Oahu is our new Vegas. When we lived in Utah, Vegas was our fun escape and a place we loved to visit. Now we go to Oahu for that. Oahu has all the shops, restaurants, activities that we miss living on a small island but still has everything we love - beaches, surf, hikes, weather - about the islands. Here are a couple highlights from our trip.
Bishops Museum
The Bishops Museum was really cool and something we hadn't done before. It had lots of hands on exhibits about the islands, mainly dealing with lava and surfing.
I love this picture because Crew was so scared of the erupting volcano behind him but we made him get in the picture anyway. After the picture Geoff picked Caden up and pretended to sacrifice him to the lava gods so then we had both boys screaming! Sometimes my husband is the hardest of all my boys to control!
Wet and Wild Waterpark
My least favorite thing to do on Oahu, but Caden's favorite so we always have to go.
Caden and Geoff (above) on Tornado - Me and Caden (below) on Shaka
Hilton Waikoloa Village
Our hotel was huge and crowded! Luckily we had a room with a kitchen and laundry (a MUST when traveling to Hawaii with kids). The kids loved visiting our little penguin friends at the hotel. Not really the animals I expected to see at a Hawaiian resort.
Waimea Valley
An absolutely breathtakingly beautiful hike - and super easy! Probably our favorite day of our trip. We hiked the valley, visited the gorgeous North Shore beaches, and ate and shopped in the cutest surf village ever - Haleiwa.
The boys had to wear life jackets to the waterfall. It is a state monitored park so you have to follow their rules. Caden was embarrassed but did it anyway.Waikiki Beach
One of my highlights of the trip was watching Caden surf Waikiki beach. He is getting pretty good. There are SO many people in the ocean and he just weaves through them. I could watch him for hours. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures because I was in the water with Crew most of the time.
Molokai to Oahu Competition
We watched the end of a grueling 32 mile paddle race between islands. These guys are amazing! Jamie Mitchell (above) won the competition. Just think of 5 hours of straight paddling - no breaks! A twelve years old kid did it in 7 and a half hours. What a little stud. It is hard to imagine any kid that age be able to exercise for that long!
