Hawaii: Day 5

Day 5

We woke up to another gorgeous day. We decided to hike the Makapu'u light house trail that day and first stopped at the temple. I wanted to see it during the day and have more time to look around. 

 It was really bright but the kids were nice enough to let me take their picture.

After walking around, we were happy to find some shade. I kept thinking during our trip about how much had changed since the last time we had been there. It had been 9 years since Sean and I had been to Hawaii, and we went as a break after our third attempt at IVF failed. It was a difficult, frustrating time of life and we definitely needed a vacation. Coming back nine years later, with four kids in tow and as a family of six was a humbling experience. I am just so grateful for these kids. Sometimes I am still in disbelief that we made it to this point. We are fortunate things worked out for us-- I know not everyone is so lucky. All I know is we ended up with a pretty awesome bunch.

After the temple, we headed for the Makapu'u Lighthouse trail, but made a quick stop at Chinamans Hat. Such a pretty spot and I wanted the kids to see it. I remember swimming out to that island and climbing to the top in college.

We finally made it to the lighthouse trail and made our way to the top. It was definitely more intense than I thought it was going to be, but I am so glad we did it. It was a paved trail, but a steady climb in elevation and we were pushing a stroller with two kids in it most of the time. It was probably good to get some exercise after all of those coconut waffles!

On the way up

The color of the water was so amazing.

We were able to spot whales spouting in the distance and even saw one breach on our way back down.

 Incredible view from the top!

The kids were champs and I was proud of them. They seemed to be pretty impressed with the view.

After stopping at the Halona Blowhole, we headed back to the North Shore. This time we drove back the other way, along the coast (the way I was used to driving in college) and it was such a fun trip down memory lane. That drive is so insanely beautiful with all of its beaches, turquoise water,  and huge green mountains. It was all so familiar and comfortable to me, and in a weird way felt like home.

We stopped at a recommended restaurant for dinner on our way back, called Papa Ole's in Hauula. It was one of our favorite meals for the entire week. Definitely nothing fancy, but the food was so good! Typical Hawaiian plate food, but just really, really good. I'd highly recommend the Pulehu short ribs and garlic chicken. You know it is good when the locals line up to eat there.

I took a few pictures of Molly while we waited for our food because I thought she just looked cute.

After a long afternoon in the sun, we spent the rest of the day/evening relaxing at the beach and pool. I have a ton of pictures of Molly because she was the only one who was stationary! We were cracking up at Molly "dabbing" and doing #1 at the same time.

We got to watch another really beautiful sunset at the pool that evening. It was fun watching the surfers catch their last few waves of the day.

Hawaii: Day 4

Day 4

We spent the majority of the next day relaxing and taking it easy. We had amazing weather and lots of sun. We all loved watching the sunrise from our balcony each morning. 

The view at breakfast every morning was so beautiful! Sean and I had the big breakfast buffet included with our room and we took full advantage of it. I rarely eat breakfast at home, but the food was so good and we just filled up each morning and usually skipped lunch.

I ate these little waffles with coconut syrup, whipped cream, and raspberries pretty much every morning. I have missed them ever since we've been home!

Beautiful beach day!

Molly was fascinated by the sand. 

 Also beautiful view at the pool :)

I loved how both sides of Turtle Bay were so gorgeous. When we were at the pool I would just sit and stare at the ocean and the waves coming in and just try to soak in the scenery. The kids loved the pool, and especially the water slide. Davis rode the slide seriously hundreds of times, and that is not an exaggeration. He grinned every single time! It was so cute.

Later in the afternoon we decided to go see if we could see any sea turtles at a nearby beach, and lucky for us, there were two! This was something the boys were really hoping for, so I was relieved and excited for them!

We decided sort of last minute to go to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We kept it low key and just did the train ride and walked around the little garden area at the end. We weren't originally planning to go there, but I am glad we did. Seeing all of the different types of trees and pineapple plants was fun, and the Dole whips at the end weren't bad either ;)

The colorful trunks of the gum trees were so cool!

Of course my favorite were the pink pineapples.

Hawaii: Day 2 and 3

Day 2:

We spent our first full day in Hawaii exploring our hotel, hanging out at the beach and pool, and in Haleiwa. It was overcast most of the day, but still nice and warm so it worked out great.

We stayed at Turtle Bay and we were SO impressed. Our room was awesome and had an incredible view. The hotel itself was really nice, we loved the pools, and beach there was gorgeous and had great snorkeling. We really spent the majority of our time on the North Shore, so it was close to most of the places we wanted to go outside of the hotel. We loved it so much, we want to go back as soon as we have enough Sky Miles again!

Davis LOVED the bathtub in the room and that he could open the shutters and watch tv while in the tub :)

One of our first outings was to Matsumotos In Haleiwa. Melona still reigns supreme in my book, and despite some pretty good knock-offs in Utah, it's still not as good as Matsumotos.

I've always loved this sign!

That night, we ate dinner in Haleiwa and randomly on the way home it started raining like I have never seen! It came out of nowhere and rained so hard the highway was flooded in lots of spots on our way back to the hotel. Sean had fun driving through the huge puddles and I was really glad we had rented an SUV instead of a mini van! We heard reports the next day that it had rained like 8" or something crazy overnight. 

Day 3: Polynesian Cultural Center

Going to bed during what seemed like a hurricane, I was a bit nervous about what type of weather we would wake up to the next morning. Much to my relief, the rain had stopped, and though there were some lingering clouds, it was a really nice day. After swimming for awhile, we headed into Laie. We stopped at Foodland first to buy the boys some Locals flip flops. I love that you can just buy them in the grocery store. We also drove around a little bit and showed the kids the house I lived in while I was there. We decided to head to the PCC and it turned out to be a good choice because it wasn't crowded at all. I have never seen it so uncrowded, in fact. It was so nice because we didn't really have to wait to do anything in the villages and the boys could roam free.

Bode became very familiar with the various tattoo stations! I'm not sure if we should be worried...

Cool palm visor made for Bode by the poster child of the PCC himself! Even the workers kept asking Bode where he got it.

"Kap" aka the guy who made Bode's visor:

About halfway through the day, the clouds dispersed and the sun and a rainbow came out-- so fitting for Hawaii :)

Ukulele lessons. After this, Bode was set on getting a ukulele. He actually loved it so much I think there may be a future there.

We ended up skipping the luau and just did the island buffet that came with our tickets. We weren't sure if Molly and Davis would be able to sit through the whole luau and it gave the kids more time to explore and play in the villages. We did buy them a smoothie served in a pineapple, which they all thought was pretty cool.

After dinner, we took the shuttle from the PCC to the temple and walked around until it was time to head back for the big show. It was fun going at night and seeing it lit up. Such a beautiful temple!

We loved the PCC's show "Ha," though Davis and Molly fell asleep early. The fire dancers at the end were definitely our favorite. The dancing at the beginning was awesome too, but a little too long for the little kids.

We all crashed hard and slept well that night!