I haven’t had a chance to talk about Oma and Opa’s Paradise in Ko Olina. I imagine this is what heaven is like....peaceful, calm, beautiful, relaxing...with 360 degree views of the ocean. Never in my wildest dreams could I have pictures of a place this beautiful. My Dad would have loved it here. That’s why I imagine heaven this way....I can see and feel him with us when we’re relaxing on the beach, building sand castles, celebrating with friends, swimming in the ocean....I know he is here with us celebrating Curtis....celebrating life, health, and family. Words cannot express our gratitude to Ursula and Steve for making this dream a reality for our family.
Mid morning, we set off for the east side of the island. We drove through the mountainous jungle of Jurassic Park down the tunnel to the beautiful windy beaches of Lanikai.
First stop....Kailua Beach Park.....and we actually found a parking space?! JACKPOT!!!!
It was quite a bit tougher surf over here, but we enjoyed watching the wind surfers while the boys played.
Our other “to do” for this day was hit a famous hike on the east side of the island. The original plan was to have all 5 of us hike, but once again....the parking was impossible. Both boys were sandy and wet from head to toe and just wanted more beach time, so Curtis and the boys decided to drop us off and head back for play in the ocean while Mom and I set off for the Famous Pillbox Hike!
We went up, up, up the steep terrain crawling and grabbing on to anything we could to hoist up the vertical climb.
1/2 mile later, we made it to the top, and 360 degree views of the island!
Takes your breath away...literally and figuratively!
My Mom is one tough Grandma! I was so proud of her for pushing through the hike! She was very thankful for borrowing Nancy’s hiking shoes, too!
Too soon we were back down and set off to find the boys. Remember, the parking is impossible. We walked the streets of Lanikai for over a mile, the we found them playing in the ocean, thanks to our Life 360 App. My Plains Crew Circle Neighbor, Kim, told us about this app, and it’s awesome! If you have teenagers/kids with a phone I highly recommend it. Curtis knew exactly where we were on the hike, and we found him right away!
Today was special because we had a super fun dinner planned at the Monkey Pod with Mom’s long time family friend, Joy, who lives in Honolulu. Curtis and I hadn’t seen Joy and her family since our wedding 12.5 years ago?! We laughed and laughed and laughed as we relived old stories of our families together. What a very special end to a incredible day. Tomorrow is New Years Eve, and another adventure awaits at the Polynesian Cultural Center!!! We’re loving every second of our amazing week in Hawaii!!!
I have two awesome co-workers who both lived on Oahu....one is Native Hawaiian from Oahu and the other studied at University of Hawaii in Honolulu. They were both amazing in giving us lists of where to go eat, beach, hike, play, etc. Most of these visits and stops on our trip were thankful to the guidance of Kayla and Sarah. This area was top on the list for beaches and hikes for Kayla, and it did not disappoint! All the boys wanted to do today was boogie board with big waves and the eastern side of the island was perfect!!!
It was quite a bit tougher surf over here, but we enjoyed watching the wind surfers while the boys played.
Our other “to do” for this day was hit a famous hike on the east side of the island. The original plan was to have all 5 of us hike, but once again....the parking was impossible. Both boys were sandy and wet from head to toe and just wanted more beach time, so Curtis and the boys decided to drop us off and head back for play in the ocean while Mom and I set off for the Famous Pillbox Hike!
We went up, up, up the steep terrain crawling and grabbing on to anything we could to hoist up the vertical climb.
1/2 mile later, we made it to the top, and 360 degree views of the island!
Takes your breath away...literally and figuratively!
My Mom is one tough Grandma! I was so proud of her for pushing through the hike! She was very thankful for borrowing Nancy’s hiking shoes, too!
Too soon we were back down and set off to find the boys. Remember, the parking is impossible. We walked the streets of Lanikai for over a mile, the we found them playing in the ocean, thanks to our Life 360 App. My Plains Crew Circle Neighbor, Kim, told us about this app, and it’s awesome! If you have teenagers/kids with a phone I highly recommend it. Curtis knew exactly where we were on the hike, and we found him right away!
We played a bit more, then loaded up in the Camry to head back to Ko Olina for an afternoon of sandcastle building on the peaceful lagoons. Paradise!!!!
Today was special because we had a super fun dinner planned at the Monkey Pod with Mom’s long time family friend, Joy, who lives in Honolulu. Curtis and I hadn’t seen Joy and her family since our wedding 12.5 years ago?! We laughed and laughed and laughed as we relived old stories of our families together. What a very special end to a incredible day. Tomorrow is New Years Eve, and another adventure awaits at the Polynesian Cultural Center!!! We’re loving every second of our amazing week in Hawaii!!!
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