Birthday Celebration and Sunset Cruise

July 5th was my moms birthday. We woke up VERY early so that we could get to Waimea Canyon before the clouds rolled in.(way to early for me on vacation, but it was worth it ) We had many stops for pictures and some had views of the ocean behind the canyon. We got to the top of the mountain and saw a valley for 2minutes before a cloud rolled in and all you could see was white. You were literally standing in the middle of a cloud and couldn't see anything. We then headed back to the resort. When we got back we sat in the grass right by the beach and relaxed. Next we had to get ready for Smith's Luau. When we got there we took a tour of the grounds which was full of peacocks and chickens. We even got to see a peacock or two open its feathers. We watched the imu ceremony which is the opening of the underground pit which held the pig we were having for dinner. We set down and were at a table with a wedding party. They made an anouncement that it was Tricia's birthday and made her stand up so everyone knew who she was. For dinner it was a buffet with excellent food! Later an announcement was made about Pete and Betty celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and the new bride next to us leaned over and asked Pop the secret to a happy marriage. After dinner we headed to the Lagoon theatre to watch the show. The show had many interesting dances and some boring ones(Japanese and traditional Hawaiian..too slow). The funny part was this one boy stood out from the others because he was pale, had no muscles, and looked nothing like a Hawaiian. After the show we headed home and me and Nicole spent the night at Nan and Pop's suite. The next day we did some shopping then had a family lunch before we headed out to the sunset cruise. Nan and Pop stayed home from the cruise because it wasn't their thing. We drove about an hour up to the north shore where we would catch the boat. We took a tour along the Na Pali coast which is only visible by boat or hiking. The scenery was gorgeous, it had many waterfalls and razor sharp ridges. The ride was very smooth and on the way back Nicole and Uncle Ron layed on the netting and got pounded by waves. The crew was very nice and down home feeling. After we got back on shore we were cold and hungry. We had Burger King and it was the best food ever because we were so hungry!! That was our last big thing before we left the next day.