Hawaii

In October we took a family trip to Oahu!  We have been wanting to go for YEARS but with COVID and schedules we weren't able to make it out until this year. (Note: William decided he would rather stay home, so got to spend the week with Aunt Missy)

We stayed at the Aulani Disney Resort for 6 days and it was heavenly!

Peter watch the Disney "Lilo and Stitch" movie on the plane on the way over and was so excited to see Stitch at the resort right when we arrived.

The boys favorite part of the resort was the lazy river than ran through the property. 

Along with the fun water slide they could go down with innertubes.

Peter finally worked up the courage to go by himself and was so excited he quickly turned around to tell Elliott (who was coming down behind him) all about it!

He wasn't counting on the current at the bottom of the slide he got sucked into and got to have the experience of being rescued by the lifeguard.

Elliott enjoyed the slide and the river just as much as Peter and the two of them spent the days going round and round.

The boys also gave snorkeling a try at the resorts giant snorkeling tank with tropical fish.

After their first try they decided it was way more fun to snorkel out in the ocean next to the resort.

When Peter got tired of that, he and I looked for shells and lava rocks on the shore.

We found Stitch everywhere in Hawaii!

(The view from our room) Every day the boys got to collect a new bracelet in order to retrieve their towels and use the pools.  It became quite the thing to collect as many bracelets and colors as they could.

On one of our days out, we took a trip to Laniakea beach to see if we could spot some sea turtles.

We lucked out and saw a whole group of them swimming past!

The beaches and landscape were so beautiful!

Then we spent a whole afternoon and evening at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It was one of our favorite parts of the trip.

There was so much to do!  We visited different island nations across the center and learned about their traditions, games and food.

The boys got to practice some spear throwing.

And when it got too hot (it was VERY warm) we found some delicious shave ice.

Peter loved seeing the chickens wandering all over the island. 

And we had a fun boat ride tour around the center.

We learned to make traditional Polynesian tapa cloth,

and wove toys out of leaf fronds.

At the end of the day we had the most incredible luau with delicious food and fabulous entertainment. 

The next day we headed out to Waimea falls to see the stunning gardens, and swim in the natural waterfall.

It is a trip and experience we will never forget!