I don't know about you, but when we get back from a big trip or event, or I'm behind in my blogging, I have a hard time getting started on a blog post about it. I know it'll take a while, but if I wait, it will be even harder. As I was making cookies the past few days I decided to tackle the events that have happened over the past few weeks and blog about them. After 2 hours of trying to upload pictures into a blog post about Hawaii ONE BY ONE (because my computer is crazy) they loaded in the wrong order! I spent about another 30+ minutes trying to drag them all into the right place and then gave up for the day. Today, I started again. Finally, I decided to start over and try it again in Google Chrome and was finally successful! I have a love/hate relationship with technology. Love it when it works. Hate it when it's slow or doesn't work the way I want it to! Anyway ... here are lots and lots and lots of pictures of our fabulous trip to Disney's Aulani in Hawaii. Just a warning ... it's a really long post!
The kids went to a half day of school on the Thursday before Thanksgiving break. We picked them up at lunch time and headed into Emeryville so my dad could take us to the airport.
Boarding the plane took over an hour because the computer scanner was down and they had to type each individual name into the computer. We were happy to finally be on our way. We had a uneventful flight and arrived in Hawaii about 8:00 that night. We got our luggage, picked up our rental car and headed to the resort about 30 minutes away. We were greeted at the door with leis and given our keys. We went up to our room, got settled in, did a little shopping for breakfast and then turned in for the night.
The next morning we turned on the TV and the kids we're excited because it says on the bottom of the screen "Welcome Home Burr Ohana, Aloha!" Pretty cool, huh?
After a little exploring, we went to Safeway to do some shopping for the week, and then headed back to the resort to PLAY!
We went down to the beach area and enjoyed swimming in the ocean! They had this Mickey float that was slippery. The kids could sit on it, jump off, slip off ,and have fun
The Aulani is the only resort in Oahu that has a private snorkeling lagoon. It was called Rainbow Reef. We decided to try it out the first day. It was about $80 to go once, or we could go all week for $150. We all liked it so we decided to go all week. You had to rinse off before you got in the water and the water was freezing! The shower was cold, but the reef was even colder. We all started to get in and get used to the water. Once Calissa saw the fish and realized she didn't have to use the breathing tube, she was off like a flash to explore the fish. There were so many beautiful fish. It was perfect for us, because it was a safe, controlled environment! The fish would swim right at you. Once we were done, we had to rinse off in the same shower and the water felt warm! It was pretty funny!
Calissa and Trav hanging out by the pool.
They had a family room where you could make a movie about your experiences at Aulani, watch movies, play games, or play video games. Guess what the boys wanted to do??? They actually only got to play a few times the whole week because we were too busy having fun! They also had the Menahune trail which was a portable device that would give you clues and send you around the resort. Once you got to where you were supposed to go, something magical would happen. It was a lot of fun. We only made it through about 1/4 of the stops throughout the week.
The resort was beautiful! It was more Hawaii and less Disney. There were Disney characters around several times a day, but they tried to stay in touch with the Hawaiian culture. There were wonderful little touches of magic everywhere and the attention to detail and friendliness of the staff was exceptional!
Relaxing outside the lobby area.
We spent the majority of our time in our swimsuits.
We had a kitchen in our rooms, so we ate breakfast and lunch there and then went into town (Kapolei - about 5 minutes away) for dinner each night. They had four restaurants at the resort, but they were pricey, so we never ate at them.
Here are the kids playing "King of the Mickey." I made Calissa wear a life jacket since the floating Mickey was pretty far out in the lagoon.
The made sand castles.
Calissa was digging one day and she screamed. Out popped a crab and high-tailed it into the ocean. I'm not sure who was more alarmed. Calissa, or the crab! We laughed about that for a long time!
We rented a Stand-Up Paddle Board one morning and enjoyed paddling around the lagoon. Calissa rode on the front with Travis.
Parker took a turn.
Conner did great. He got up a lot faster than I was expecting. He probably controlled his the best of any of us.
I even took a turn and didn't fall off.
What animal do you see in the rock? If you looked at the rocks and mountain long enough, you could find different animals that had been carved in.
The mountain to the right had two water slides. A tube one (single or double) and an enclosed one that I didn't really like, but went on a bunch of times. They also had a lazy river (which was a bit too lazy for our taste, but we still enjoyed it), several pools (one which held 550 people) and four or five hot tubs. We kept discovering new things each day.
Here we are heading in to snorkel another day.
Calissa off looking for fish.
Parker and Conner trying to adjust to the cold water.
Two of the hot tubs overlooked the ocean. It was so beautiful and probably my favorite part of the resort. One hot tub flowed down into the next and then flowed into some rocks below.
We decided the best way to show the kids the island of Oahu was to take a circle island tour. We had to drive into Waikiki to meet our tour bus. We headed there about 6:40 in the morning expecting it to take about 30 minutes. We needed to be there about 7:30 (we thought). We got a phone call from the tour company about 7:10 asking where we were. We had been following the directions the resort gave us and were almost there. The lady told us where to turn and said the bus was waiting for us. We followed her directions and ended up LOST! We tried calling back and she didn't answer. We finally found our way and the kids and I jumped out of the car while Travis tried to find a place to park. The bus had left us! They called Travis while he was parking the car and told us they'd come back and get us. About 10 minutes later, they pulled up and we got on. Rough start to the morning!
Our first stop of the day was at the Poli Lookout. It was beautiful and WINDY!
Don't blow away Parker!
It was a little rainy on that side of the island, but that's what makes it so green and beautiful!
Our next stop was the Dole Pineapple Plantation. The kids tried pineapple for the 1st time and enjoyed a Dole Pineapple Whip. Yummy!
Did you know that they plant the top part of the pineapple? Here is a little pineapple plant.
They had these amazingly beautiful trees. I really want one in my yard, but I don't know if they grow here. Also, it would take one a while to get this big. Aren't they amazing though?
Next, we stopped at Waimea Valley and hiked to Waimea Falls. There were lots of native plants to look at along the way.
You could swim there (they had lifeguards) but we didn't have enough time since we were on a tour.
We made it!
Our next stop was Sunset Beach. It was very sunny and Calissa didn't want to open her eyes. I told her I would count to three and then she should open her eyes and smile. I guess she was late, or I was early!
Wish we could have stayed there longer.
We ate lunch at a shrimp place called Fumis. Everyone actually enjoyed there meal. Travis LOVED his and wanted to go back. Maybe next time!
They raised the shrimp and fish out back. These fish were so funny. They just stared at us. I guess they were hoping we'd feed them!
We made a quick drive by the temple in La'ie.
We also stopped at Kahuku Point.
This stop made me nervous because there was a big drop off and the waves were crashing. It was so pretty though.
We stopped at Kualoa Ranch and tried some yummy macadamia nuts. We also bought some to bring home. After that we stopped at the Byodo-In Temple. You rang the bell before you entered to bring you peace and prosperity.
Calissa bought some fish food, but had the birds eating out of her hands!
They did get around to feeding the fish too.
Since it had been raining on that side of the island since the morning, we saw lots of waterfalls from all the canyons in the mountains in the background. How many times can I say it was beautiful? It really was though!
After that we headed to the Halona "Blowhole" Lookout.
We also stopped at Hanauma Bay. We saw a lot of other things as well during our trip. We also heard about a lot of the history of Oahu. It was a long (nine hour) tour, but we had a good time and our kids were so well behaved! They were the only kids on the tour and I'm sure when we got on late, the other passengers were not thrilled, but almost all of our fellow tour goers told us how wonderful our kids were. Happy day for mom and dad! We were the last ones dropped off and could hardly wait to get out of Waikiki. Our little resort community was so laid back and quiet compared to the craziness of Waikiki.
The next day we headed back to the temple and spent the afternoon and evening at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
We got to the Polynesian Cultural Center and went on a canoe ride. Calissa left her flower in the canoe that she found on the ground at the temple ... she was so sad!
We visited the different islands. The kids tried out fishing. Calissa was determined to catch a fish! We were having fun, but the kids weren't thrilled.
We saw the Canoe Pageant.
Once we got to the Samoa presentation, the kids loved it. This show was so funny. We laughed and laughed!
We visited the island of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and learned how to play a fun stick game.
We did pretty good!
The last island we visited was Tonga. This guy was funny and a little scary too. Parker got called up to drink the coconut after he had broken it open. Can you see that Parker is looking at the guy, making sure that he was drinking it too? Once Parker got up there, the guy said he didn't think Parker was that tall sitting down in front.
Getting ready to jump from the coconut tree. Are you crazy? 
Practicing twirling the fire sticks. Some of us were not so good at it!
After visiting the islands we went to wait in line for our luau. Conner was not thrilled about taking another picture if you couldn't tell.
All smiles now, though.
The inside of our luau. They had live Hawaiian music and a short show as well while we were eating.
The boys were enjoying their smoothie. Parker looks like he decided to eat the flower.
Calissa and I sharing one too.
The food was pretty wonderful. Everyone lovd the Kalua Pork.
At the end of the luau Calissa got to go up to the front for the hula. She is in the white shirt. The girl on her right was sitting at our table with her mom and grandma. She was in 5th grade and her name was Calista. How funny was that? She and Calissa were fast friends and hugged every time we saw her the rest of the night. After dinner we went to their show "Ha - Breath of Life." It was an amazing show about life, loss and love. We got out a little after 9 PM and drove an hour back to the resort. It was a long, but fun day.
This is the pool that holds 550 people. The most that were in it while we were there was maybe 20. The boys loved playing football in it.
At the resort they had a shaved ice place as well as a frozen yogurt place. The shaved ice was so yummy. Why can't they make it like that here?
We also spent one morning at Pearl Harbor. We had read a story at home about it before we came to Hawaii so the kids would have some background on what it was and what it meant. We headed there early again (around 6:45) and got tickets for the 8:30 slot. We looked through the museums and walked around the grounds there. It is a special place and has a special spirit about it.
USS Arizona Memorial in the background.
We watched the movie about Pearl Harbor and then got on the boat to take us out there. Conner decided he wasn't feeling well (story of our trip every time we got in the car for a long period of time) so we got off the boat and then right back on to head back to land. Travis, Parker and Calissa stayed there and talked to the docent more about what was out there.
Once everyone got back, we got to meet two Pearl Harbor survivors and got a signed paper with the story of their lives.
The rest of the trip we just hung out at the resort. This was the view from one of our balconies. It was a kids play area with water.
A view to the left from our balcony.
A view to the right. You can sort of see the ocean. If we were up on a higher floor I'm sure we could have seen it. It was only a short 2 minute walk to the beach, so we didn't feel so bad!
Our bed was so comfortable and the bathroom was great. Conner and Calissa loved the jetted tub. Conner got in one day while Travis, Calissa and I were gone. It was his first time in and they couldn't figure out how it worked. They turned on the jets before the water and it just vibrated. Then, once it started filling up they turned the jets on again (but it wasn't full enough) and they were pointed up and the water shot out of the tub spraying Conner and a lot of the bathroom. Needless to say, we laughed about it!
Our living room ...
and kitchen. We also had a laundry. It was a great set-up.
Calissa wanted a picture taken on this cool bench out at the beach lagoon.
One more time snorkeling in the reef.
Those yellow things are fish! We went snorkeling out in the lagoons a couple of times. We had heard that there were sea turtles often in the lagoon next to us, so the last morning there we walked over to snorkel. It was cold-ish so Travis and Parker went out and we told them if they saw some turtles that we would come out. They found a turtle the size of Parker that scared Travis a little when he saw it for the first time. Conner, Calissa and I swam on out there and saw another one that was a little smaller. It was pretty cool!
All week Calissa kept asking to sit in the hot tub and watch the sunset. Every night we ended up out to dinner during the sunset, but made a point to be there for it the last night. It was so beautiful. Too bad we didn't do it each night!
Our last morning we took a few more pictures of our room. A touch of Disney in our lamp.
The boys' bed.
Calissa's cool fold-down bed. She loved it!
Each day we got a new wrist band to show we were supposed to be at the resort. The kids kept theirs on all week. Calissa and Conner even wore theirs to school for a few days once we were back. It was an amazing vacation and we can't wait to go back. Aloha!
(Whew! Did anyone actually read the whole thing? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't! This could be a record!)
1 comment:
Oh I totally read it!! And LOVED it! I am totally jealous, too :) I called Matt in and said, we HAVE to do this someday!
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