Last Day in Waikiki...Boo Hoo!

We thoroughly enjoyed our last day here. We spent pretty much the entire day at the beach. Maddie wanted to try surfing, so Mike rented her a little board and took her out. She enjoyed herself and managed to catch one wave. Unfortunately, despite all our sunscreening, she burnt the back of her legs. It's not a terrible burn, but she is uncomfortable tonight. Good thing for aloe vera gel and kids tylenol!

Meanwhile Chelsea and I shopped along the main strip and then came down to the beach to swim and relax. The breakwater makes for excellent safe swimming for kids. I never have to worry about them. It's like a big saltwater swimming pool. We spent the rest of the afternoon building sand castles, swimming and boogie boarding.

We had dinner tonight at Cheeseburgers in Paradise. It is a fun restaurant with just about the best burger I've ever had! The kids were starving after a day at the beach. They finished off their plates in no time. We then walked the strip one last time. The girls got a braid with beads in their hair at the market.

Now, it's off to bed. I'm doing a little laundry so we can take home clean clothes and we're trying to figure out how to pack for the way home. We bought a few more "souvenirs" than I thought we would, so now we have to get them all in our suitcases!

Thanks for reading our vacation blog. It was a fun ritual to post everyday during our down time. We're sad to leave this beautiful island, but as Chelsea said tonight, "It will be good to sleep in our own beds." I agree. Vacationing is fun, but there's something wonderful about getting home to the familiar and the routine too. See you all soon.

A beautiful Drive with a Fun Destination

Yesterday we rented a car and drove north. I think we truly saw the real Hawaii. The scenery along the coast is breathtaking. We tried to capture some of it on film, but I'm not sure the pictures do it justice. After getting lost once and having to back track a little, we decided to stop for lunch at L&L drive in Hawaiian BBQ. You wouldn't want to eat there too often! It was delicious but even with sharing plates it was a lot of meat and carbs! There are some beautiful homes and some pretty run down beach shacks along the way. We saw numerous adults and children riding in the backs of pick ups. We also noticed most motorcyclists are without helmets. It seems anything goes in Hawaii.

We arrived at the Polynesian Cultural Centre after lunch. We debated going but in the end, we thought the kids would really enjoy the experience. It's overpriced, I think, but the evening show is really spectacular. We got there in time for the canoe pageant. This was a fantastic, colourful show displaying all the different Polynesian tribes dancing and doing chants on canoes in the lagoon. Then we toured the different villages. The girls had fun collecting stamps and doing different activities like spear throwing, fishing, palm weaving, bamboo instruments and learning the hula.

We had a great dinner at the restaurant there. Thankfully this was included in our price! The evening show was next. It was an amazing display of colour, fire, lights and dances. The highlights for us were the Tahiti dancers and the Tongan fire walkers and jugglers. One particular man was able to juggle and do various gymastic type acts with torches lit on both ends. They even had a simulated volcano near the end of the show. It was really hot and humid. They get you by selling cold pineapple delight ice cream with fruit at intermission. Normally, I wouldn't spend 5 dollars on a bowl of ice cream, but we were desperate!!

We drove home around 9. Unfortunately, it was dark so we didn't get to enjoy the scenery. The girls and I are just relaxing now while Mike takes back the rental car. Our plan is to enjoy the Waikiki beaches some more before we have to go! We may do Pearl Harbour later today. I may or may not blog tomorrow depending on how the day shapes up. Thanks for reading!

Flip Flops, Buses and Cab Drivers

We are learning the bus system here in Waikiki quite well. The bus is a great deal at 2 dollars for adults and 1 dollar for kids. We've bused to Diamond Head, Hanuama Bay and today, Sea Life Park. Today was the longest bus ride at about 50 minutes. It's a great way to see the sights along with various neighbourhoods and even some spectacular highway scenery today. We are also putting lots of miles on our flip flops. Lots of things are walking distance from our condo so we are certainly getting our exercise. Not to mention that our condo has an outside staircase and we are on the 4th floor.

The funniest thing to me is that the cab drivers come by the bus stops to try to entice you to take the cab. They tell you that you'll have to wait a long time for the bus and exaggerate the length of time of the bus route. Today a driver offered to take us all to Sea Life Park for 20 dollars. He already convinced one family, but I told him we'd wait for the bus and save 14 dollars. He used the analogy of fine dining vs. McDonalds to try to persuade us that a cab ride would be so much more relaxing! In the end, we waited a few more minutes for the bus and got there in plenty of time! We did take a cab last night from Bubba Gump's at Aloa Mona Centre. We walked there which was a LOOONG way. It was dark when we were done and I wasn't sure how the kids would hold up. It was well worth it! Heather encouraged me to try Bubba Gump's. It was a fun experience and we all enjoyed the fun atmosphere of the restaurant which is modeled after the Forrest Gump film.

So we are heading out to dinner now. We're all pretty hungry and our food supplies are low here. It's time for another trip to Food Pantry!

Tomorrow we plan to visit the Polynesian Cultural Centre. I think we'll rent a car and see the North Island a bit too.

We are really enjoying life here in Paradise. The weather is just unreal and the beauty of the sea and the palms continues to impress us. Mike was trying to figure out a way to live here today. He claims he may become a surfer boy once he
retires!

Maddie's Day at Sea Life Park

Today we went to Sea Life Park to swim with the stingrays. First we went in the water and got to pet them and then we got to snorkel by their side with lots of fish. It was really fun. I felt really excited and happy. Before the ray encounter we saw the dolphin show. The dolphins did flips. Then we went to go see the sea turtles. They were all resting in the sun. You could feed them broccoli but they were all out of food. Then we saw the sea lion show. They did dances to songs. It was very cool. Next we saw the sea trek show. They had two sharks in the tank and a diver was in the tank. He was feeding the bat rays and manta rays. It looks really fun! I really loved this day.

Swimming with the Rays by Chelsea

We went to the aquarium and we swam with the stingrays. We got to pet them and feel them. There were also fish in the tank. The stingrays feel very smooth. It felt very refreshing when we got in the pool because it was very hot. When we got out we looked at the fish some more. they were very colourful fish! We also went and saw the sea lions and the sea turtles and the dolphins. Then we went back on the bus and now here we are at the condo. That's all I have to say for today.

Disclaimer

What Maddie saw was probably not a shark! When we looked at the fish guide, we realized it was a milkfish or something like that. It's tail looks quite a bit like a shark and it is a white colour. Just so none of our family members get worried!!! She was pretty excited about it nonetheless.

maddie's reports on hanuama bay

This morning we went to hanuama bay. When we got there we looked in a museum about fish and sea animals. Then we went to a movie about what to do and what not to do.Then we got to the beach we started snorkling. Dad and I snorkled together because you had to snorkle with somebody. We saw a lot of fish,rainbow ones,ones that looked like nemo and dory,we probably saw 100 fish and about 15 types. But best of all we saw a shark! It was a mud shark or dog shark! It just swam under us! it was so cool! well thats all i have to say for today. Bye!