Hawaii!

We took the whole ohana to Hawaii to visit Oahu and the big island over New Years! Our fist stop was in Waikiki where we ventured out to Hanauma Bay for sunrise on the beach. Incredible first day of snorkeling and hanging on the beach, then on to more touristy things like lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise on Waikiki Beach, and then a nice hike up Diamond Head to the World War II lookout bunkers at the top.

On day 2, we went to the Pearl Harbor Memorial, spent the afternoon walking around downtown Honolulu where we saw yet another state capital this year, and then finally made a quick stop by the Dole Plantation on our way up to the North Shore and our condo at Turtle Bay.

On New Year's Eve, we simply became beach wanderers hitting Pupukea Beach, Waimea Bay, Mokuleia Beach, and then spending the afternoon in the old beach town/famous surfer haven of Haleiwa. That night we walked down to Turtle Bay Beach at midnight and watched the firework show on the bay and welcomed in 2019.

On New Year's day we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center for the day and spent a few some time on Pounders Beach.

The next day we headed to Sunset Beach, Ehukai Beach Park and Banzai Pipeline where we saw hundreds of surfers taking in the high tide, sea turtles on the beach, a gazillion wild roosters. Then we took a side trip down to the Mermaid Caves on the southwest side of the island.

On our last day on Oahu, we hit Sharks Cove early for some snorkeling and then toured the east side of the island on our way to lunch at Kona Brewery in Honolulu and then on to an island hopper to Hawaii and Waikoloa Beach.

Early the next morning we headed east across the island through the Maunaloa and Maunakea mountain valley to Waipio Valley for an incredible sunrise off the ocean. We then made our way down the east side of the island to Laupahoehoe beach, Akaka Falls, grabbed some shaved ice at the 100 year old Low Store north of Hilo, saw Rainbow Falls, ran on the Queen K highway to live out Amanda's Ironman dream, and headed to Kona for a luau at the Royal Kona Resort at sunset on the beach.

Our last full day on Hawaii, we spent some time in downtown Kona, then drove through the coffee farms to the south side and took an epic hike to see the green sand at Papakolea Beach, the super funky black sand at Punalulu Beach where we saw more sea turtles (honu), then on to Volcanoes National Park where we got to walk to the rim on the volcano and see some steam vents, dinner in downtown Hilo, and then finally on to our last stop at the Maunakea visitor center for some stargazing (Maddie's favorite).

The last day we chilled at Waikoloa Beach and then headed home. Best family vacation ever!

Photos: Hawaii | Christmas | December | January