"Life Moves Pretty Fast. If you don't stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it.": Hawaii !!

This post is long overdue and now I'm going to make an attempt to catch up through 2012 and start 2013 fresh....

As our time in Vancouver was drawing to a close, we looked over our list of destinations that we wanted to visit from the area and decided that we couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit Hawaii. Flights from Vancouver were direct and inexpensive and we had so many great suggestions of places to go from our friends. We settled on spending our time on Oahu with a few days on our own, then a week at Disney's recently opened resort Aulani.

Vancouver framed by the mountains as we took off from the airport.

This is the beauty of British Columbia. It's simply stunning.

We arrived in the evening and made the quick drive to the hotel in Waikiki, where we setup home-base for the next few days. First order of business on day 1 was to find a beach. One of Allison's close friends suggested to visit Kalama Beach Park in Kailua Bay, and to make sure to stop at Boot and Kimo's in Kailua for breakfast in the morning. Both were perfection! Famous for the Macadamia Nut sauce over pancakes, Boots and Kimo's is a great local place for delicious food. Onto the beach, which was one of the most perfect beaches we have travelled to... soft sand, clear blue water and warm sun.

Molly loving the sand...

Owen was all about digging holes, as usual. :)

Deeper with help from dad...

The waves were big enough to scare Molly, and small enough for Owen to enjoy...

Allison enjoying every minute of the warm sun.

Rt. 61 (Pali Highway) takes you out to Kailua from Honolulu and on the way there is a state park with a lookout. We stopped on the way back for a brief visit.

It was incredibly windy, but stunningly beautiful.

The next day we started with an early morning hike at the Diamond head Crater. We did it first thing as we learned that morning is the best for the clearest views. The hike is under a mile from the floor of the crater to the peak, and you gain almost 600 feet in elevation on the way. The trail was originally created in 1908. It's easy enough for the whole family to do and I would recommend it strongly..

Me and my hiking partner! Faster daddy... faster!

One of the last ascents to the artillery fire control bunker at the top.

Panorama of the crater from the lookout.

Waikiki

Allison and Owen...

This is a lighthouse along the shore of Diamond Head Road as seen from above.

Owen at the bunkers... these were designed to direct artillery fire from batteries in Waikiki and Fort Ruger.

After our hike, we had worked up quite an appetite, so we found a small breakfast cafe near the crater that a friend had suggested. Bogart's Cafe has the most delicious omelettes and Acai Bowls on the island... YUM!

Next up for the day was to drive up to the interior and visit the Dole Plantation.... It's not an active farm today, but is one of the most popular attractions on the island. This is the pineapple train that takes you on a tour of pineapple production, and small fields so you can see how pineapple is grown and harvested.

So call me ignorant, but I didn't realize that pineapple is a fruit that presents out of the top of a small ground plant. Also the leaves have incredibly sharp barbs on them, which made harvesting by hand a difficult process.

They have a maze, gardens, and many other small attractions on site, including this coy pond that had a ridiculous amount of fish in it. they would swim out on top of each other to get food people were throwing into the pond. I think Owen would have watched this for an hour if we let him!

Bird of Paradise flower in the gardens.....

Molly was getting tired at this point... we had to laugh at this scene when she crouched down and said she wasn't going to walk anymore...

The kids in front of the main building at the plantation. They have all sorts of food derived from pineapple, Dole Whip (think of it as pineapple ice-cream) being a particularly dangerous offering.... :)

After our busy day, we drove to the North Shore, and followed Rt. 83 around the east side of the island, back to Waikiki. The kids slept and we enjoyed some beautiful views...

Sunday was our day of transition, and we checked out the hotel in the morning, and drove into Honolulu. We decided to use this morning to visit Pearl Harbor and it worked out perfectly. The crowds weren't too bad on a Sunday morning and the weather was beautiful. It's a sobering memorial for everyone that appreciates war history... as a note, don't be mislead that it's going to be age-appropriate or interesting for young kids.

I have to admit a pretty uneasy feeling when we saw some young Asian tourists standing next to a mural depicting the damage done by Kamikaze pilots, with big smiles and showing thumbs up signs... how am I supposed to react to that?

The Arizona memorial...

Black tears of the Arizona... still appearing after 70 years.

Flag flying over the memorial.

Our family at the memorial entrance.

After leaving Pearl Harbor, our next stop was to drive over and check into Disney's Aulani Resort. It's on the West side of the island and just recently opened last fall. ok.. the secret's out.... we love Disney and we've invested a lot of vacation time into enjoying boats, parks and resorts with Mickey and his friends. This resort was amazing and we enjoyed every minute of our stay.

Playing with the camera at night. Beautiful shot of the lodges which are designed to look like longboats. The sky was clear like this almost every night.

On our first night we attended a welcome Luau after which some of the characters came out for a dance party. Molly was in her glory...

Owen with Chip & Dale

Molly loved looking out the window in the morning.

We had to try our hand at surfing with a recommendation from friends, we signed up with Hawaii Fire for a morning lesson. http://www.hawaiianfire.com We had a great experience and the instructors were awesome. I would highly recommend trying this if you have never surfed before. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be! We started with some safety tips, then general steps for paddling, watching waves and getting up on the board.

Getting ready....

Molly just wanted to pose!

Our "class" that morning...

The instructors would ride the boards with the kid so they could get the feel of surfing. Owen loved this!

And I'll be honest and say that in an hour, this is just one of a few times I actually got up on the board and rode it.

Back at the resort, there are 5 man-made lagoons for swimming and sports, along the beach between the ocean and the resorts. There is a walking/running path that runs about 3 miles along the lagoons that was wonderful for walks after dinner. Owen and I did some kayaking and paddle boarding together. He loves being on the water so much... All smiles...

Looking for fish on the viewing port in the paddle board.

They have activities every day at the resort, that you can participate in. This was Ukulele lessons! Molly was so excited to try and very serious about learning...

At the end of the lesson we were supposed to stand up and play a song that we wrote using the few chords we learned. We were shocked when Molly ran right up and sang a little song all by herself. She was so proud!

In the center of the resort is a lazy river that we rode around multiple times every day :) They also have great water slides and pools, in addition to the beach front.

Happy Girl...

Posing for pictures.

We signed Owen up for the Stingray experience and he loved it! They had a chance to touch and feel the rays, then also feed them small fish.

Not an uncommon situation in the afternoon... taking a nap.... with Minnie of course.

A typical day. The weather was almost perfect for our entire stay.

We started to refer to this as Molly's Lion's mane. She would wake up every morning and run to the mirror and check it out.

Owen and Allison working on a walking tour. They give you an interactive device that triggers stations around the resort where you learn something about Hawaii. Another great Disney experience.

Owen getting some serious air jumping up on his "board"

Picture of the Lagoon from one of the restaurants on the beach.

Working hard at staying in the lines.

One of the last mornings during our visit...

Just liked the contrast and vivid colors of this scene. This was along the walking trail around the lagoons.

Some friends had suggested that a beach just next to the resort often had turtles visit, so we decided to walk over and check it out. Love this random picture a passer by took for us.

Angel Fish in the water... it was great to see all the local water life.

Sea Urchins in the cracks between rocks...

We weren't at the lagoon for just 10 minutes when three small turtles came swimming in and up to anyone that was in the water. It was a highlight of our trip! Molly was a little frightened by them as they were bigger than she was. Owen was just enamored with them.

A few pictures of us hanging out in the pools....

The Mollster...

They have an aquarium full of fish and small rays that you can snorkel in.... they feed the fish routinely and put the food in front of the viewing portals so you can watch them eat.

While the resort was reasonably full, it didn't feel very busy and we had plenty of opportunities to see the characters. Molly with Hawaii Minnie... and Minnie.

Shaved ice on the beach.

Minnie again... :)

Similar to the cruise ships, Disney offers a kids club at the resort, which gave us a great amount of free time for just us. Owen and Molly loved Auntie's Beach House, and we loved our coffee in the morning and a few adult dinners.

Part of Hawaiian lore involves the beloved Menehune, who are tiny people said to be responsible for mischievous activities carried out at night. Following with the legend, there are a LOT of hidden Menehune figures around the resort...