Waimea Falls

There were replicas of the early islander huts all over. 

Be jealous of Anniston's very stylish poncho. 

Obviously Anniston's favorite part was the waterfall.

Pretending I work for National Geographic.

Our second day in Hawaii, it rained the whole day! This was rather disappointing, because we checked the week before, and according to the weather apps, it was supposed to be sunny all week.  We drove all over the island trying to find a tiny patch of clear skies with no luck, so we decided to head to the rain forest. We figured there couldn't be a better way to spend our rainy day. We ended up at Waimea Falls, which is a magnificent nature reserve, and there's a bonus waterfall at the end of the hike. There have actually been quite a few movies and TV shows filmed at the reserve, such as Lost and Catching Fire. I was impressed, considering I am a big fan of both. The cost was 15 dollars per person to get into the reserve, which I was pretty upset about at first, but it was money well spent.  This place is perfect for families with young kids who like to explore the outdoors. They have a paved road that goes to the waterfall, so kids can explore, while still having a safe place to walk. If you want to get a little adventurous, there are 60 different unpaved trails spread out over the reserve.  The walk to the waterfall is almost a mile each way, and Anniston walked pretty much the entire 2 miles. When we arrived at the reserve, some older ladies stopped us and warned us. They said the trail was way too long for a child Anniston's age. Obviously, they didn't understand how much Anniston loves walking, especially when she's surrounded by beautiful plants and wildlife. She abosultely loved all of the birds! The whole time, Gabe and I kept asking Anni if she wanted to be picked up, and she would reply with a firm, "NO." Once we got to the falls, we started to wade into the water, but Gabe and Anni (mostly Anni) weren't having it. The water was pretty dang cold. Gabe took Anniston back to the bank, because she refused to go any further. I was the only one who swam out to the waterfall. It wasn't the most impressive waterfall, yet swimming under it, and feeling the mist on my face, was quite an awe-inspiring moment for me. Nature. It gets me every time. We got completely drenched from the constant rain, as you can probably see in the pictures, but we all agree that Waimea falls was our favorite part of the trip.

P.S. I promise, I had no intention of making this post sound like a Yelp review.