Stampin' Up! Hawaii 2015 - Share Affair

Saturday morning we shopped at a local swap meet at the Aloha Stadium.  It was great, and we got some good deals on souvenirs. Suzie and Kevin had rented a car, so Samantha and I got to tag along.  Thanks Suzie!  We hurried back though to go to the Stampin' Up! Share Affair Event.  Here's some photos.

Aloha!

Stampin' Up! Hawaii 2015 - Diamond Head Hike

We hiked up Diamond Head on Friday early in the morning.  I liked how Stampin' Up! booked the optional events early so we had the rest of the day to do whatever else we wanted.  This first photo is us with Gail.  I met her in January at Leadership in Orlando.  We kept running into her and her sister, Mary, everywhere.  The hike was 2 hours with us stopping to take photos and enjoy the rest/lookout areas.  At the top there's a bunker (see cut outs on the left side in the 4th photo) with a spiral staircase inside that leads out a tunnel to the trail.  It was interesting to look across the water at the hotel from the top, since we had been looking at the mountain from our hotel balcony all week.

Later that evening, we swam in the ocean with our little boogie boards we bought to use as floats.  On Sunday, we found a family with 2 young brothers to give the boards to since we couldn't bring them home (our plan all along).  And, at lunchtime, I finally remembered to snap a photo of the welcome sign in the lobby.

My next post will have project photos from the Share Affair on Saturday.

Aloha,

Stampin' Up! Hawaii 2015 - Island Craftin'

Samantha discovered a free lei making class we could go to after lunch.  It was a lot of fun.  Unfortunately, we didn't get the little yellow flowers until near completion.  So, we weren't able to work them into the overall pattern, but just added them at the end.  Overall, we were happy with them and glad we got the last 2 seats for the class.

Stampin' Up! has a nice welcome sign in the entrance to the hotel for us as well as a few of these wrapped columns.  Pearl Harbor was early this same day, and we finished off the day with a swim in the ocean.  It takes a little longer to get used to the colder water in the Pacific compared to the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic which is what I'm use to.

Aloha,

Stampin' Up! Hawaii 2015 - Pearl Harbor

One of the optional events Stampin' Up! offered us was an excursion to the Pearl Harbor memorial (WWII Valor in the Pacific).  We left so early that breakfast wasn't open yet, so SU! provided a boxed breakfast on the bus.  We went through the 2 museums, watched the 2 documentaries, viewed statues and artifacts including the original anchor from the USS Arizona.

Then, we rode the boat over to the USS Arizona Memorial.

The memorial was impressive.  A wall with the names of all the soldiers that were killed was at the back of the structure flanked by walls with artistic cut outs representing the Tree of Life.  They have also added the names and remains of survivors as they have passed away so that they are reunited with their shipmates.

Our tour guide told us the story of the oil that still leaks from the sunken battleship after 73 years.  The legend is that the oil is the tears of the soldiers and it will continue to leak to the surface until the final survivor is reunited with his crewmen.  She also told us that photos of the oil sometimes reveal faces, so I did photograph some of the leaking oil...judge for yourself.

We also had a chance to meet Herb Weatherwax, a native Hawaiian Pearl Harbor survivor.
 

 The whole experience was very moving.

Aloha,

Stampin' Up! Hawaii 2015 - Polynesian Cultural Center

Wednesday morning Stampin' Up! treated us to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  We watched an i-max movie, shows in different areas that represented several Polynesian islands including Hawaii, and watched a canoe parade showing all the islands with each one's particular style of dance, music, and native dress.

I tried my hand at making fire, but didn't even get smoke...harder than it looks!

Had to get a selfie of my daughter and me.  Stampin' Up! also provided box lunches for us to eat on the bus ride back to the hotel.  I had a yummy grilled vegetable sandwich.

After chillin' on our patio and walking around, we had dinner later with my friend, Suzie, and her husband, Kevin.  We ate down by the pool at Rum Fire which allowed us to view the light show on the pool again from another angle.  We saw everything we had missed from the angle the night before - so cool.  It was windy, but so enjoyable!  We all took photos of the beautiful sunset.

And, when we returned to our room, another "pillow gift" was there.  I draped the scarf freebie that I got from the hospitality room over the bag so you could see that too.  Everyday we get freebies in the hospitality room and freebies on our bed in our own room...life is good!

Aloha!

Stampin' Up! Hawaii 2015 - Welcome dinner

We walked the beach, picked out our sunglasses, then went to dinner.  They had an awesome light show after dinner that was reflected on the pool with fish, dolphins, sting rays, and other island images "swimming" around the pool to music.

And...guess who we ran into walking back into the hotel from our pool side dinner...Shelli, of course!

Aloha!

Stampin' Up! Hawaii Incentive Trip 2015 - Arrival

After a long 8 hour flight, I finally got here and met my oldest daughter, Samantha, at the hotel.  Stampin' Up! flew her in from Canada to be my guest on this trip.  Here's my photos so far:

Here's the package with luggage tags that arrived prior to the trip.  There were 4 tags and all my documents and island happenings inside.

Here's my swap card using the new In Color, Mint Macaron, and some new paper called Envelope paper.

We got a welcome gift in the room...free Maui Jim sunglasses to select at the welcome dinner the first night.  The top of the sunglasses case also has the Stampin' Up! Hawaii trip logo on it.

Oh and here's the view from our room.  It's like a postcard!

Aloha!