It was Amelia’s first VERY long flight (12 hrs...). She did awesome!
O’ahu and the gorgeous Waikiki beach was our first stop.
It was very important to me that we do some physical activity, so we climbed a volcano crater. The hike was difficult with Amelia on my shoulders, but we (ok...I) enjoyed the pain :).
And of course, what is Hawaii without a luau? The one we saw was below mediocre, we had an amazing one in Maui. But it was still enjoyable, we ate the food and drank the drinks 😊.
Oahu was delightful. White sandy beach steps from our hotel. Blue, warm water that invited you in for swims and splashing. Palm trees that bend in the wind.
To make our experience more complete, we ventured on the western side of the island. On our way, we stopped by the Dole plantation. Pineapple everything: pretzels, ice-cream, fresh, on pizza, on T-shirts, as toys. Beautiful gardens, a little train ride, a maze and a happy family to enjoy all these !!
To touch on mommy's obsession with waterfalls, on the western coast we went to other tropical gardens, to walk to a waterfall where you can swim. We did not swim, but we did dip out toes in cold, fresh water and listened a bit to the water falling on rocks.
We ended that day (which happened to to Mother's Day!!) at our favorite Oahu sushi place.
Next day it was time to say good by to Oahu, and venture to the Big Island!
Last time we visited Big Island the Kilauea volcano was active, we could see the glowing lava, I walked and saw flowing lava!!! After wrecking havoc a year back, the volcano decided to sleep tight. No red lava sightseeing anywhere in the island! Still impressive nonetheless.
After landing in Kona, we decided to visit a coffee farm. Enjoyed a little afternoon time there, sipping coffee, listening of coffee farming practices, and, on my side, trying to keep Amelia from screaming and ruining everyone's farm visit :).
On our way to the rented house we found some tropical fruit stands on the side of the road. We bought some fruits we've never heard of, banana to last us till the end of the trip and headed to the village of Volcano!
Next day it was time to visit the Volcano National Park. Even without red flowing lava, it was impressive. We took the Crater Road and watched the 7 levels of vegetation. At each curve we'd comment on how many roads are closed, so many points that we visited in our previous trip were now gone, collapsed and damaged. Nature giving place to newer nature. Amelia loved there were so many rocks around us and she was a great sport all throughout our trip!
By the end of the evening we had time to visit the black sand beach too! I was so, so, so hoping for big turtles. No big turtles, but Amelia loved the black sand! The icy cold water did not seem to impress her, she waddled to her heart's desire. Catalina was happy to join in :).
Next day we wanted to see some white sand again. Marius found a beach an hour away that looked like it might satisfy a bit our cravings. On our way there, I desperately wanted to visit a farmer's marker. We did and I was not impressed... We did buy some incredibly tasty mangoes and headed to the beach, What a delight! many little tide pools connected, white sand on the bottom, lots of little fishes swimming around us, and from place to place a reminder we are VERY close to a volcano: big, black, lava rocks. A wonderful morning and mid day at the beach.
Evening was reserved to dinner to a sweet and high end restaurant nearby. We enjoyed good food, but mostly an amazing desert, some sort of coconut mousse. And then it was time for us to pack and go to our little rented house and get ready for the third part of our trip: Los Angeles. Not before we stoped at the Vanilerie! We learnt everything there is to know about vanilla, how to make it, how to eat it :))
Next stop, continental US. L.A, here we come!!!
After a less than optimal experience with the rented house in Big Island I was VERY pleased with our Hilton hotel near Universal. Clean, spacious and amazing beds. After a very comfortable night sleep we headed to Universal Studios!
Crazy people all around at Universal Studios and City walk :))
Harry Potter fans in our family! Catalina loved her magic immersion!
This little munchkin wanted to spend all the time in the kids play area...Universal is lots of fun, so we indulged her only a little bit, to make sure we can get a taste of all the attractions!
Next day we were getting ready to end our vacation and fly back to Philly. We stopped a while to see the red carpet of Dolby theatre and the Hollywood hills, with some houses of famous people. Relaxing afternoon to get us ready to leave with smiles on our faces
We headed back to Philly. Mommy was staring a new job. Amelia was getting ready to start her 3rd year of adventures. Catalina was getting ready to end an excellent school year. Enough novelty for our family to keep us entertained for a while!!!
Bye bye Hawaii and west coast, hello daily, beautiful life!
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