Aloha, friends! My Facebook friends were probably relieved to see my check-in that I was flying home after I spent the last 15 days overloading my feed with sunshine and happiness from Hawaii.
Now that I am home, I can say that it was truly the best vacation my family has ever had. Getting to Hawaii from the East Coast is no joke, y’all. It’s a schlep (about 12 hours worth of flights there from Philly) and it’s expensive to get there – two major reasons most people don’t do it often. But dang, it’s sooooo worth it if you can save up and manage the time to get there for more than a few days.
I’ll back up and tell you guys something that’s a nostalgic story for me and explains how this trip came to be. Hubby and I got married on September 8, 2001. We left on our honeymoon to Hawaii on September 10, 2001. We arrived that evening and the first morning of our honeymoon was 9-11.
Being in Hawaii on our honeymoon and during that time was surreal. It’s beyond beautiful in Hawaii and the people are so relaxed, laid back and happy. We went through all sorts of feelings while we were in Hawaii – about the start of our life together, coping with what was going on, absorbing the beauty & peace that exists in Hawaii.
One afternoon, Jon proclaimed that we HAD to return to Hawaii for our tenth anniversary, with whatever children we had at the time. I agreed it was a plan.
Our 10th anniversary came and went and we felt our kids weren’t old enough to really appreciate Hawaii, so we decided to hold off until our 15th anniversary. Truth be told, I balked to actually book it when it came time. It was pricey and there are so many other places I want to take the kids! I had forgotten how absolutely spectacular Hawaii is.
Thankfully it all came together – the big bonus was that some of our closest friends, with kids our kids ages (they’re all so close it’s like they’re cousins) also decided to join us for part of the trip.
We went to Oahu, the Big Island of Hawaii and Maui. I’ll be bringing you guys some reviews and will try not to overload too much but I have a lot I want to share. If you ever have the chance to take your family to Hawaii, DO IT. In a heartbeat. The weather is perfect, the scenery spectacular and the food some of the best I’ve ever had.
Here’s some photos I took on Instagram of our trip if you want to check those out in the meantime. Mahalo for reading! (Two weeks in Hawaii and yes, I am now speaking Hawaiian. It’s hard to resist! Mahalo means “thank you”)
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