Polynesian Cultural Center

I split the day up into two posts since there was a lot to mention in the surfing post. I could've posted a lot more photos of it as well, but I'll save them for when the movie comes out.

We cleaned ourselves up a bit, had lunch and headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It is a great setup where there is lots to learn about the many islands and their people, such as Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii, etc.

Each island puts on a bit of a show and afterwards hosts some lessons ranging from fire-making, to baton twirling to weaving, etc. It sounds a lot less interesting writing about it than actually doing it.

(imagine these had fire on the ends and it sounds more exciting)

Out of all the stations, the only one that wasn't supervised was the fire making one. I figured that if the Samoans weren't concerned, neither was I so I grabbed a beer while these guys tried to burn it all down.

And then, it started pouring like crazy. And hard. Some people were quick to buy ponchos, but not me. I knew better. As a part-time weatherman, I was sure it was going to pass.

And it did - 5 hours later. After getting completely drenched, we went back to our house to change and then returned to the PCC looking dry and fresh, scoffing at the drying service that was offered to us at dinner. I should mention that around here rain is a slight inconvenience. It's warm and doesn't feel nearly as bone chilling, so the only real problem is that you don't look as good as usual and sunblock has now drained into your eyes.

We at an awesome buffet dinner, where the kids ate Taro rolls (the purple ones) and loved them.

The show told a story about the circle of life and the performance was fantastic. While some of it confused Leila, she picked up on a lot of it and was very happy when they showed the two people getting married.

Ethan...well, he didn't care. He only wanted to see fire and had no interest in keeping quiet or sitting still. That wasn't really comfortable, but his energy was so awesome (and like that the whole trip) that it was fun to see.

Once it had finished, the kids wanted to go thank and take a photo with some of the cast. As tired as they were, these guys embraced the kids and smiled...and made their night.