One of Aaron and I's favorite things to do in tropical places ( or anywhere, really ) is to go hiking.

Our kiddos were troopers on these two hikes we did while we were in Oahu!

Kids obviously limit certain hikes you CAN do but we made it all work!

Aaron backpacked Ryan ( the BEST backpack carrier ever! I will link it at the bottom! ) and I carried Luke in our awesome Walmart carrier ( not the most comfortable carrier ever but we made it - haha! )

We chose to hike Manoa Falls Trail and Diamond Head.
Manoa Falls Trail is absolutely STUNNING - I would totally recommend it for a true Hawaiian experience!
You literally hike through the rainforest and the greenery and views are absolutely breathtaking!

The hike is only about 2 miles - round trip - but it's uphill a lot of the way to the waterfall so it takes quite a while to get up to the top!
Ryan actually walked a majority of this hike and loved it! It gets pretty slippery and steep a few places but for the most part is pretty kid friendly!



Unfortunately I have NO pictures of the waterfall - SAD, SAD DAY!
We got completely poured on for most of the hike and I could not have pulled out my camera in the conditions we were in without it getting completely ruined! HA!

Although, I did feel like Tarzan for a split second. ^^ If you look closely you can tell it's pouring rain!
I would suggest to bring towels for the car ride home... It was a slightly cold car ride as we had no towels to dry off!

We also hiked Diamond Head. ^^
Diamond head was super challenging and SO MANY STAIRS! ( especially with carrying the babes - so Aaron and I loved it for the challenge! )
And of course, the view from the top is always worth seeing..

Ryan woke up to balloons EVERYWHERE.
His birthday was the second day we were in Hawaii so we had a full on "RYAN day."



We started out with breakfast at the hotel - it was buffet style so of course Ryan was in heaven.
Any food a kid could ever want..
Ryan's choice of food this particular morning were chocolate chip waffles, "tiger cereal" ( frosted flakes ) and a doughnut or two - really nutritious!! I kept stuffing him a banana in between bites! My poor kids - ha!





I love going to church on vacation.
It's so fun to see the unique culture traditions.
The best start to the day. ^^

We have had this Hawaii trip planned for quite a while so Ryan has been counting down the days until his birthday when he gets to "swim with fishies".
We took him to Hanauma Bay to snorkle! ^^



Any kid would love this I'm sure, but Ryan especially and his love for all things "ocean" - this was heaven for him.


He loved watching fish swim under his toes!
And Luke of course, never got bored of eating the sand and chasing birds.




While we were in Oahu, we stayed on Waikiki. ^^
This was my very first time to Waikiki! I have stayed other areas in Oahu but never here!


If you are going to stay on Waikiki, I LOVED our resort! We stayed at the Moana Surfrider - it's a Westin resort.


It has a very 'old victorian theme' and is so romantic looking.


The beach is beautiful and everything 'food/ shops wise' is within walking distances - which is so nice!

ALOHA Oahu!!
After 9 hours of flight time we made it to Hawaii!
Boy were we happy to get off that plane! Luke had HAD it by the end! Those poor people around us! -- BLESS THEM!
We had woken up at 4:45 AM Texas time and arrived in Hawaii around 8 PM Texas time which was only 2 PM Hawaii time HA! If that makes any sense at all!
It seriously felt like the longest day EVER.

However, we did get to layover in Salt Lake City ( which felt so weird and so close to my family but yet so far! ) and I got my fill of Cafe Rio! Whoever decided to put that place in the SLC Airport deserves a hug!


We went to dinner, walked along the beach at sunset ^^ and did all we could to keep ourselves awake until 8 PM Hawaii time and then crashed!

The 5 hour time difference took the kids a few days to get the groove of, but for the most part they did great and we tried to keep somewhat of a nap schedule for Luke so that really helped!


Our first full day in Oahu we headed to the Dole plantation ^^
Ryan was in heaven "getting lost" in the pineapple maze.
They have a fun scavenger hunt for kids through the maze so Ryan literally led / got us lost for a couple hours haha!









I am embarrassed that I didn't get a picture of the best part of the dole plantation - The DOLE WHIP!


We were so ready for dole whip that we all completely downed our ice cream. I had the pineapple float ^^ which was halfway eaten and melted before I remembered to take a picture - I promise it looked a lot prettier and more appetizing before this shot!  ( ice cream with fresh pineapple juice - OH MY GOSH! )
Seriously, best ice cream EVER.



Ryan just letting all of you know that he is going to be FOUR on our next day in Hawaii! ^^
Stay tuned for Ryan's birthday heaven!


A little play time at the beach before we headed out to dinner! ^^

If you have never been to the Dole Plantation it's a MUST in my opinion!
This was my first time doing the Pineapple maze and it was SO fun!
Ryan LOVED it so it's perfect for kids but I'm pretty sure Aaron and I would have had a blast running through it even if we didn't have the kiddos with us!
We were in it for a couple hours so it definitely is not a "small task!" In fact, it's said to be the world's largest maze!
As for the Pineapple Express train... It's looks really cute but not sure it's worth the money spent! ( in my opinion )
We waited about an hour to get on the train and rode VERY SLOW for about 20 minutes through fields -- fields that looked slightly like we left Hawaii and landed in West Texas haha! AKA not too pretty.
( Ryan kept asking when we could get off the train - haha! )
While it's probably interesting to learn how they grow their pineapples, the kids were ready to be off the train by the end!
I wouldn't recommend the train ride but would definitely recommend the maze and OF COURSE DOLE WHIP! Don't ever go to Oahu without trying it! What I would give to have a taste of dole whip right now!


Happy Thursday Friends!