On Saturday, February 6, 2016 we departed MSP with great excitement for our family adventure for Hawaii. Planning and talks of the trip had been in the works for over a year and the day had finally arrived. Mike was registered for his ECHO Hawaii conference at the Grand Hyatt Monday through Thursday and we were hoping to have all day Sunday to get settled at the resort.
After a 9 hour flight from MSP to Honolulu and a sprint through the airport to catch our Hawaiian airlines flight to Kauai, we finally arrived a the resort at 8:30pm (12:30am central) We were exhausted but all smiles!!
The next morning we were all awake by 5:30am and the kids were ready to explore. We were out in the hammocks and out on the beach for sunrise at 7:10am. We were just in time to catch a whale jumping in the distance.
The kids played on this beach at the resort for countless hours. Hailey practicing her ballet leaps and Taylor working on gymnastics
We watched the super bowl with some shaved ice and watched the Broncos defeat the Carolina Panthers
The first evening at the resort we joined the other MHI cardiologists and their families at our first ever luau!!
Mike and some of his partners from MHI
The night was filled with great food and entertainment, but the kids were exhausted again by 8pm and were asking to go to sleep!
On Monday we went hiking to Waimea Canyon just 40 minutes northwest of our resort. The views were stunning! Elevation of over 4,000 ft.
We then hit Polihali beach where waves crashed from every direction and where the mountains met the ocean with only the finest sand in between
The cliff overlooking the beach at our resort provided the most beautiful views for sunrise and sunset
The kids swam endlessly at the resort between the pools, lagoon, and the ocean
On Tuesday, the kids and myself took off for their first snorkeling experience. It was pretty incredible. Carter was quite certain that he was going to be eaten by a shark but he quickly forgot about the sharks after we were mesmerized by the dolphins, whales, and sea turtles that we encountered.
While we were away snorkeling, Mike enjoyed an afternoon golfing along the coast with his colleagues.
The lobby was home to 3 parrots: this was Rico.
Our last afternoon in Kauii, we went to an open Hawaiin market for shopping. The food was amazing!
After 5 days on the island of Kuaii, we boarded Hawaiin airlines to return to the island of Oahu where we rented a car and drove to the north shore. We rented a house for 3 nights and above was the view from the living room.
The kids loved having the beach right outside our back door!
The beach had incredible views!
On Saturday we went hiking to an overlook to Sunset beach. It had rained briefly that morning on our ride over there but it set the perfect stage for a rainbow to appear during our hike.
That afternoon we spent the entire rest of the day boogie boarding at sunset beach. The waves were incredible and the surfers were everywhere.
Carter and I took a little walk our last night in Hawaii
After saying good bye to our rental home, we drove to Pearl Harbor. What an incredible monument to remember that tragic day. The kids were shocked and hopefully impacted by seeing the sites there.
