Hawaiian Vacation Summary: Part 2

Earlier in the week I recapped the first half of our trip which you can read here. This is the continuation....

Day 5: On Tuesday we headed out early to Hanauma Bay for a hike on the coast. Unfortunately when we got there we discovered the park was closed on Tuesdays (!). Jonathan had also heard of a lighthouse hike just a few miles further on so we decided to head there instead only to find that the park was also closed for the entire week we were there (!!) so once again we felt like we wasted an entire morning in the car. 

We stopped at a nearby beach to let poor Forest jump his jiggles out before loading him up in the car for the ride back to Waikiki. We were particularly bummed because this was the most sunshine we'd seen so far and we were spending it driving around fruitlessly.

Due to our frustration we decided we needed a drink so headed to the famous MaiTai bar at the Royal Hawaiian for a little beach side relaxation. 

We made the rookie mistake of ordering a virgin cocktail for Forest (Coconut milk mixed with pineapple juice) which lead to a pretty obnoxious sugar high. 

We let him run off some steam/sugar on the beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian afterward and he crashed pretty quickly. 

That night we had an early dinner at P.F. Chang’s followed by an early bedtime. 

Forest was wiped out from all the play but wasn’t making up for it during his naps so he was asleep by 6/6:30 most nights.    
Day 6: We headed back to Kailua on the east side of the island to try the Pill Box hike again followed by returning to Hanauma Bay to retry the hike there. Second time is a charm, right?  Before the Pill Box hike we made a pit stop at the local Kailua beach which was gorgeous. 

We were just happy that it had stopped raining, but the cloud cover still made the Pacific seem rather chilly. It was Day 6 into our trip and we’d hardly seen any sun! But by the time we were set to hike, however,  the clouds were gone and the sun and heat were in full swing. Be careful what you wish for, I guess. 

The Pill Box hike was quite a steep climb and still plenty slippery from the recent rain. The views were incredible though! 

Forest caught a catnap on the way to Hanamua Bay where we waited in a one-in-one-out line to pay for parking only to find out that the hiking trail was completely closed (not just on Tuesdays) because of the recent rain (!!!). It was still open for snorkeling which looked heavenly, but not exactly an activity we could partake in with a toddler. 

We were told there was a nearby hike (Koko Head) reachable from the same parking lot (ps it was a mile away but who is counting?) so we decided to go for it. But when we got there and saw stairs leading straight up a mountain, I was like ‘um.....nevermind!'.

Apparently this hike is affectionately known as 'The Stairs of Doom'.

Jonathan was game though so I accompanied him about halfway up before bowing out. It was a gamillion degrees (or at least 90 F) and I just do not have that kind of heat tolerance anymore. 

After hiking we headed back to Waikiki. Forest only napped 5 minutes in the car but refused to take a proper nap once we got home, so that afternoon we just got some shaved ice before cooking dinner and putting him down for a very early bedtime.   

Day 7: Jonathan scheduled scuba diving for Thursday morning which meant me and Forest were on our own. The Honolulu zoo was only a mile from where we were staying so we walked over and spent 2 hours exploring the animals and playgrounds there. 

Forest is such an animal lover and had a blast saying hello to them all. The farm animals, as always, were his favorite and he couldn't wait to see the cows! 

It's tradition that Forest gets to add to his stuffed animal collection anytime we visit a zoo, and this time he chose a flamingo. Funny kid. 

That afternoon we decided to check out the nearby Hilton Hawaiian Village as a friend tipped us off that it had a nice calm lagoon and plenty of pools perfect for toddlers. It was wonderful! 

The lagoon was completely separate from the beach so had no waves to worry about and was shallow enough for Forest to play independently with his life jacket on. He even made some friends since the lagoon was teeming with little ones just his size. 

The same friend who tipped us off to the family-friendly water features at the Hilton also clued us in to a yummy ice cream shop, Lappert’s, on site at the same resort. 

Jonathan got the Kona Coffee flavor while Forest and I shared two scoops of Coconut Caramel Macadamia Nut (!!!!). After ice cream we headed back to the condo for dinner.

Day 8: For our final day in Waikiki, we resort crashed at the Hilton again. 

Finally the sun was out in full force and we were totally bingeing on sunshine. We couldn’t go back home without a nice tan! Don’t worry, Forest was sunscreened to the max and is still Casper white (ps remind me to tell you about the time I wanted to name him 'Casper' and Jonathan used his veto card to shoot me down. He may have been right on that one...). We spent about 2 hours between the lagoon and the beach before scoping out the pools. 

We found a perfect kiddie pool right by a smoothie shop and camped out there for a quick lunch and pre-nap swimming. 

After Forest’s nap we headed back to the same pool where he contentedly played for 2 hours before it was time for a second round at Lappert’s ice cream shop. After ice cream we had dinner at the condo again. We will definitely stay at the Hilton if we visit Waikiki again while Forest is small! It's perfect for the under 7 set.

Day 9: Our flight back to SFO was scheduled to depart at 1 pm and checkout at our resort was 10 AM so we spent the morning packing up and buying last minute souvenirs before making our way to the car rental place and then on to the airport. 

We figured getting to the airport 2 hours early would give us plenty of time to eat lunch and let Forest run off some energy, but the security process seriously took an hour. In an un-air-conditioned airport. When it was 90 degrees. Oy vey! 

It was miserable and hot and put a big damper on the end of our trip. Plus we were rushed to eat lunch and board the plane. Forest did pretty well on the flight back and everyone was complimenting his behavior. 

2 for 2 on plane naps! Woohoo!

Alright, that's about the jist of it. I'll write a little bit more about the experience of 'vacationing' with a toddler later on. All in all, it was an extremely successful trip. Forest was marvelous and gave us a lot more confidence when it comes to traveling a bit more.