A few weeks ago we went with our friends Marie and Adrian to Breakout Waikiki. This was the first time I had done an escape room and it was so fun. We barely made it in time! I guess it helped that we had two intelligence Officers on our side…
We did it!
This past week Paige came to visit! She was our first visitor since we moved back and we had a great time doing a ton of fun things on the island.
We spent her first whole day on the North Shore. Started with sky diving, enjoyed some shrimp and corn from the food trucks, saw some turtles, and had shave ice. After all of that, we were even able to muster enough energy to head into Waikiki for dinner.
Sunday, we went on one of our favorite hikes — Kuli’ou’ou Ridge. We’ve hiked this multiple times and this was the first time we ended up covered in mud.
After our hike, we went to spitting caves to see what the waves were doing. They didn’t disappoint!
During the week, Paige entertained herself with Pearl Harbor, visiting Kauai and some yoga. The next weekend we went on an ATV tour at Kualoa Ranch, which was a BLAST. This was our first time doing this and we can’t wait to do it again! The weather was beautiful and we had a great tour guide.
Two weekends ago, we finally went on our first hike. It was less than 10 minutes from our house and super muddy. The view was amazing and well worth falling down (twice).
Only about four months late in posting this, but Josh and I went back to Hawaii for his spring break in March. After a long flight, we got some poke and then crashed.
The next day I volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club. It was so wonderful to see how much the kids have grown and for them all to jump up to ask to be in my group for the field trip. Oh how I missed them! After a day full of volunteering, we headed to the Farmers’ Market for dinner.
Friday I was off for a day at the beach with the kids. Unfortunately it ended up being a rather rainy day so we headed back a bit early. After volunteering, we tried Uahai Island Grill for dinner (new place for us!).
On Saturday we met up with my dear friend Jenn in Diamond Head for some lunch and an açai bowl. We decided to drive around the island and dream about where we would live when we moved back on day. We finished the day with my favorite, shabu shabu!
Sunday we headed up to the North Shore to watch the waves. First stop, was Giovanni’s for shrimp. After stuffing ourselves, we sat on the beach and watched the waves and just relaxed. We tried Tokoname (recommended by our Airbnb hostess) for dinner — another new place for us!
Monday was my last day to volunteer and we spent it at the clubhouse doing crafts. Always so hard to say goodbye! For dinner, we met our friends Tia and Mark to catch up!
Tuesday I finally had some time to hike (and it was of course raining). To wait out the rain, we had Lanikai juice for breakfast and just relaxed. After being stuck inside, we ventured out for lunch at Buzz’s Lani Kai. It finally stopped raining, so we did a quick hike to Makapu’u Lighthouse. I’ve done this more times than I can count and it never gets old.
Wednesday we got to hike the Pāli Puka! This had been on our list when we lived there but we were never able to complete it. The views were absolutely gorgeous (helped that we had a perfect day as well). For lunch, we went to Kalapawai cafe in Kailua then home to shower for a night in Waikiki.
On our last full day, we hiked up to Lanikai pillboxes. It was SUPER hot and incredibly crowded. We treated ourselves to a poke bowl as a reward for lunch and went to hang out on the beach. We packed up to leave on Friday and then went to the Farmers’ Market for dinner to meet some friends.
On our last day, we packed up and checked out of our Airbnb. Our last meal was shabu shabu (of course).
And with that, another Hawaii trip in the books! A hui ho!
Thursday was our North Shore day. Our tentative plan was to stop at some of our favorite places (for both food and scenery). First stop was Giovanni’s shrimp shack in Kahuku…quickly followed by delicious corn on the cob.
We continued on to Haleiwa..and along the way we stopped at one of the beaches for our third monk seal sighting of the trip!
We made it to Haleiwa (which has changed quite a bit..new shops, restaurants, etc). Even with all of the new stuff to choose from, we decided to share a Matsumoto’s Shave Ice.
Cherry, Grape and Pineapple
After walking around and enjoying Haleiwa, we started our way back to town. On our drive back we saw yet ANOTHER monk seal..making our total for the trip four! Which is a lot considering they are critically endangered with about 1,100 left. We also got a glimpse of Sacred Falls on our drive back!
We made it home to shower, change and make the sunset at the Tantalus lookout. It was a bit cloudy, but we still got some great pictures.
After a beautiful sunset, we met Kevin, Saki and Kion (Kevin is Josh’s friend from the Marines) for dinner at Sweet Home Cafe. The restaurant is a Taiwanese-style hot pot and shave ice place. It was absolutely delicious!
On Friday, our last full day there, we hiked the Hanauma Bay ridge. This was another new hike for us and it completely blew away all of our expectations. It was a gorgeous day and we could once again see Molokai, Maui and Lanai. I think the pictures will do a better job of describing how gorgeous it was! The waves were quit insane…Josh took an awesome video!
After that incredible hike, we drove around the east side of the island for the last time and got some poke at Hibachi again in Kailua.
After my last poke bowl, we went back to our apartment to shower, change and get ready for dinner at Duke’s!
On our last day (so sad), we checked out of our airbnb at 10:00 AM and went to Diamond Head Cove Health Bar for one last açai bowl.
After enjoying the deliciousness, we drove around the area a bit checking out all of the cool houses and then had an early lunch of Shabu Shabu (my fave).
We then headed to the airport to catch our flight. It was absolutely amazing to be back and Josh and I left there even more determined to do our best to live there again one day (especially since it was 43 degrees and raining when we landed in Chicago). I am so thankful we were able to go back and see our friends, get outside after SUCH a long winter and enjoy some of our favorite foods! 🙂
Tuesday was my last day with my kids at BGCH. I was so thankful I got to spend so much time with them and give back a bit!
That night, we went to dinner at Haleiwa Joe’s with Andy and Anna before they went back to the Big Island. It was pretty delicious!
On Wednesday, Josh and I got up and hiked to the Makapu’u tide pools. This was also on our list of things to do that we didn’t make it to before we moved. It was so incredible and such a beautiful day.
After our hike, we drove around the east side of the island to Kailua to grab some poke for lunch. We went to Hibachi as it had great reviews. The poke was absolutely amazing…it might be my new favorite poke place on the island! After lunch, we went to Lanikai beach for a bit to relax. On the way home we stopped at Yogurt Mama for some froyo!
We went back and showered and changed and then met my friends Tia and Mark from BGCH at Goma Tei for some ramen! A great way to end our day!
After a couple days of volunteering, it was the weekend and time for some hiking! Our goal was to do some of the hikes that we didn’t get to do while we lived there. The first one we started with was the South trail to Kaena Point. We had taken the North trail a few times but hadn’t ever explored the South side. Our drive there was stunning. It was our first time to that side of the island and neither of us realized how pretty it was!
After a pretty awesome trip to Kaena Point, we were both starving and went straight to get some poke at our favorite – Ono Seafood.
Poke!
We went back to the apartment and showered before deciding what to do for the evening. We decided on eating at House Without a Key at the Halekulani hotel in Waikiki. We sat outside and enjoyed the amazing weather and a really great meal to end our day!
The next day, we got up and hiked Kuli’ou’ou Ridge. This is one of our favorite hikes on the island and we were really excited to get to hike it again. The view of the Windward coast at the top of a hike never gets old!
After the hike, we got lunch near Diamond Head at Bogarts and then had my favorite açai bowl from Diamond Head Cove Health Bar.
So delicious!
After a shower, I met some friends from BGCH for dinner at Side Street Inn while Josh did homework. We tried tons of different food as it was family style. So fun!
On Monday, we had a laundry day and then met Andy and Anna at Bellows beach to hang out. I sadly didn’t take any pictures at the beach…too much fun catching up! A great way to end our long weekend!
After much debate on where to take a trip, Josh and I decided to travel back to Hawaii…as that’s where we really wanted to be. What sealed the deal for us (especially me), was that the Windward Clubhouse for the Boys and Girls Club where I worked was having their grand opening for their new clubhouse…12 years in the making! I knew if I could possibly be there for that, I would never regret it. So we decided to book a 10 day trip to Oahu for some hiking, food and much needed volunteer time.
Our trip started with a 5:00 AM flight to Dallas to catch our connected to Honolulu. After 12 hours of flying, we landed around noon on Oahu. The first stop was checking in to our airbnb near Punchbowl. It was a great location (super close to where we used to live) so we felt like we were close to home. After that, we headed to Kailua for the clubhouse opening. It was so great to see my kids, my old coworkers and how incredible the new clubhouse looked. Many happy tears were shed!
After a few hours at the clubhouse, we headed back to Honolulu to have dinner at Shabu Shabu House. I was so excited that Josh documented my excitement waiting on my food. After dinner, we headed back to our airbnb and crashed! Successful first day back in Hawaii!
Excited for Shabu Shabu!
The next day, we woke up early and decided to grab breakfast at Cinnamon’s before I went to volunteer. We split one of their mac nut cinnamon rolls and an omelet. A great way to start the day!
After that, I spent the day at the clubhouse volunteering. Pictured below: some of my favorites painting their nails!
After a day of volunteering, Josh and I headed to the Kailua Farmers’ Market to grab dinner. It was delicious as always!
After the Farmers’ Market, we headed back and crashed for the day!
On Friday, we woke up and went to Lanikai juice in Kailua for an açai bowl. I was so very happy!
Delicious!
After breakfast, it was another full day of volunteering for me. It was a rainy day, so not much going on outdoors! Our plan was to hike Koko Head in the evening, but we got rained out. Instead, we decided to go to Soul de Cuba for dinner! We both ordered Fricase de Pollo.
Pretty good start to our first few days in Hawaii! More to come!
Well, I have been gone from Hawaii for a little over a month now (so hard to believe!). With all of the changes, decisions being made and trips to be taken in the near future, I have decided to continue to document the fun stuff and keep blogging. I have started a new blog and if you want to follow, read or keep tabs on me I will be posting stuff here: keepinganadventurousperspective.wordpress.com. 🙂
As of Wednesday 10/30/2013, I successfully completed my PADI Open Water Diver certification! For many people, this is a big deal…but for me this is HUGE. As someone who has been terrified of the ocean her whole life, getting scuba certified was the last step for me in conquering that fear. After numerous snorkeling trips, getting in a cage to go shark diving and even just swimming in the ocean off the beach…I was ready.
On Monday, I did my first day in the water. The first site we went to had a few small waves and I completed one skill. All of a sudden there were huge waves and I was getting knocked around everywhere. At this point, I started to slightly panic as I knew I couldn’t get used to all of the equipment if I kept getting thrown into the rocks by the waves. My awesome dive instructor decided it would be best to go somewhere else that was a little calmer. We moved locations and started again. This time it was MUCH better. I completed all of my skills correctly on the first try and that was the end of day one!
On Tuesday, I did my first open water dive off of the shore. The first dive we just had some fun and went down to about 20 feet. I got to see an octopus and a pufferfish, among other tropical fish. The next dive that day, I did a few skills and we swam back to shore.
On Wednesday (my final day), I opted to do a boat dive…and I am so happy I did! Our first stop was Turtle Canyons where turtles come to hang out, sleep and relax so the fish can clean their shells off. We pulled up to the spot and there were two huge turtles on the surface by the boat. We got our gear on and jumped in the water. I did a few skills, then we got to have some fun. The visibility was decent and I was able to see some pretty cool fish. However, the best thing about this dive was the GIANT turtle sleeping. It was so big, at first I thought it was a rock. Absolutely incredible! I also got to see a spotted moray eel, a nudibranch (sea slug) and a sea snail.
Our next dive had much better visibility at Nautilus reef. We spent some time on the surface, I did my last skills and then we got to dive! Our first discovery (I say our, but really it was my awesome dive instructor) was a huge pufferfish. It was hidden in some coral, but I was able to get a partial picture. The next was a small whitetip reef shark. It was only about two to three feet, but still a shark! It was swimming under some coral..pacing back and forth. The next was an octopus! This time, I got to hold it! It was so weird to feel it suctioning onto my skin. So bizarre! You could also see him changing colors. Pretty phenomenal. After that, we swam around and saw a sea cucumber, tons of beautiful coral and fish and found another octopus. All in all, I’d say it was a pretty big success!
365 Days Of Hawaii 