Oahu

Earlier this month, we had the chance to go to Oahu with my family. It was our first family vacation since my brother has gotten back from his LDS mission. There is nothing better than escaping to paradise when it starts getting freezing back in Utah.

We arrived on Oahu in the early afternoon, so we headed down to Honolulu and Waikiki for dinner and to hang out for the rest of the day. We ate at Marukame Udon in downtown Honolulu and it was life changing. Seriously, you guys. We haven't been able to stop talking about it since. After we finished eating, we walked down to Waikiki to watch the sunset and see the torch lighting ceremony. The cutest old Hawaiian men walk around in traditional Hawaiian clothes and light the torches along the beach.

We stayed in a little city on the North Shore called Haleiwa. It's the cutest little town with a great beach and main street. We stayed here. It was right on the beach and was super close to downtown. Iris (the owner of the condo) and her family were great. They were very helpful, let us borrow their SUP's and body boards, and even taught the boys how to surf. 

View from our condo to the beach

We packed our week full of tons of different activities, due to all the boys not being able to sit still for more than an hour. Some of our favorites:

Diamondhead State Park - Diamondhead has a famous hike that leads to the summit of Le'ahi. It's about a mile up to the top and pretty steep. The last little bit is all stairs, so it's a pretty good workout. The views from the top were AMAZING.

So, so sweaty. I may or may not have run the stairs at the end to try and make them go by faster. Not my best idea.

Paddle Boarding the Anahulu River - The Anahulu river runs right through Haleiwa and meets the ocean near Ali'i Beach Park. We started at the base of the river near Rainbow Bridge and went about a 1/2 mile up the river. There are turtles everywhere! Definitely one of the coolest parts of the trip.

Waimea Falls - In Waimea Valley, we went on a short hike up to the falls. It was one of the most beautiful places we went while on the island. It's a dense forest with lots of different types of plants and flowers along the hike. Once you get to the falls, you can swim in the pool. The water was FREEZING.

 

 The Beach - We visited tons of different beaches throughout the week, but some of our favorites included Turtle Bay and Ko Olina.

 

KoKo Head Crater Trail - We all had a love/hate relationship with this one. The trail consists of stairs made out of railroad ties that go to the top of the crater. It kicks your butt! Seriously, it was SO many stairs. The view from the top is amazing though!

Do you SEE how far those stairs go up?!

Food - We ate so much good food this trip!! Some of our favorites included Malasada's from Leonard's Bakery, Coconut Cake & Garlic Shrimp from Ted's Bakery, Shrimp Scampi from Giovanni's Shrimp Truck and Udon Noodles from Marukame Udon (Yes, I'm mentioning them again).

Thanks to my parents for the great week, we can't wait to go back again!