Hawaii Vacation Day 2 (Wednesday) - First Full Day - Kuhio Beach

We woke up bright and early, despite being exhausted from the previous travel day. After eating some amazing food we called it a night as soon as we got back to the hotel.

We knew we wanted to hit the beach, like, immediately, so as soon as we were all ready, we headed downstairs to grab a quick breakfast at the ajoining cafe. We finished up and started the walk to the beach. Our hotel was located 2 blocks from the Kuhio Beach Park, which ended up being a less than 8 minute walk from the door of our hotel room to our feet in the sand. 

Breakfast

So here's where I messed up. I told the girls to apply sunscreen and helped them with their faces.

Then I failed to reapply.

Until like 5 hours later. 

So my poor kiddos burned in the Hawaii sun. We absolutely did NOT feel it while we were out there. 

We got to the beach around 8am and I opted to rent chairs with umbrella for the day. It'd allow us to come and go as we please and not have to worry about our stuff, or finding another good spot. $80 until 5pm. Whatever. I can't say it's worth the money, but the ease of havin a spot to call our own for the day was nice.

The shaved ice and all the varieties are NO JOKE in Hawaii. And not only that, the toppings? Amazing. We easily had one per day. 

The girls spent HOURS. I mean HOURRRSSS sitting like this in the ocean, getting pushed over by the waves. And laughing and laughing. They loved this day so much.

We walked over to the other side of the beach where this break wall is. There were a ton of little black crabs crawling all over the rocks! Very cool to see. 

Do you see him? There were so many everywhere! 

We spent most of our day right here at this beach. By maybe 2:30pm, we decided we may need a little break. 

We headed back to the hotel but wanted to stop and check out the pool situation. And let me say, I was impressed. Not because it was extravagant by any means. No slides, no diving board, nothing special. BUT, what I loved about it? No deep end, so I didn't have to be like extra paranoid because both my kids I'd say are pretty strong swimmers. Just a nice bonus. 

It was NEVER busy. 

It was ALWAYS clean.

There's a poolside bar.

The entire area is not huge, so you can easily sit at the bar and still see the pool in its entirety. 

Sitting on the pool steps sipping my drink? Yes please!

Literally just my two for most of our time there.

After spending a couple of hours at the pool (AND making it there in time for happy hour), we needed food. And vacationing with my mom is all about the food. She has been to Hawaii many times and already knew where she wanted us to eat way before we even got there. 

I will probably have to do a completely separate post about the cuisine there. It was all SO delicious. And bonus for me? Rice is offered at every single meal. Even breakfast. 

We had an amazing day 1. The only downside is the burning that we all endured. The next couple of days need to include a little less sun. 

And rash guards.