Hawaii 2010 Day 7 ~ The Wedding and the Luau

One of the special things that our hotel offered was a Wedding Vows Renewal Ceremony on the beach.  Unfortunately, we were too late in signing up and they were already full!  To say I was bummed would be an understatement!  Luckily for us, Gwen and Ralf had been married by a guy who was able to perform our ceremony on Ko Olina!  I was so excited! 
Thursday morning we woke up and decided that we needed to find something special to wear to the wedding, so we headed to Hilo Hatties.  They have everything!  I was able to find a beautiful dress but Chad wasn't able to find a shirt so we headed to....TARGET!  Target has everything.  He was able to find a shirt that looked awesome!  We met Ralf and Gwen at the NEX so we could head up together.  We stopped and ate at Blazing Steaks and I really enjoyed it!  I was afraid it would be spicy, but it was really just chopped steak with rice (of course!).  It was tasty!  Then we headed up to Ko Olina and parked.  We were supposed to meet the guy at the same hotel we had stayed at just a few nights before!
Once he got there, we headed to the "public" lagoon of Ko Olina.  It was just beautiful.  A lot more rugged than the other 4 lagoons.  Lots of rocks and waves!
We had a beautiful ceremony standing in the ocean (and slowly sinking into the sand!).  It was beautiful and such a wonderful way to renew our love for each other.  Ralf and Gwen were our witnesses and it was amazing!  While we were taking pictures, we saw two sea turtles in the lagoon.  It was awesome!  I can't believe how many turtles we saw this trip!

The Wedding Ceremony!

The "public" lagoon.  It is gorgeous!

Doesn't it look like we were photoshopped into this picture?

Gwen and Ralf...so cute!

Since we were already at Ko Olina (where the Luau was) and had some time to spare, the guys went snorkling and swimming in one of the lagoons. It was so wonderful!

When it was time, we headed to Paradise Cove Luau. You can't go to Hawaii without going to a Luau. My wonderful sister upgraded our tickets and we had a great time! I can tell you that the Tropical Itch drink is mighty tasty. I might have had a few too many, but I will never admit it!
The luau was great.  They are such amazing performers and it really is quite an intersting story.  The Hawaiians really treasure their history!

The beginning Ceremony of the Luau where they bring out the pig!

Gwen and I with the dancers.  Yes, I had had a few Tropical Itches by then. 

The next day was going to be our last and we had great plans, unfortunately they didn't turn out the way we had hoped.