Diamond head, go to the Oceanarium for lunch, play at the beach and then go to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. However, we are not a very fast moving bunch and had some other delays like traffic and needing to stop back at the house to pick up the people who didn't come to the craft fair, so we knew we wouldn't make it to do everything.  Still, we headed out with a plan to do the best we could.

 We drive this costal Highway almost every day and pass this really cool island known as "Chinaman's Hat."

Unfortunatley, we were about half an hour too late to have lunch at the Oceanarium.  They closed just as we arrived and wouldn't reopen again until dinner.  We decided to skip the hike up Diamond Head, and save Hard Rock Cafe for another day too. Instead, we would grab some McDonald's Happy Meals to tide us over until dinner and play at the beach until our reservation time at the Oceanarium for a very expensive birthday dinner.

Return of Granny "The Bird Whisperer"

Chillin' at the beach

Even Granny got in the water for a minute.

Riley LOVED this beach.  Finally, one we could really play in.  This area is such a tourist area that a retaining wall had been built to keep the current low and allow safe swimming all the time.

Godzilla Riley standing on the retaining wall preparing to crush one of the tiny hotels along the beach.

He strikes again as he prepares to climb Diamond Head in one step!

What did I tell you, she really IS the Bird Whisperer!  Granny drew a crowd with this scene.

Look how happy she is.

Finally, it was time to leave for dinner just as the sun was setting.

Seriously, every scene here is postcard worthy.  It is soooo pretty!

Me and Catherine waiting at the Oceanarium, a three story aquarium and restaurant.

The Oceanarium is at a hotel all decked out for Christmas.

Killing time with the "fish eye" setting on my new camera.

Finally we get seated for dinner.  It is an all you can eat sea food buffet with EVERYTHING!

My plate included my first ever crab legs and lobster claws that I had to crack open myself.

The view of the aquarium from our table.

The aquarium was complete with a scuba diver in a Santa hat.

Catherine's birthday pie given to her by the singing restaurant waiters.

Happy Birthday Catherine!!!