MARINE CORPS MARATHON = HAPPY HALLOWEEN = DAVE'S BIRTHDAY

We were up bright and early Sunday morning to run in the 35th Annual Marine Corps Marathon on Halloween and Dave's birthday. The scenery was incredible and we couldn't have asked for better weather! Here are a few pictures from the race:

Dave and I before the race - We were super excited and nervous wrapped into one

Dave and I during our 26.2 mile trek YAY - We finished the race! All of the finishers received a nice Marine Corps Marathon medal
Dave at the finish in front of the Iwo Jima Memorial

5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TRIP TO HAWAII

Our 5 year anniversary has finally arrived and we decided to venture to the Sheraton Waikiki on the island of Oahu to celebrate. We started the trip with a 3 hour flight to Texas and then another 8 hour flight to Honolulu. It was a long flight, but well worth it once we arrived in Hawaii. We took well over 200 pictures to capture the memories, but here are a few summarizing the trip.
Dave and I on the second leg of our flight - next stop Honolulu!

Incredible view from our balcony at the Sheraton Waikiki

View of Diamondhead and Waikiki from our balcony
View of our pool from our balcony

POOL AND BEACH DAY!

We had a nice lazy Saturday for the first day of our trip by going to the beach, scoping out the hotel, and lounging by the pool. It was super relaxing.

Dave and I lounging on the beach - note the guy in the background who appears to be doing the hula. :-)

Incredible view of diamondhead from our balcony - we sat out here all the time so you will probably see quite a few pictures with this background. We couldn't get enough of the breathtaking view of Waikiki!

Dave and I on our balcony

Dave at the pool
View of the pool at the Sheraton Waikiki

Dave in front of the Hololulu Police Department. I think it's time for a transfer!

PEARL HARBOR

Pearl Harbor was one of the main sights we wanted to visit during our Hawaii vacation and it was well worth it. We visited the USS Arizona Memorial and the Battleship Missouri.

Below are pictures of Dave and I prior to heading over to the USS Arizona and Battleship Missouri. The USS Arizona is on the right in the distance behind us and the Battleship Missouri is on the left.

It had rained a bit in the morning so we were able to get this shot of a beautiful rainbow over the bridge with the USS Arizona Memorial on the left.
Dave and I on the shuttle boat taking us over to the USS Arizona Memorial.

USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL

View from the dock of the USS Arizona Memorial

Arriving via boat to the USS Arizona Memorial

Dave and I on the USS Arizona Memorial. It was such an amazing sight because you could visibly see the ship underwater and oil was still to this day leaking from the ship.
Me in front of the names of all the people who died in the attack on the USS Arizona.
View of the memorial

Part of the USS Arizona protruding from the water

Dave in front of part of the USS Arizona

BATTLESHIP MISSOURI MEMORIAL

After we saw the USS Arizona Memorial, we took a bus to the Battleship Missouri Memorial. It was extremely cool because we actually got to board the ship and explore how the sailors actually lived.

Dave and I on the ship

View of the outside of the ship

Dave in front of the ship
Dave and I towards the front of the ship
Dave exploring the ship :-)
Dave and I aboard the ship at the first aid station
Me in front of one of the sleeping quarters
Dave on the ship
Me peeping through one of the portholes
Dave standing where the Japanese officially surrendered and ended the war Me standing at the podium where important speeches used to be made
Dave on the ship

CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE - WAIKIKI

We were so hungry after our long day at Pearl Harbor that we stopped by Cheeseburger in Paradise in Waikiki to pig out.

DIAMONDHEAD

Hiking Diamondhead was by far one of my favorite parts of the trip. We ran 3 miles to Diamondhead from our hotel and then hiked to the top of the mountain. It was quite the workout, but well worth it once we got to the top and were able to see the incredible views of Oahu.

View of Diamondhead from our hotel
We had to run through a tunnel to get to the start of the trail. YIKES - It looks pretty steep from this point.
Picture of me starting the trek up Diamondhead
Dave and I hiking the trailOH BOY! Those are some steep stairs

Dave doing pull-ups on our hike to the top of Diamondhead. :-) This picture really gives you a good view of how high Diamondhead was.
View of a lighthouse from the top of Diamondhead
YAY! We finally made it to the top! Look at the gorgeous views!
Me on the hike down the mountain - this part was definitely easier!

They had a bus selling Hawaiian shaved ice at the bottom of Diamondhead so this was the perfect end to our hike! Now, we just have to run 3 miles back to the hotel. OH DEAR!