Polynesian Cultural Center.....

Wednesday morning I took Steve to work and the girls and I headed off to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

We arrived before it was opened so we decided to stop by the Temple which is basically right next door. We walked around the Temple grounds and the girls snapped some pictures. It is such a beautiful place. It was closed for the summer for repairs so we weren't able to do a session like we had originally planned but it was still nice to see it again.

Steve and I went there on our Honeymoon there a few years ago and did some sealings in this temple. We really enjoyed ourselves. I took a TON of pictures back then but for the life of me I can't find a copy of even ONE of them! So I have none now to post. Frustrating! Oh well. Check out April and Ashlee's blog to see some if you'd like. They should be posting soon. It is a BEAUTIFUL temple.

When we arrived it began to sprinkle so they gave us these stylish beautiful red ponchos to wear. It was great to have them because at times it rained pretty hard. The rain did not stop our fun though. For anyone out there that knows me I LOVE the rain. (Except Seattle "DRIZZLE" type rain.)

Ready to load our canoes for a tour around the center......

Claudia was our tour guide. We had a cool "Family" to spend the day with. Our group (or family as it was called) had people from New York and even Germany. I had been to the cultural center with Howie before but this trip was so much more fun. We were treated like royalty. We were escorted around the entire day and learned so much. There were times where we were laughing so hard that I was seriously crying. It was SO MUCH FUN! Wish Howie could have been there with us :(

Some cool trees and roots.....

The "Good Luck" bridge we went under during our canoe ride....

Our "Motor" for the ride.....

The two guys who paddled us around were HILARIOUS!

Beautiful......

This was the "bad luck" bridge!

They threw some bread or something in the water and a whole hoard of fish attacked it at once. They were STARVING! They must never be fed. It is a good thing one of us didn't fall overboard. We could have been EATEN ALIVE!!!

It is nice to see a smile on Ape's face.

The canoe ride was seriously very relaxing.

More Hawaiian beauty.....

Tree where they get the shells for these necklace leis.....

Our mom, Claudia is explaining how they make them...

By the way, Claudia is from the wonderful island of.......

MEXICO

Tahitian NONI.....

VERY, VERY Stinky fruit.

Steve and I saw this stuff in Tahiti when we went to visit last year and it really REEEKS! April and Ash took a little sniff and said it wasn't too bad. Man, the stuff in Tahiti was HORRIBLE! How can anything this gross be so good for you?

The different island centers were so informative.

Each of the presenters had such a funny sense of humor.

We learned a lot about the culture of each island....

We had great seats for the Parade of Islands. It was fun to watch them floating down the river and to see them perform dances which are unique to each island. We enjoyed some yummy fruit and icecream during the parade. Boy that sure hit the spot!

Tahiti of course was my favorite. I have a special love for that island. It always reminds me of my dad. He would have loved spending the day with us there. I thought about him most of the day. I really miss my dad being around.

We learned the hula......

My girls are MUCH better than I am.

I decided to "hang it up" and just take some pictures.

Short video of Ape learning a Hula Dance....

They also learned to do some Tahitian dancing.

Ash loved this.....

You can't tell with her poncho on but

April was swingin her hips pretty good too.

Right after everyone practiced a bit they asked for volunteers to come up and help them out. My brave Ashlee went up on stage and performed. With a BIG nudge from me! NO WAY WOULD I do it.

She is so brave!

Video of her "Shakin' it"

They also used her as a model to show everyone how to tie the sarongs. She was quite the trooper.

April with her new Polynesian friend. I love seeing her have so much fun! This trip has definetly been good for her.

I didn't get pictures of some of the other venues for some reason. One guy from our FAMILY was chosen to go up on stage at one of the other islands and play the drums. It was HILARIOUS. I laughed so hard that it HURT! I wish I had video taped it. It was a RIOT.

There was another island venue which had this funny man telling us about how to make fire. I remember seeing him when I came with Howie. He was pretty funny last time I saw him but for some reason this time he really CRACKED me up. There was not enough room to sit by the girls so I sat off by myself. I could hear Ashlee just laughing her head off. Every comment he made Dawnie would start laughing. Some of the remarks this man made still makes me and the girls laugh. It was a joke we kidded around with the entire rest of our trip in Hawaii.

This man is also an artist and Ashlee loved him so much that she decided to buy a piece of his artwork. Instead of just signing his autograph, this man drew an aditional picture on the back of the one she had chosen. It was cool to watch him at work. He was so talented!

April loves to shop! She was in heaven when we had some time before the show to check out the stores there. She loved these stuffed turtles.

We had a delicious Prime Rib and Seafood buffet in a nice restaurant there and then went off to see the BIG show. It was really nice but they did not allow pictures in the theatre so I don't have any to post.

The entertainment was great, the food was great, the tour was great, and basically the entire day (minus the rain) was GREAT! The ride home to our hotel on the other side of the island was NOT SO GREAT but I was anxious to see Howie and share our experience with him.

Day TWO was well spent!