Day Two

We had a full day of activities on our second day in Hawaii. We began the day by heading north to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. It was a short drive and a beautiful day. We started at the koi pond where you could feed the fish. They were crazy for the food and were massed along the edge of the feeding area, often out of the water and on top of other fish in their frenzy for the food.

Our first activity was riding the Pineapple Express train on a 20-minute guided tour of the plantation. We were all totally surprised to see real pineapple bushes - yes bushes, not trees - and Joshua was thrilled to ride a train.

After that we went inside and got the famous Dole Whip ice cream cones to shore up energy for the Pineapple Garden Maze, supposedly the world's largest maze. It includes nearly two and one-half miles of paths crafted from 14,000 colorful Hawaiian plants. Joshua and I left after we found 2 of the 8 hidden stations but Beau and Christopher quickly found the other 6 in about 15 minutes. Wow!

That night we went to the luau at Paradise Cove, part of the Ko'Olina Resort complex (so only a two-minute drive away!). Before dinner we rode outrigger canoes, played Puili bamboo rattle sticks, tried our hand at swinging poi balls and threw wooden spears. Christopher managed to get bull's eyes on both his attempts - don't ask how Andrew and I did! There were also a variety of demonstrations and short shows to entertain us.

We were all starved when dinner was served and we all enjoyed the pork and rice as well as the chicken and fish and assorted side dishes. The large mai tai's were also a hit with the adults. By 8pm the big show on the main stage started. Lots of traditional dancing and singing but I think we all enjoyed Joshua's dancing with the cutest little girl who was there with her parents.

We were exhausted by the time we left but it was a fabulous, full day.