A couple weekends ago, Josh and I went up to the North Shore to do a hike near Dillingham Airfield. It was a beautiful day and we were lucky enough to see a few gliders being towed, flying around and then landing. We stopped at the rest area, but you can continue on for a much longer hike (on the list for the future)!
Last weekend we went to Kaena Point with my mom and we were lucky enough to see three Hawaiian Monk Seals. Since there are only about 1300 left, this was quite a treat! There are estimated to be about 25 on Oahu so we felt pretty lucky to see three of them!
Linda is here for a visit and we discovered a new place to eat yesterday on our way to Waimea Valley — Aunty’s Lil Green Hut. Whenever we stop at Giovanni’s in Kahuku we always get the same food (shrimp, corn, froyo). It was breakfast time so we branched out and had crepes! Everything was gluten-free so I could eat it! Can’t wait to visit this adorable place again.
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).
After a lovely (and mostly cold) couple of years in Chicago, Josh and I decided to move back to Hawaii in July. We were lucky enough that all of the stars aligned to make it happen — Josh got a job here, my company allowed me to keep my job working West Coast hours, we found a place to live and purchased it (site unseen..more to come on that in a later post) and coordinated a move across the ocean — all in a matter of a couple weeks.
It was an incredibly tough decision knowing we’d be leaving our families again and living so far away, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Our dream of moving back was actually becoming an reality!
Fast forward a few weeks….we moved out of our place in late June and into my mom’s house for a few weeks (temporary stop #1). Josh left in the beginning of July to start his job and I left a couple weeks later to meet him there. A few Airbnbs and hotels later, we finally closed on our place and moved in at the end of July.
After a few weeks of unpacking and getting settled, we finally feel like things are becoming “normal”. I’ve started volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club and this weekend we are planning on spending time with friends and going on a new hike. I won’t be blogging every day like I did the first time we lived here, but I’m planning on posting all of our adventures and any fun things we do so we can stay connected with our families and friends.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the last several months. We couldn’t have pulled this move off without your love and support (and special shoutout to my mom and Tom who are babysitting Nola until she is done with quarantine and can fly over to meet us).
Volunteering a few weeks ago for BGCH. Started our morning with a monk seal sighting and some beautiful weather.
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!
365 Days Of Hawaii 