Happy Monday! I hope you guys had a great weekend! Ours was really mellow which was nice. Soccer games, catch up on stuff around the house (in major organizing/cleaning mode over here), play dates and golf for Griffin and Austin filled our Saturday and Sunday.
Today I wanted to recap our trip to Hawaii as it was a highly requested blog post! Hawaii is our FAVORITE PLACE. Specifically Oahu which was where we went. We’ve been to Maui and Kauai and while those were both special trips, we keep coming back to Oahu! My brother lived on Oahu for years so I was able to visit him there a handful of times which led me to fall in love with the Island. As I said on my stories, what we love about Oahu may be what others don’t love about it so I want to make that clear! We’re all looking for something different on our vacations and for us, Oahu is a great blend of beach meets city.
Our favorite hotel and where we always stay is The Royal Hawaiian. It has an indoor/outdoor vibe, stunning decor and is right on Waikiki beach. The only downside to the hotel is the pool is on the small side (although I personally don’t see it as a downside!). One thing to keep in mind though if this bothers you is that when staying at The Royal Hawaiian, you have access to the Sheraton hotel next door (walking distance) and they have a huge pool geared toward kids with water slides! We spent a good amount of time there with the kids and they loved it.
In terms of Waikiki, there are tons of shopping and restaurants walking distance to the hotel. It was SO nice to not bring a stroller and just walk to dinner with the kids. We’ve never visited the island in February and it seemed VERY busy compared to when we typically go (Summer or Fall) so I’d plan on making reservations ahead of time (one of our favorite spots, Dukes, was booking 9 weeks out) for dinners. I’m not sure if that’s just the way it is now or if we hit it on a busy week (Mid Winter Break in California). Because of the ages of our kids, we did very little site seeing on this trip. They were just so content going between the beach and pool. If you’re kids are older, I’ll share some things to do below that we’ve done and loved in the past!
Hanauma Bay– great for snorkeling. We haven’t been for years but at that time, you could rent gear there!
Take a Surfing Lesson on Waikiki- they have amazing instructors that will do private lessons for surfing or stand up paddle boarding.
Hike Diamond Head- such a great hike with *epic* views at the top. So worth it. We took an uber there and back!
Pearl Harbor- Teens and older for this one. There are some very sad parts to the tour but an amazing way to preserve history.
Kualoa Ranch– We’ve done the horse back riding tour (Austin thought it was boring) and the ATV tour (it gets muddy). Quite a drive from Waikiki.
Visit the North Shore- take a drive to see the giant waves if you’re visiting in the Winter!
Hawaii Outfits
