HAWAI'I 2018

A few days before school ended, we whisked the kids off for one big hairy audacious adventure to Hawaii, China, Cambodia and Thailand. We started out in Hawaii, on the island that holds so many memories of my childhood (back in the days when we lived in California and had flight benefits)... OAHU. 

A GoPro QuikStory video of our Hawaiin adventure is HERE.

We traveled from KC-->LA-->the BIG ISLAND, while the big volcano Kilauea was raging hot lava.

 And played card games at the outdoor Kona airport waiting on our flight to Oahu.

 

Serendipity had it that on our flight to Oahu, we sat beside our Hawaiian Airlines pilot who flew our last plane from Los Angeles. He was such a cool guy, teaching our kids all about aviation and travel and Hawaii.

 As soon as we landed, we stowed our luggage at a hotel and took the bus to enjoy the sunset at WAIKIKI BEACH.

We stopped by this dive for dinner in paradise, and more cards.

 The next morning, we paid a visit to honor the souls lost at PEARL HARBOR. Gryffin tossed some leis into the harbor above the sunken USS Arizona.

 Next we were off to the Leeward side of the island to enjoy a few days at the DISNEY AULANI resort. We kicked around a lot in the pool and hot tubs, I got a rash from my flower lei greeting, Gryffin unwittingly picked up a crab, we listened to firepit stories with "Uncle" and Moana, and took some stellar ukulele lessons.

 Here's a little photo tour:

Gryffy's crab.

We ordered a lot of takeout from a Thai restaurant we fell in love with, called Thai Laos (since the restaurants at the resort are not cheap). :)

Gryffy's just posing. They both loved their spring rolls and fried rice.

 We got a steal of a deal and paid half price for our room (David's Disney Vacation Rentals FTW!), and lucked out with a "Garden View Room" with a balcony overlooking the Aulani Luau.

 In the mornings I walked a trail linking all the Ko Olina beaches and resorts. It was so peaceful and energizing, and I felt so alive and grateful as I pondered life and the adventure we were undertaking.

 Mark decided to join me one morning. A man jogging by stopped, looked at us as we held hands, and said, "I hear people making memories!" I smiled, because that's exactly what we were doing. 

 I snapped a few more shots of our resort before the pool opened.

Our favorite infinity hot tub, where we enjoyed sunsets.

Another hot tub and grotto.

Our shaved ice dive ($1 more for mickey ears). :)

 The volcano waterslide I rode with Gryffy. He loved this so much that the lifeguard joked it must have been his hundredth ride--ha!

 Man we loved this place.

After a few days, it was off to the Windward side of the island with new places to explore! And believe it or not, as much as we loved Aulani, our kids loved PARADISE BAY RESORT even more, with its old Hawaiian feel (and cats everywhere). 

(I stole these pics off the Internet since I didn't take any with my camera.)

After dropping off our bags and gaping in awe at the gorgeous Kaneohe Bay, we drove south near Diamond Head for a very special treat that was a Christmas gift from their Grammy and Bpop: SWIMMING WITH DOLPHINS at Dolphin Encounter. After kissing, gliding, feeding and doing tricks with their new dolphin friends, Lorelei and Gryffy decided this was their favorite thing ever.

 On our way back to the resort, we stopped to hike MANOA FALLS. It was a jungle adventure, complete with a bamboo forest, gushing brook and gorgeous waterfall.

 My Polynesian friend, Poese, made me promise we'd visit the PALI LOOKOUT. So we took an alternative route back to the resort, and were rewarded with these views!

The next morning we drove past Kailua to Lanikai for the early morning LANIKAI PILLBOX HIKE. Even though the hike is only half a mile, it's a constant climb. The kids' legs were exhausted, and eventually they decided to rest at some gorgeous viewpoints while Mark and I hiked all the way to the pillbox lookouts.

This was such a wide-open hike compared with Manoa Falls, and equally beautiful. See that little pillbox in the top left?

We took kayaks out in Kaneohe Bay toward that island you see in the background below, called CHINAMAN'S HAT. In the middle of the bay is this massive sandbar, where the locals anchor their boats. Standing in the middle of the bay was pure magic.

 We spent the afternoon on the NORTH SHORE enjoying its famous food trucks...

... with the world's best shrimp scampi. It was unreal.

And then drove past all the famous beaches, stopping at TURTLE BEACH to swim with loads of sea turtles...

...and then on to our absolute favorite, wave-crashing beach, WAIMEA BAY. Even the lifeguard stand here is fun!

 The kids were sloshing all over in these waves and were just engulfed in giggles and joy for hours!

 At the end of the bay we enjoyed the cliff jumpers.

And then we treated ourselves to the North Shore's famous BANZAI BOWLS. Delicious!

 We headed north again the next day past KUALOA RANCH, where they filmed Lost, Jurassic Park and Jumanji, among other movies.

We had lunch here:

 And took in a lot of island culture at the POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER with raft rides, coconut bread sampling, tree-climbing, spear-throwing, hula dancing and demonstrations galore, touring various islands of the Pacific.

Mark and I visited the BYODO-IN TEMPLE, a replica of one in Japan.

Speaking of Japan, a couple of weeks later we flew over Mt. Fuji and got to see it with our own eyes. How cool is that?!

 We spent our final day once more at Waimea Bay and enjoying the North Shore sights before heading out on our next adventure.

"I don't want to leave!" - Lorelei

Aloha Hawaii!

Next, a red-eye flight to CHINA!