The Schettler Saga: Hawaii 4-0: Happy New Year 2019

Day 6: We’ll, the original plan for New Years was the First Day Sunrise Hike at the Makapu’u Lighthouse....after our HUGE day at PCC, then staying up for New Years fireworks, the 4:30 am departure didn’t happen, but our awesome friend Joy made it.....along with 3,000 other people on the island of Oahu?!

She is awesome!!!! Hello 2019!!!

Instead, we slept in and relaxed at Ko Olina ALL day!!!!

We swam, built sand castles, and kicked off 2019 with total relaxation!

Oh yeah, this is the life!

We would probably have zero pictures if it wasn’t for Mom. She’s so great about snapping pics! Thanks for being on top of things, Mom!

After 6+ hours of beach and pool time we got all snazzied up and headed to Longboards for a New Years Day feast.

Hello 2019!!!

Day 7: We had big plans for our final full day in Hawaii beginning with Curtis #1 to do....whale watching! We hit the road for Aloha Tower Marketplace in search of Pier 8.

And found our boat!

We knew traveling over New Years that whale watching tour would be top of the bucket list. Remember, the original whale watching was cancelled on the first day....North Shore shrimp truck day, so we were rescheduled for this morning Early Bird whale Watching aboard the Star Of Honolulu. We set sail with an amazing breakfast on board in search for whales, and kicked it off with one of my Dad’s favorite early morning beverages....Bloody Mary, extra spicy!

After our fill of breakfast, we headed to the top deck for a viewing of the beautiful Honolulu harbor.

Alas, the sea was very rough and, unfortunately, there were no whale sightings to be found on our voyage, but we did get an incredible trip around the shores of Honolulu, Waikiki, and Diamond Head.

Our trip had 100% whale sighting guaranteed, so we got vouchers for the next families visiting Oma and Opa’s beautiful Beach Villa! Even though we didn’t see any humpback whales, we still had a magical tour around the island.

We had big plans for this final full day in Oahu...Whale Watching, Makapu’u Lighthouse Hike, and snorkeling on Huanama Bay! We loaded up the car and headed to the far east side of the island for the lighthouse trail.

There she is! Apparently, the other 3,000 people that couldn’t find a space for the First Day Hike thought the 2nd would be better....20 minutes of searching for a parking space later, it was after 12:00pm, everyone was hungry, and we realized the hike wasn’t going to happen. No biggie, we still have snorkeling at Huanama Bay....nope....parking lot - FULL. Boo! These are not National Parks, but might as well be....little to no parking and when they’re full, you’re SOL. Note to self....plan to do things super early. We turned around and started heading back passing the famous Kokohead Crater Hike....also no parking....

Grrrrrr....Right when we were about to give up we checked one more wish on Curtis’s list....and guess what was 1 mile away from Kokohead and right on our road?!?!?! Kona Brewing Company!

Yes, this made up for all our fails and missteps today! Starting off the day with BMs, why not keep the party going?! We canned the plans for exercise and a hike....add it to the to do for next time. 👍

We feasted of fresh makeral sandwich, Lemongrass Luau beer and IPAs....YUM! After our feast, we headed back to Ko Olina for more beachtime! We played, swam, and relaxed until sundown when Carson was stung by a bee on his hand....ouch!!!! The good news is we found out he is not allergic to bee stings.

The sunset, yet again, did not disappoint.

This place is magical!!!

The boys hit the bar at Beach VillS for hotdogs, Mac cheese, and blue slushees....

And a date night for Curtis’s birthday at Roy’s in Ko Olina!

What an amazing end to a magical week in Hawaii! Mahalo!

Day 8: With a 6:25pm departure, we had a full day of beach time to end our Hawaii 4-0 celebration, so we started the day with a sunrise walk around the lagoons to the marina.