Hawaii Vacation Day 4 - Our only Beautiful Sunset

Wednesday was another resort day. After going to bed pretty early, we were all up by 6:00 am! Andrew ran down to get coffee and some breakfast.

And we ate it on our balcony, and enjoyed the beautiful view! 

After breakfast, we got our bathing suits on and went to the pool. And that is where we stayed until nap time. We grabbed some lunch while we were at the pool too. 

Around 1:00, the boys went to the room to nap, and I went to Walmart to get some souviniers. 

The boys were waking up when I got back , so we put our bathing suits back on and went back to the pool. 

On the way down, we stopped at the 2 bedroom villa they had open for DVC tours. It's was an ocean view room,  and it was beautiful! 

Back at the pool we enjoyed our daily shave ice! They were a must for us at least once a day! 

Michael finally decided that the menehune bridge was fun! He found the slide that didn't have any water squirting on him when he slid down. Then he had to figure out how to get around and back up without water dumping all over him. 

We ended up running through with him most of the time, so there is a lack of pictures from the menehune bridge. 

At about 5:00, we were done with the pool and decided it was time for dinner. Andrew wanted to go to Ramen Ya, a noodle place, to eat, so we went to check it out. Before we left the room, we were on our balcony, and saw that Chip and Dale were out on the lawn, so we stopped by to say hi to them, before dinner. 

The noodle place was really good and really cheap! It is on the same exit at the Walmart. You get a giant bowl of noodles, and then whatever you order in it. I got chicken and Andrew got a lot in his. I'm not really sure what all he got, sorry. Michael really liked the noodles and chicken too!

One of the things I was most excited about seeing in Hawaii, were beautiful sunsets. I just love a pretty sunset! So I told Andrew we had to be done with dinner in time to watch the sunset. 

We made it! And it was so worth the hassle! Especially since this was the only pretty sunset we got all week!

We drove past the resort about a mile and there is a lookout spot right across from the power plant. It was the perfect place to watch the sunset!

After watching the sunset, we drove around the resort area, to see what other hotels were in the area and look at the other lagoons in the area.
Once back in our room, we watched a movie and went to bed.

Up next, North Shore and looking for turtles!!

Hawaii Vacation Day 3 - Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation and looking for the Magnum P.I. house

Tuesday morning we had to set the alarm, because we were going to Pearl Harbor, and we had to be there at 7:45 am. I'm not sure how late we would have slept if we had not set the alarm. So, we were up at 6:00 am got ready, grabbed some breakfast to eat in the car, and we were out the door by 7:00 am. We got to Pearl Harbor right before 7:45. We had reserved tickets on-line a couple of months ahead of time, and our tour was set for 8:45.

We had plenty of time to look through the different museums and walk the grounds, before our scheduled time.

At 8:30, we got in line to go into the theater and watch the movie. After the movie, we got on the boat, and went across to the memorial.

 The one thing that surprised me the most, was how strong the smell of gas was. It was overpowering. The whole experience was really sobering. I'm really glad we went, and experienced this piece of American History. 

We were done around 10:00, so we decided to drive around the island a little bit.
One thing I really wanted to do was to drive the H-3.

 It was a gorgeous drive, and we ended up on the H-3 several times the rest of the week.  

While driving around, Andrew wanted to go find the "Robin's Nest". (The house from Magnum P.I.) So with the help of google, and a gps, we were able to find it. You can't see the house from the road, so we parked the car, and walked the beach, until we were behind the house. The beach was beautiful, and we were able to see Rabbit Island.

Of course there is a locked gate, and tons of trees, so we weren't really able to see anything, but Andrew was still happy that we found it.

Outside the gate of the "Robin's Nest"

The house

After that little adventure, we were ready for lunch, and it was still early, so we drove over to the Dole plantation.

This was one place we knew we wanted to go, but also knew we wouldn't spend a lot of time there. We at lunch at the little cafe, and then bought our tickets for the Pineapple express.

Red Pinapples

Riding the Pineapple Express

Field of Pineapples

After the train ride, it was time for a Dole Whip. (The real reason we wanted to go to the Dole Plantation!)

After our Dole Whip, we were ready to head back to the resort and spend some time at the pool.

Michael loved the pool and the Octopus splash pad.

(He is wearing a life jacket, because we were in the pool, and then went to play at the octopus. I did take it off of him shortly after I took these pictures.)
We were at the pool till after 6:00, and we noticed they were getting an area by the pool ready for a Member Mingle. We went and asked if there were any spaces available, and there were. So we ran up to the room, put some clothes on, and went back down for the Sunset Member Mingle. They had Beer, Wine, and POG and BBQ sliders, Crab cakes, and brownies. Everything was really good! We actually ate enough there, that we didn't need dinner. They also played trivia games, and gave out prizes. As soon as we sat down, they asked a trivia question, and I raised my hand first, and won the prize, a DVC Water bottle.

After the member mingle, Michael and Andrew went to get a movie, and we went back to the room, watched the movie, and then went to bed around 8:30. It had been a busy day, and we were all beat!

Hawaii Vacation Day 2 - Aulani Resort Day

We decided to spend our first full day at the resort, just enjoying the pools and beach.

Our day started early again because we hadn't adjusted to the 6 hour time difference. I was up at 3:30 am, after not sleeping that much through the night. Then Michael was up at 4:30 am. Andrew can sleep all day everyday, so the time change doesn't effect him. So, Michael and I walked all around the resort  while it was still dark out.

By about 5:30, we got Andrew out of bed. He went looking for coffee and I got ready. We had reservations for the character breakfast at 8:15, but called to change them to 7:00. So, 6:45, we are out the door, and headed to breakfast.

Photo taken by Michael

 The breakfast was buffet style and so yummy! They had a ton of options including Asian and American cuisine. Before we got seated, we took our picture with Mickey! 

Michael was really excited to see him. As we were eating, Minnie and Goofy came by to see us.

During breakfast, "Auntie" does a little show and gets the kids involved.

We were so proud of Michael because he actually went with all the kids and participated. But he never smiled! Not once!

 This is a big step for our super shy little boy, so we were just happy he did anything. The last parade they did involved fruit shakers, and Michael actually had fun doing that! 

After breakfast we went to check out "Auntie's Beach House". The kids club at the resort.
On the way to Auntie's, we ran into stitch - twice!!

The first stitch we saw

And then we saw the real one!!

High Five!

I wasn't sure if we are actually going to leave him at Auntie's at all during the week, but we went ahead and signed him up, just in case. He really loved playing on the playground while we were there. 

After that, we were going to go to the grocery store, but Michael was on the verge of a meltdown, yes he has those. So Andrew went to pick up the few items we needed and Michael and I put on our swim suits and headed to the pool. We rode the lazy river and he loved it! Then we went and played on the "Menehune Bridge".

He was not a fan. Too much water spraying his face. So off we went, back to the pool. On the way back to the pool, we passed by Rainbow Reef, the snorkeling tank, and it was feeding time for the fish! There were so many fish right up against the window.

Eventually, Michael was so tired, he asked if he could go take a nap! So back to the room for nap time. Andrew got back from the store just after we got to the room. Andrew was also ready for a nap, so he and Michael stayed in the room and napped, while I went down to the beach!

I ended up falling asleep on the beach, and had the sunburn to show for it! Ouch! The boys woke up and joined me on the beach, but Michael was not interested in getting sandy, so back to the pool. 

We stayed at the pool till around 4, then up to the room to chill until dinner.

For dinner we went to Zippy's, a local diner type restaurant. It was really yummy. I got the teriyaki chicken sandwich and it was so good. Andrew got something that came with a steak, piece of spam, a piece of fish, and something else. It was a pretty big dinner.

After dinner we went back to the resort, so we could go to the "Starlit Hui". Before the actual show started, they had hula lessons, and some little crafts to make. Michael wasn't interested in any of that. At one point he did go up for the hula lessons, and then quickly came back to his seat.

Notice everyone else is doing the motions, Michael just stood there!

The ukulele players 

Up dancing after the show

I didn't take many pictures at the starlit hui, just because they weren't coming out good. The show was really good. Glad we went to it. And so happy that Aulani does this.

After that it was time for bed. We were all past ready.

Up next, Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation and us trying to find the house from Magnum P.I.