Day Two in Hawaii: Hanauma Bay and Luau

We all woke up refreshed this morning.  It was a good feeling because we were all exhausted at bedtime last night.  We all got dressed and decided to go to the restaurant with the yummy breakfast buffet.  Damien and I love a good breakfast buffet but the kids are obsessed!  As most people at a buffet, their eyes were bigger than their stomachs. 

With a fresh glass of pineapple juice at their sides- I watched the kids inhale pancakes, omelets, fresh tropical fruit, breakfast pastries, and so much more.  We let them go for it.  Either they would eat just enough to satiate themselves, or they would learn the most valuable lesson when eating at a buffet.  Most times, you eat until your heart is more than content and then you feel sick for an hour.  The second lesson seemed to be more what they were dealing with!

After breakfast, we decided to take a nice walk along the beach.  There were not a lot of people out and about so we almost felt like the beach was ours!  The kids started collecting little shells, they scoped out some good body surfing areas, we saw a few places which offered actual surfing lessons (Michael, Claire, and Damien had this as number one on their list), and just enjoyed the beauty that surrounded us in every single direction.

Later in the morning, we body surfed and played in the ocean which was a blast!  Matthew and Emily had life jackets on and were pretty independent in the ocean.  There wasn't an undertow so we felt safe to let them float around and ride the swells.  Michael and Claire were more daring and we had to tell them to come in closer to shore every five minutes or so.

We booked a shuttle early this afternoon to go to Hanauma Bay to do some snorkeling!  The day was absolutely gorgeous.  The three older kids wanted to snorkel.  Emily . . . not so much.  Although she is pretty darn capable, the concept of breathing only through your mouth and not being able to breathe through your nose sent her over the edge.  Damien and I took turns snorkeling with the older kids while the other person tried to keep an eye on Emily.

We saw a lot of beautiful fish today.  Snorkeling is best done in the morning before the sand gets kicked up and clouds the water.  We knew that but the early afternoon worked best for us.  Michael and Claire would have snorkeled all day if they could.  Matthew had about an hour of snorkeling in him.  I could stay out there as long as necessary as long as I didn't see any eels. 

Damien and I loved the view from the Hanauma Beach and reminisced a little about our honeymoon almost thirteen years earlier.  We snorkeled back then, too but I did much of my snorkeling on Damien's back as the eels were all over the place!  Damien had purchased fish food and we didn't realize that there was a hole in the bag which was in his pocket!  I practically drowned Damien that day but no eels or fish bit me.  Yes, I have issues I need to work on.

We played in the sand and the surf at the beach and ate whatever snacks we brought with us.  Then it was time to high tail it up the hill to catch our shuttle!  When we got back to the hotel, the kids still had energy to swim.  How they do it, I don't know.  We swam some more, hit the water slides and pool and went back to the room for some rest before the big Luau that evening!  In the midst of all of this, Damien realized he left his credit card back at Hanauma Bay.  Lucky for him, he concocted this awesome plan to get it delivered back to the hotel before the Luau.  Crisis adverted!

The hotel has a fantastic Luau on their premises.  We didn't realize people were lining up over an hour before it started to get good seats.  Turns out that showing up right on time still afforded us a great view of the stage and the kids were still able to join in on all of the children's activities.

One activity was to knock a pineapple off a pole with a ball, another was to get tattoos from some of the Luau dancers.  Basically, they asked the kids what they wanted and then drew tribal drawings on their arms with Sharpies.  The kids loved it!  We did have a little jealousy afterward based on some kids thinking other kid's tattoos were better than theirs.  There is always some type of argument based on who has the best!  Michael opted for a tribal drawing of the tattoo artist's liking, Claire got a tropical flower, Matthew got a shark, and Emily got a dolphin.

The kids absolutely loved the show.  My girls loved the hula dancers and even got up and did their own version of the dance.  My boys loved the dancers wielding fire.  What boy wouldn't love that?  The whole show was great.  The sunset, which set right behind the stage, was absolutely amazing. 

After another full day, we were all ready to go to bed . . . only to do it all again in the morning.  Life is good.  My family is the best.  We are loving this vacation.