Tag Archives: beaches

Ko’Olina Lagoons

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Well the kids are finally back in school for their two day school week, but I wanted to share some more of our fun Spring Break adventures… On Monday we hit up Ko’Olina Lagoon, specifically #4 near the marina.

These lagoons are all man made but it makes for some great swimming for the kids. The water is nice and calm and there is a nice reef right outside the lagoon to keep the critters out. Unsuccessfully, there was a 4 foot reef shark spotted in here last week! No sharks for us, we did get a quick glance of a honu or green sea turtle. He was too fast for me to snap a picture.koolina

Yes the water is really that beautifully clear. And it was hot and sunny the entire time we were there, getting updates from all our Honolulu friends who were getting a downpour and my Virginia family who was getting snow! koolina1Shortly after I took the picture of our beach site I got reprimanded for having a tent up. I forgot that I am not too fond of this beach. Lots of rules, no umbrellas or tents, which is crazy because this is over on the west side which is the hottest side of the island! We did get to glimpse the cutest baby octopus ever! I don’t know how they even saw him in the water!

 

“Winter” at the North Shore

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Winter in Hawaii is a pretty laughable thing. I must confess I am enjoying the hell out of this winter! I can totally live in flip flops year ’round.

Well, some of my lovely FRG wives and I decided that we needed to take a day trip up to the North Shore. Some of them had *gasp* never been. I just ADORE it up there, I like the scenery, the vibe and most of all the FOOD!

So we loaded up all 16 of us and headed north.

First stop, as always, Turtle Beach.

DSCF1006aThere were only two little guys braving the crazy surf to find food. The North Shore in winter is when all the crazy waves are here, there are surf competitions going on all the time right now!

Then we grabbed a friendly Turtle Beach volunteer to take a picture of our tribe.

317982_10200418815494741_1481297519_nOnward to our first meal of the day, my favorite North Shore eatery, Ted’s Bakery. We all grabbed our food to go and hit up the beach to eat lunch. I was so bummed, my bbq chicken combo was a bbq chicken sandwich. Same chicken but in a bun and with fries instead of rice and mac salad. First world problems, right?

We headed to the lovely tidepools at Shark’s Cove where the rocks around kept it pretty protected and gave the kids somewhere to play.

SCWe all played and ate and played and talked. The weather was overcast and about 78, not a perfect beach day but man, it’s better than what most people are getting right now!

Of course after all that playing it was time for dessert. Oh did I not mention I picked up a Chocolate Haupia Pie from Ted’s? Can I say I don’t think our kids will EVER forget this pie. This is how we do it here, pie on the beach. Grab a fork…

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After dessert we spent more time playing (kids) and gossiping (moms) making plans for our awesome ship’s Family Readiness Group. By this time we were famished! Time for dinner! Off to Haleiwa for some shreeyump. Shrimp trucks are everywhere and they all are a little different. I think I may have found my new favorite after being disappointed by the famous Giovanni’s.

shrimpGreat selection, Lemon Pepper, Garlic, Original, Coconut and Spicey. $12/plate. I ended up sharing with the kids and then regretting it because they were SO good! We were all peeling shrimp and licking our fingers. So ono! (See me dropping some local lingo?!) So if you see this truck stop and order some yummy food!

Time to finally head home after a looooong day, the kids were tired:

DSCF1042Well one was anyways…

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And the view on the ride home wasn’t half bad…

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Great day with friends and the kids, just wishing my husband had been able to be with us… Counting down the days. Four months done so far!

 

 

 

 

 

Ko’olina Lagoon aka Sometime you just need to go to the beach

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So after  long day of fun we decided to keep driving west until we hit the beach. One of the best beaches on that side of the island are the Ko’olina Lagoons. We grabbed a spot, pulled the ever-present beach chairs from the trunk, and just enjoyed this fabulous life we have.

 

 

 

 

This was one of the best sunsets I’d seen since we moved here, we are rarely over on the west side of the island and the sunsets just aren’t quite as pretty from Pearl Harbor, too much in the way!  Stunning.

 

 

Mckenna of course wanted to model for me… This girl loves having her picture taken but it’s hard to get one now where she isn’t posing like a crazy person. 

 

And then there is this kid who HATES having his picture taken but I can occasionally get such a wonderful shot of him I could die.

 

Okay, disgusting post I know, my kids are gorgeous, I live in paradise. What can I say, it’s a rough life!