Dinner at Aulani | Makahiki "Menehune Mischief" Character Dinner

The last part of the boy’s Christmas was to visit Aulani for dinner. We really want to stay here, but we figured dinner was a nice way to get our Disney fix in the meantime.

On select nights, they have the Menehune Mischief Character dinner where Uncle tells stories and you get to meet some characters. In true Disney fashion, everything was extremely well done.

We arrived a little early to walk around and explore the resort. It was decorated for Christmas which made it extra fun.

Just like other character dining meals at Disney World, you take a picture with one character (this one was Donald) while you are waiting for your table.

Like most Disney Character meals, it’s becomes a little chaotic at times. I think the best tip I have is to leave the camera on the table so you are ready to go at a moment’s notice. We also start watching the flow of characters because they will all follow the same sequence of tables. We’ve also asked the character attendant too if we were worried. Anyways, Rhett started off a little timid, but quickly warmed up. I’m not sure if it was because the restaurants wasn’t full, but Chip and Dale came to our table a few times.

As far as the food, I was pretty impressed with the buffet. It was full of seafood, sushi, a carving station and a awesome dessert bar. We definitely ate our money worth. The Chef was great and walked me down the line telling me things Rhett couldn’t have due to his egg allergy and things he could make special for him. I was pretty impressed and Rhett was able to eat fruit and pizza. Landon ate about 10 dinner rolls.

We also got our beloved juice from the Ohana breakfast at the Polynesian. Then our waitress told us it was local so now we always have some in the fridge! It’s POG (Passion-O-Guava Nectar) and it’s the most delicious thing in the world! As Trip said, “it taste so good there is no way it’s good for you!”

Throughout dinner there was a little show/ story telling. Honestly, it wasn’t anything too amazing, but the kids enjoyed it. It was interactive so they got to shake bananas and walk around the restaurant with Chip and Dale which they thought was fun.

We ended the night with the boys spending some of their Christmas money in the gift shop. Landon picked a Hawaii Mickey keychain for his book bag and Rhett picked Hei Hei plush from Moana.

We are looking forward to another visit to Aulani soon!

Happy Birthday, dude! | Kualoa Park Family Photographer

I had so much fun chasing this (almost) two year old around for my first session in Hawaii. Happy Birthday, dude! And this location has the best of what Hawaii has to offer - mountains, green fields and the ocean.

Hello sunshine | Kailua Family Photographer

This was just one of those magical nights where everything came together. The boys were participating and listening relatively well, the sun was setting magically behind the mountains and we had this spot to ourselves.

Christmas Tree Pictures 2019

I look forward to creating these pictures with my boys each year. This is now the 3rd or 4th year I’ve done these in the second house. If you are curious about how I created these pictures, you can watch me shoot and edit them here.

Makapu'u Lighthouse Hike

As we drove down the highway towards Waimanalo, I could see a lighthouse in the distance. It was pretty high up there and I suddenly regretted only bringing the single stroller. But we had already searched the house for a lost TV remote, calmed a meltdown over Rhett's hat and then we couldn’t find Landon’s tennis shoes (they were in the middle of the back yard) so we… I… was committed and we were going on that dang hike. I didn’t know what to expect other than I knew it was paved and “stroller friendly.” Good enough for me! I’m kicking myself for not bringing my big camera, but these iPhone pictures are still great.

We were immediately rewarded with amazing views. It almost looked like a valley of greenery leading out to the ocean. An iPhone couldn’t capture it, but the waves were crashing into the rocks causing water to shoot up into the air - Landon loved that.

Some of us enjoyed the views more than others :) Landon and I forged onward and upward. Despite the trail being paved, it was still a pretty tough incline.

There were numerous lookouts along the way so we stopped to rest and read the signs. At this particular spot I was playing around with the map on my phone trying to see what the land across the ocean was. A lady must have seen me because she told me they were West Maui (left), Moloka’i (center) and Lana’i (right). She went on a tour earlier in the morning and they said it was very rare to see all three islands. They are very faint, but all three are there.

Landon also lost his shirt along the way because, “this is what hiker dudes do, mom!”

We plan to come back in the winter since this is a good spot to whale watch.

And finally, after almost an hour, we made to the top. It was pretty incredible. The lighthouse was smaller than I thought it would be, but it didn’t disappoint. The views were breathtaking and the wind was nice and crisp.

There is a mountain along the top middle of the picture - we live in that area.

And then we started the walk back down the mountain. Let me tell you, the stroller almost drug me down the mountain. It was so tough that my watched pinged and asked if I was on the elliptical. And of course we had to end our hike at our new post-hike-tradition-shave-ice. We’ve been so often we should probably have our picture on the wall next to Obama.

We absolutely will do the Makapu’u Lighthouse trail again. It took us about 30 minutes to get there, there is a parking lot at the trailhead and there was a dog wearing a lei at the end. What more could you ask for?! :) It was a great hike to do with the kids and would be great to do with our family when they come to visit.

Our Hawaii Bucket List

Oahu might only be 44 miles long, but we’ve already realized there are almost endless things to do here. The boys and I sat down to create our official Hawaii Bucket List. My plan is to blog about each adventure so we can keep track of everything we accomplish. We got three years to get it done…. here we go!

Hikes/Adventures

Makapu’u Point Lighthouse
Watch the whales (Feb- March)
Swim with turtles
Snorkel
Watch the surfers at the North Shore
SUP
Maunawaii Falls - waterfall hike
Island Magic Catamaran - swim with turtles
Hanauma Bay
See the seals at Turtle Bay
Pillbox hike
Hālona Blowhole
The Spitting Caves
Dimond Head
Sunrise at the beach
Sea Life Park

Food

Matsumoto’s Shave Ice
Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck
Sunrise Shack (North Shore)
Kono’s
Leonard’s Bakery (Malasadas)
Cinnamons
Helana Hawaiian Food
Uncle Clay’s Shave Ice

Entertainment/Tours

Luau with fire dancers
The Macadamia Nut Farm Tour
Dinner at Aulani
Staycation at Aulani
Dole Plantation
Ford Island Tour
Polynesian Cultural Center
Kualou Ranch
Fireworks at Hilton Hawaiian Village
Waimea Valley Botanical Gardens and Waterfall
Bishop Museum

Travel

Disneyland California
Disneyland Tokyo

What did we miss? Do you know of something we must do before we leave Oahu?

Happy Halloween from Hawaii

Our first Halloween in Hawaii was a ton of fun. We had one slight parenting fail, but it was a fun night with friends! The boys were super excited about their makeup. Landon requested a green bottle for next year. This bottle will make his beard grow because it's called "Beard" - love the innocence.

Our Charleston Home

Buying a house in Charleston in 2016 was an experience. The market moved so fast, you couldn’t keep up. Seriously. Trip and I (and Landon) were living in Washington at the time and planned a trip out to house hunt. As we sat in the airport we found two houses that we loved. One in Carolina Bay and one in Bolton’s Landing. As soon as we landed, we checked the MLS and the Carolina Bay house was already gone. We were upset but we still had the other house we liked. The next day, we headed straight to Bolton’s Landing only to find out it was no longer available. We were so bummed. However, a second home in Carolina Bay had come onto the market and we decided to quickly go over to look at it. I remember my first thought was, “well, it’s blue.” Not really sure how I felt about that, I walked inside to my dream white kitchen and eating area. I was sold. We put in an offer that night and the house was ours!

We had the interior of the house painted before we arrived in Charleston which was a little scary - picking paint colors for a house you’ve only seen twice… yikes! What was more scary was my first night at the house. I drove down from Columbia (where my in-laws live) to clean the house before the moving truck arrived. After I finally figured out which house was ours (a detached garage behind the house without a number at night time was really confusing) I realized the backdoor was open. 20 minutes later the police cleared the house (with guns drawn) and we decided the painters probably didn’t pull the door closed. Yeah, I didn’t sleep that night.

It was smooth sailing after that and we enjoyed getting to upgrade the house. We put tile in the bathrooms, switched all of the light fixtures, added a screened in porch and added the planter boxes ( a present from Trip). We loved this house and will miss it dearly.

Shop some of my favorite home products