Hawaii - Polynesian Cultural Center

The next day, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. (Yay!) This was the whole reason why I wanted to go to Hawaii. I felt a little guilty, though, because of the recent earthquake and tsunami to hit the South Pacific. There we were, enjoying ourselves on vacation, while some of the performers had loved ones who had just lost everything, but they needed to stay here and entertain us. I wanted to inquire after their families, but it seemed a little intrusive. Anyway, guilt trip aside, we had an AWESOME time.

We got a personal guide, and that was absolutely the best way to go for someone who likes to look at every single thing. Loana, from Tahiti, took us to every performance just before they began, and sat us in the front row. She knew right where we needed to be and answered all my questions, yet I never felt rushed. It was an awesome day. When we return with our children one day, we will definitely buy the Super Ambassador package again!

This guy reminded me of my kids.

(They are always climbing things. Before we left on our trip, I found Megan sitting on top of the fridge, and there was no chair on the counter for her to have propped herself up with!)

My favorite village was the Tahitian one simply because I love their fast hip-shaking hula. Even the men have a fun dance. They tried to teach us how to dance like they do. After they taught the women, they taught the men:

Then they invited two men and a woman to come up and show off their new dance skills. Michael was one of the lucky contestants. This is how he shakes his booty Tahitian-style:

He also got to play the part of the tourists' chief as we entered the village of Aotearoa (New Zealand). He had to pick up the peace branch and slowly walk us in, and then greet the chief once we were all inside.

I was so excited to see the Polynesian Center's evening show, and I was not disappointed. It was recently changed from Horizons to Ha-Breath of Life. They didn't have a DVD of the new show for sale, so I bought the Horizons one. I think the new show is so much better. I look forward to getting the Ha-Breath of Life DVD when it is available.

This kid was so cute. He danced at the Luau and then for part of this show.

This was my favorite part. It was a Tahitian wedding!

On Friday, we visited the Pacific Arial Fleet museum (that we had missed on Wednesday due to someone reading every sign in sight). It was a quick visit. Then we drove to the other side of the island to visit the Laie Hawaii Temple's Visitor's Center. We returned to the Polynesian Cultural Center to see what I missed the day before. Not much. Michael practiced throwing a Tongan spear

and tried to start a fire without a match,

while I got some temporary tribal tattoos. We felt like we got all we wanted out of our visits to Pearl Harbor and the PCC. (Though I could have read a little more, but isn't that what the internet is for? Information overload.)