THE RUGGLES FAMILY

OCTOBER 6-10, 2011

Well we have been pretty busy with showing Chris' family around the island. During these past few days we visited the Honolulu Zoo, the Waikiki Aquarium, USS Missouri, Bishop Museum, Kualoa Ranch, and hiked Diamond Head. So if you think we are exhausted we were. I have never done so much in two weeks. We had a lot of fun though sharing it with family. So here are a few pictures of our adventures in Hawaii. I'm not going to post any pics of the zoo because I have already done that before and really nothing changes there.

WAIKIKI AQUARIUM

For a little aquarium it really a lot of interesting and beautiful fish and sea life. Also they actually are one of the few aquariums that uses live coral reef. They actually grow their own coral. It was pretty cool to see the coral farm.

USS MISSOURI

The Missouri fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She is also the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II.

USS OKLAHOMA

USS UTAH

BISHOP MUSEUM

Rowan was totally fascinated watching the guide show us lava. They really have a nice volcano exhibit.

KUALOA RANCH

On the ranch they have a lot of different things you can do from i.e. the movie tour, horseback riding, etc. We chose to do the jungle expedition and the ocean voyage out in Kaneohe Bay.

Jungle Expedition

Ocean Voyage

I'm not in any of these pics because I was too worried that I would get sea sick so I stayed firmly in my seat.

We took this little boat or canoe to a little island where the boat was waiting.

DIAMOND HEAD

Diamond Head Lighthouse

awesome view from the top.

Climbing these stairs sucked.

Carolyn looks exhausted.

Diamond Head Lighthouse

HANAUMA BAY

The BLOWHOLE

NEAR KAENA POINT

DOLE PINEAPPLE PLANTATION

Waiting for the pineapple whip. So good.

We cheated through this maze but we had a lot of fun doing it.

Haleiwa Beach Park

OCTOBER 5, 2011 - ISLAND TOUR

When we first arrived in Hawaii we were able to take a Newcomers tour around the island so we decided to rent a van and show Carolyn and Boyd the island of Oahu. Our first destination was Punchbowl and then Pali Lookout which overlooks the Windward side of the island. From this side you can see the marine base in Kaneohe and Chinaman hat. The windward side is the most beautiful side of the island. From there we went to the Valley of the Temples, and then followed highway 99 around the island until we stopped in Laie. So here are few pictures of our tour of the island.

Punchbowl (Pacific National Cemetary)

PALI LOOKOUT

It's very windy here.

BYODO TEMPLE

LAIE TEMPLE

OCTOBER 4, 2011 - PEARL HARBOR

Today we took the family and Carolyn and Boyd to Pearl Harbor. This was actually the first time we had done this tour. I am sure we will do it again when the rest of our family come to visit us.

Our visit here took us first to tour the USS Bowfin which is a fleet attack submarine that fought in the Pacific during WWII. The Bowfin was nicknamed the Pearl Harbor Avenger. This submarine is actually pretty small so the tour didn't last too long.