Putting Family First: Oahu: First day and a half

I really like Oahu! I would move to Oahu if the opportunity presented itself. We only had two and half days on Oahu and I was sure we made the most of it. We booked out hotel in Honolulu right off of Waikiki beach but if we were to come again I would totally stay on the North Shore. We absolutely loved the north shore and didn’t really care for the touristy Waikiki. In fact other then our first night there we didn’t even go to Waikiki beach at all.

Waikiki is a big and beautiful white sand beach lined with hotels and tons of shopping. The shopping ranges from high end all the way down to tourist gift shops and convince stores.

After our beach time we headed into peruse the shops and grab some dinner.

The next morning was planned perfectly! I had done some research and found out that if you want to do Haunama Bay you should plan on being in the parking lot by 7:00am because it fills up pretty fast. My first thought was 7:00am, are you kidding me? There is no way! But then it dawned on me that we would have jet-lag. Perfect, that was the perfect morning to do Haunama and sure enough at 5:00 in the morning we were all awake and ready to go. We packed up our bags, hit the local McDonalds (because it was so early our hotel wasn’t serving breakfast yet) and headed out to Haunama.

Can you see over Jaren's shoulder? It's still dark outside!

This stop is beautiful. I would highly recommend it if you’re thinking of visiting Oahu and if you want to go do it on a morning you have jet lag because sure enough, the parking lot filled up very fast and my in laws who were there a short time later were not able to come in.

A view of Hanauma as you walk down.

This is a state park, it cost $1.00 for parking, $7.00 for adults and kids 12 and under were free. The snorkeling here is amazing, bright colors, lots of fish and turtles and tons of coral! After the boys were done snorkeling Jaren and I swam beyond the buoys while they made sand castles on the pretty sand. We stayed on the beautiful beach for a while when we were done just to take in the scenery.

One of the boys took this photo. This is where we set up camp. This beach is just as beautiful as Waikiki. Actually I liked it a lot better. We decided to set up on the pretty grass so we didn't get sand in all of out stuff.

Im following the turtle.

When we were done snorkeling the boys got a hold of the go-pro and had fun taking a bunch of pictures. These are some of their pictures. I love the finger in the first photo!

On the walk back up to the top of the hill.

When we were done at Haunama we met up with Ron and Lisa and headed to the dole plantation. This was a must for me! I was SO EXCITED to go back to the dole plantation and eat some more pineapple ice cream. Yes, it’s a total tourist trap but I still love this stop.

We started out by doing the maze. Did you know the dole plantation has the largest maze in the US? We split up into teams of two and turned in into a game. Whoever got through the maze first AND completed the necessary stops won. They had little stencils you could color in you prove you had been to different parts of the maze and they had to be colored in. Our teams consisted of Ron and Austin, Jaren and Caleb and Me and Lisa. And we finished in this order: Jaren and Caleb, Me and Lisa, and then Ron and Austin.

After the maze we were HOT and decided it was time to get our ice cream. My float did not disappoint! It was just as delicious as I remember it being and I loved every bite. It was pineapple ice cream in pineapple juice, yum! Austin got just a pineapple ice cream cone.

Caleb, who is not a pineapple fan opted for a gumball. Although he spit that out, it too was pineapple flavored.

We finished our trip with the 20 minute train ride to learn all about pineapples and how they grow. Did you know that once a pineapple is picked it will not continue to ripen? I didn’t know that! As we were walking through the super cute gift shop back to the parking lot I got stopped by two teenage Asian boys who wanted to take a selfie with me … the blond hair.

Ron and Lisa about to stop on the train!

After a quick lunch at a local joint called Maui Mike’s (which was super yummy)

we headed to the north shore and did some boogie boarding at Kaiaka Bay Beach Park in Haleiwa. While the boys were having the time of their lives in the waves Lisa and I visited on the beach.