Sooo I'm back

Alohaaaaaaaaa Mama's back!!!
Wow-za, what an amazing holiday we had, Hawaii is beautiful!! It's not my first time there, but I was younger on my last trip and def. didn't appreciate it like I did this time.  We stayed in Honolulu at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach...totally gorgeous!

{Koi pond at the hotel}

Hawaii is seriously a little gem that barely feels like it's part of the U.S..  It has all the benefits of being part of the states, but definitely has it's own Hawaiian culture that is a big mix of native Hawaiians, Japanese, Filipinos, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese. Hawaiians are totally laid back and friendly...not really moving any faster than they need to, but it's a hot climate right?  But not too hot, perfect actually. Why the freak do I live in a place with snow? I absolutely LURVE the sun...let's just say that Mama's Vitamin D levels are allll topped up.
And of course we lurved the food, Poke (raw Ahi Tuna marinated in soya sauce), Kalua Pork (like BBQ pulled pork) and Lomilomi salmon (raw chopped salmon mixed with tomatoes, onions and seasoning) mixed with Poi (boiled taro root). Honestly it's all way more yummy then it sounds. We chowed down at a Luau...Hawaiian stylezzz!

Waikiki is a great beach,  you can swim safely (sans sharks and killa waves) and you can still look for Nemo while you snorkel along the reefs.

We did a dive in a submarine off shore from Waikiki...saw tonnes of underwater sea-life. Sea turtles, white tipped sharks, rays, Nemo.

 We rented a car and drove around the island, stopping at the Dole Pineapple Plantation, and of course headed to the North Shore and Sunset beach to check out the massive waves.  Can't actually swim there...the thrill is in letting the waves reach you while you're standing on the beach.  They'll knock u down!!

{Ser-i-ously, no swimming allowed. But surfing is ok?!}

Just got home but I'm wanting to go back...home is where the heart is, yeah, blah blah blah. Hawaii is where the fun in the sun is!  If it weren't for the painful 7 hour flight to get there (traveling with young kids blows, FYI), I'd probably go every winter. It's also tres expensive. Obviously b/c it's an island in the middle of the South Pacific. Everything has to be flown in... $5 for a quart of milk?!!  Yeah, it's basically a Volcano-made-chunk-of-earth in the middle of nowhere. But it has palm trees...and I LURVE palm trees!! And the sunsets are krazy!

{Hawaiian sunsets are A-mazing}

{Mama VS. the Volcano}

We swam, we ate amazing food (I even had some Pineapple my least fave food in the world, strange, I know), we drank (soooo many Mai Tai's, Daiquiri's and Blue Hawaiians), we tanned, we luau-ed, we explored, we dove, we relaxed. Fabulous! 

Oh, and I shopped. But's that's a whole other post....