Hawaii Vacation Day 5 - (Saturday) Jeep Day

We decided to rent a Jeep during our stay and go explore ourselve for a bit. We rented through TURO, for the first time, which is like renting a personal vehicle, versus a rental car company, like Enterprise. 

We decided on a Jeep and the owner met us right at the hotel. 

We also added in beach chairs and a boogie board for the girls.

The owner of the Jeep gave us a map and a few things to check out, one of which was Pali Lookout.

Ok! Let's check it out. We hadn't had any plans yet anyway.

BUT, before we officially headed out, we wanted to check out Skin Deep, a tattoo shop that was recommended to us. 

Steve drove around the block while Jennifer and I booked our appointments for the following Friday mornning, right before we left the island. 

We took the top off!

It was sooooo windy! But check out that view!

It was a quick stop - it was high in elevation, so it was much cooler and super windy. We were ready to find a beach.

Kailua Beach was recommended to me by a friend. It is a bit north and much, much quieter than any of the beaches right in Waikiki. 

Ava and Steve swimming. Check out that background. 

Just hours doing this. 

After a few hours at the beach, we packed up and headed over to the Pearl Harbor. We needed to add some history into this trip. 

I doubt they understood the magnitude of what happened here and what we were about to see.

(Google image from above)

We paid our respect.

The oil that continues to spill. And being unable/unwilling to move it due to the emtombed soldiers here (out of respect, of course)

This anchor is HUGE.

Girls in front of the submarine

We walked around and looked around at the different parts of the memorial. Read the plaques and talked with the girls about what happened there. 

We decided after that it was time to head back to the hotel to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. My mom wanted to take me and Jennifer out to a fancy Japanese restaurant so Steve and the girls were on their own. 

The place Mom took us to was AH-MAZING. 

These fried oysters were to DIE for. Like DEAD. I ate them all. 

The rest of the tempura was just so, so good. Probably the best I've ever eaten.

THEN DESSERT??? OMG this place called Mango Mango had all sorts of mango desserts. All kinds. This was mango ice cream with some sort of strawberry juice, lychee jelly, fresh mango and fresh strawberries. Omg so good. And bonus - the girls can have this! We came back to make sure they got their own. 

After stuffing myself STUPID with food and then dessert, it was time to go collapse into bed. It's been a long few days and we have more! 

Tomorrow is hiking Diamond Head and I'm SO excited about this one. 

Hawaii Vacation Day 4 (Friday) - Swimming with Sea Turtles

Today is our first excursion! I knew I wanted to sign us up for some excursions and stuff while we were here. My sister has had a fascination (obsession?) with turtles since we were kids. All kinds of turtles. Sea turtles, box turtles, tortoises, sliders, snapping, whatever kind of turtle, she liked it. She wrote books about turtles. We had a pet turtle, named Mary Anne. We had turtle "stuffies". 

So I KNEW I wanted to sign us up for swimming with sea turtles because OMG RIGHT? How amazing.

I used this app I found VIATOR which allowed me to research, review, book and pay for these excursions right from the app. It included reviews from TripAdvisor and the like that gave me the confidence to book through them. 

Anyway, lots of different excursions run by different companies. 

It was at 2:30 in the afternoon so we had the entire morning to kill. 

First up, breakfast.

We chose an open air cafe steps from our hotel, with seats facing the street, so we could people watch. 

I got the famous "Loco Moco" which is a beef patty, on top of rice, with gravy and a fried egg on top. There are variations, but this is the jist of it. And it was delicious!

A bit more beach time before heading to the pier. 

It was such an awesome experience. There were several other groups there as well, so our guides were up on surf boards to keep an eye on us and to keep us with the group. The waves were definitely getting to me and I ended up going back to the boat for a bit because I was getting a little sick! 

But, before I got sick, I was able to swim with some really cool fish and TWO sea turtles! We needed to stay at least 10 feet from the turtles, as they came up for air. It's cool because they really come up so close to you and we're trying to tread water and push ourselves away from them. 

It was absolutely worth it, despite me getting a little sick. Everyone else was fine.

We got back in time for dinner and to crash for the rest of the night.

Tomorrow we rent a Jeep and go exploring!

Hawaii Vacation Day 3 (Thursday) - Zoo, Aquarium and A Little Shade

Like I mentioned, our very first beach day ended up with all of us burned. Not like BAD or blistery or anything, but red and painful.

We loaded up with after sun care, aloe-lotion, aloe spray, etc. 

We also went to Target to get rash guards for the girls. I felt so bad about not reapplying and not being way more diligent about sunscreen so early on. Trust me, I was ON TOP OF IT the entire rest of the trip. Like in an annoying way. 

ANYWAY.

Thursday we got up and knew we wanted to check out the Aquarium and Zoo, both of which are within walking distance to our hotel. About a 30 minute walk. 

But on our way, we ran into some street vendors. 

One guy had several tropical birds and for a tip, was happy to allow them to sit on people and he'd tell us about the birds and who they were and how old they were, etc.

It was a really cool experience! 

Continuing along our walk...

There really is nothing like sipping a coffee while walking along the ocean. 

Just a girl and her Starbucks

We walked everywhere. It was so, so convenient to be so centrally located and close to so many shops, restaurants, markets, etc.

Amazingly beautiful (and old) trees like this everywhere! 

me and my Bubba

After the zoon we went to Ala Moana Mall, which is a huge shopping center. Of course we had to hit up the huge candy store (which we went to several more times throughout this trip).

All made with jelly beans!

After such a long day, we concluded with more pool time, with both girls wearing their new rash guards. 

I'm not sure how to describe it, but Hawaii IS different. It does NOT feel like any other beach or vacation spot in the US. I've been to Florida beaches, NJ beaches, California beaches and Hawaii is very clearly Hawaii. Everything feels breezy and Hawaiian. 

Everyone IS on Island Time.

Waking up at 6am to gorgeous weather and to go to bed at 9pm with gorgeous weather. Like, it does NOT get chilly at night! 

You can be legit comfortable wearing a bathing suit and cover up or shorts and a hoodie and be comfortable either way. 

The sun is HOT. Like, 78 degrees outside temperature, but it's HOTTTTT in the direct sun. Crazy. It's definitely NOT like that at home. 

Grateful to have a pool to "wash off" at before heading up to our room for showers. 

And this view. Just because. As soon as I wake up in the morning I open the blinds and the door. Wide open. That breeze and ocean is just what I need. 

We had enough leftovers that we didn't need to go out again for dinner. We had snacked throughout the day and then had a late lunch at Ala Moana Mall. 

Tomorrow we have our first excursion - swimming with sea turtles. We cannot wait.