The Proposal

Kolohe "Rascal"

Date: July 23, 2007

Location: Kahala Hotel & Resort - Honolulu, Hawaii

Event: Dolphin Quest Oahu - Family Dolphin Adventure

Preface

Jimmy had the unique idea of proposing "by dolphin" for many years prior to his proposal, since he knew Diana loved dolphins. He always envisioned a dolphin bringing the ring across the water by pushing a tray or box on its nose. Then out of the blue, a high school friend invited Diana and Jimmy to attend his wedding in Hawaii. Jimmy jumped on this opportunity to kick his proposal planning into high gear. This was the perfect cover for Jimmy's secret proposal plans.

Planning

Jimmy started his planning by using the power of the Google search to look for "swimming with dolphins" in Hawaii. He eventually happened upon Dolphin Quest, a company that provides dolphin encounter programs in Oahu. Several calls and emails later, Dolphin Quest connected Jimmy to the special needs head trainer who was extremely helpful and crucial to making this all happen. Each dolphin swim session had six slots available, so for small parties the remaining slots would be given to other patrons. Of course Jimmy wanted to make this an extra special event, so he bought out all the remaining seats to secure a private session.

At the same time, Jimmy did his research in diamond engagement rings, learning about color ratings, inclusions, and all the diamond lingo. Armed with his new found knowledge, he finally felt comfortable enough to venture to a jewelry store on his own in search for the perfect engagement ring for his bride-to-be. In order to not raise suspicions, Jimmy engineered a scheme to go ring shopping on a weekday by taking a half day at work and telling Diana that he needed to be home for Comcast to repair his service. It just so happened that Comcast was performing line upgrades in the streets during that time, so the story was completely believable. After settling on a jewelry store, Jimmy spent several hours looking through loose diamonds and selecting a setting. Four hours later, the purchase was complete and he went home with a ring in hand.

At this point, Jimmy still has not told a soul about his plans, not even his family. But now he had to figure out a way to smuggle the ring to Hawaii without Diana finding it, which was very difficult since they packed their bags together and Diana always double checks their bags. Then it just so happened that Jimmy's sister and brother-in-law's original plans to go to Hawaii did not work out, so they rescheduled their trip to coincide with Diana and Jimmy's plans. Now Jimmy could not pass up the opportunity to let his sister in on it to help him transport the ring safely, so he told his sister Lillie the plans and forbade her from telling anyone besides her husband, Jeff. With one week away before the trip, all the pieces were in place and Diana never suspected a thing.

Execution

Since Lillie and Jeff came along, this allowed Diana and Jimmy to stay in Jeff's family's private condo in Honolulu, just off of Waikiki Beach. The condo also happened to be a short 10 minute drive from the Kahala Hotel where the dolphin swim will take place.

Now with the help of Lillie and Jeff, Jimmy contrived a plan with them to get Diana to the dolphin swim event. So Lillie pretended that she would arrange some sort of activity for the four of them to do on Monday the 23rd since we supposedly did not have anything lined up for that day yet. Lillie suggested dolphin watching or a submarine tour to Diana and of course we knew Diana was partial to dolphins so she easily took the bait and chose the "dolphin activity." Without giving it all away, Lillie played dumb as to what the "dolphin activity" involved, so she suggested bringing towels and wearing swimsuits in case they get wet.

The day finally came and the four drove down to the hotel resort. Jimmy tasked Lillie with getting the ring covertly to the dolphin trainers while Jimmy and Jeff kept Diana busy. Impromptu, Jeff decided that he was afraid of dolphins and afraid that the dolphins might bite him, so he did not want to get into the water. During this colorful conversation, they conveniently got lost in the hotel lobby while Lillie made her way to the dolphin lagoon to hand off the ring. Eventually, all four made it to the lagoon and Jimmy convinced Diana that she really needed to go use the restroom before getting into the water, even though she did not need to. Once she was gone, Jimmy was able to speak to the trainer to get the final details of how the events will unfold.

Upon Diana's return from the unnecessary trip to the ladies' room, she was surprised and delighted to find out just how close she gets to be with the dolphin. She donned her life jacket and jumped in without question. The private event was 30 minutes swimming, petting, feeding, and playing with a dolphin. Towards the last 10 minutes of the session, the trainer would signal to Lillie and Jeff to secretly exit the waters to allow the proposal to take place. The stage was set...

Swimming with Kolohe

Diana is excited about swimming with the dolphin for the first time! That ring finger looks lonely...

Group picture holding their new pet dolphin, Kolohe.

Dolphin powered is the only way to swim!

A wet kiss from Diana to Kolohe.

Kolohe really knows how to strike a pose!

Diana is enjoying this and she has no clue what is about to happen next!

Special delivery, Dolphin Express. The trainer plays along and explains that this is a special feeding box. Diana needs to open the box to allow Jimmy to fill it with fish.