After the month of May we were ready for this trip.
What's funny is this trip was planned well before we ever decided to make our lives crazy with moving at such a busy time.
It was just what we needed as a family, but it was not without its complications.
Our flight left late morning, which was nice to give us time without having to rush.
We had been to Kauai and Maui so we decided this time we needed to check out Oahu. We knew it would be more populated, but we wanted to experience this island as well as visit Pearl Harbor.
Our first morning we found a local place that we wanted to try for breakfast. The time change made it easy to get up early and get to the restaurant before it opened. The reviews said to get there before opening otherwise you'd end up waiting in line forever. So we got up, got ready, and then Ellie was feeling sick. She said she felt like she was going to vomit. We ended up leaving her in the room alone (yes, bad parents) and headed to breakfast. We thought that we would go eat and let her rest. She was completely good with the plan so stop judging our decision.
We were able to get in line and be some of the first customers.
Aloha Kitchen did not disappoint. Our food looked and tasted delicious.
The atmosphere was almost perfect and the service delightful.
We kept in touch with Ellie by phone.
Now several months later writing this I don't recall what we ate. I think Ethan's was coconut pancakes or something, I had sweet bread french toast and fruit. I don't remember what Kelly had and we didn't take pictures.
After breakfast Kelly went back to be with Ellie, which she eventually did vomit and it lasted throughout the day. Ethan and I went to Target for a few things. The rest of the day the three of us took turns staying with Ellie while the other two went out swimming and enjoying the resort.
Sick first day
The next day we were happy to find that Ellie was feeling better, but then Kelly was feeling ill. He had similar issues as Ellie. We let dad take the morning easy and try to see if he could get feeling better. The kids and I went out checking out Honolulu and all of the shopping area. There were so many stores and malls. It was fun sight seeing and was within walking distance of where we stayed.
By afternoon dad felt good enough to get out and head to a local beach. We took snorkels and swimsuits and enjoyed the sun, sand and beach.
Manoa Falls hike
The next day we had a scheduled hike to a waterfall. Kelly was still not feeling great, but good enough to go out for a bit. Unfortunately his issues required him to have easy access to a toilet and the trailhead of the falls the bathrooms were closed. I'm happy to report he made it without any accidents. This was a guided tour and was one of the only things I booked ahead of time. (which turned out good since we had a couple of sickies). The funny thing was that while there I searched easily accessible hikes that were family friendly and this was one that came up. Turned out this was not necessarily a hike we really needed a guide on. (live and learn)
This area of the trail is the scene from the beginning of one of the Jurassic Park movies.
After the hike, Ellie and I treated ourselves to a pineapple dole whip.
After the hike, Kelly wasn't feeling so well again so we headed back to the resort so he could rest. Then Ellie and I headed out to the little lagoon for some sun and relaxing in the water.
Afterwards we headed to the west side of the island to check out the Alauni resort, eat a small dinner of snacks and watch a sunset.
Alauni Sunset
Then the moon (almost full) was out
Pearl Harbor & Snorkeling
The next day was filled with some history and snorkeling.
We started out day heading out to Pearl Harbor. We should have booked this ahead of time in order to go out to the Arizona Memorial, but again live and learn. Just for anyone's information and for future reference in Oahu, everything has become so busy that they require advanced reservations for some of the most popular touristy destination (Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay to name a few). These happened just weeks before us traveling there. The Pearl Harbor experience was my own fault, but I did not want to have our schedule too restricted to times. We headed west to Pearl Harbor. Our hope was that we would get there early enough to make it in the stand by line for going out to the Arizona Memorial.
We got in the standby line to go out to the USS Arizona, hoping we made it in time to be able to go out there. The line moved terribly slow, but we had patience and waited for well over an hour. We got to know the others in line with us. There was a group of about 3 couples who were on a cruise and thought they had booked tickets to go out to the memorial and not have to wait in standby but were misinformed. Their main stop on the cruise for the day was Pearl Harbor so they said they actually did have all day to wait. We, on the other hand, watched the clock wondering if we would make it before we would have to leave in order to get back for our Snorkeling excursion. While waiting two of us left the line to go watch the Pearl Harbor tour informational meeting and then switched. It was super informative and I'm pretty sure I learned more from the video than I did in either high school history class or college history class.
We got SO close to being the next in line, but realized that if we wanted to get lunch and make it back for snorkeling we would not have time. So after waiting forever, we left our place in line and did the rest of the walking tour of the area. In the pictures you can see the USS Arizona and other ships in the background. Maybe some day we'll return, better prepared.
For lunch we found a waterside restaurant right by Pearl Harbor visitor's center. It was called Restaurant 604. Not only was it a close (we drove to the other side of the parking lot LOL), but it had an awesome atmosphere, we got a great table and the food was delicious.
Kalua pork dish
Loco Moco
Chicken Katsu
Nachos with pork
After Pearl Harbor and lunch we headed back to the resort for snorkeling. We booked this excursion the afternoon that Ellie was sick. Luckily, Kelly was feeling better. The catamaran we were going on boarded right at our resort which was super convenient. We were taken just out off the shore to an area with coral and lots of fish. It wasn't as good of a snorkeling experience as we have experienced before, but it was still fun. After snorkeling we headed out for a ride on the ocean. It was a fun bumpy ride and we met some fun people. In fact, there were a couple of ladies that we spoke with, mostly Ethan. It was pretty fun to watch him chat with them. Somehow they ended up talking about him leaving soon to serve a mission for our church and the ladies talked about having just had a conversation with others about our church and what a great thing they thought that the church did for their young people. Ethan had a fun opportunity to share a little about the Gospel and things we believe. It brought be to tears thinking about what was ahead for him and the changes in our family with him growing up and leaving the house.
Snorkeling and riding on the front of the catamaran.
North Shore
The next day was probably one of my favorite days of the trip. We headed up to the North Shore.
Our intent was to sight see and experience a few places we knew we wanted to explore and try.
First stop was at Haleiwa Bowls for Acai Bowls.
Yummy!!!
Stopped along the road to check out a beach and some sea turtles. We decided not to stop here but it was fun to see the turtles and watch other swim with them.
Our next destination was Laniakea Beach. We found a nice beach area near Turtle Bay resort which turned out to be a perfect location. Close, free parking and not a lot of people. However, on this side of the island the weather was a little cooler and cloudier, but the beach and water was still great. We spent some time snorkeling, swimming, and sun bathing.
After swimming we headed toward the town of Laie. This was a Sunday and we were hungry for lunch, unfortunately much of this part of the island was closed. We drove through the BYU Hawaii campus and then went to visit the temple. So beautiful!!!
We continued driving and would stop along the way when we saw somewhere we wanted to check out or just stop and soak in the beauty of it all.
Another beautiful stop along the way was the Byodo-in Temple. It is located at the base of the Ko'olau mountains in the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. This is a non practicing Buddhist that was built in 1968 commemorating 100 year anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. The area we drove through up to the temple was so beautiful (I wish I had taken more pictures). We saw large families gathered around what we assumed were loved ones who had passed graves/memorials having picnics. It was a serene, peaceful and just lovely.
We continued along the highway back toward our resort taking in more views. We stopped at Kualoa Ranch to see what we missed out on by not booking any of the adventures offered here ahead of time. We checked to see if there were any tours or activities available last minute but were out of luck. The kids were quite disappointed that this place was not included in our trip. I had seen this before coming, but put off booking anything. (live and learn). It was raining at this point, a light islandy kind of rain. It looked like a fun place to visit for sure. The scenery was breath taking. Reminded me of the Napali coast area of Kaui.
Oahu Sunrise
Our last day we wanted to get up early for an island sunrise. We drove to the east side of the island and made it just in time.
We watched as the sun rose, explored the rocky beach, took in the sights and sounds, took some pictures, and I'm sure we each thought about how we didn't want this trip to end. I thought about how much our lives would be different soon after this trip. Life is about changing, growing and moving forward. I know that staying in one place and being stagnant is not good, but sometimes I just want to freeze a moment and hold on as long as I can.
We drove back to the city but not without stopping along the way to take in a view at an overlook. I love how we can drive to different sides of the island and see such different views and although it's the same ocean, depending on where you are it seems so different.
Since we were up so early we decided to try out a bakery that is on all of the lists of must do's for Oahu.
It is known for its bakery goods and long lines. Luckily we made it early, but still had to wait in line. I can't imagine what the line must look like even later. Of course we had to try the malasadas, as that is what we understood them to be known for. We definitely over ordered, and it was a tasty treat. We tried regular, cinnamon, and chocolate filled. These were rich and messy, but pretty good. However, I would not have waited any longer than we did for them.
"A malasada is a Portugese doughnut without a hole. They are generously-sized balls of dough until it’s golden brown on the outside and light & fluffy on the inside."
This was our last day on the island, but our flight was not until late in the evening. We paid the late check out fee to keep our room until 6pm that evening. Our plan was to go enjoy the beach for awhile and then walk to Duke's for lunch and som Hula Pie.
One more Oahu run.
Beach time
Walking to Duke's Waikiki for lunch.
After lunch we headed back to the resort where we cleaned up, packed and prepared for a long night of travel back home.
Upon almost arriving to the airport we noticed that the island was saying goodbye to us in the form of a rainbow.
We had a red-eye flight home with a layover in Seattle.
I took this picture of father/son. Noticing the similarity in their stance.
Layover in Seattle.
They are really asleep. I enjoyed a breakfast sandwich and hot chocolate.
We had a wonderful time visiting Oahu. It was not our favorite island, but there are still some things we may want to experience such as Kualoa Ranch, and the memorial at Pearl Harbor. This may be a short portion of a longer trip to Hawaii where we end up at another island for a longer period of time.
No matter where we are, when we are together as a family exploring and making memories together this is my favorite time. I know that moving forward our family is changing, kids are growing up, it may get larger in the future. I know that we will continue to make memories and build bonds. I treasure these times and these experiences. These are the moments that make our life so sweet.
