Hawaii Vacation, Part 2

We headed over to the port to board Norwegian's Pride of America ship. It's a smaller ship since it just cruises near land year-round, but we still enjoyed it. Ryan and I decided a month or so ago to upgrade our room since we were all four sharing. We ended up with what they consider to be a penthouse room. It had a nice king size bed for us, a sofabed for Lily, a murphy pull out for Mia, along with a large closet, dining table, and plenty of dresser and shelf space. We also a nice balcony that actually looked out over the pool deck. We were definitely thankful for the extra space this room afforded us.

We left Oahu on Saturday evening and woke up by the island of Maui on Sunday morning. We had booked an excursion for snorkeling, first at Turtle Cove then at Molokini Crater.

It ended up being Ryan, Mia, and me who snorkeled while Lily stayed on the little boat. A mask doesn't fit over her glasses, and without her glasses, she really can't see the beauty around her. She didn't mind though as she got to enjoy reading while working on her tan. The other three of us jumped right in!

Underwater pictures never come anywhere close to capturing the beauty you can see underwater. God absolutely shows off His creative and artistic side here!

We arrived back on the ship, showered, and headed across the island to see the Drums of the Pacific luau at the Hyatt in Lahaina. We had the chance to walk around their garden area before we went out for the luau. One of the things Ryan and I remembered well from our trip to Hawaii in 2005 was just how beautiful the gardens are in Hawaii hotels. This one was no exception! Almost all of the flowers pictured in the collage below were from this hotel (though a few are from other outings).

Family picture beforehand.

This luau truly was spectacular, and we'd recommend to anyone heading out to Maui. The music was beautiful as was the storytelling through dancing that went with it. Some parts were truly mesmerizing. We enjoyed lots of delicious foods while here too which we appreciated.

One of the lovely lady dancers was outside afterwards, so we were able to thank her and share our appreciation from the evening. She was so gracious and kind.

This was such a wonderfully fun evening!

We decided not to book a true excursion on Monday but simply take the bus over to the town of Lahaina. Ryan and I remembered loving this town when we visited previously. We both remember enjoying seeing the huge banyan tree right in the middle of the square. It's a lovely place to sit and relax.

From here we just walked around town, shopping and taking in the sites; it was a really fun and relaxing time together. We stopped to watch a youth surfing competition for a bit which was fun. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Cool Cat Cafe. There were hot dogs, hamburgers, and fabulous fish tacos. We'd happily recommend this to anyone in town.

We'd heard great things about Ululani's shave ice, so we were excited to try it. It did not disappoint! All the flavors we tried were absolutely delicious, and the ice was practically like snow!

One of my favorite memories from Maui, both when I went with my family when I was 9 and again when Ryan and I went nearly 20 years ago, was taking our pictures with the parrots in Lahaina. I really wanted our family to get this picture! The photographer (who told us he'd been in the same spot since the mid-1980's so he probably took our pictures both times!) was running late that day, and we thought we'd have to leave without this. However, we walked by one last time before we had to leave, and he was getting set up. Yay! I was so thrilled to get these pictures; this is definitely a lasting memory for me!

Maui is likely my favorite of the islands. It seems to hold the perfect mix of traditional, beautiful Hawaii natural things to see along with some super fun things to do. Not too big and not too small, but just right. These couple of days on Maui were simply perfect!

Hawaii Vacation, Part 1

We finally made it to Hawaii! We had planned on a family trip to the islands for the summer of 2020, but we all know how that year ended up. Hawaii took quite awhile to reopen to tourists too, so we were finally able to reschedule this for the end of May. We were all looking forward to it, but we all agreed afterwards that it far exceeded our expectations. It was a fantastic trip!

We flew out on a Wednesday. We landed and took a taxi over to the famous Waikiki Beach where we checked in to the Ritz Carlton. Big time thank you to Granna and Papa for giving us the Marriott points to stay here; what a gift! They gave Ryan a lei of polished black nuts, and they gave the three of us girls beautiful leis of purple and white orchids. They were so fresh and absolutely gorgeous!

In addition to the beautiful leis, they gave each of us a glass of mango-pineapple juice which was so refreshing. When we got into our room, we noticed there was also a little pack of gummy pineapples. We definitely felt welcomed here!

It was so fun to see the beach from our balcony!

It was coming up on 5pm by the time we truly got unpacked and settled in at the hotel. We were all fading pretty quickly, so we decided to simply head downstairs to the little corner market to buy an easy dinner of sandwiches and salads for dinner. We then relaxed with a little Food Network and by 7, we were all falling asleep; that was about 1am eastern time, so we were pretty pleased we'd made it that long!

Thursday morning was absolutely beautiful! After breakfast we headed down to the beach where we had arranged through Viator for the girls to have a surfing lesson. What better place to learn than on Waikiki?!

Their instructor, Eric, first explained several safety tips about surfing, and then he walked them through the motions of how to get up on the board. They practiced several times while still on land until they felt like they had the hang of it.

After this Eric helped them get out into the water! They actually went pretty far down the beach where a few other small groups were learning too. He'd set up chairs for Ryan and me to relax in while they all went out for almost an hour. We were so grateful that they have a photographer/videographer out there with them, and he was able to capture some cool pictures of the girls. I especially loved the ones that had Diamondhead volcano behind them! Both girls got up on the boards and surfed - how cool is that?! 

Here are a couple of Lily.

Here are a couple of Mia.

Ryan walked down a nearby pier while we waited and took this stunning shot.

When they came back, both girls said how much fun this adventure was and how much they loved surfing. Yay! I love when they have fun and make memories like this! A little while later we stopped by the cute upscale Dean and Deluca store, and I couldn't resist buying these cute cookies to commemorate their achievement!

We enjoyed some smoothies for lunch right by the beach and then headed back to our hotel to get some pool time in. The Ritz has a beautiful infinity pool that was calling our name!

They had these wonderfully relaxing chairs that sit right in the pool. We were definitely able to enjoy some summer reading here.

We ordered some yummy drinks and snacks to enjoy while we were poolside. At 3:00 each afternoon, they serve complimentary homemade gelato. We all enjoyed the mango gelato this afternoon.

We knew it had been a tiring day in the sun and we were still adjusting to the time difference, so we decided to head across the street for dinner at Tommy Bahama's. I was excited to dig in to some fresh seafood! I enjoyed this macadamia crusted mahi with rice and asparagus.

When we saw there was a pineapple creme brulee on the menu, I knew we had to try it. Creme brulee is one of my most favorite desserts, and I always love when there's a twist to it. Look how gorgeous this dessert was! Even better, it was quite delicious. We did a little bit of shopping in the nearby stores afterwards before heading back to the hotel for the night.

We went in different directions on Friday. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the Ritz's spa. I had an 80 minute hot volcanic stone massage followed by a 50 minute facial. I also enjoyed some time in their spa lounge which was wonderful. Of course I always love the little snacks found in a spa lounge, and this was no exception. My favorite was the dark chocolate with pistachios and almonds. Other delicious items were dark chocolate with coconut and sea salt, pineapple coconut cookies, roasted cashews and almonds, dried goldenberries and mango, chocolate covered ginger, and some small hard candies. So yummy! Talk about relaxing!

While I was enjoying this fabulous morning, Ryan and the girls took a photography tour around part of the island. It was another clear day, so they were able to see lots of beautiful places everywhere they went. They also stopped for lunch (garlic shrimp and garlic steak) and for malasada treats. They had a wonderful day together!

We joined back up at the pool for part of the afternoon which was fun. We all really enjoyed this pool area! For dinner we found a cool spot specializing in different types of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. It was exactly what we needed that evening.

We had a calm Saturday morning as we packed up our bags. We all put on our cheesy Hawaii-themed shirts and headed on out.

We had to make one stop on our way out though. We headed over to the famous Leonard's for some fresh malasadas. Ryan and the girls enjoyed them so much yesterday that they wanted me to try them today; no way would I argue that! We waited in line for a bit, and then placed our order. The girls had cinnamon-sugar ones, Ryan and I both got a guava-filled, Ryan also ordered a blueberry-filled, while I also ordered a li-hing (sweet and sour sugar). This was definitely a sweet treat that we all absolutely loved!

It was time to say goodbye to Oahu!