Saturday morning we woke up ready to see the island. We mapped out a pretty big detour of the island starting at Honolulu & driving up to North Shore. Our first stop was kind of crazy:
We were told that Pali Lookout was one of the best spots on the island for viewing but we were also told it was windy. Seriously, they were not exagerating. I read that they usually have 60-70 mph winds & I'm pretty sure this picture confirms it:
I could hardly keep my balance, Sadie's flip flop flew away & we had to hold hands with the girls because they were scared up there:
But the views were totally worth it. It would have been even prettier had it not been partly cloudy out there:
Next stop:
Look how beautiful this temple is:
Surrounded in a majestic setting with gardens & koi ponds:
It was so quiet & peaceful. Even the girls enjoyed walking around & taking it all in:
Moving on, we made another pit stop here:
We got to sample all kinds of macadamia nuts, tea, popcorn, nut butters & so much more. We even bought a few to take home with us.
Next door was:
They have a ton to do with anything from ATV's to horse back riding to zip lining, but unfortunately the girls were too young & too short to do anything so we just pet the horses instead:
A ton of movies & tv shows have been taped here, including Jurassic Park & Jumanji but the girls haven't even seen those so maybe it will be more fun with they are older anyway. It did crack me up though because they were having a rodeo & everyone was walking around dressed up like cowboys. In Hawaii? That's something you would expect in Texas:
By this time we were on the North Shore & the girls enjoyed watching the big waves & the surfers. We had hoped to eat at the food trucks by the shrimp farms but unfortunately, since we've had some changes in our family, this didn't work for us. Instead we drove to Hale'iwa & found an awesome restaurant on the water for lunch:
Then I made Bryan take us here because I had read about it a while ago & couldn't wait to try it out!
They had a super long line, which we were prepared for, but thankfully had live entertainment with music & hula dancers which Sophie loved:
But check these out - they were totally worth it!
Mine even had a scoop of ice cream inside!
On our way back to Honolulu, we made one last pit stop that we knew the girls would like:
The Dole Pineapple Plantation! Bryan & I had been here before so we were excited to share the experience with the girls. Unfortunately, we came towards the end of the day so we didn't have time to do everything so we divided up. Sophie wanted to do the Pineapple Express, which is a train that runs all through the farm where you learn about pineapples:
It rained while we were on the train but thankfully it passed quickly:
Look at this cute little pineapple we found!
While we were riding the train, Bryan & Sadie were trying to figure their way out of the pineapple maze:
They did get rained on but apparently they found their way out! Of course we couldn't leave without indulging in a pineapple dole whip:
By the time we got back to our hotel, we had been gone all day so we surprised the girls & let them swim for a while before bed:
We were so excited when we woke up the next morning because it was a beautiful day! This was our view from our hotel balcony:
Not a bad view to wake up to, huh?! It had been raining off & on the day before so we decided to take advantage of the weather to go on another hike:
Everyone kept recommending we do this one with the girls & I had read about it online but of course we get there to find this:
We were so bummed! But we couldn't help but notice a secret way where several people were sneaking past the gates to get in so we thought we would try it. Probably not the best example to set for our children! Sadie was so worried we were going to get in trouble. Thankfully we met an awesome couple who helped us because this was a tricky morning. Besides the first gate blocking entry, we barely get going on the trail & then the bridge had been removed. They had a freight container but it was closed & locked so instead we had to hike down to the river to cross. Once we made it to the other side, it was beautiful:
Yet again, I don't know why this trail is recommended for children. There was no concrete at all, it was a legit hiking trail, which is fine, except for it was covered in mud. We had to be careful not to slip or get stuck. We hiked for at least an hour until we finally saw the water fall:
Can you see it?! It was running freely since it has been rainy season. Unfortunately, this is as far as we made it. Apparently we were only 10 minutes away from the water fall but we got to a point where there was a pretty steep drop off & I did not feel comfortable making the girls finish. They were both scared & honestly, the rest of the hike had been muddy but not dangerous. I couldn't help but thinking about one of them losing their balance & falling the wrong way:
Notice how the girls are smiling because they haven't realized the trail is to the right of Bryan. I mean look how steep & muddy it is:
I didn't take any pictures on the way up so I tried to take a few on the way down. I mean seriously, look at the mud:
This was definitely the prettiest hike we went on through the rainforest. We saw a ton of bamboo trees:
Finally we made it back to the stream where it all started:
This was the detour we had to take which was not easy because the shipping container was locked & laying where the bridge used to be. Of course by the time we got to the other side, we noticed someone had opened it so we could have just walked through it:
Seriously?! Although we saw a man working & he did not look happy with us, so we quickly ran out of the park. Thank goodness we didn't get in trouble but everyone who tried to go in after that got stopped so thankfully we got to enjoy part of it even though we didn't make it all the way. By the way, we were covered in mud. I know these pictures don't do it justice, but we definitely had to strip down before we got in our car:
We decided to clean up & walk to dinner that night on Waikiki Beach again since it would be our last night in Honolulu. We were blessed with another beautiful evening:
I absolutely love eating alfresco! The weather was so nice, we walked around afterwards. We took the girls to the Moana Surfrider since we stayed here last time:
The girls had fun window shopping & then we stopped for ice cream:
It was another fun evening but I was just tad excited to go to sleep since we had another surprise for the girls the next morning!
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