[This post took me forever to put up because there was a crazy amount of pictures to go through...and there were way too many to include so here's the best I could do. If you want to see more, you'll have to go to our Smugmug page. And this post is long because of the duration of our trip...so grab a cup of coffee or tea and read on...]
So we ended the summer with a huge bang! Yaocation 2016 took place in Hawai'i this year!
The Norwegian Cruise Line Hawaiian cruise has always been on my dad's bucket list, so he decided that this summer he would make that dream come true. I'm glad he dreams big....
Before we talk about how beautiful it was, I need to tell you about the stress before the trip. We actually took this trip the week before the older kids were going to start school. Who does that?? We were flying on a red-eye departing Honolulu on August 13, landing back home on August 14, and starting school August 15! It was insanity, but it was the only way all my sisters and my parents could go on this trip, so it was well worth the sacrifice. Although everyone thought we were a little cuckoo...I thought so as well when I was packing up all our bags the night before we left! I had to have all the school supplies and uniforms ready to go...the house all cleaned up (we had an entire chore day before we left)...and a shopping list written up before we left on that plane. It was a lot of work, but we pulled through!
Our flights were great. The kids were well-behaved and Eulee napped. Pretty uneventful, except a delay coming home. The red-eye flight home was painful for us taller people, but the smaller kids all slept well for a few hours. Lucky dogs. The red-eye actually reset the kids so that they all went to bed early on Sunday night, so they were well-rested for school on Monday. Phew!
The whole trip was heavenly...really it was. I mean, there were a few things I will do differently when I go back, but honestly, we all can't stop thinking about Hawai'i. For this itinerary, we flew into Honolulu, spent a night there, then got on the Norwegian Pride of America to go to Maui, the Big Island, and Kauai. It was a whirlwind, busy trip, but just amazing. Here's what we did--
DAY 1
Met up with Evie's classmate (who's mom is from Hawai'i) and went to Waikiki Beach. It was beautiful, but the texture of the sand is really strange. The grains of sand are coarser, so when you walk in the wet sand it feels like you are walking in oatmeal. Kind of bizarre...but totally beautiful!
DAY 2
Woke up early (because of the 5 hour time difference) and hiked Diamond Head. It was crowded, so you can't really stop walking...
and the uphill part (especially the stairs) was insanity...
but the view at the end was crazy-amazing. It took my breath away when we got up there. The water was so blue...it was breathtaking.
After this hike, we got onto our ship. Yay!
DAY 3--Molokini Crater Snorkel, Maui
The boat ride out to Molokini was relaxing and scenic.
The crew provided a continental breakfast and fruit. I thought there would be more fish here, but it was still a nice snorkeling spot.
Tons of black triggerfish were so curious and just swam right around us. We also saw Gil from "Finding Nemo" and lots of other fish. B had a cursed day at this spot because first he dropped his phone (in a pouch), so one of the crew guys had to dive down to get it. Then B dropped his snorkel mask. He didn't want to bother the guy again, so he dove down about 20-30 feet to get it himself! Yikes!
The boat also had a slide on the side, so the older kids slid down that a few times. Super fun!
DAY 4--Haleakala Crater, Maui
We took a bus ride up to Haleakala and it was amazing to be above the clouds. The weather was perfect and sunny (we did NOT need the winter jackets I had packed...ugh!). It was windy, but nothing as cold as what other people described. It was a beautiful place. We were just sad that we couldn't spend as much time there to hike around.
DAY 5--Volcanoes National Park, Big Island (Hilo)
Our first stop at Rainbow Falls was *meh.* It really wasn't much more than a plain waterfall. Honestly, there are prettier ones in Oregon.
Volcanoes National Park was pretty cool though.
We could see steam and smoke coming out of the crater. It's just crazy to me that the Big Island is still growing! Again, we wish we could have stayed at the park longer to explore, but since we were with a tour we couldn't. (Next time we'd definitely rent our own car!)
The real highlight was at night. Lava from Kilauea Volcano in the park has been flowing since May of this year and it finally started spilling into the ocean in July. So that night, our cruise ship went by the lava flow and we could see the orange-red lava flowing into the ocean. The cruise ship turned off a lot of the deck lights and the view was spectacular. You can't PLAN this kind of stuff! It was crazy to see lava like this! You feel really humbled when you witness something like this. Amazing.
DAY 6--Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Site and Submarine Ride, Big Island (Kona)
We originally had another snorkel tour planned for this day, but the boat had to go in for maintenance so our tour was canceled. So instead, we took a cab to Kaloko-Honokohau to see sea turtles...and we saw a bunch of them! We counted at least 15 of them. They were just swimming everywhere around us. Again, amazing!
Then we took a ride on a submarine. It was such a neat experience! We each had our own porthole and we went down 100 feet and saw tons and tons of fish. The kids loved using the fish guide to name all the fish they saw. I loved seeing the big schools of fish just swimming together. Super fun time!
DAY 7--Tunnels Beach, Kauai
On Kauai we rented 2 SUVs and drove ourselves up to the Princeville area to check out Tunnels Beach. It was a beautiful drive up. We stopped in the town of Hanalei which was so cute and laid back. Then we got to Tunnels Beach and it was gorgeous!
This is the last beach you can go to before the Na Pali Coast begins so the surroundings are unbelievable. The snorkeling was supposed to be amazing so we got right to it. Eli and I swam out really far and we saw so many beautiful fish. The reef is pretty high in some places, so sometimes you are just swimming right above the fish. This part was nerve-wracking for me, but Eli really enjoyed it. (Sidebar: I really want Eli to be a marine biologist when he grows up. He is SO comfortable in the water and with snorkeling...he'll even dive down with the snorkel on. I don't do that at all! Plus, if he became a marine biologist he could work in amazing places like Hawai'i and I could visit him all the time! Ha!) The fish were just swimming all around us...different colors everywhere. It was the best snorkeling I've done so far.
DAY 8--Waimea Canyon, Kauai...Zipline Tour, Kauai
We (minus B and Elina) took a tour out to the "Grand Canyon of Hawai'i" on this day. It was a beautiful sight, but not much to it. After the long drive out, you can only get out to look around and take pictures. There aren't any trails, which is definitely a bummer. But it really is pretty out there.
We also stopped at Spouting Horn Park, which is a viewpoint with a blowhole.
Elina and B had an awesome time on their zipline tour. We thought the zipline tour would be a good birthday present for Elina....and, boy, were we right! It was her favorite part of the trip. She thought it was scary at first, but then she got the hang of it and loved it. They even had to give her big backpack to carry because she weighed so little! B had lots of fun too. He said he would definitely prefer a zipline tour over seeing Waimea Canyon. I had showed him a picture before we booked the tours and told him, "Don't you want to go see this with us??" And he responded with, "Now I've seen it on your phone, so I can go on a zipline tour instead." Ha!
The highlight of this day happened after we left the port at Kauai. The ship slowly went by the Na Pali Coast and it was absolutely stunning. At first it looked like it would rain and we wouldn't get good light...but just as we got closer, the clouds parted and a double rainbow formed right in front of the mountains. It wasn't just part of a rainbow...it was a full arch of a rainbow. I don't think I've ever seen a rainbow from end to end...seriously, talk about timing! So awesome!
DAY 9--disembark the ship and tour Oahu before our red-eye flight
On the last day in paradise, we finally got to explore Oahu. We ate yummy food constantly (udon, shrimp, malasadas and coco puffs) and we got to see lots of sites.
Some of my favorite stops were Pali Lookout and Haleiwa.
We saw lots of sea turtles again, too. They were so close, just eating algae. Amazing.
Besides Waikiki being really busy and crazy, I found myself really enjoying Oahu...more than I thought I would. It really has a little bit of everything--a busy city, pretty mountains, beautiful beaches, turtles, waves, tidepools, delicious food. I mean, I would love to go back to Kauai and the Big Island....but I also wouldn't mind Oahu again. However, I probably wouldn't ever go back to Waikiki again though. That place is a little too busy for me.
So that's our trip in a big nutshell. We will definitely be going back someday. We are all thinking about when we can go. We even started watching the new reboot of "Hawai'i Five-O." My sister and dad were already big fans before we went (so we made a few "Hawai'i Five-O" stops on Oahu) so we HAD to start watching.
The cruise itself was pretty good, but really this kind of cruise is mostly about the stops. We definitely couldn't enjoy the ship as much just because there weren't really any "at sea" days like on other cruises (since all the islands are so close to each other). But from what we saw and what we participated in, we thought it was a good ship. We had fun attending a lei making class, a hula lesson, a dance class, "Friends" and "Game of Thrones" and movie quote trivia, and the Not-So Newlywed Game Show. We also played shuffleboard and swam in the pool.
It was all great! The only difference is that you can tell this is a cruise ship with an American crew. Other cruises usually have predominantly international crew members, but this ship is all American and there is definitely a difference. The service was still good, but you definitely witness more eye-rolling and backtalk. I know that a lot of cruisers can be rude especially at the buffet, but I have never seen crew members get snarky about it until now. Funny, right?
The kids loved being on a cruise and I think it's a great way to travel with the kids. The older ones loved having the freedom to get their own food at the buffet. They even had a specific table in the kids section that they would always sit at.
They loved going to the kids club...seeing towel animals in the room each night.
They really loved it all! We all did! So we will definitely be back...goodbye for now, Hawaii...see you again soon! Aloha!
Eulee loved all the presents she got...puzzles from Evie, a new Perplexus from Eli, and a purse with a fuzzy ball and gum! I think the gift that meant the most to Eulee was the gum. In our house, you can't chew gum until you are 4 and she had been counting down the days until she could chew a piece of magical gum! So the minute she saw the gum, she had to have a piece! Needless to say, after the flavor was gone she asked to spit it out. I'm pretty sure she went through a few pieces that first night. But now she feels so grown up because she's like the big kids! Also when you turn 4, you can begin having 2 gummy vitamins at bedtime. She was thrilled about this! Seriously, it's always the little things!
Then we ended the night with her real birthday pancakes and a balloon avalanche. 
On that same day, we went to Bakery Lorraine to get some of her favorite macarons. Lucky for her they actually had birthday cake flavor that day! I've never seen it before! 
