I apologize for the wait. I know I said I would have these up earlier, but life happened and my blog didn’t. We returned from an amazing family trip to Oahu, Hawaii last month and I wanted to share some of our adventures with you. So, here we are, a month later, but I hope that you enjoy!
Travel Day
For a couple of years, we have planned to take a vacation somewhere with our two boys. Last year, we settled on going to Hawaii as we thought the boys were actually old enough to enjoy the trip and retain some amazing memories. For over a year, we planned and saved and looked forward to going. The boys started telling everyone they met about our upcoming trip. The anticipation was monumental, let me tell you! Finally, the day arrived and it was actually happening! So, we loaded up into my father in law’s truck and headed to the airport.
We started our trip with some adventure. On the way to the airport, we were actually in a car accident. The roads were very icy and the car in the next lane wasn’t able to stop at the light, but turned into our lane in a panic, rather than turn towards the curb. He managed to hit the car in front of him and the side my father in law’s truck. Thankfully, despite how it sounded, there was no damage to the truck and we were able to make it to the airport without further incident.
Last month’s blog post went into detail about the challenges of travelling with kids, so I won’t touch on that here. The boys did amazing, though and I am so grateful that we had few issues on the way there! Flying from Vancouver to Honolulu, we made great time because of a tail wind and we actually arrived 30 minutes early. We flew in thick cloud cover and with it being dark already, there wasn’t much to see on the flight, but just before we reached Hawaii, the clouds broke and I was able to see the lights dotting the edges of the islands as we approached. The moon was full and bright and dancing across the great dark expanse of moving sea. Being surrounded by the vastness of it made me feel so small. It was absolutely enchanting!
Once we landed in Honolulu and got organized we hopped the shuttle to our car rental agency. We ended up taking the wrong shuttle and ended up at the wrong agency, but the shuttle driver was so kind and helpful that he actually took us to the correct place even though he was not supposed to, and helped us carry our bags through the gate since he couldn’t drive onto the the competitor’s lot. This was our first encounter with the true “Aloha spirit” that we experienced many times while visiting Oahu and we were so grateful as we were able to check in just before they closed for the night. With the 4 hour time difference from home time (it was around 3 am our time), the boys were running on their 4th or 5th wind by then, but I could see the end was coming soon. They were asleep within minutes of us pulling out of the parking lot.
Our Airbnb rental was a lovely 3 bedroom in Kaneohe, so that meant about a 20 minute drive in the dark (REALLY dark) to find it. We managed without too much difficulty (we only missed the turn off once and had to double back) and arrived to find the place all lit up and waiting for us. We basically unloaded and fell into bed that night.
Day 1 – Kaneohe, Honolulu, Kailua Beach Park
The beds were so comfortable! I actually slept amazing, which rarely happens on vacation for me. At around 4 am the neighborhood roosters started crowing – yes, roosters as in multiple – and they took turns showing off as to who could sound better. I was too tired to care though and managed to go back to sleep until our boys woke at around 7:30 am (we discovered that if we shut the bedroom windows at night, they were very sound proof and we couldn’t hear the roosters anymore).
Getting up, we were finally able to get a good look at our surroundings. It was a quiet neighborhood, roosters aside, and we felt able to relax and enjoy. This was the morning view from the lanai, where hubby enjoyed his coffee before starting the day.
We decided to keep the first day pretty low key, so with a little help from our Google Maps navigator (whom we affectionately, and sometimes not so affectionately, referred to as “Goog”) we took a drive around Kailua and then headed to Honolulu to Costco to stock the kitchen for our stay (I know right?! Low-key and Costco don’t really go together). It was nice to see clearly the mountains that had loomed as giant shadows ahead of us the night before. Everything was so green! 
At Costco we discovered that while we knew food was going to be expensive, we didn’t know just how expensive! To put it into perspective for you, all told between Costco and Foodland, our grocery shop for about 2 weeks’ worth of food in Oahu cost the equivalent of over a month’s worth of groceries here at home. That being said, we still saved by making our food at home rather than eating out. (Oh, and Costco in the US doesn’t take Mastercard – only Visa – a lovely fact we discovered as we were at the till)
In the late afternoon, we decided to head to Kailua Beach Park, which was only about a 15-20 minute drive from where we were staying. Kailua Beach is ranked as one of the loveliest beaches in Hawaii, so we thought we should check it out. Because of how it is situated, it tends to be a calmer beach and one recommended for children. It was beautiful and so peaceful. The sun even came out for a short time while we were there. There is nothing like the sounds of ocean waves rolling in! However, after we got set up with all our beach paraphernalia and were enjoying the gentle waves, we noticed a sign that said “Water Advisory”. I went to read it only to find out it said that the beach had been contaminated by sewage and that swimming was not advised. The beach was not busy (it was around 4 pm), but there were other families there playing in the water and a good number of people walking along the beach, so I was wondering if this was an old sign. My boys started playing with a little boy on the beach, so I asked his dad what the advisory was about. He said that 2 days earlier, a huge rainstorm had hit the island and that there was so much rain that all of the storm sewers overflowed along the coast, causing them to put up the advisories. He said, he didn’t think it was anything to be very concerned about, but I will admit, it tainted the beach for us. We left not long after that since we were all tired but we never did end up going back there. I would love to visit again and stay for longer. Perhaps get to take in a sunset.
Home for supper and bed. The boys were asleep immediately and we weren’t far behind. I was just heading to bed, when I heard this very loud rumbling sound coming through the bathroom window. As it turned out, the neighbour slept with the windows open and was a rather loud snorer. Every evening while we were there, around 9 pm, like clockwork, the snoring would start! It made me laugh – I didn’t need to check my watch in the evening to know what time it was. Thankfully, with our windows closed, we didn’t hear it.
It was a good day overall, even if we did feel the travel effects from the day before and we all had our super cranky moments. We were just so thankful to be there and able to leave behind the winter for a few days and enjoy the sea! Now with our first day of adjusting and settling in over, we were ready to set out on exploring the island! I will be posting more of the highlights and plenty of pictures, so stay tuned. I promise I won’t wait so long to post the next one. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by. Mahalo!
Of Shattered Things 
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