day 5

 

we said farewell to the leis we had made by draping them on the duke kahanamoku statue near waikiki. this also happened to be near the spot where we were catching our 9:45am tour bus that took us to pearl harbor.

it was fairly hot, but we managed to stay cool while going through the museum while waiting for our timed entry to the memorial.

we caught our tour bus back to our hotels at 3pm, packed up, and headed to the airport.  we had a 6:30pm evening hopper flight to maui.

day 4

i didn't take many pics today.  we had the memorial service for great grandma and grandpa this morning at the punchbowl, followed by an afternoon dim sum with many of the hawaii relatives. it is a beautiful thought to think that they will be spending eternity on the beautiful island of oahu.  it was an honor to be together with family as they were delivered back home.

*****

great-grandpa: aug 27, 1921 – nov 15, 2018

great-grandma: mar 26, 1926 – feb 6, 2025 

day 3

today began, once again, at liliha bakery for a filling breakfast before starting off on today's big adventure.  we drove about 23 miles to kualoa ranch on the east side of the island.  we had a 10am tour.

my little family did this same tour back in 2022, but this time around i noticed a few differences.  previously the vehicle we rode in was a converted school bus, but this time it was an open air oversized truck.  and of course, our tour guide made all the difference in what we learned and saw.  all in all, it was like we did the tour for the first time, so no regrets whatsoever!

we made all the usual stops at the bunker and the iconic movie prop scenes.

doesn't it look straight out of a movie??

we even attempted to recreate a photo from our last visit. 

we were super hungry after all the touring, so just as we did last visit, we stopped at yummy huli huli chicken for lunch.

then we headed to dole pineapple plantation, and another recreated photo.

and some dole whip!

when we finally made it back to the hotel, we saw what housekeeping had left for little sister.

  pretty funny. aloha and goodnight.

day 2

 

today started with an early morning walk along waikiki beach.  our hotel was about two blocks away, so we made our way over via the hotel we stayed at last trip, which was right on the beachfront.  hard to beat the sound of the water, the sky painted with clouds and sunlight, and the emptiness with only a few other people out and about.

little sister and i recreated our selfie from the last trip, when we left daddy and big sister sleeping in the room while we went out exploring.

we met up with auntie on the beach, and made plans to meet for breakfast at a nearby favorite: liliha bakery.  and those hot grilled butter rolls with signature red jelly - yum!!

back at our hotel, i realized there was orchid lei-making in the lobby so of course we definitely went down and joined in.

then we went back up to the room and had a mini family photo shoot before tucking the leis away in the mini fridge for safe keeping.

with three from our group having spent the morning scuba diving and grandpa away making preparations from the memorial, the other 9 in our group met up at noon at diamond head.

it was about 1 hour to the top, but we were taking it slow and resting frequently.  the views got better and better as we made our ascent.

finally at the summit

back at the beginning, we were all smiles as we hydrated and enjoyed some shave ice.

after going back to our hotels, showering and resting a bit, we all met up for an early dinner nearby at betty's burgers, per little sister's food category suggestion.  don't we all look sun kissed and jetlagged??