SkyPark Adventures!

Tag: hawaii

  • Maui – Hawaii

    After wrapping up with the conference on Thursday we flew out from Oahu to Maui on Friday morning. By accident we ended up at an excellent snorkeling spot one beach down from our hotel while trying to kill some time prior to checking in.

    The second day we drove up to the peak of the Haleakala National Park. It was no less than 20 degrees colder at the peak and everyone shivered as we walked around outside.

    The landscape looked like the moon and I’m told that NASA sent astronauts there to train for the moon landing back in the 60’s.

    On our third day we went to Black Rock beach and the kids and I enjoyed some amazing snorkeling spotting zebra fish, needle fish, and what I like to call bright yellow’s (I’m making all those names up).

    We were about 300 yards from shore with only 2 boogie boards to float on and at one point I noticed the tide pulling us out to sea and toward a bank of cliffs.

    Luckily, the kids had on their flippers and are good swimmers, because I don’t think I could have swam hard enough to get the three of us to shore otherwise.


  • Oahu – Hawaii

    Our bodies were so screwed up after leaving London (5 hours ahead of EST), spending one night in Virginia, and then flying to Hawaii (5 hours behind EST). The kids seemed to adjust fairly quickly to going to bed at 7:00 PM and waking around 6:00 AM.

    Susan kept her East Coast hours, waking up around 4:00 AM and going to the hotel lobby to do work. And I varied between going out until 10:00 PM and crashing at 8:00 PM, while consistently waking with the kids around 6:00.

    We ate at the hotel buffet every morning, which you can’t beat for convenience. Skylar and Parker primarily enjoyed the pools and did some fishing with Hadobogee.

  • Matsumoto shave ice

    The ad said it was the best shave ice in the world.  Upon pulling up, Susan and I scoffed at how we were going to every tourist trap in Hawaii and we were cynical how shave ice could be any different from one shave ice to another.  Oh how wrong we were…

    Most definitely Matsumoto’s shave ice lives up to its reputation and was hands down the best shave ice in the world.  First off the flavors are smooth and not too sweet, unlike the saccharine sweet shave ice of the mainland.  Secondly, they add ice cream, sweet beans, coconut milk, mochi balls, and an eatable shell that doesn’t get mushy and while it looks similar to your standard waffle cone – the consistency and flavor is somehow better.

    You get straws for sucking up the melting yumminess and wooden spoons. Omg – unlike Leanords, I would eat these every day!

     

  • Kailua

    While driving to the North Shore, we stopped at Kailua beach – a stone’s throw from Sumi’s first house in Hawaii. The kids had a blast boogie boarding and there were a crazy amount of kite surfers.

  • Leonards Hawaii

    One of the famous treats in Hawaii is Leonards bakery Malasadas.  They are basically fried dough with different flavors of cream on the inside.  While we all enjoyed them, it was one of those things that you can only eat once in a blue moon, as I’m pretty sure I just increased my chances of type II diabetes with one visit.  Probably should not have gone for the 6-pack.

     

  • Hawaii – video week 1

  • Aulani – Disney Hawaii

    We spent a couple days at the Aulani Disney resort. The theme was Moana – there was a 40 foot “Volcano” with 2 slides coming down from it. We also went around the lazy river no less than 30 times. Susan and I were able to sit and talk for a bit while the kids did laps around it.

    They also made t-shirts and learned about Hawaiin art.  

    Staying a Disney is a study in psychology for me. Disney is expensive and largely artificial, so why in a place like Hawaii, where there is natural beauty all around, would you stay at Disney? I prefer making my way around the ‘real’ places, but a couple of days at Disney are entertaining.  Regardless, here is my answer:

    1. Great Customer Service: Disney’s customer service rivals the best in the world.  The staff know your name and your kids name, even if you’ve never seen them.  Not sure how they do that, but it is amazing.  Need ketchup, a knife to cut pineapple or a framed photo of Jeff Goldbleum to adorn your nightstand?  Disney will bring it to you within minutes.  I have stayed at luxury hotels and I’ve never felt as comfortable or as taken care of as with Disney.
    2. You can have adult time: I don’t go on vacation to do adult things, but there are plenty of people who do.  Disney kid club will take your kids for as long as you want them to – all day, or all night, or both.  From what I can tell the kids love it.  We spent our entire time with the kids, so it’s not for us, but I talked to plenty of adults via hot tub or while waiting in line for the slides whose kids were MIA.
    3. The Disney Story / Dream: Disney as a brand does one thing that no other company can do as well as them – tell a story.  The top of the hotel is shaped like a canoe.  At check-in girls get lays and boys get large beaded necklaces.  The lazy river is covered in references to the Moana movie.  Humans love stories, and Disney tells them like no other and then builds physical worlds that reflect those stories. 

       

     

  • Manoa Falls

    Manoa Falls was amazing – not the falls as much as the opening that was about half-way up. It looked straight out of Jurassic Park. The kids did great hiking, no one fell off the edge.

    We hiked the whole thing almost non-stop, because as I found it rather quickly, stopping meant mosquito bites. Unlike Virginia East Coast mosquitos, at least the bites that I did get disappeared an hour after the hike.

  • Diamond Head hike

    Parker helped Mom down the trail by holding her hand and showing her where to step. The Hike wasn’t bad and we got local taco’s within the town of Diamond Head.

    The weather was a little iffy, but we made it without incident, which is good because I prefer not to come down via water slide.

  • Week 1 Hawaii

    I’ve been at the conference for the past few days so I don’t have a lot to share, but Skylar and I did enjoy a lovely evening walk just the two of us after getting dinner, when Susan and Parker decided to cab it home early.

    And Parker and I fired off a sunrise shot from the beach while mommy and Skylar engaged in early morning Yoga.