Aloha and Farewell From Hawaii ... We Will Miss You Ko Olina!

Well, I guess the time has come to say good-bye to all our friends at Ko Olina! Thanks for the Best of Times, and the Happiest of New Year's. If 2009 can stay as wonderful as it started, this will be the best year ever! Here are the final photos from our last couple of days in Hawaii...

Janette and I posing one last time out in front of our hotel...

Our final sunset on Waikiki beach just hours before our flight home....

We hiked to the top of Diamond Head for a spectacular view of Waikiki and Honolulu below!  We did the entire uphill hike in about 20 minutes (they say it should take 45)!

You are probably wondering who caught the biggest wave on the North Shore?  Certainly Todd or one of the boys, right?  Not a chance.  I missed the entire shot here, but you should have seen how HUGE this wave was that came crashing down on Janette!!!  And luckily she survived as she was toppled head over heels with the entire beach panicking at first, and then laughing when she came out of it!  When you get a chance, ask Janette about "the big one".

At the same beach (Waimea Bay) as the prior picture, there was also this great rock that we jumped off of.  In this picture Jackson is making the jump!!

And Alec and I jumped off together, in 3-2-1, Woohoo!!!  Look at the air we are catching!  P.S.  I hit bottom...

The boys continued to tear it up on the North Shore, to the point where they actually broke the skim board in two!  Luckily for us, Costco took it back!!!  Yes!!!!

What would a trip to Hawaii be without eating at Duke's.  Duke's is a restaurant introduced to us by our favorite Hawaii travel buddies, Dallis and Carolyn Christensen, and we have loved it ever since!  Although we still love our Duke's on Kauai, the salad bar at the Duke's Waikiki was WAY better!!!  And of course, the Hula Pie is to Die for!

And you absolutely MUST pay tribute to and take a picture with the man himself, Duke Kahanamoku!  We had to take this picture about 10 times, to the point where it became the family joke, "who wants to go take a picture with Duke!?"

And finally, I know for years now many of you have wondered whether or not I do... As you can clearly see in this photo, the answer is clearly yes...I do walk on water!  (You may want to stand back from the lightning strike that surely is coming my way)

Thanks for sharing our time with us in Hawaii!  We had a blast and hope that perhaps one day, we can all go there together and get lei'd!  Todd, you are awful!