Our Hawaii 5-Ooooooh's - The RC Bickett Gang

It always amazes us to see so much wonder in places that one might only dream of. Our 10-day tour of Hawaii was fantastic — and we only saw two of the eight major islands! Did you know that Hawaii is the only state that consists entirely of islands and has the fourth-longest ocean coastline with 750 miles. I am not certain how many miles of their coast that we did see, but I know our littlest toes surely enjoyed every inch of “sandbox” that they could sink into and absolutely loved every minute of the dress and flip-flop wearing weather.

Here are our five favorite things that we took in and and love about our first Hawaiian experience (oh yeah, we’ll be back again someday). Keep scrolling to catch even more pictures and videos of our entire vacation.

1 The History & Culture

Pearl Harbor wall of names — USS Arizona Memorial marble wall honoring the lives lost that day in Pearl Harbor.

The Old Lahaina Luau presented traditional Hawaiian foods — there is a pig roasting under there.

The luau was a musical journey through the history of Hawaii and its people.

2 The Lei of the Land

These are the beautiful mountains on Maui.

Some feral goats walking in the old lava field – Brian wanted to adopt them.

The north shore of Maui is much fiercer than it's mild mannered southern coast. — The north shore of Maui is much fiercer than it’s mild mannered southern coast.

3 The Surf, Sun & Sand

Cross surfing in Hawaii off this little surfer girl's bucket list. — Cross surfing in Hawaii off this little surfer girl’s bucket list.

The north shore of Maui — apparently the hot spot for big waves and surfing.

Pretty certain no family vacation to the beach is complete unless someone gets buried.

This little girl just loved playing in this huge sandbox.

Pretty amazing to see the sun set just over another island.

4 The Animals

These flamingos at the zoo looked like they were enjoying Hawaii too. — These flamingos at the zoo looked like they were enjoying Hawaii also.

Dude Crush? Is that you? Nope, just turtle #4.

Ellie was way excited to go in and see the sharks. Future shark diver perhaps?

5 The Food & Markets

Yep we did! We ate authentic Hawaiian pizza. — Oh yes we did! We ate authentic Hawaiian pizza.

The pineapples were delicious — even tastier after a trip to the chocolate fountain!

short montage of our vacation photos and videos

Day by Day Trip Itinerary

[So we don’t forget exactly where we went and what we saw!]

Friday, February 8 — Landed in the city of Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu
Saturday, February 9 — Visited Pearl Harbor and the Honolulu Zoo, sat on the beach and swam in the ocean, ate dinner while watching a mermaid swim in an aquarium, and walked the shops of Waikīkī Beach
Sunday, February 10 — Flew to the island of Maui and nestled in our cottages at The Royal Lahina in Kāʻanapali
Monday, February 11 — Played on the beach in the morning and then rested in preparation for our night’s dinner and entertainment at the Old Lahaina Luau
Tuesday, February 12 — Walked the beach to Whaler’s Village, chased the waves and built sandcastles, and had dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
Wednesday, February 13 — Loaded up and headed to the Maui Ocen Center, ate some more, then continued on our way to the south coast of the island through a lava field and drank fresh coconut water
Thursday, February 14 — Went to Lahaina to hang loose with the Maui Wave Riders, enjoyed some root beer floats and fish tacos at Cool Cats Cafe, played on the beach some more, caught the sun set and made sure to order an authentic Hawaiian pizza
Friday, February 15 — We sadly packed our bags and said good bye to our cottages, loaded the cars and drove to the north shore where we squeezed in some last minute swimming, a picnic on the beach, and one last breathtaking view of a blowhole on Nakalele Point, from there we headed back to Lahaina to shop for final souvenirs and eat before heading to a mall near the airport to run off more energy in some little legs so we all could sleep on our flight back across the ocean
Saturday, February 16 — Landed in Denver for breakfast, caught another plane and was home napping by noon

We had a fantastic time visiting yet another state in this beautiful country we live in and we are very thankful for Grandma Mary’s generous gift and invitation to tour Hawaii with her. We will forever cherish the memories she helped us to create!

Even more pictures!

Here are quite a few more of our pictures — plus there were three other cameras not included here — all capturing our wonderful family vacation. Aloha!

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Our Hawaii 5-Ooooooh’s