Hawaii 2025

It's been 10 years since John and I made our first trip to Hawaii, so we felt like it was time to visit the islands once again!

 We stayed at the Kuhio Banyan Club near Waikiki Beach on Oahu. It wasn't as nice as the Hale Koa, but it was close to the international market and lots of restaurants (oh my gosh Liliha Bakery was my favorite) which was convenient. 

We wanted to make some new memories this time around so we changed things up a bit. This time we made a short trip over to the island of Kauai for a kayaking adventure!

Bob: "I'm SAILING!" :-) 

We kayaked down the Wailua River and then went for a long walk through the jungle to get to Uluwehi Falls, which was amazing!

Before we left the hotel John mentioned he'd never seen me wear this outfit before, and I told him it was specifically for "adventuring" and showed him my "adventure pose."

Apparently he thought it was hilarious, so we had to document it.

How cool is this waterfall, though?

We had fun hanging out in the jungle for a while before heading back to our kayaks.

Kauai kayak mission complete!

The next day we drove around the island to some of the places we remembered from our last trip, like the Byodo-In Japanese Buddhist Temple.

There were a lot of tourists and the big gong was ringing constantly, so we didn't stay very long.

We drove farther up to Laie and found a better, more peaceful temple to visit.

We stopped for lunch at Seven Brothers and had the BEST tasting burgers EVER.

Teriyaki flavored meat with bacon and pineapple...

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at Turtle Bay where John got to do some snorkeling and I got to read my book on the beach.

On Thursday we went back to Laei to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center.

It was just as wonderful as we remembered.

The next day John got to fulfill his dream of snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, and it was the most beautiful beach I had ever seen.

Look at all the fishies!

I spent most of my time enjoying my book on the beach, but I did get in the water at least once.

See!

Another new adventure we signed up for was a zipline experience at Coral Crater Park.

Did you say adventure?

Time for the adventure pose!

I was nervous, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.

Since we checked out of our hotel in the morning and didn't have to go to the airport until later that night, we used our free pass to go back and visit the PCC and see more of the presentations we didn't get to on Thursday. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Before we went to dinner we stopped at the Hukilau Beach, where the LDS church held their first community luau's so they could raise money to build a new chapel in the 1940s. These community events became the idea that started the PCC. 

(I love learning about local history!)

John set up our hammock on the beach and we spent an hour just listening to the ocean and enjoying the view.

It was a great way to end our week in paradise. 

 I am not a natural adventure seeker, so I am incredibly grateful for all the time and effort John puts into planning our vacations. He encourages me to live life to the fullest and brings in a lot of fun and excitement just to shake up our normal routine. 

Thanks for choosing me, My Love. 

Here's to 19 years of Happily Ever After.

Aloha!