For our third day our plan was to hunt down what is considered to be the most beautiful beach location in Oahu. We thought we’d relax and lay out and just have a chill day and why not do it at the most beautiful location we could find?
More views from our room!
Really fun, beautiful drive!
It didn’t disappoint. Truly breathtakingly beautiful.
It was also breathtakingly WINDY. Like O.M.G sand hitting us in the face hard enough that it hurt kinda windy. We did NOT last long haha
Goodbye Lanikai Beach. Our stay was brief but your views didn’t disappoint 😉
Passed a neat ceremony of women dressed all in white honoring a statue!
When it’s too windy to lay out? We hit up Duke’s. A MUST EAT while in Hawaii!
Hottie.
So awhile ago Zach was being silly and made my home screen a picture of him. Since then I’ve updated it and I have a FAVORITE pic of him that I LOVE (it’s from our Mexico trip earlier this year) where he’s wearing a backwards hat (my fav look) but it’s too zoomed in so his face is covered by all my apps (first world probs haha). We attempted to get a new pic…it works but man it’s not as good as my favorite pic!
And Z found an awesome hat too! He had some GREAT finds this trip! I was a little bitter 😉
Back to the hotel to try laying out…but in this spot it was crazy HOT yet the pool was super cold. And then it rained! I guess I’m a bit of a diva when it comes to laying out. I’m pretty spoiled with my nap routine of laying out in our backyard for 20 min a day ha!
Can’t hate the view though 😉
Started our next book club read. Wonder! Y’all it’s SO GOOD.
Cake Pops and Coffee back at the room!
Enjoying our balcony view. One of my most vivid memories from my Hawaii travels with my dad is how he’d ALWAYS sit on the balcony. He just loved that view!
On our way to our luau!
Dress with POCKETS! And actually a maxi that a short girl can wear without tripping!!!
In my research Paradise Cove is considered THE BEST luau on the island! It was all the way across the island again (near Aulani) and we hit traffic so we were a little late getting there but it was well worth it!
I wasn’t positive when we booked it but once we were there I remembered instantly that it was the same luau I did back in 2002 when I came with my dad and brother! I have the best memories from that day. Brandon (my brother) and I were singing whatever Eminem’s current song at the moment was (Slim Shady I’m sure) and just being REALLY silly while we waited to get into the luau. I’m pretty sure we annoyed Dad 😉
Dad got picked though to be part of the luau experience! He was awesome!
And we also got on the stage to learn how to hula (Yes my high school boyfriend came on the trip with us…wasn’t that SO nice of my dad? I def don’t think we’ll be doing that for our kids ha!).
Paradise Cove is loved by locals and everyone who works there is truly authentic. It was an awesome experience and we had a great time! I’m so glad we decided to do it and would recommend it highly to anyone visiting the area. We had an absolute blast together and both equally enjoyed the evening. I will say to get there EARLY. We actually enjoyed the pre-show events more than the actual show itself. They have many little booths set up and little shows displaying info about the local culture. It was all really fun and really low-key.
Hilarious.
Getting tribal tats 😉
My love.
Duh. I’m allll about some animal interactions!
Watching the “locals” climb trees to collect coconuts (we kept thinking of Survivor ha!)
Beautiful sunset, sexy husband 😉
Map of the property
Prior to dinner they announced for all guests to come sit in an area surrounding where the pig was being cooked. They discussed rituals regarding food and preparation and did a show with some songs and walked around and showed us all the items that would be available on the buffet for us to eat.
New favorite pic of us!
It was pretty hilarious these guys walking around showing us salad and rice and such haha
The pig! Dinner! Our kids would have thought it was pretty awesome haha
Of course it started raining RIGHT as dinner was served. In all of my visits to Hawaii I never remember it being so rainy. I guess it’s why it’s the rainbow state because they get lots of brief rain followed by rainbows 😉 They handed out ponchos for everyone and kept the night rolling. I LOVED that they had a Hawaiian Prayer for the food.
We received a free credit to use on any extras and we spent it on virgin drinks and then the rest on little gifts for the kids!
Zach’s Hawaiian name...it was pretty funny the lady looked it up in a book that I already own at home hahaha
After dinner the show started! Zach would have probably been happy and content to go ahead and head back to the room at that point. He’s not a big show guy…but he stayed and didn’t complain or try to get me to dip out early 😉
We had yet another incredible day! We truly enjoyed each other so much this trip and didn’t have that itch to get back home. This trip really showed me just how much I can’t handle the overfilled schedule of life we’d been living at this stage of things. With Britt having speech, the girls gymnastics, and Kye football plus church and school etc it was just TOO much. Usually I’m DYING to get home but I really wasn’t eager to jump back into all of that. Def made me realize we need to reevaluate things in the future. And made me thankful that Britt no longer needs speech after this semester and that Kye really doesn’t seem too interested in playing any other sports for awhile 😉