High on my list of Oahu To Do's was a sunrise hike of the Diamond Head Crater. Brent and I woke up early, drove in the dark and upon trying to enter found a reservation is required. NOTA BENE- apparently this is new because the need for a reservation was not on any blog, travel page, and no one I spoke to who had actually done the hike mentioned needing a reservation. When I asked if we could make one right then, I was told we'd have to check the website. We pulled around and found all spots for the day were taken. We decided on a Plan B.
Another item on my list of Oahu To Do's was to get malasadas from Leonard's Bakery. It was ideally located between Diamond Head and Ko Olina so it worked out well to just swing by. There were chickens in the parking lot and I don't know why, but that struck me as so authentically Hawaiian that random chickens were in the parking lot.
The piping hot malasadas were indeed good! Not smack yo mama on the bottom good but they were definitely tasty. There were a lot of hipster tourists doing TikTok videos in the parking lot and taking lots of photos and video. I felt a little old. Anyway, we bought a wide variety of malasadas for the girls and one of the cute pink insulated bags. Brent was hesitant about that one but I told him we could use it for the rest of the trip and it could be folded flat and easily packed away.
Ireland and Sydney wanted to check out Disney's Aulani so we headed over there for a little shopping. I love how people leave leis at the Stitch statue.
There are a handful of small shops around the property and we tried to hit all of them. One has more merch like pins and ears while another has mostly jewelry. This one was close to the pool so it had swimwear and snacks but Ireland noticed the license plate and wanted a picture with it.
Sydney slipped on her ears and enjoyed the fish in the aquarium for a bit.
Back at the Vrbo the girls were again enjoying the pools and hot tubs. I loved these chairs with the canopy and made the pause the fun for a second to get some photos.
Some individuals:
The sparkly ears Sydney picked out at Aulani looked stunning in the sunlight. They shimmered not just gold but all colors of the rainbow and in the center of the plumerias were tiny hidden Mickeys.
If anyone took to Hawaii like a fish to water it was Gita! We have a hard time keeping clothes on her in the first place so living in a swimsuit was perfect.
More than anyone, she spent a lot of time on the lanai just taking in the view.
Then taking in the view some more!
High on my list of Oahu To Do's was hike to Waimea Falls. We headed to the North Shore and found the park was closed due to The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational which is a surfing competition. It just so happens this was a BIG one since waves had to be over 40 ft and the last time that happened was 7 years ago. On the day of the competition there were over 40,000 people there and cars were backed up for miles. We decided on a Plan B. Just down the road was a park that wasn't terribly crowded so Brent chilled in the rental car while I got out with the girls to explore and gawk at the incredible waves.
Of course we had to get some photos!
Sydney either looks and doesn't smile for a photo or she smiles and doesn't look. I'm not sure if she does that on purpose but it's colossally hard to get a good photo of her...
...unless of course the photo is her idea like this one! She saw this rock and wanted a picture like Ariel from Little Mermaid with the water crashing behind her.
If you like trees like I do, Hawaii is a good place to visit. So many beautiful trees!
I'm told this jagged wall was quite painful to sit on as I tried to get this shot.
We planned to stop by the Dole Plantation (another Oahu must-see) on our way back to Ko Olina when the sky opened up and it rained. Suddenly I realized I don't care that much about pineapples. Brent ran in with a couple girls to just check it out and this time I stayed in the car. He said it was packed with tourists so we grabbed a couple of Dole whips and skipped this one. No regrets.
It's funny how it can be pouring on one part of the island and the sun is shining so brightly on the other it's blinding. That's what we found when we walked into our Vrbo at Ko Olina- the sun was shining off the water like a mirror. This place was starting to feel like home and after all the driving, we relished just chilling for the evening.
It was a day of Plan B's but I think they all worked out really well!
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