Oh Hawaii, Hawaii, you dreamy island vacation spot. We made plans to take our kids on a vacation to Kauai and Ohau but kept that information to ourselves because we didn't want Covid restrictions or a positive test result to cancel those plans. When the dates of the trip got closer, we spilled the beans to Grant and Katelee but had been slyly asking Brenna and Harrison if they ever wanted a surprise trip again (they loved when we woke them up and headed to San Diego with no heads up). Brenna was going back and forth between wanting to be surprised and then digging for info with questions about plans for Fall Break. I ended up telling her we wanted to do something for Fall Break but with Covid, we didn't want to fully commit. Hawaii requires negative test results before you can fly over so that was the tricky part-taking the little people to Walgreens for a good old nose swab without them wondering why. It was so funny because of the pandemic climate we live in, all I had to tell them was that we were told they needed to be tested and off we went for a brain scrub. When all of our tests came back negative, we let out a sigh of relief and moved forward with plans!
Our Fall Break started on a Monday, but our flight left the Friday before. I spent all day Thursday packing secretly and we deposited the bags in the front room. We had planned on not getting Brenna and Harrison up until it was just about time to go, but Brenna came out of her room a little salty saying we didn't wake her up for school on time! After guiding her to the front room to see the pile of suitcases, she understood why and started getting excited, even before knowing the destination. Harrison, however, starting crying because he was going to miss Technology Day at school! After explaining we'd have lots of technology/screen time in our travels, we coaxed him out the door.
As we headed to the freeway junction, we had them guess where we were going. Somehow it came down to Idaho or Washington or Disneyland, then Hawaii was thrown out. When we didn't head south, they thought Disneyland was out and acted a bit disappointed. When we explained that we were heading to the airport, they figured Disney was still in the running and perked up. Katelee was worried they'd get on the airplane and be disappointed so when we dropped off our car we told them the destination. Brenna responded with a little squeal and jumping up and down. Harrison, while excited told us that Disneyland would have been a tiny bit better! Then, he started getting anxious about flying over the ocean. But, as soon as wheels touched down in Hawaii, the kid was standing up and doing the hula- telling me that it is common in Hawaii and now we needed to learn the language! Ha! We made it and were ready to par-tay!
After stopping at Costco to stock up our hotel room in Kauai, we got a view of the beautiful resort, got lei-ed and our jaws dropped as we saw the upgraded room we received.
With a wrap around balcony, full dining room/kitchen area, rooms for all of us pretty much, we decided we needed to spend a whole day enjoying the place. So, the next day was a full resort day.
Swimming, lounging, tropical drink consuming kind of day...
We just ran up to our room whenever we needed lunch thanks to Costco's goods stored in our kitchen. It was relaxing and marvelous.
We decided it was time to update the family photo in our front room so why not do it on a beach while on vacation.
We had a couple good photos. But, it was a typical family photo shoot- you think you had one good shot of everyone and then look over at one of the people and they are making the goofiest face (Harrison) or (intentionally) closing their eyes.
This happened even though the kid was in the hotel room 'practicing his smiles' before our appointment. He informed me that he had 4 smiles and brandished them for me, but apparently during the shoot he opted for some surprise expressions instead.
We still had fun and got to see a glorious sunset on a picturesque beach, so it was alright.
We woke up the next morning and got ready for church. It was so crowded at the meeting house but always fun to worship with people from all over the world. We went back to the hotel to change and then we headed out for Waimea Canyon and some trails. We had researched a few restaurants to try and stopped at Chicken in a Barrell for some smoked meat. The food seemed good when we were at the restaurant, but the food did not seem good to Brenna as we drove the winding canyon roads. One minute we were chillin the next minute she was barfing. I threw a couple walmart sacks at her and hoped she caught the tail end of the spew...which she did. Poor girl. Poor us too. I start gagging when I hear people throwing up and Harrison declared he has "an allergy" to people throwing up.
Luckily, she perked up and just had a too full stomach on a windy road and we were able to hike the gorgeous Canyon Trail.
Some children were not thrilled about hiking and thought we needed to skip it to rush to the beach for sunset, but I am so glad we made them buck up and enjoy the "grand canyon of the pacific" because it was breathtaking. Luckily we made it to a beach for sunset so Katelee was happy. The kids just waded and splashed each other and we got some good video of Grant trying to show Harrison a crab. Harrison of course, ran away screaming about the crab biting him. When Grant asked Harrison to name one person he knew that had been bitten by a crab, Harrison confidently said someone in China. When we said he needed to tell us someone HE personally knew he said it was one of God's children that he knew all of them in heaven. So, due to the very familiar person that Harrison knew who was attacked by a crab, he would not hold the creature. The rest of the vacation Grant still chased him with tiny
crabs whenever he possibly could, of course.
We supplied our kitchen with most of the food we would need in Kauai but I really wanted some fresh acai bowls while we were in our tropical paradise and when we found a close little shop in a grocery store, we found heaven in a bowl. I still think about my Chunky Monkey bowl. sooo yummy...
After our sweet nectar of the Gods, we went to snorkel at Poipu beach.
We didn't pick the best place to explore and the kids ended up scraped and cut with not a lot of wildlife viewing, but they looked cute doing it.
There was plenty of sun bathing and burying each other in the sand. We stayed just for a couple of hours so we could go back to the hotel for lunch and prep for our dinner sail up the Napali Coast.
Katelee was very worried that the dinner cruise was only for old people because she didn't see many teens her age in line. It caused her a lot of distress thinking it wouldn't be fun for someone her age. We told the kids to wear swimsuits and when we arrived not a lot of people were in their bathing suits so they (esp Katelee) thought we had duped them.
Good thing we told them it was swim attire because they were soaked after laying on the trampoline seats of the yacht.
The scenery is magnificent and while we didn't take the cruise at the right time of day to see dolphins and turtles, it was still fabulous.
Well, Harrison might disagree about the dinner-apparently steak and lobster aren't his jam. Watching the sunset as you sail along the Napali Coast is quite a gift.
We got back to the hotel in time for one last night swim at our incredible Kauai resort. We knew we were going to miss this balcony, but it was time to head to island number two the next morning.
I really couldn't leave without one more acai bowl from the place we found so we grabbed breakfast, drove to a shopping center to look around, stood in line for a famous Puka Dog and made it to the airport for our little flight.
Unfortunately, Dave started feeling junky so by the time we got to our hotel in Ko'Olina he just wanted to lay down. I walked around the resort and watched the sunset while the kids watched Netflix in the room. Ha! They needed some recovery time.
The next day, we dined on some cereal, had Dave drug himself up with some Dayquil and I took to the roads to get us to the Swap Meet. Grant and Katelee are quite the shoppers/thrifters, so this was right up their alley. Harrison can't shake his Pokemon obsession, so he thought that would be the best find at the outdoor market. He actually did find some packs, which we are sure are fake cards, but it wasn't worth talking him out of. After a successful shopping haul and a delightful lunch at a local Mexican place and BBQ joint (we split up since they were next door), we arrived at Pearl Harbor.
We were so happy it was open and we were able to go to the Memorial. It's pretty neat how they have preserved the site. Definitely there is a feeling of hurt as well as gratitude that engulfs the entire location. Harrison, not surprisingly, was the most interested in the museum and he and I read the markers and had some good discussions.
After our tour, we drove through Waikiki and up along the coast stopping at a couple different beaches. We saw some crazy town boogie boarders. The kids were disappointed we didn't have boards with us so they could try the killer waves. I, however, was secretly grateful that they could not join in the danger!
Our last beach was Sandy beach and it was so pretty. We watched the sunset from there and listened to some terrible music some people were blasting from their cars. When we were packing up and heard an older gentleman playing his relaxing songs, Dave made sure to tell the man that his music was way better. As we were driving back to our hotel, the moon was rising and it was so pretty. We were all gazing out the window at the scenery (minus Dave who had pushed his sick body to the limit-he was out cold). Harrison reflectively said, "I hope I never forget this moment." Perfect thought to end a lovely day.
We had heard so much about the Disney resort near our hotel, so we decided to check it out and eat breakfast there. It was fun, but Grant said the characters waving at him makes him extremely uncomfortable. It was worth it to me just for the macadamia vanilla sauce on the pancakes. Whooowee...
We took a drive to the Polynesian Cultural Center to spend the day there. It is just such a fun place. We toured a lot of the little villages. We wove fish in Samoa,
learned all about different island cultures, watched performances, drank from a coconut.
Harrison had been dying to do that since we arrived on the islands, so glad we could check this off his to do list.
The people got tats in Fiji. They attempted to learn the skills of warriors there and in New Zealand. We totally stink at spear throwing, so I am not sure anyone is joining a tribal war soon.
We paddled around the Tonga display and heard the drum show which was a favorite for sure. It is fun to take a little bus to the temple that is right off the campus of BYU Hawaii.
We had to meet up with cute Ella, our neighbor, of course. She is lucky enough to go to school at BYU Hawaii, so she walked over to the food truck area at the PCC and had dinner with us. I made sure to tell Michelle that I gave her a 'mom hug.' We had a great time visiting with her. We had perfect weather all day and it started to pour just as we left.
By the time we got back to Ko'Olina, the skies had cleared and we got to swim in the pools for a bit before bed.
The next day we woke up sad knowing it was our final vacation day. But, we still had a lot of fun planned, so it was alright. Surf Lessons started out the late morning. The three older kids all got up on their boards lots of times.
We thought Grant would take to it so easily with his snowboarding experience, but that proved to be a challenge to not treat it like a snow board! Harrison found a buddy in a local girl his age and she showed him how to scoop up sea cucumbers from the ocean. It was so fun to watch her surf and as well.
To wrap up our glorious Hawaiian vacation, we attended the Paradise Cove luau.
It was right by our hotel, so it seemed like a solid choice. I remembered going when I was in college and I would say it is pretty much the exact same show. They maybe even have some of the same performers. Haha!
We took some deep breaths, some pictures, joined in a hula, lawn games,
kalua pig un-earthing and dined on typical luau cuisine...which some people at our table refused to eat. The dinner show was fun especially the fire dancer and the Lava Flow drinks were just as tasty as I remembered.
The next day we had a super early flight and we were off. It was so magical it seemed like it wasn't even real. We've had a lot of trips- some have been great and I'm not going to lie, some have been a struggle. Minus Dave getting sick, this one really couldn't have been much better. So, here's to you Hawaii. And in the words of a very wise 8 year old... I hope it is a moment (trip) I never forget.
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